Alexander
III of Macedon was the king of Ancient Greece. Due to his great successes and
occupation of a large empire, he is commonly known as Alexander the Great. During his 13 years of reign, he conquered
Egypt, Persia, and a large part of Asia and North Africa. He is known as one of
the greatest military generals in the history of mankind.
Early Life
Alexander
was born on 20th July 356 BC in Pella
(then the capital of the Macedonian kingdom and now in Greece). His father, Philip II of Macedon, united all parts of Greece under a single leadership. In his childhood, Alexander learned the traits of the noble youth
of Macedon, including reading, horse-riding, hunting, and fighting. At 13, Philip appointed the great scholar Aristotle
as his tutor. Alexander learned morals, philosophy, medicine,
logic, religion, etc. from Aristotle. His later victories were positively affected by the teachings of Aristotle.
Alexander’s
victories started at 16 when he crushed the rebellion in Thrace. In 338 BC, Alexander took part
in the Battle of Chaeronea against the southern Greek city-states of Athens,
Thebes, and their allies. The Macedonians, under the leadership of Philip II
and Alexander, defeated their rivals and occupied the whole of
southern Greece except the Kingdom of
Sparta.
Alexander As
King
In 336 BC,
Alexander became the king of Macedonia after the assassination of his father, Philip II, at the hands of his bodyguard. Alexander was just 20 years old at that time. He initially consolidated his power by killing some of his close relatives and other
potential threats, including his cousin Amyntas
IV, two Macedonian princes, and others. He also suppressed the rebellion in
different Greek areas, which erupted after the death of his father Philip II. Thereafter, Alexander was recognized as the Hegemon
(leader) by the Greeks, and he commanded their war against Persia.
Before
moving toward Persia, Alexander decided to end the problems towards his
northern borders. In 335 BC, he conquered the areas of Thrace (now in northeast Greece, the southern half of Bulgaria, and
European Turkey) and Illyria (now in
Albania) and later defeated the revolt by Thebes.
Victories
Against Persian Empire
At that
time, Persian Empire was controlling Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, and several
other areas. Alexander started his campaign against the Persian Empire from
Asia Minor, where he fought the first battle at Troy (north-west Turkey) in 334 BC, known as the Battle of the Granicus. Alexander had more than 35,000 men, while
Persians had around 25,000 soldiers. The battle ended in favor of Alexander, and
he captured half of Asia Minor. In the same year, Alexander occupied the
western coast of Asia Minor after the two encounters known as the Siege of Miletus and the Siege of Halicarnassus.
In 333 BC, Alexander
fought the Battle of Issus against the Achaemenid Persian Empire in Issus
(Hatay, Turkey). The Persian Army was more than double the Macedonian army. However, the Macedonians fought well under the leadership of Alexander and defeated the much
larger army. After this victory, Alexander controlled the whole of Asia Minor and the northern
Levant. Alexander also captured the family of the Persian king after this victory. In
332 BC, Alexander occupied the entire Levant after the successful Siege of Tyre. Tyre is in modern-day Lebanon.
In 332 BC,
Alexander started his conquest of Egypt with the successful Siege of Gaza, after which he killed
most of his opponents, including the commander of the fortress of Gaza, Batis. Later, Alexander was received in
Egypt very warmly as a liberator, as it was under the occupation of
Persia before Alexander.
In 331 BC,
Alexander fought the decisive battle against the Persian empire at Gaugamela
(near Mosul, Iraq), known as the Battle of Gaugamela.
Alexander had around 50,000 soldiers, while the Persians were double that
number. The Greeks defeated the Persians after killing nearly half of
their soldiers. Alexander occupied the whole of modern-day Iraq after this
battle. It was a decisive battle because the Persians could not bring a
large army against Alexander ever again.
In the same
year, Alexander again remained victorious in the Battle of Uxian Defile after defeating the western Uxian tribes of
Persia. He occupied modern-day western Iran after this battle. In 330 BC,
Alexander occupied the capital of the Persian Empire, Persepolis, and around half of Persia after defeating a small
Persian army in the Battle of the
Persian Gate. This battle marks the fall of the Achaemenid Empire (the first Persian Empire), founded around 550 BC by Cyrus the Great.
In 329 BC,
Alexander captured the Persian province Sogdiana
(southern Central Asia between the rivers of the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya)
after the successful Siege of the Cyropolis despite
stiff resistance. In 327 BC, Alexander occupied the whole Sogdiana area
after a few small battles, which completed the Alexander conquest of the Persian Empire.
Indian
Campaign of Alexander
Alexander’s
campaign in India started against the highlander tribe of Kambojas, whose different subtribes were residing in modern-day Kunar
(Afghanistan), Panjkora, Swat, and Buner (all three in today’s Pakistan). He had
to fight fierce battles against this tribe, but he defeated them in 326 BC. This
campaign is known as the Cophen campaign.
In 326 AD,
Alexander fought the most severe battle of his Indian campaign against King Porus of Punjab at Mong (now in Mandi Bahauddin,
Pakistan), known as the Battle of the Hydaspes
River. Despite tough resistance from Porus, Alexander won the battle due to
his warfare skills. But Alexander was so impressed with the bravery of his
opponent that he let Porus remain the ruler of this area in Alexander’s name.
Alexander occupied most of Punjab after this victory.
Alexander’s
final campaign in India was the Mallian
campaign, which he undertook in 325 BC against the Malli tribe of eastern Punjab. That campaign took place in the
area between rivers Jhelum and Chenab (now in Pakistan). Alexander again remained victorious in this battle, but he had to suffer severe injuries. It proved to be the last Indian campaign of Alexander because his
soldiers refused to move forward for another battle as they were away from
their homes for almost ten years. Alexander himself was injured and decided to
return to Macedonia. On his way back, he conquered Malhi
(now in Multan, Pakistan).
Death &
Place in History
In June 323
BC, Alexander died at the age of just 32. The cause of his death was drinking a large quantity of alcohol a few days
before. He became seriously ill after this heavy drinking and
passed away after spending a few days with a fever and severe pain.
Alexander the
Great was one of the greatest military rulers of human history and also was the
greatest Greek ruler. He put an end to the first Persian Empire, Achaemenid Empire, in 330 BC and thus
relieved the Greeks from their worst enemy, which had been battling them in the
past to extend its empire. He also conquered most modern-day Pakistan and was willing to move deeper into India had his soldiers would not
mutiny.
During his
ten-year of warfare, he never lost a battle and became the King of Macedonia, Persia, Asia, and Pharoah of Egypt (due to occupation of a large part of Asia) at a time.
He founded
the Hellenistic Empire, while the Greek
culture flourished in all his occupied areas. He was the last great king of
that empire because his successors could not retain the glory any further. All his
achievements make him one of the best leaders and military commanders in history.
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