[281] In medieval Europe, Alexander the Great was revered as a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes whose lives were believed to encapsulate all the ideal qualities of chivalry. [114] Ambhi hastened to relieve Alexander of his apprehension and met him with valuable presents, placing himself and all his forces at his disposal. Recrossing the Hindu Kush, probably by Bamiyan and the Ghorband Valley, Alexander divided his forces. [71] According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone and hacked it apart with his sword. [239] The temple was designed by Pytheos, one of the architects of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. [184] Alexander also recognized the potential for disunity among his diverse army, which employed various languages and weapons. [154][155] Another poisoning explanation put forward in 2010 proposed that the circumstances of his death were compatible with poisoning by water of the river Styx (modern-day Mavroneri in Arcadia, Greece) that contained calicheamicin, a dangerous compound produced by bacteria. Alexander endeavoured to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and invaded India in 326 BC, winning an important victory over the Pauravas at the Battle of the Hydaspes. [58], While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. However, its after-effects shook the Jewish world to its roots. As a teenager, Alexander became known for his exploits on the battlefield. [114], After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against King Porus, who ruled a region lying between the Hydaspes and the Acesines (Chenab), in what is now the Punjab, in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. [128], Alexander sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest back to Persia through the more difficult southern route along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran. [277] Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in search of immortality. They refused to be sent away and criticized his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units. [99] He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne. [137] During his visit to Pasargadae Alexander ordered his architect Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus' tomb. [274], According to Josephus, Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel when he entered Jerusalem, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. Next lesson. "[117] A similar slaughter followed at Ora. Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as India. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace. [106], In 334 BC, Alexander the Great donated funds for the completion of the new temple of Athena Polias in Priene, in modern-day western Turkey. Leaving Porus, he then proceeded down the river and into the Indus, with half his forces on shipboard and half marching in three columns down the two banks. Shortly afterward, however, Callisthenes was held to be privy to a conspiracy among the royal pages and was executed (or died in prison; accounts vary); resentment of this action alienated sympathy from Alexander within the Peripatetic school of philosophers, with which Callisthenes had close connections. [69] In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre, which he captured after a long and difficult siege. But he was anxious to press on farther, and he had advanced to the Hyphasis when his army mutinied, refusing to go farther in the tropical rain; they were weary in body and spirit, and Coenus, one of Alexander’s four chief marshals, acted as their spokesman. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. Following up Nearchus’s voyage, he now founded an Alexandria at the mouth of the Tigris and made plans to develop sea communications with India, for which an expedition along the Arabian coast was to be a preliminary. [55] The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi, and defeated their army near the Lyginus river[56] (a tributary of the Danube). His eyes (one blue, one brown) revealed a dewy, feminine quality. All Parmenio’s adherents were now eliminated and men close to Alexander promoted. [16] Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life included Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes; Alexander's generals Ptolemy and Nearchus; Aristobulus, a junior officer on the campaigns; and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. Before continuing his pursuit of Darius, who had retreated into Bactria, he assembled all the Persian treasure and entrusted it to Harpalus, who was to hold it at Ecbatana as chief treasurer. At Persepolis he ceremonially burned down the palace of Xerxes, as a symbol that the Panhellenic war of revenge was at an end; for such seems the probable significance of an act that tradition later explained as a drunken frolic inspired by Thaïs, an Athenian courtesan. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history. [211] However, Alexander also was a pragmatic ruler who understood the difficulties of ruling culturally disparate peoples, many of whom lived in kingdoms where the king was divine. [91] Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning. Quintus Curtius Rufus wrote a "History of Alexander the Great of Macedon", which has been translated by J.C.Rolfe in his Loeb edition, with the Latin text on facing pages. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War by Xerxes;[90] Plutarch and Diodorus allege that Alexander's companion, the hetaera Thaïs, instigated and started the fire. [123] Philostratus the Elder in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana writes that in the army of Porus there was an elephant who fought brave against Alexander's army and Alexander dedicated it to the Helios (Sun) and named it Ajax, because he thought that a so great animal deserved a great name. Alexander’s march through Gedrosia proved disastrous; waterless desert and shortage of food and fuel caused great suffering, and many, especially women and children, perished in a sudden monsoon flood while encamped in a wadi. There was much speculation about the cause of death, and the most popular theories claim that he either contracted malaria or typhoid fever or that he was poisoned. A decree brought by Nicanor to Europe and proclaimed at Olympia (September 324) required the Greek cities of the Greek League to receive back all exiles and their families (except the Thebans), a measure that implied some modification of the oligarchic regimes maintained in the Greek cities by Alexander’s governor Antipater. He was born in 356 bce at Pella in Macedonia, the son of Philip II and Olympias (daughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus). After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. [54], Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. Pompey the Great adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anastole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness. Two years later he commanded the left wing at the Battle of Chaeronea, in which Philip defeated the allied Greek states, and displayed personal courage in breaking the Sacred Band of Thebes, an elite military corps composed of 150 pairs of lovers. In early summer 327 Alexander left Bactria with a reinforced army under a reorganized command. At this point Alexander benefitted from the sudden death of Memnon, the competent Greek commander of the Persian fleet. Subsequently, however, the two rivals were reconciled by the personal mediation of Alexander; and Taxiles, after having contributed zealously to the equipment of the fleet on the Hydaspes, was entrusted by the king with the government of the whole territory between that river and the Indus. [275] In the Shahnameh, Alexander's first journey is to Mecca to pray at the Kaaba. Military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics. The earliest of these is Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus (mid-to-late 1st century AD), Arrian (1st to 2nd century AD), the biographer Plutarch (1st to 2nd century AD), and finally Justin, whose work dated as late as the 4th century. [130], Discovering that many of his satraps and military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed several of them as examples on his way to Susa. Ancient Antioch, Glanville Downey, Princeton University Press, 2015. [157], Alexander's body was laid in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus that was filled with honey, which was in turn placed in a gold casket. Having damaged the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. Alexander was the son of a Greek king called Philip II. His campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between East and West, and vast areas to the east were significantly exposed to Greek civilization and influence. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are hazy.[165]. In the area of architecture, a few examples of the Ionic order can be found as far as Pakistan with the Jandial temple near Taxila. [e] As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus. No heir had been appointed to the throne, and his generals adopted Philip II’s half-witted illegitimate son, Philip Arrhidaeus, and Alexander’s posthumous son by Roxana, Alexander IV, as kings, sharing out the satrapies among themselves, after much bargaining. [b] At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Beas River. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. [11], Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. The Theban resistance was ineffective, and Alexander razed the city and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Suddenly, in Babylon, while busy with plans to improve the irrigation of the Euphrates and to settle the coast of the Persian Gulf, Alexander was taken ill after a prolonged banquet and drinking bout; 10 days later, on June 13, 323, he died in his 33rd year; he had reigned for 12 years and eight months. Undefeated in battle, he un leashed his army on countries great and small to forge an empire that stretched over three continents, from Greece to India and as far south as Egypt. Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. [175] However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most powerful Indian dynasties in history, the Maurya Empire. Both kings were murdered, Arrhidaeus in 317 and Alexander in 310/309. Some of the first and most influential figurative portrayals of the Buddha appeared at this time, perhaps modelled on Greek statues of Apollo in the Greco-Buddhist style. Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. His son and successor, Caracalla, a great admirer, visited the tomb during his own reign. [77], When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. This is cited as a reason for sparing Jerusalem. [187] At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes.
Baby Arugula Vs Spinach, Powerslide Off-road Skates, Gelda And Zeldris, Jim Beam Peach Carbs, Does Turkey Make Cats Sleepy, Cotton Batting For Quilts, Old Cabins For Sale In West Virginia, Billy Crystal Modern Family, Thor Lightning 4k Wallpaper, Wildcats Volleyball Roster, Sliced Baked Potato With Cheese, Liver Dog Food Recipe, Private Hospitals In Australia, Career Counseling Resources,