ALEXANDER THE GREAT

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Introduction

Alexander the Great was the son of Phillip the second of Macedonia and was married to a lady called Olympias who was an Epirote princess. Alexander was born in the year 356 BCE at a place called Pella. He spent most of his childhood period witnessing his father transform Macedonia in a prevailing military power and he also saw his father win battles in Balkans. When he was thirteen years old, Alexander’s father was able to hire Aristotle to be his son’s personal teacher and for the next three years, Alexander was trained in literature plus rhetoric. His initial studies of the two subjects were able to trigger his desire in science, philosophy plus medicine subjects that greatly assisted him in a future life.

During the year 340 BCE, Alexander’s father gathered his army and launched an attack on Thrace and he was able to leave his son with powers to enable him to rule Macedonia while King Phillip was away. During the battle the Macedonian army penetrated into Thrace, the northeastern tribe of Medi was rebelling with so much force which resulted in threats to the Country. Alexander was able to gather the army and led them with quick attack strategies that enabled them to defeat Maedi and conquer their territory. Alexander was crowned the king of Macedonia during the year 336 BCE when the current leader King Phillip was murdered. A meeting was convened by the Greek and pronounced him as the general commander(Worthington 57). He was able to exercise his power and authority to implement his father’s military plans. In the year 334 BCE, Alexander was able to attack Asia Minor which was controlled by the Persians. He was able to initiate a campaign which was able to last for a decade. Was able to penetrate the Persians power through a chain of battles which enabled him to overthrow king Darius III of Persia and conquered the whole empire.

During this time the empire under Alexander started from the Adriatic Sea all the way to Indus River. In 326 BCE he was able to launch an attack against India where he became victories and overthrew king Poru who was the ruler of the territory of Punjab. They eventually became allies even though during that period India was portioned into hundreds of little kingdoms. The army declined to attempt moving across river Indus and battle with kings of the territories across the river so they eventually moved from India  (Fuller, John Frederick Charles 97). Alexander was able to die in 323 BCE in Babylon and the cause of his death was not clearly highlighted. Various sources have indicated the source of his death might have been poisoning, assassination or illnesses he contracted from the battlefields. During the time of King Alexander’s death, he was organizing to launch campaigns that have resulted in an attack on Arabia, After his demise, a chain of civil wars divided his empire. Several portions of Alexander’s territory were governed by the Diadochi, generals that were left behind and heirs to his throne. They were able to launch attacks against each other and eventually conquer where the surviving part was the Seleucid Empire.

The legacy which was developed by Alexander entailed cultural expansion of Greek ideology and language. During his time Alexander was able to found about twenty cities which were named in relation to him. After the war when King Phillip went back to Pella, he was able to fall in love and married Cleopatra in the year 338 BCE who was a niece to one of his generals named Attalus. This event made Alexander be insecure since Cleopatra’s male child would fully take over the throne while on the other hand, Alexander was half-Macedonian (Ionescu, Dan-Tudor 507-517). In the wedding celebration event, Attalus was able to publicly supplicate to god that the marriage would bring forth a legitimate heir for the throne. Eventually, Alexander was able to leave Macedonia together with his mother whom he left at his uncle’s place while he proceeded to Illyria and sought refuge at the King’s palace and treated nicely despite the fact that he had overpowered them during the war.

During the summertime of 336 BCE when attending a wedding, King Phillip was killed by the leader of his bodyguards who were called Pausanias and eventually made an escape attempt (Worthington, Ian. 235). Pausanias was able to trip and fall then eventually was killed by angry pursuers including Perdiccas plus Leonntus. This event leads to instant declaring of Alexander as the next king and leader of the army at age of twenty. Alexander started his leadership by removing individuals who were a threat to his throne where he ordered his cousin to be executed plus to Macedonian princes amongst others.

Before Alexander and his army crossed over to Asia, he secured the northern territories where he launched several revolts during the Balkan campaign. In the year 334 BCE Alexander with approximately forty-eight thousand soldiers and other resources obtained from Macedonia enable him to conquer the Persian Empire. During his rule, he was able to fight several states and kingdoms that he defeated comfortably(Gabriel, Richard 230). Alexander was able to conquer Levant plus Syria, Egypt, Assyria plus Babylon, Persia, and India among others. During Alexander leadership, he was able to conquer vast territories until his army was worn out. Due to fear of attacks from larger armies alexander’s soldiers declined to mover further of Hyphasis River. Alexander made several his army to continue will their battle plans but one of his generals called Coenus urged him to alter his opinions and move back to their home territory in order to reunite with their family members(Walbank, Frank 167-189).

Alexander concurred with them and they turned south moving along Indus. They were able to conquer Malhi and other Indian territories where Alexander was wounded. He was able to reach Susa in the year 324 BCE after losing several of his soldiers in the harsh desert Alexander killed his governors who had misbehaved while he was absent. As a way of appreciating the king was able to settle the debt of his army men and declared that he will send back aged plus disabled soldiers to Macedonia (Gabriel, Richard 125). The king initiated several agreements and to generate a lasting peace between Macedonians and Persians he was able to initiate mass weddings for officials from the two parties.

Alexander was able to travel to Ecbatana to pursue Persian treasure with his close friend plus lover who died from probably sickness or poisoning. After the death of Hephaestion Alexander became disturbed even though back in Babylon has strategized a series of camping’s which included launching an attack on Arabia but did not get the opportunity to execute them (Worthington 57). In the year 323, Alexander passed away in Nebuchadnezzar II palace which was situated in Babylon at age of 32 years.

The cause of his death was unclear as there were several theories tied to the demise. Plutarch’s theory states that fortnight before Alexander’s demise, he was entertained and spent the following day drinking. Afterward, he was able to develop fever, which got worse and even hindered him from speaking. The second theory about Alexander’s death Diodorus stated that He was struck by sharp pain after consuming unmixed wine which made him be weak for eleven days and eventually died from some kind of pain (Fuller, John Frederick Charles 118). There are several disclaims associated with these theories however it is believed his death originated from plant poison. After passing away Alexander’s corpse was placed in a gold sarcophagus which was stocked with honey and then covered in a gold casket.

Conclusion

Alexander was the son of King Phillip who was the ruler of Macedonia, after the king’s death his Son took over the throne. Alexander while in power was able to mobilize a strong army which was able to conquer several territories across the globe. Eventually, after there were adventures, Alexander returned home where he eventually passed away. There are several theories associated with the death of Alexander at age of 30 but the prevalent one is dying from plant poison. This essay discusses the biography of Alexander from his birth, rise to power, battles and eventual death.