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Why is Alexander called "Great"? Have people over exaggerated him?

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Answer (1 of 24): Interestingly it was the Romans who gave Alexander the moniker the 'the Great'. With this martial virtue Alexander pretty much exemplified the perfect leader to the Romans. However, whilst he was a battlefield genius there are a number of reasons to downgrade historical opinions...

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What happened to Alexander the greats kindom when he died

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What happened to Alexander the greats kindom when he died

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What happened to Alexander's empire(s) after he died?

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Answer (1 of 18): The Hellenistic era. Immediately upon Alexander's death his empire (which was multicultural and too large to be effectively ruled by one government) experienced rebellions and civil wars. In Hellas/Greece there was the Lamian war (ultimately unsuccessful revolt led by the Athen...

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The death of Alexander the Great and subsequent related events have been the subjects of debates. According to a Babylonian astronomical diary, Alexander died between the evening of June 10 and the evening of June 11, 323 BC, at the age of thirty-two. This happened in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon.

Macedonians and local residents wept at the news of the death, while Achaemenid subjects shaved their heads. The mother of Darius III, Sisygambis, having learned of Alexander's death, refused sustenance and died a few days later. Historians vary in their assessments of primary sources about Alexander's death, which results in different views.

In February 323 BC, Alexander ordered his armies to prepare for the march to Babylon. According to Arrian, after crossing the Tigris Alexander was met by Chaldeans, who advised him not to enter the city because their deity Bel had warned them that to do so at that time would be fatal for Alexander. The Chaldeans also warned Alexander against marching westwards as he would then look to the setting sun, a symbol of decline. It was suggested that he entered Babylon via the Royal Gate, in the western wall, where he would face to the east. Alexander followed this advice, but the route turned to be unfavorable because of swampy terrain. According to Jona Lendering, "it seems that in May 323" the Babylonian astrologers tried to avert the misfortune by substituting Alexander with an ordinary person on the Babylonian throne, who would take the brunt of the omen. The Greeks, however, did not understand that ritual.

Prophecy of Calanus

Calanus was likely to be a Hindu Naga sadhu, whom Greeks called gymnosophists. He had accompanied the Greek army back from Punjab, upon request by Alexander. He was seventy-three years of age at that time. However, when Persian weather and travel fatigue weakened him, he informed Alexander that he would rather die than live disabled. He decided to take his life by self-immolation. Although Alexander tried to desist him from doing so but upon the insistence of Calanus, Alexander relented and the job of building a pyre was entrusted to Ptolemy. The place where this incident took place was Susa in the year 323 B.C. Calanus is mentioned also by Alexander's admiral, Nearchus and Chares of Mytilene. He did not flinch as he burnt to the astonishment of those who watched. Before immolating himself alive on the pyre, his last words to Alexander were "We shall meet in Babylon". Thus he is said to have prophesied the death of Alexander in Babylon. At the time of the death of Calanus, Alexander, however, did not have any plan to go to Babylon. No one understood the meaning of his words "We shall meet in Babylon". It was only after Alexander fell sick and died in Babylon, that the Greeks came to realize what Calanus intended to convey.

Proposed causes of Alexander's death included alcoholic liver disease, fever, and strychnine poisoning, but little data support those versions. According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine report of 1998, Alexander probably died of typhoid fever (which, along with malaria, was common in ancient Babylon). In the week before Alexander's death, historical accounts mention chills, sweats, exhaustion and high fever, typical symptoms of infectious diseases, including typhoid fever. According to David W. Oldach from the University of Maryland Medical Center, Alexander also had "severe abdominal pain, causing him to cry out in agony". The associated account, however, comes from the unreliable Alexander Romance. According to Andrew N. Williams and Robert Arnott, in Alexander the Great's last days he became mute. He became mute because of a previous injury to his neck from the Siege of Cyropolis.

Other popular theories contend that Alexander either died of malaria or was poisoned. Other retrodiagnoses include noninfectious diseases as well. According to author Andrew Chugg, there is evidence Alexander died of malaria, having contracted it two weeks before his death while sailing in the marshes to inspect flood defences. Chugg based his argument on Ephemerides by otherwise unknown Diodotus of Erythrae, although the authenticity of this source has been questioned. It was also noted that the absence of the signature fever curve of Plasmodium falciparum (the expected parasite, given Alexander's travel history) diminishes the possibility of malaria. The malaria version was nonetheless supported by Paul Cartledge.

Throughout the centuries suspicions of possible poisoning have fallen on a number of alleged perpetrators, including one of Alexander's wives, his generals, his illegitimate half-brother or the royal cup-bearer. The poisoning version is featured particularly in politically motivated Liber de Morte Testamentoque Alexandri ( The Book On the Death and Testament of Alexander), which tries to discredit the family of Antipater. It was argued that the book was compiled in Polyperchon's circle, not before c. 317 BC. This theory was also advanced by Justin in his Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs where he stated that Antipater murdered Alexander by feeding him a poison so strong that it "could be conveyed [only] in the hoof of a horse.".

In Alexander the Great: The Death of a God, Paul C. Doherty claimed that Alexander was poisoned with arsenic by his possibly illegitimate half-brother Ptolemy I Soter. However, this was disputed by New Zealand National Poisons Centre toxicologist Dr Leo Schep who discounted arsenic poisoning and instead suggested that he could have been poisoned by a wine made from the plant Veratrum album, known as white hellebore. This plant was known to the Ancient Greeks and it can produce prolonged poisoning symptoms that match the course of events as described in the Alexander Romance. The article was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Toxicology and suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, Veratrum album offers the most plausible cause. This theory is backed by the writings of Ancient Greek historian, Diodorus, who had recorded Alexander becoming "stricken with pain after drinking a large bowl of wine."

Epidemiologist John Marr and Charles Calisher put forward the West Nile fever as possible cause of Alexander's death. This version was deemed as "fairly compelling" by the University of Rhode Island epidemiologist Thomas Mather, who nonetheless noted that the West Nile virus tends to kill the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. The version of Marr and Calisher was also criticized by Burke A. Cunha from Winthrop University Hospital. According to analysis of other authors in response to Marr and Calisher, the West Nile virus could not have infected humans before the 8th century AD.

Other causes that have been put forward include acute pancreatitis provoked by "heavy alcohol consumption and a very rich meal", acute endocarditis, schistosomiasis brought on by Schistosoma haematobium, and porphyria. Fritz Schachermeyr proposed leukemia and malaria. When Alexander's symptoms were entered to the Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network, influenza gained the highest probability (41.2%) on the list of differential diagnoses. However, according to Cunha, the symptoms and time course of Alexander's disease are inconsistent with influenza, as well as with malaria, schistosomiasis and poisoning in particular.

Another theory moves away from disease and hypothesizes that Alexander's death was related to a congenital scoliotic syndrome. It has been discussed that Alexander had structural neck deformities and oculomotor deficits, and this could be associated with Klippel-Feil syndrome, a rare congenital scoliotic disorder. His physical deformities and symptoms leading up to his death are what lead experts to believe this. Some believe that as Alexander fell ill in his final days, he suffered from progressive epidural spinal cord compression, which left him quadriplegic. However this hypothesis cannot be proven without a full analysis of Alexander's body.

One ancient account reports that the planning and construction of an appropriate funerary cart to convey the body out from Babylon took two years from the time of Alexander's death. It is not known exactly how the body was preserved for about two years before it was moved from Babylon. In 1889 E. A. Wallis Budge suggested that the body was submerged in a vat of honey, while Plutarch reported treatment by Egyptian embalmers.

Egyptian and Chaldean embalmers who arrived on June 16 are said to have attested to Alexander's lifelike appearance. This was interpreted as a complication of typhoid fever, known as ascending paralysis, which causes a person to appear dead prior to death.

On its way back to Macedonia, the funerary cart with Alexander's body was met in Syria by one of Alexander's generals, the future ruler Ptolemy I Soter. In late 322 or early 321 BC Ptolemy diverted the body to Egypt where it was interred in Memphis, Egypt. In the late 4th or early 3rd century BC Alexander's body was transferred from the Memphis tomb to Alexandria for reburial (by Ptolemy Philadelphus in c. 280 BC, according to Pausanias). Later Ptolemy Philopator placed Alexander's body in Alexandria's communal mausoleum. Shortly after the death of Cleopatra, Alexander's resting place was visited by Augustus, who is said to have placed flowers on the tomb and a golden diadem upon Alexander's head. By the 4th century AD the resting place of Alexander was no longer known; later authors, such as Ibn 'Abd al-Hakam, Al-Masudi and Leo the African, report having seen Alexander's tomb. Leo the African in 1491 and George Sandys in 1611 reportedly saw the tomb in Alexandria. According to one legend, the body lies in a crypt beneath an early Christian church.

1. ^ Chugg, Andrew (2007). The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great. Lulu.com. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-9556790-0-1.

2. ^ Cunha BA (March 2004). "The death of Alexander the Great: malaria or typhoid fever". Infect. Dis. Clin. North Am. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 2004 Mar;18(1):53-63. 18 (1): 53-63. doi:10.1016/S0891-5520(03)00090-4. PMID 15081504.

3. ^ Carlos G. Musso. "MEGAS ALEXANDROS (Alexander The Great ): His Death Remains a Medical Mystery". Humane Medicine Health Care.

4. ^ "Disease, not conflict, ended the reign of Alexander the Great". The Independent on Sunday.

5. ^ John Atkinson; Elsie Truter; Etienne Truter (Jan 1, 2009). "Alexander's last days: malaria and mind games?". Acta Classica.

6. ^ Schep LJ, Slaughter RJ, Vale JA, Wheatley P (January 2014). "Was the death of Alexander the Great due to poisoning? Was it Veratrum album?". Clinical Toxicology. 52 (1): 72-7. doi:10.3109/15563650.2013.870341. PMID 24369045.

7. ^ Bennett-Smith, Meredith (14 January 2014). "Was Alexander The Great Poisoned By Toxic Wine?". The Huffington Post.

8. ^ Wolfe, Sarah (13 January 2014). "Alexander the Great was killed by toxic wine, says scientist". Public Radio International.

9. ^ Sbarounis CN (June 1997). "Did Alexander the Great die of acute pancreatitis?". J. Clin. Gastroenterol. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology 1997 Jun;24(4):294-6. 24 (4): 294-6. doi:10.1097/00004836-199706000-00031. PMID 9252868.

10. Hutan Ashrafian, "The Death of Alexander the Great - A Spinal Twist of Fate", ^ Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004, pg. 138

11. Hutan Ashrafian, "The Death of Alexander the Great - A Spinal Twist of Fate", ^ Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004, pg.139

12. ^ Hutan Ashrafian, "The Death of Alexander the Great - A Spinal Twist of Fate", Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004, pg. 140

13. George K. York, David A. Steinberg, "Commentary. The Diseases of Alexander the Great", ^ Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, Vol. 13, 2004, pg. 154

14. ^ Robert S. Bianchi. "Hunting Alexander's Tomb". Archaeology.org.

15. ^ Aufderheide, Arthur (2003). The scientific study of mummies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 261-262. ISBN 0-521-81826-5.

16. ^ Madden, Richard (1851). The Shrines and Sepulchres of the Old and New World. Newby. pp. 137-138.

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The death of Alexander the Great and subsequent related events have been the subjects of debates. According to a Babylonian astronomical diary, Alexander died between the evening of June 10 and the evening of June 11, 323 BC, at the age of thirty-two. This happened in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon.

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How large was Alexander the greats empire

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How large was Alexander the greats empire

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Alexander The Great Paintings | Fine Art America

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Choose your favorite alexander the great paintings from millions of available designs. All alexander the great paintings ship within 48 hours and include a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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Alexander The Great Art & Wall Décor | Zazzle

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Alexander The Great: Early Life

Alexander III of Macedon or who commonly known Alexander the Great Was the king of the great ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon. He was born in Pella in 356 BC. Most of his role life was spent in military campaigns through Asia and Northeast Africa, he managed to form one of the most powerful empires in the ancient ages when he was only thirty, stretching from Greece to northwest India, he is considered as one of the history's most successful military commanders.

Alexander's Legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered. He established twenty cities that carry his name, most popular is Alexandria in Egypt. His legendary as a classical hero in the achilles and he always featured importantly in the history of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became an icon for the military leaders to compare with his performance.
Nowadays, the military academies all over the world still teach his tactics in wars thus he ranked among the most influential people in history.

Alexander The Great and Egypt

He arrived in Egypt in 332 BC. After defeating the Persian emperor Darius for control of Syria and the Levant, Alexander marched to Egypt. At the time, Egypt was a satrapy in the Persian Empire, held loosely under Persian control since the decline of the Ancient Egyptian Empire at the end of the 7th century BC. Alexander and his army of Greeks were regarded as liberators and to cement the Oracle of Amun at Siwa Oasis pronounced him the new 'master of the universe' and a descendent of the Egyptian god Amun.

Alexander did not stay in Egypt long. By 331 BC he was on his way west to complete his conquest of the Persian Empire, but the impact of his conquest in Egypt was significant. Alexander respected Egyptian culture and religion, but he installed a Greek government to control his administration of Egypt. Greek influence in Egypt was reinforced by the settlement of Greek veterans throughout Egypt, where they became a privileged aristocracy that gradually assimilated with the Egyptians. Alexander also founded a new Greek capital, Alexandria, located on the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Nile.

Although Alexander would never return to Egypt, dying in Babylon in 323 BC, the Greek rule that he established proved more enduring. In the crisis after Alexander's death, Ptolomy, one of his generals, claimed Egypt as his kingdom and established hereditary rule. The Ptolomaic Dynasty would last until the Romans conquered Egypt in 32 BC.

Alexandria emerged as a great city in the Mediterranean and a center of Hellenism, spreading Greek learning and culture. It was the site of the legendary Ancient Library of Alexandria and the Pharos Lighthouse, which was built on the site where Qaitbey Citadel stands today.

Alexander the Great: Military History

Alexander the great has a legendary record of undefeated wars , first against the achaemenid Persian under the command of Darius III then, against local chieftains and arlords as far east as punjab, India, this Alexander regarded one of the most successful military commanders in history. Despite his military victories, he failed to provide an alternative to Achaemenid empire. After his death his huge territories he conquered threw them into civil war.

Alexander takeover the kingship of Macedonia following the death of his father Philip II, who unified most of the city states of mainland Greece under Macedonian called Hellenic League. After uniting city-states of Macedonia after his father death, Alexander set out east against the Achaemenid Persian Empire under the "king of kings" Darius II, who he defeated and overthrew.
His conquests include Anatolia, Syria, Gaza, Egypt, Persia and he extended the borders of his empire to Punjab, India.

As a brilliant military commander, Alexander the great had made before his death for military expansions into the arabian peninsula, However, Alexander's diadochi abandoned these plans after his death. then, they started to fight with each other, dividing up the empire between themselves and continue 40 years of wars.

Famous Quotes

There is nothing impossible to him who will try.

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.

Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of al

I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion

Explore the History of Alexander the Great in Egypt through one of our Egypt Tour Packages!

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Alexander The Great: Early Life Alexander III of Macedon or who commonly known Alexander the Great Was the king of the great ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon. He was born in Pella in 356 BC.

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Battle of Issus

Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great

Alexander battling Darius at the Battle of Issus ( Naples National Archaeological Museum)

Belligerents

Macedon
League of Corinth

Achaemenid Empire

Commanders and leaders

Alexander the Great
Parmenion
Craterus
Hephaestion
Ptolemy
Pantordanus
Sitalces II
Menes
Balacrus

Darius III
Arsames †
Rheomithres †
Atizyes †
Bubaces †
Sabaces †

Strength

13,000 peltasts,[1]
22,000 heavy infantry,[2]
5,850 cavalry[2]
Total: 40,850

30,000-80,000 light infantry (Babylonian spears, Ionian peltasts)[3]
11,000 cavalry[2]
10,000 Persian Immortals
10,000 Greek mercenaries[4]

Total: 50,000-60,000[5] (modern sources)
250,000-600,000 (ancient sources)

Casualties and losses

452 killed
5,000 wounded[6][7]

~20,000-40,000 casualties[7]

The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on November 5, 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III, in the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of Asia. The invading Macedonian troops defeated Persia. After the Hellenic League soundly defeated the Persian satraps of Asia Minor (led by Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes) at the Battle of the Granicus, Darius took personal command of his army. He gathered reinforcements and led his men in a surprise march behind the Hellenic advance to cut their line of supply. This forced Alexander to countermarch, setting the stage for the battle near the mouth of the Pinarus River and the town of Issus.

The battle took place south of the ancient town Issus, which is close to the present-day Turkish town of Iskenderun (the Turkish equivalent of "Alexandria", founded by Alexander to commemorate his victory), on either side of a small river called Pinarus. At that location, the distance from the Gulf of Issus to the surrounding mountains is only 2.6 km (2 mi), a place where Darius could not take advantage of his superiority in numbers. Speculation on the location of the Pinarus has taken place for over 80 years. Older historians believed it to be the Deli Tchai river, but historians N.G.L. Hammond and A. M. Devine claim that the Pinarus is actually the Payas River, the latter using his own examination of the course of the river, which he considered would not have drastically changed since antiquity. Their evidence is based on Callisthenes' accounts of the measurements of the battlefield and distances marched by both sides' armies in the prelude to the battle and distance given by Diodorus after the battle.

Background

Alexander set out into Asia in 334 BC and defeated the local Persian satraps at the Battle of the Granicus. He then proceeded to occupy all of Asia Minor, with the idea of capturing all coastal settlements so as to negate the power of the vastly superior Persian fleet. He captured several important settlements such as Miletus in 334 BC and Halicarnassus, a siege lasting four months, starting in late December the same year. While Alexander was in Tarsus, he heard of Darius massing a great army in Babylon. If Darius were to reach the Gulf of Issus, he could use the support from the Persian fleet under Pharnabazus still operating in the Mediterranean Sea, thus easing his supply and possibly landing troops behind the enemy. Alexander kept his main army at Tarsus but sent Parmenion ahead to occupy the coast around Issus. In November, Alexander received reports that the great Persian army had advanced into Syria to a town named Sochoi. Alexander decided to mass his scattered army and advance south from Issus through the Pass of Jonah.

Darius knew that Parmenion held the Pass of Jonah and thus chose a northern route of advance. The Persians captured Issus without opposition and cut off the hands of all the sick and wounded that Alexander had left behind. Now Darius found out he had placed his army behind the Hellenic League and had cut their supply lines. He then advanced to the south and got no further than the river Pinarus before his scouts spotted Alexander marching north. Darius had to set up camp on this narrow coastal plain.

There is much debate as to the motives of Alexander and Darius preceding Issus. One modern perspective, based on Curtius, is that Darius was forced to move camp to terrain that favored Alexander because Alexander was fighting defensively due to a recommendation by his war council and Parmenion.[citation needed ] Darius' large army could not be supported in the field during winter and his cities in Phoenicia were already in unrest at the arrival of Alexander. Darius was forced to move his large army to a small battlefield, greatly to the advantage of Alexander's smaller force.

Alexander was waiting for Darius to come south around the Amanus Mountain range because the pass Darius would have used, the Belen Pass, was much closer to Sochi and offered the quickest access to the area Alexander defended. Alexander was waiting 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west of the Belen Pass at Myriandus to spring a trap on Darius as he crossed through the Belen Pass or through the Pillar of Jonah if he moved north, where Darius' army would be disorganized and disjointed in the narrow crossing. Darius instead moved north from Sochi and around the mountains, emerging behind Alexander's position and on his supply and communication lines. Thus Alexander was forced to march to Darius, who had caught him off guard in a large flanking maneuver. This gives the illusion that Darius was the one acting defensively, since Alexander was forced to march to him.

Combatants

Persian army

Some ancient sources ( Arrian and Plutarch), who based their accounts on earlier Greek sources, estimated 600,000 Persian soldiers in total, while Diodorus and Justin estimated 400,000, and Curtius Rufus estimated 250,000.

Modern historians find Arrian's count of 600,000 men highly unlikely. They argue that the logistics of fielding more than 100,000 soldiers in battle was extremely difficult at the time. Hans Delbrück gives an estimate as small as 25,000, although most (including Engels and Green) estimate the total size of Darius' army to be no larger than 100,000 at Issus, including 11,000 cavalry, 10,000 Persian Immortals, and 10,000 Greek mercenaries. Warry estimates 108,000 in total.

Macedonian army

The size of the Hellenic army may not have exceeded 40,000 men, including their other allies, led by Alexander. Alexander's army may have consisted of about 22,000 phalangites and hoplites, 13,000 peltasts, and 5,850 cavalry.

The Greeks advanced through the Pillar of Jonah. Alexander led his Companion cavalry on the right flank and he set his Thessalian allied cavalry on the left of the phalanx with Parmenion in command.

Darius formed his line with his heavy cavalry concentrated next to the coast on his right, followed by the Greek mercenary phalanx (historian A. M. Devine places them at a strength of 12,000, comparable to Alexander's Greek phalanx). Next to the Greek phalanx Darius spread his Persian infantry, the Cardaces, along the river and into the foothills, where they wrapped around to the other bank and threatened Alexander's right flank (the formation resembled gamma, Γ). Arrian gives an inflated figure of 20,000 to these troops. Darius positioned himself in the centre with his best infantry, the Greek mercenaries, and his royal cavalry guard. According to some historians, like P. Stratikis, he was trying to replicate the Hellenic battle formation of the Battle of the Granicus.

The Persian cavalry first charged Parmenion and the allied cavalry, crossing the river to open battle. Alexander's right wing became the crux of the battle, as at Gaugamela two years later, where Parmenion held the left wing long enough against superior Persian numbers for Alexander to make his calculated cavalry strike against Darius and break the Persian army. The infantry of the Greek left flank was commanded by the general Craterus, in a promotion from his position commanding a single brigade of pezhetairoi infantry at the Granicus.

Things did not go well for the Macedonians in the beginning. Their center phalanx, having to advance across a river and up a fortified bank, suffered severely against the Greek mercenaries waiting for them on the other side. Arrian noted that a hundred and twenty Macedonians "of note" (probably meaning officers) were slain here, and the Macedonians were forced to retreat across the river. In the left flank, the Thessalian struggled against the outnumbering mass of Persian heavy horse that faced them, delivering charges and retreating again to buy time.

Then the Hypaspists led by Alexander on foot delivered an assault on the Cardaces, and managed to punch a hole through the Persian line. The Agrianians too drove back a mass of Persian skirmishers menacing Alexander's far right, securing the flank of the Companions. Alexander then mounted a horse at the head of his Companions and led a direct assault against Darius and his bodyguards, causing them to flee from the battlefield. Alexander then saw his left flank and center in trouble, and allowing Darius to flee, he crashed into the rear of the Greek mercenaries. The Greek mercenaries broke up and started retreating from the battlefield as well. The Persians saw that their Great King had gone and that the battle was being lost, and they abandoned their positions and fled in full rout. The Hellenic cavalry pursued the fleeing Persians for as long as there was light. As with most ancient battles, significant carnage occurred after the battle as the pursuing Greeks slaughtered their crowded, disorganized foe. Arrian notes Ptolemy mentioning that while pursuing Darius, Alexander and his bodyguards came upon a ravine which they easily crossed on the piled up bodies of dead Persians. It was a decisive victory for Alexander.

The Battle of Issus was a decisive Hellenic victory and it marked the beginning of the end of Persian power. It was the first time the Persian army had been defeated with the King ( Darius III at the time) present. After the battle, the Hellenes captured Darius' wife, Stateira I, his daughters, Stateira II and Drypetis, and his mother, Sisygambis, all of whom had accompanied Darius on his campaign. Alexander, who later married Stateira II, treated the captured women with great respect.

Later, the Spartan king Agis III recruited the Greek mercenary survivors of the Battle of Issus who had served in the Persian army, a force of 8,000 veterans, and used them in his fight against the Macedonians. In the summer of 331 BC, Agis defeated Coragus, the Macedonian general in command of the Peloponnese and the garrison of Corinth, but was finally defeated at the Battle of Megalopolis.

Depictions of the battle

References

Delbrück, Hans (1920). History of the Art of War. University of Nebraska Press. Reprint edition, 1990. Translated by Walter, J. Renfroe. 4 Volumes.

Engels, Donald W. (1978). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London.

Fuller, John F. C. (1960). The Generalship of Alexander the Great. New Jersey: De Capo Press.

Green, Peter (1974). Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography.

Moerbeek, Martijn (1997). The battle of Issus, 333 BC. Universiteit Twente.

Rogers, Guy (2004). Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House.

Warry, J. (1998), Warfare in the Classical World. ISBN 1-84065-004-4.

Welman, Nick. Army. Fontys University.

External links

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Battle of Issus Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great Alexander battling Darius at the Battle of Issus ( Naples National Archaeological Museum) Belligerents Macedon League of Corinth Achaemenid Empire Commanders and leaders Alexander the Great Parmenion Craterus Hephaestion Ptolemy Pantordanus Sitalces II Menes Balacrus Darius III Arsames †

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The Battle of Granicus

Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great

The Battle of the Granicus River
by Charles Le Brun

Belligerents

Macedonia
Hellenic League

Achaemenid Empire

Commanders and leaders

Alexander the Great
Parmenion
Cleitus the Black
Hephaestion
Calas
Hegelochus
Ptolemy

Arsames
Rheomithres
Niphates †
Petenes †
Spithridates †
Mithrobuzanes †
Arbupales †
Mithridates †
Pharnaces †
Omares †
Arsites
Rhoesaces †
Memnon of Rhodes

Strength

32,000 infantry (12,000 Macedonians, 5,000 mercenaries, 7,000 Greeks, 7,000 Odrysians, Triballians and Illyrians, and 1,000 archers)
5,100 cavalry (1,800 Macedonians, 1,800 Thessalians, 600 other Greeks, and 900 Thracians and Paeonians)
Total: 37,100

10,000-20,000 cavalry[1][2]
5,000-20,000 Greek hoplite mercenaries[1][2]
Total: 20,000-30,000[3] (modern estimate)

Casualties and losses

300 to 400 killed[4]
1,150-1,380 to 3,500-4,200 wounded[4]

3,000 infantry killed[5]
1,000 cavalry killed[5]
2,000 captured[5]

The Battle of the Granicus River in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. Fought in northwestern Asia Minor, near the site of Troy, it was here that Alexander defeated the forces of the Persian satraps of Asia Minor, including a large force of Greek mercenaries led by Memnon of Rhodes.

The battle took place on the road from Abydos to Dascylium (near modern-day Ergili, Turkey), at the crossing of the Granicus River (modern-day ).

Background

After the death of Phillip of Macedon, many of his newly conquered territories desired to take advantage of the perceived weakness of the new young king. These nations included the Illyrians, Thracians, and some southern Greek city-states. Alexander had to prove the strength of his rule before leaving for his Persian expedition, and crushed several nascent rebellions within Greece and the northern tribes. After extensive planning in Macedonia, Alexander started to prepare for his next major conquest: the invasion of Asia. Before leaving Macedon, Alexander appointed his father's experienced general Antipater as regent in his absence, leaving him with 9,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry to maintain control over Macedonia's holdings in Europe. In the spring of 334 BC, Alexander took 2,600 cavalry and went on a 20-day march from Macedon to Hellespont, to join Parmenion in Asia.

Deployment of Persian troops

Before Alexander and his army were able to cross at Hellespont, the Persian provincial governors, and others in power at that time in Persia, assembled their forces of 10-20,000 cavalry and 5-20,000 infantry to the town of Zelea. Memnon was a high-ranking Greek mercenary employed by the Persians, and he advised the Persians to lay waste to the land that Alexander would have to pass, depriving his army of food and supplies. This would make it harder for Alexander and his army to survive on their long journey before the battle. The satraps did not trust Memnon because of his nationality, and did not ravage their territories. The Persians had two major objectives; first, they would try to force Alexander toward a position of their choosing before he could continue inland, and second, the Persians hoped to be able to be in a defensive position that would minimize Alexander's advantage in infantry. The Persians advanced from Zelea to the Granicus River, which would be an obstacle for Alexander and his army. The Persians hoped that his army would not be able to hold formation, which would severely cripple its effectiveness, as maintaining the closely packed and mutually supportive formation typically employed by the Greeks was central to their strategy. The Persians awaited the arrival of the Macedonians with all their cavalry in the front line. Alexander, after crossing into Asia at the Hellespont, then marched 100 km back to the north to meet the Persian armies.

According to Alexander's biographer Arrian, Alexander's army met the Persians on the third day of May from Abydos. Alexander's second-in-command, Parmenion, suggested crossing the river upstream and attacking at dawn the next day, but Alexander attacked immediately. This tactic caught the Persians off guard. The Macedonian line was arrayed with the heavy phalanxes in the middle, and cavalry on either side. Alexander was with the Companions on the right flank. The Persians expected the main assault to come from Alexander's position and moved units from their center to that flank.

The battle started with a cavalry and light infantry feint from the Macedonian left, from Parmenion's side of the battle line. The cavalry squadron was led by the officer Ptolemy, son of Philip. The Persians heavily reinforced that side, and the feint was driven back, but at that point, Alexander led the horse companions in their classic wedge-shaped charge, and smashed into the center of the Persian line. The Persians countercharged with a squadron of nobles on horse, and accounts show that in the melee, several high-ranking Persian nobles were killed by Alexander himself or his bodyguards, although Alexander was stunned by an axe-blow from a Persian nobleman named Rhoisakes. A second Persian nobleman named Spithridates attempted to attack Alexander from behind while he was still reeling; however, he was himself killed by Cleitus the Black, who severed his outstretched arm. Alexander quickly recovered.

Eventually the Macedonian horse were able to gain the advantage over their Persian counterpart, owing to the superiority of their lance over the Persian javelin for melee fighting, as well as the close support of the light infantry interspersed among their squadrons. The Greek cavalry then turned left and started rolling up the Persian cavalry, which was engaged with the left side of the Macedonian line after a general advance. A hole opened in the recently vacated place in the battle line, and the Macedonian infantry charged through to engage the poor-quality Persian infantry in the rear. The Macedonian phalanx then attacked the Greek mercenaries. With many of their leaders already dead, and their infantry routed, both flanks of the Persian cavalry retreated, seeing the collapse of the center. The infantry routed too, many being cut down as they fled.

That account of the battle is directly contradicted by Diodorus Siculus who states "When Alexander learned of the concentration of the Persian forces, he advanced rapidly and encamped opposite the enemy, so that the Granicus flowed between the encampments. The Persians, resting on high ground, made no move, intending to fall upon the foes as he crossed the river, for they supposed they could easily carry the day when the Macedonian phalanx was divided. But Alexander at dawn boldly brought his army across the river and deployed in good order before they could stop him. In return, they posted their mass of horsemen all along the front of the Macedonians since they had decided to press the battle with these. Memnon of Rhodes and satrap Arsamenes held the left wing each with his own cavalry; Arsites was stationed next with the horsemen from Paphlagonia; then came Spithrobates satrap of Ionia at the head of the Hyrcanian cavalry. The right wing was held by a thousand Medes and two thousand horsemen with Rheomithres as well as Bactrians of like number. Other national contingents occupied the centre, numerous and picked for their valour. In all, the cavalry amounted to more than ten thousand. The Persian foot soldiers were not fewer than one hundred thousand, but they were posted behind the line and did not advance since the cavalry was thought to be sufficient to crush the Macedonians." The record of Arrian and Diodorus on the battle of Granicus can't be reconciled so historians usually prefer Arrian, although some revisionists try to reconcile the two accounts.

Revisionist view

Historian Peter Green, in his 1974 book Alexander of Macedon, proposed a way to reconcile the accounts of Diodorus and Arrian. According to Green's interpretation, the riverbank was guarded by infantry, not cavalry, and Alexander's forces sustained heavy losses in the initial attempt to cross the river and were forced to retire. Alexander then grudgingly accepted Parmenion's advice and crossed the river during the night in an uncontested location, and fought the battle at dawn the next day. The Persian army hurried to the location of Alexander's crossing, with the cavalry reaching the scene of the battle first before the slower infantry, and then the battle continued largely as described by the Arrian and Plutarch accounts. Green accounts for the differences between his account and the ancient sources by suggesting that Alexander later covered up his initial failed crossing. Green devotes an entire appendix in support of his interpretation, taking the view that for political reasons, Alexander could not admit even a temporary defeat. Thus, the initial defeat was covered up by his propagandists by a very heroic (and Homeric) charge into the now well-deployed enemy. In his preface to the 2012 reprint, Green states: "on the evidence as it stands that theory remains untenable and the contradiction inexplicable."

Total casualties for the Greeks were between 300 and 400. The Persians had roughly 1,000 cavalry and 3,000 infantry killed, mostly in the rout. Towards the end of this battle, Alexander buried the Persian commanders and the Greek mercenaries who were killed fighting on the side of the enemy. The Greek mercenaries, under the command of Memnon of Rhodes, who fought for the Persians, were abandoned after the cavalry retreat. They attempted to broker a peace with Alexander but to no avail, because, although they were Greeks, they were fighting against Greece on behalf of the foreigners, in opposition to decrees which the Greeks had made in their federal council.. As a result, after the battle Alexander ordered the mercenaries to be enslaved. Out of the 18,000 Greek mercenaries, half were killed and 8,000 enslaved and sent back to Macedon to till the soil.

To Athens, he also sent 300 suits of Persian armour to be hung up in the Parthenon of the Acropolis as a votive offering or oblation to Athena, and ordered this inscription to be fixed over them so as to mark the absence of the Spartans in his united Greek army: " Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks, except of Lacedaemonians, present this offering of the spoils taken from the barbarians who live in Asia". ("Ἀλέξανδρος Φιλίππου καὶ οἱ Ἕλληνες, πλὴν Λακεδαιμονίων, ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων τῶν τὴν Ἀσίαν κατοικούντων"-"Alexandros Philippou kai hoi Hellēnes plēn Lakedaimoniōn apo tōn barbarōn tōn tēn Asian katoikountōn").

References

Delbrück, Hans (1920). History of the Art of War. University of Nebraska Press. Reprint edition, 1990. Translated by Walter, J. Renfroe. 4 Volumes.

Engels, Donald W. (1978). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London.

Fuller, John F. C. (1960). The Generalship of Alexander the Great. New Jersey: De Capo Press.

Green, Peter (1974). Alexander of Macedon: A Historical Biography.

Moerbeek, Martijn (1997). The battle of Granicus, 333 BC. Universiteit Twente.

Rogers, Guy (2004). Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. New York: Random House.

Thompson, M. (2007) Granicus 334 BC. Alexander's first Persian Victory. Osprey Publishing

Warry, J. (1998), Warfare in the Classical World. ISBN 1-84065-004-4.

Welman, Nick. Battles (Major) and Army. Fontys University.

"Wars of Alexander the Great: Battle of the Granicus." HistoryNet.com Live the History. www.historynet.com/wars-of-alexander-the-great-battle-of-the-granicus.htm (accessed April 15, 2013).

"Battle of Granicus." Ancient Babylon. (accessed April 10, 2013).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Battle of Granicus Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great The Battle of the Granicus Riverby Charles Le Brun Belligerents Macedonia Hellenic League Achaemenid Empire Commanders and leaders Alexander the Great Parmenion Cleitus the Black Hephaestion Calas Hegelochus Ptolemy Arsames Rheomithres Niphates † Petenes † Spithridates † Mithrobuzanes

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The term itself, as used today, does not refer to a distinctive military unit or division (e.g., the Roman legion or the contemporary Western-type battalion), but to the type of formation of an army's troops. Therefore, this term does not indicate a standard combat strength or composition but includes the total number of infantry, which is deployed in a single formation known as a "phalanx".

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alexander the great gordian knot gordius phrygia asia zeus greek ox cart gordium

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The Gordian Knot - Alexander The Great - Gordius - Alexander - Gordian Knot

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Story of the Gordian Knot. How Alexander the Great overcame the Gordian Knot. The Gordian Knot was the name given to an intricate knot used by Gordius to secure his oxcart. Gordian Knot.

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father: Phillip II of Macedon
Mother: Olympias

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One of Philips many wives was Olympia, Alexander's mother and Daughter of the late king Epirus. It was due to no small feat on her own part, that her son, the young crowned prince, succeeded as mightily as he did. She had an iron will, and did everything to protect and advance Alexander's interests, constantly instilling the notion of greatness.

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when and where was he born? What kind of education and training did he have?

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when and where was he born? What kind of education and training did he have?

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Born in Pella Greece, July 356 BC. Education by tutors.