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The ancient people of Greece were some of the most influential and evolutionary people of all time. As a effect of this Ancient Greeks contributed to many key inventions that still effect the modern world.
DEMOCRACY
Among these achievements there are a few which stand out, one of these being the invention of the first democracy. The goal of ancient democracy was that all citizens should have equal political rights. This was done by citizens having a say in either the council or the assembly. The assembly was composed of 500 elected men from the clans of Athens. The assembly would create new laws throughout the land and was overseen by the Council. The Council's function was to limit the Assembly's power through legislation and was composed of the wealthier classes.
Water Mill
The water mill was a invention created to help the production of food throughout Greece. The purpose of the milling is to grind grain. This led to production of edible food staple like beaten rice, cereals, pulses, flour and etc. These mills are still used in many parts of the world in this modern day to serve similar purposes.

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Ancient Greek Religion - World History Encyclopedia

The Greek people had a polytheistic religion that believed that gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Athena and 8 others resided on Mt. Olympus. Greek gods were very human, having human bodies and supposed families. Temples were built in honor of particular gods, with animal scarifies being carried out outside them. Temples were visited anytime with common prayers of medical needs. Signs from gods were looked for everywhere and interpreted as omens or outcomes of future events. While Greek Religion sounds like Greek Mythology, the two were very different. Greek Mythology was connected to traditional tales while Greek religion focused on real polytheistic beliefs. During the Classical Age (5th and 6th century BC), the widely influential philosopher Plato, suggested that there was only one higher being; one god. For this belief he was executed.

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In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. With formal rituals which included animal sacrifices and libations, myths to explain the origins of mankind and give the gods a human face, temples which dominated the urban landscape, city festivals and national sporting and artistic competitions, religion was never far from the mind of an ancient Greek. Whilst the individual may have made up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may have been completely sceptical, certain fundamentals must have been sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to function: the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

The Olympian Gods

Polytheistic Greek religion encompassed a myriad of gods, each representing a certain facet of the human condition, and even abstract ideas such as justice and wisdom could have their own personification. The most important gods, though, were the Olympian gods led by Zeus:

These 12 Olympian gods were believed to reside on Mt. Olympus and would have been recognised across Greece, albeit, with some local variations and perhaps particular attributes and associations.

In the Greek imagination, literature & art, the gods were given human bodies & characters - both good & bad.

In the Greek imagination, literature, and art, the gods were given human bodies and characters - both good and bad - and just as ordinary men and women, they married, had children (often through illicit affairs), fought, and in the stories of Greek mythology they directly intervened in human affairs. These traditions were first recounted only orally as there was no sacred text in Greek religion and later, attempts were made to put in writing this oral tradition, notably by Hesiod in his and more indirectly in the works of Homer.

Temples, Rituals & Priests

Gods became patrons of cities, for example, Aphrodite for Corinth and Helios for Rhodes, and were called upon for help in particular situations, for example, Ares during war and Hera for weddings. Some gods were imported from abroad, for example, Adonis, and incorporated into the Greek pantheon whilst rivers and springs could take on a very localised personified form such as the nymphs.

The temple ( naos - meaning dwelling place in reference to the belief that the god dwelt in that place, or at least temporarily visited during rituals) was the place where, on special occasions, religion took on a more formal tone. Gods were worshipped at sacred sites and temples in all major Greek communities in ceremonies carried out by priests and their attendants.

At first, sacred sites were merely a simple altar in a designated area, but over time massive temples came to be built in honour of a particular god and these usually housed a cult statue of the deity, most famously the huge statue of Athena in the Parthenon of Athens or Zeus at Olympia. In time, a whole complex of temples to lesser gods could spring up around the main temple, creating a large sacred complex, often built on an acropolis dominating a city or surrounding area. This sacred area ( temenos) was separated from the rest of the community by a symbolic gate or propylon, and in fact, it was believed that this area belonged to the particular deity in question. Sacred sites also received financial donations and dedications of statues, fountains and even buildings from the faithful, often to celebrate a great military victory and give thanks to the gods, and larger sanctuaries also had permanent caretakers ( neokoroi) who were responsible for the upkeep of the site.

The animals sacrificed were usually pigs, sheep, goats or cows & always the same sex as the god which was being honoured.

The temple itself, though, was not used during religious practices as these were carried out at a designated altar outside the temple. Ancient authors often show a reluctance to go into explicit details of religious ceremonies and rites as if these were too sacred to be publicised in the written word. What we do know is that the most common religious practices were sacrifice and the pouring of libations, all to the accompaniment of prayers in honour of the god. The animals sacrificed were usually pigs, sheep, goats or cows and always the same sex as the god which was being honoured. The meat was then either burnt completely or cooked, with part offered to the god and the rest eaten by some or all of the worshippers or taken away to be eaten later. The actual killing of the animal was carried out by a butcher or cook ( megeiras) whilst a young girl sprinkled seeds onto the animals head, perhaps symbolic of life and regeneration at the moment of the animal's death. Other such rituals included examining the entrails of sacrificed animals to ascertain signs which could help predict future events.

Priests then, orchestrated the religious ceremonies and delivered prayers. The position was generally open to all and once assuming the role, particularly when wearing the sacred headband, the body of the priest became inviolate. Priests served a specific god but they were not necessarily religious experts. For theological questions, a citizen could consult an exegetes, a state official, who was knowledgeable in religious affairs. Women could also be priests, which is perhaps surprising given their lack of any other public role in Greek society. Often, but not always, the priest was the same sex as the god they represented. Priestesses did have the added restriction that they were most often selected because they were virgins or beyond menopause. Worshippers, on the other hand, could be both sexes and those rituals with restrictions could exclude either men or women.

Mysteries & Oracles

In addition to the formal and public religious ceremonies there were also many rites which were open to and known only by the initiated who performed them, the most famous example being the Mysteries of Eleusis. In these closed groups, members believed that certain activities gave spiritual benefits, amongst them a better after-life.

Places could also acquire a divine connection; the great oracles such as that of Apollo at Delphi and Zeus at Dodona may well have begun as places considered particularly good to receive signs from the gods. Such places became hugely important centres with their priest oracles consulted by both individuals and city-states so that the rather vague and ambiguous proclamations might help guide their future conduct.

Festivals & Games

Athletic Games and competitions in music (especially playing the kithara and lyre) and theatre (both tragedy and comedy) were held during festivals such as the City Dionysia of Athens and the Panhellenic games at the most important sacred sites of Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, and Isthmia to honour a particular god. These events were attended by visitors from all over Greece and the experience was perhaps more akin to a pilgrimage rather than that of a mere sports fan. Illustrating their sacred status, warfare was prohibited during these events and pilgrims were guaranteed free-passage across Greece. However, there were also much smaller festivals, sometimes only attended by a very select number of individuals, for example, the Arrhephoria in Athens, where only priestesses and a maximum of four young girls participated.

Personal Religion

Although the historical record reveals much about formal religious occasions and ceremony, we should remember that Greek religion was in fact practised anywhere, at any time, by private individuals in a very personal way. Not only temples but also the hearth in private homes was regarded as sacred, for example. Individuals could also visit a temple anytime they wanted to and it was customary to say a prayer even when just passing them in the street. People left offerings such as incense, flowers, and food, no doubt with a hopeful prayer or in gratitude for a past deed. Individuals could also organise their own private sacrifice if they had the means to do so, and these have been commemorated in thousands of stone relief markers found at sacred sites. In addition, temples were often visited in order to seek healing, especially at those sites associated with Asclepius the god of medicine, notably at Epidaurus.

People also looked for signs from the gods in everyday life and to interpret these signs as indicators of future events. Such signs could be birds in the sky or a spoken word between friends said at a particular moment or even a simple sneeze which might be interpreted as an auspicious or inauspicious omen.

Such beliefs and, indeed, certain aspects of religion such as the immorality of the gods as portrayed in the arts, were severely criticised by intellectuals, artists, and philosophers from the 5th century BCE, but these may or may not reflect the commonly held views of the wider populace, and it is difficult to believe from the wealth of archaeological and written records that religion was anything but a fundamental part of life for the ordinary inhabitants of the ancient Greek world.

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In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. With formal rituals which included animal sacrifices and libations, myths to explain the origins of mankind...

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The Greeks were a people unified by culture, religion, and language, but divided in just about every other way. The geography of Greece made a central government near impossible, so instead Greece was divided into hundreds of independent city-states that made there own laws and operated freely of one another. Sports and games were one thing that unified the people. Many of the competitions also held religious importance and related to Greek mythology. The most prominent of these events were the Olympic Games which were held every four years in Olympia to honor Zeus. Massive temples were also constructed all over Greece to honor Zeus and all other Greek deities. The Ancient Greek civilization accomplished a lot during its existence and paved the way for others through its innovations in politics, trade, and science.

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The Ancient Greeks were some of the first people to rely on international trade in their economy. One detail that is important to clarify, is that the Greeks shared a religion and a language, but considered themselves a part of their individual city-states. They started trade with one another, but had to trade with other peoples to get the food they needed to support their growing population. The Greeks did most of their trading over seas and became adept sailors. They traded with civilizations all across the Mediterranean Ocean. The Greeks exported pottery, olives, wine, and metal work. In return they would receive wheat, wood, glass, tin, copper, silver, and so on. The marketplace in Greece was called agora, and was the center of Greeks' daily lives. Trade was the center of Greece's economy and helped it too develop into a remarkable empire.

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Because of the geography of Greece, many of the cities were ruled independently of the central government. There were four main political systems that these city-states used, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and tyranny. Most of these rulers were wealthy noblemen and aristocrats whose interests were often far different than those of the common citizen. the capital city, Athens eventually developed Democracy making the Greeks the creators of Democracy. The citizens allowed to vote were free males above the age of twenty. Everyone else was not considered a citizen and did not have the right to vote. The politics of the Ancient Greeks varied a lot over the years and eventually settled on Democracy.

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The Greek League of 303 BCE was similar to the Corinthian League. These leagues were both created so the towns of Greece would stop fighting each other, and combine efforts in order to fight the Macedonian ruler Cassander. In the League there were a body of councilors who represented the individual towns of Greece. These councilors would vote on the leagues policies while 5 presidents oversaw the meetings. Some rules of these meetings were, that the league would meet in peacetime and in wartime. As well as the decisions of the council having the same power of the law. If any of the city's did not send there full militia to the greater army, they would have to pay a fine every day of half a mina for every cavalryman, 20 drachmas for every hoplite, 10 drachmas for every light armed soldier and 10 for every sailor, until the expiry of the period of military service for all the other Greeks.

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Geography:  The Ancient Greeks lived near what is considered to be modern day Turkey, but there were colonies all along the Mediterranean and Black Sea's. It consisted of many islands and archipelagos, making travel by sea a main way of transportation. The summers in Ancient Greece were hot and dry with wet and windy winters. Wheat, barley, grapes, and olives were the main crops grown in Ancient Greece. Greece was also very hilly and grassy allowing herds to wander and graze where they pleased. Another consequence of the mountains and islands was the independent growth and development of Greek city-states. Trade was a large part of Greece due to its many port cities.

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Greece geologically peaked around in 336BC to 323BC under the rule of Alexander the Great.

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- https://www.livescience.com/39997-alexander-the-great.html
- https://www.biography.com/scholar/aristotle
- https://www.worldhistory.org/Hypatia_of_Alexandria/
- https://www.studentsofhistory.com/geography-of-ancient-greece
- https://www.thoughtco.com/important-facts-about-ancient-greek-government-118550
- https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/ancient-medieval/classical-greece/a/greek-society

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(Image credit: Image courtesy Wikimedia, from an ancient mosaic in Pompeii, Italy)

Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C. and conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan.

During his reign, Alexander the Great had a massive impact in his time and sent ripples into the future. "In a reign of 13 years Alexander shot across the Greek and Middle Eastern firmament like a meteor, transforming whatever he - often brutally - touched and ensuring the ancient world and so eventually our world could never be the same again," Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis professor of Greek culture at Cambridge University, wrote in All About History magazine.

Alexander's triumphs also made him a legendary figure and an inspiration for future generations. "Until the internet age, Alexander the Great was probably the most famous human being who ever lived," Cartledge wrote. "His astounding career of conquest inspired not just Caesar and Augustus but also Mark Antony, Napoleon, Hitler and other would-be world conquerors from the West."
Related: Has the tomb of Alexander the Great's mom been found?
Yet, despite his military accomplishments, ancient records say that he failed to win the respect of some of his subjects, wrote Pierre Briant, emeritus professor of history at Collège de France, in "Alexander the Great and His Empire" (Princeton University Press, 2010) and, furthermore, he had some of the people closest to him murdered.

"The personality of Alexander the Great was a paradox," Susan Abernethy of The Freelance History Writer told Live Science. "He had great charisma and force of personality but his character was full of contradictions, especially in his later years (his early 30s). However, he had the ability to motivate his army to do what seemed to be impossible."

Where was Alexander the Great from?

Alexander was born around July 20, 356 B.C., in Pella in modern-day northern Greece, which was the administrative capital of ancient Macedonia. He was the son of King Philip II and Olympias (one of Philip's seven or eight wives) and was brought up with the belief that he was of divine birth. "From his earliest days, Olympias had encouraged him to believe that he was a descendent of heroes and gods. Nothing he had accomplished would have discouraged this belief," wrote Guy MacLean Rogers, a professor of classics at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, in his book "" (Random House, 2004).

Alexander's father was often away, conquering neighboring territories and putting down revolts. Nevertheless, King Philip II of Macedon was one of Alexander's most influential role models, Abernethy said. "Philip ensured Alexander was given a noteworthy and significant education. He arranged for Alexander to be tutored by Aristotle himself ... His education infused him with a love of knowledge, logic, philosophy, music and culture. The teachings of Aristotle [would later aid] him in the treatment of his new subjects in the empires he invaded and conquered, allowing him to admire and maintain these disparate cultures."

Alexander watched his father campaign nearly every year and win victory after victory. Philip remodeled the Macedonian army from citizen-warriors into a professional organization, wrote Ian Worthington, professor of history and archaeology at Macquarie University, in "Philip II of Macedonia" (Yale University Press, 2010). Philip suffered serious wounds in battle, such as the loss of an eye, a broken shoulder and a damaged leg, according to Worthington.

Philip decided to leave his 16-year-old son in charge of Macedonia while he was away on campaign, Cartledge wrote in his book "Alexander the Great" (Overlook Press, 2004). Alexander took advantage of the opportunity by defeating a Thracian people called the Maedi and founding "Alexandroupolis," a city he named after himself.

"Alexander felt the need to challenge his father's authority and superiority and wished to out-do his father," Abernethy said.

Ancient records, such as Plutarch's "," indicate that Alexander and Philip became estranged later in Alexander's teenage years. "Alexander may have resented his father's many marriages and the children born from them, seeing them as a threat to his own position," said Abernethy. At one point his mother Olympia was exiled to Epirus in western Greece.

Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C. while celebrating the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra (not the famous Egyptian pharaoh). The person who stabbed him was said to have been one of Philip's former male lovers, named Pausanias. While the ancient Greek historian Cleitarchus pointed to jealousy and betrayal as the motive, as outlined by Diodorus Siculus in " Library of History," other ancient sources like Justin in " Epitome of the Philippic History Of Pompeius Trogus" suspected that Pausanias may have been part of a larger plot to kill the king - one that may have included Alexander and his mother.

At the time of his death, Philip was contemplating invading the Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, which at its peak stretched from the Balkan peninsula to modern-day Pakistan and had repeatedly attempted to conquer the Greek world. Philip's dream was passed onto Alexander, partly via his mother Olympias, according to Abernethy. "She fostered in him a burning dynastic ambition and told him it was his destiny to invade Persia."

Upon his father's death, Alexander moved quickly to consolidate power. He gained the support of the Macedonian army and intimidated the Greek city states that Philip had conquered into accepting his rule. After campaigns in the Balkans and Thrace, Alexander moved against Thebes, a city in Greece that had risen up in rebellion. He conquered it in 335 B.C. and had the city destroyed.

With Greece and the Balkans pacified, he was ready to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.

Conquering the Persian Empire

While Alexander may have had his own reasons for expanding eastward, "his official reason for wanting to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire... was to lead the allied Greeks in a war of liberation: to free forever from Persian control the Greek cities along the Anatolian coast and on the island of Cyprus, and in so doing also to exact revenge for the Persians' invasion of Greece under Great King Xerxes in 480-479 BCE," Cartledge wrote.

But ironically, Alexander often fought Greek mercenaries while campaigning against Darius III, the king of Persia. Even more ironically,, a city that had famously lost its king and 300 warriors in the Battle of Thermopylae during a Persian invasion attempt, also opposed Alexander, going so far as to seek Persian help in the Spartans' efforts to overthrow him, according to Siculus.

Nevertheless, Alexander was hugely successful against Persia. The first major battle he won against the Perisans was in 334 B.C. at the Battle of Granicus, fought in modern-day western Turkey, not far from the ancient city of . The ancient Greek historian Arrian wrote that Alexander defeated a force of 20,000 Persian horsemen and an equal number of foot soldiers. He then advanced down the coast of west Turkey, taking cities and depriving the Persian navy of bases.

The second key battle he won - and perhaps the most important - was the Battle of Issus, fought in 333 B.C. near the ancient town of Issus in southern Turkey, close to modern-day Syria. In that battle, the Persians were led by Darius III himself. Arrian estimated that Darius had a force of 600,000 troops (probably wildly exaggerated) and initially positioned himself on a great plain where he could mass his force effectively against Alexander, who hesitated to give battle.

Darius is said to have thought this as a sign of timidity. "One courtier after another incited Darius, declaring that he would trample down the Macedonian army with his cavalry," Arrian wrote. So, Darius gave up his position and chased Alexander. At first this went well, and Darius's soldiers got in the rear of Alexander's force. However, Darius's army had been led to a narrow spot where the Persians could not use their superior numbers effectively, and at that point Alexander moved his force against the Persians. Alexander's experienced army proved too strong for the Persian force, and eventually Darius fled, along with his army.

In his haste, Darius left much of his family behind, including his mother, wife, infant son and two daughters. Alexander ordered that they be "honored, and addressed as royalty," Arrian wrote. After the battle, Darius offered Alexander a ransom for his family and alliance, through marriage.

Arrian wrote that Alexander rebuked Darius in writing, saying "in the future whenever you send word to me, address yourself to me as King of Asia and not as an equal, and let me know, as the master of all that belonged to you, if you have need of anything."

Pharaoh of Egypt

Alexander then moved south along the eastern Mediterranean, continuing a strategy designed to deprive the Persians of their naval bases. Many cities surrendered, but some, such as, which was on an island in modern-day Lebanon, put up a fight and forced Alexander to lay siege.

In 332 B.C., after Gaza was taken by siege, Alexander entered Egypt, a country that had experienced on-and-off periods of Persian rule for two centuries. On its northern coast, he founded Alexandria, the most successful city he ever built. Arrian wrote that "a sudden passion for the project seized him, and he himself marked out where the agora was to be built and decided how many temples were to be erected and to which gods they were to be dedicated...".

Alexander claimed the title of pharaoh, and according to Cartledge, looked to attach himself to the line of Egyptian rulers through a traditional ceremony. "Almost certainly he had himself crowned pharaoh in the old Egyptian capital of Memphis, thereby not only ingratiating himself with the Egyptian masses but also enfolding the old and still powerful Egyptian priesthood in the embrace of his new Egyptian monarchy," Cartledge wrote.

Battle of Gaugamela

With the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt under his control, , Alexander successfully deprived the Persians of naval bases and was free to move inland to conquer the eastern half of the Persian Empire.

At the Battle of Gaugamela, fought in 331 B.C. in northern Iraq near present-day Erbil, Alexander faced as many as 1 million troops, according to Arrian (modern scholars' estimates vary but put the total closer to 100,000 against roughly 50,000 soldiers for Alexander). Darius brought soldiers from all over his empire, and even beyond. Scythian horsemen from the Persian Empire's northern borders faced Alexander, as did "Indian" troops (as the ancient writers called them) who were probably from modern-day Pakistan.

The battle soon became a war of nerves. "For a brief period the fighting was hand to hand, but when Alexander and his horseman pressed the enemy hard, shoving the Persians and striking their faces with spears, and the Macedonian phalanx, tightly arrayed and bristling with pikes, was already upon them, Darius, who had long been in a state of dread, now saw terrors all around him; he wheeled about - the first to do so - and fled," Arrian wrote. From that point on the Persian army started to collapse and the Persian king fled, with Alexander in hot pursuit.

Darius was later betrayed by one of his satraps, or regional governors, named Bessus (who then claimed kingship over what was left of Persia), and was killed by his own troops in 330 B.C..

Alexander wanted a peaceful transition of power in Persia following Darius's defeat. He needed to have the appearance of legitimacy to appease the people, so Alexander provided a noble burial for Darius.

"[Providing noble burials] was a common practice by Alexander and his generals when they took over the rule of different areas of the empire," Abernethy said.

Alexander was influenced by the teachings of his tutor, Aristotle, whose philosophy of Greek ethos did not require forcing Greek culture on the colonized. "Alexander would take away the political autonomy of those he conquered but not their culture or way of life. In this way, he would gain their loyalty by honoring their culture, even after the conquest was complete, creating security and stability. Alexander himself even adopted Persian dress and certain Persian customs," Abernethy said.

Wishing to incorporate the most easterly portions of the Persian Empire into his own, Alexander campaigned in central Asia from 330 and 327 B.C.. It was a rocky, frost-bitten conflict, which raised tensions within his own army, and led to Alexander killing two of his closest friends.

Why did Alexander kill his friends?

Alexander killing Parmenio, his former second in command, and Cleitus, the Macedonian king's close friend who is said to have saved his life at the Battle of Granicus, may be seen as a sign of how Alexander's men were becoming tired of campaigning, and how Alexander was becoming increasingly paranoid.

At some point during Alexander's campaign in central Asia, Parmenio's son, Philotas, allegedly failed to report a plot against Alexander's life. The king, incensed, decided to kill not only Philotas and the other men deemed conspirators, but also Parmenio, even though he apparently had nothing to do with the alleged plot.

According to the first-century A.D. writer Quintus Curtius (as found in "Alexander The Great: Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius," Hackett Publishing, 1800), Alexander tasked a man named Polydamas, a friend of Parmenio, to perform the deed, holding his brothers hostage until he murdered Parmenio. Arriving in Parmenio's tent in the city where he was stationed, Polydamas handed him two letters: one from Alexander and one from Parmenio's son.

When Parmenio was reading the letter from his son, a general named Cleander, who aided Polydamas with his mission, "opened him (Parmenio) up with a sword thrust to his side, then struck him a second blow in the throat..." killing him, Quintus Curtius wrote.

A second casualty of Alexander's fury was his friend Cleitus, who was angry at Alexander for adopting Persian dress and customs. After an episode where the two were drinking, Cleitus scolded the king, telling him, in essence, that he should follow Macedonian ways, not Persian customs.

Cleitus lifted up his right hand and said, "this is the hand, Alexander, that saved you then (at the Battle of Granicus)," according to Arrian. Alexander, infuriated, killed him with a spear or pike.

Alexander took his act of murder terribly. "Again and again, he called himself his friend's murderer and went without food and drink for three days and completely neglected his person." Arrian wrote.

Alexander's final battles

Alexander's days in central Asia were not all unhappy. After his troops had captured a fortress at a place called Sogdian Rock in modern-day Uzbekistan in 327 B.C. he met Roxana, the daughter of a local ruler. The two married, and they had an unborn son at the time of Alexander's death.

Despite his men's fatigue, and the fact that he was far from home, Alexander pressed on into a land that the Greeks called "India" (what is now present-day Pakistan). Plutarch explained in "The Life of Alexander the Great" that he made an alliance with a local ruler named Taxiles, who agreed to allow Alexander to use his city, Taxila, as a base of operations. He also agreed to give Alexander all the supplies he needed - which was very useful given Alexander's long supply lines.

In exchange, Alexander agreed to fight Porus, a local ruler who set out against Alexander with an army that reportedly included 200 . The two armies met at the Hydaspes River in 326 B.C. Alexander bided his time; he scouted the area, built up a fleet of ships and lulled Porus into a false sense of security.

When Porus mobilized his forces he found himself in a predicament; his cavalry was not as experienced as Alexander's. As such, he put his 200 elephants - animals the Macedonians had never faced in large numbers - up front.

Alexander responded by using his cavalry to attack the wings of Porus's forces, quickly putting Porus's cavalry to flight. The result was that Porus's cavalry, foot soldiers and elephants eventually became jumbled together. Making matters worse for Porus, Alexander's soldiers attacked the elephants with javelins, and the wounded elephants went on a rampage, stomping on both Alexander and Porus's troops.

With his army falling apart, Porus stayed until the end and was captured. Arrian wrote that Porus was brought to the Macedonian king and said, "treat me like a king, Alexander." Alexander, impressed with his bravery and words, made him an ally.

The journey home

In 324 B.C., Alexander's close friend, general and bodyguard Haphaestion died suddenly from fever. Haphaestion's death caused a drastic change in Alexander's personality, Abernethy said. "Alexander had always been a heavy drinker and the substance abuse began to take its toll. He lost his self-control and his compassion for his men. He became reckless, self-indulgent and inconsistent, causing a loss of loyalty by his men and officers. He had always had a violent temper and been rash, impulsive and stubborn. The drinking made these traits worse."

Under such conditions, many of his men insisted that Alexander turn back home, according to Abernethy. Sailing south down the Indus River, he fought a group called the Malli and was severely wounded after he led an attack against their city wall. After reaching the Indian Ocean he split his force in three. One element, with the heavy equipment, would take a relatively safe route to Persia, the second, under his command, would traverse Gedrosia, a largely uninhabited deserted area that no large force had ever crossed before. A third force, embarked on ships, would support Alexander's force and sail alongside them.

The Gedrosia crossing was a miserable failure, and upto three-quarters of Alexander's troops died along the way. His fleet was unable to keep up with the main force due to bad winds. "The burning heat and the lack of water destroyed a great part of the army and particularly the pack animals," Arrian wrote.

Why Alexander chose to lead part of his force through Gedrosia is a mystery. It could simply be because no one had ever attempted to bring such a large force through it before and Alexander wanted to be the first.

Return to Persia and death

Alexander returned to Persia, this time as the ruler of a kingdom that stretched from the Balkans to Egypt to modern-day Pakistan. In 324 B.C., he arrived in Susa in present-day Iran, where a number of his innermost advisers got married.

Alexander got married to two other women, in addition to Roxana, whom he had married in central Asia. One was Barsine, daughter of Darius III, and the other was a Persian woman Arrian identified as Parysatis. Roxana likely did not take kindly to her two new co-wives and, after Alexander's death, she may have had them both killed, Plutarch wrote.

In 323 B.C., Alexander was in Babylon in modern-day Iraq, and his next major military target was apparently to be Arabia on the southern end of his empire. In June 323 B.C., while he was readying troops, he caught a fever that would not go away. He soon had trouble speaking and eventually died, with some suggesting he was . However, his death may have been announced prematurely, according Katherine Hall, a senior lecturer in the Department of General Practice and Rural Health at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Shortly before his death, Alexander was supposedly asked who his empire should go to. His answer was said to be "to the strongest man," although he had an unborn son. However, there was nobody strong enough to hold his empire together. "Alexander's untimely death, without any provision having been made for a smooth succession (if such were indeed possible), opened the floodgates for two generations of warfare among his marshals, generals and lieutenants for their slice of his hypertrophied empire," Cartledge wrote.

Alexander's legacy

"Perhaps the most significant legacy of Alexander was the range and extent of the proliferation of Greek culture," Abernethy said. "The reign of Alexander the Great signaled the beginning of a new era in history known as the Hellenistic Age. Greek culture had a powerful influence on the areas Alexander conquered."

Many of the cities that Alexander founded were named Alexandria, including the Egyptian city that is now home to more than 4.5 million people. The many Alexandrias were located on trade routes, which increased the flow of commodities between the East and the West.
Additional reporting by Jessie Szalay, Live Science contributor, and Jonathan Gordon, Editor of All About History.
Alexander's legacy remains alive today, according to Cartledge, and is reimagined and reinterpreted by each generation; "There have been many Alexanders, as many as there have been observers, enemies, admirers, worshippers or serious students of the man, and hero, and god."

Owen Jarus writes about archaeology and all things about humans' past for Live Science. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. He enjoys reading about new research and is always looking for a new historical tale.

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Alexander the Great: Facts, Biography & Accomplishments

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(Image credit: Image courtesy Wikimedia, from an ancient mosaic in Pompeii, Italy) Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia from 336 B.C. to 323 B.C. and conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. During his reign, Alexander the Great had a massive impact in his time and sent ripples into the future.

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How The Hellenistic World Spread Western Culture

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How The Hellenistic World Spread Western Culture

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The Hellenistic World spread western culture through the Hellenistic states. During the Hellenistic period (323BC-31BC) after Alexander the Greats death, the land he conquered from the Mediterranean sea to the Persian gulf was split up into various Greek Kingdoms. All these kingdoms shared the same culture and language. People in these kingdoms moved fluidly around the former empire and they all spoke the same language. Because of this anyone could understand anyone from anywhere, allowing for culture to spread.

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Major Events Include:
Invasion of the Romans 146 BC
Rule of Alexander the Great 336BC-323BC
Bubonic Plague in Athens 430BC
Second Peloponnesian War 431BC
Age of Pericles 445BC-429BC
Rise of Greek Tyrants 650BC
First Olympic Games 776BC
Trojan war 1250BC

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Alexander the Great: Was one of the greatest military generals of all time. He was the ruler of Macedonia who conquered a large empire stretching from the Balkans to modern day Pakistan, bringing cultures and societies together.

Aristotle: A scientist and philosopher who is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers of all time because of his contributions in politics, psychology, and ethics. He was taught by Plato and taught Alexander the Great. He greatly developed human knowledge in every respect and is to thank for many of our views on the world today.

Hypatia of Alexandria: Was one of the first women to study mathematics, philosophy, astronomy, etc. She was also one of the greatest thinkers that lived in Ancient Alexandria. Some of her ideas were thought to have gone against the teachings of the church which eventually lead to her murder.

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Hellenistic Greece - Ancient Greece, Timeline & Definition - HISTORY