Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
~ Alexander the Great: World Conqueror ~
Alexander the Great (356 -323 BCE), Alexander III of Macedon, became king at age 20.
He first led troops at age 18. By the time of his death, he had conquered most of the known world.
He reconfirmed Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion of the southern Greek city-states, Athens and Thebes.
He staged a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbors.
He then set out east against the superpower Persian Empire, which he defeated and overthrew.
His conquests included Anatolia, the Levant, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia.
He extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as Punjab in northern India.
At his first battle in India, he defeated the ruler of the kingdom by trickery.
He saw the superior wisdom of the East and its kings, and he turned back to go home.
Alexander's lifelong companion was Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble.
Hephaestion was second-in-command of Alexander's forces until his death, which devastated Alexander.
The full extent of his relationship with Hephaestion is the subject of much historical speculation.
[Alexander with Hephaestion, his lifelong companion and second in command]
He was intimate with his servant, the male eunuch Bagoas from the court of King Darius III of Persia.
[Bagoas, the intimate eunuch servant and dancing Persian boy of Alexander]
Alexander had two wifes: Roxana, daughter of a Bactrian nobleman; and Stateira, a daughter of King Darius III of Persia.
There is also a tradition of a third wife, Parysatis, whom he is supposed to have married in Persia.
Alexander had a mistress named Campaspe.
He had one child, his only heir, Alexander IV of Macedon, a son by Roxana.
When asked on his deathbed who should succeed him, he famously answered, "The strongest."
His son was killed before he reached adulthood, after the death of his father.
[Alexander with Aristotle, his tutor and mentor]
[Alexander taming and training Bucephalus, his horse]
[Roxana and Stateira. two of the wifes of Alexander]
[Campaspe, mistress of Alexander]
Alexander made plans prior to his death for military and mercantile expansions into the Arabian peninsula.
After that, his plan was to turn his armies to the west: Carthage, Rome and Iberia.
His original vision had been to the east, to the end of the earth and the Great Outer Sea.
The eastern world was described to him by Aristotle, his boyhood tutor and mentor.
[Pythia, the Oracle at Delphi, prophesied that Alexander could not be beaten]
[Alexander at the tomb of Achilles, whom he most admired, because of his blaze of glory]
Diodorus Siculus relates that Alexander gave his plan with detailed written instructions to Craterus.
It included the transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia.
This was to bring the whole continent to unity and friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties.
[Alexander at the Temple of Jerusalem]
[Alexander in Egypt]
[Alexander at the Temple of Amun to consult the Siwan Oracle in 331 BCE]
[Alexander visiting the fertility god in Egypt]
[Alexander fighting a lion on a hunt in Sidon in 333 BCE, from which he was rescued by Craterus]
[Maps of the Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great and his major battles]
[Granicus 334 BCE; Issus 333 BCE; Tyre 332 BCE; Gaugamela 331 BCE; Hydaspes 326 BCE]
[Alexander undid the Gordian Knot with his sword. Tradition said whoever undid it would be the future king of Asia.]
[Alexander at the death of Darius III, King of Persia]
[The family of Darius III before Alexander]
[Alexander in India]
[Alexander meeting with Diogenes]
Aristotle asked Alexander to do one thing on his travels in Asia - bring back a sannyasi.
On the way home, he went to see Diogenes. He found the sannyasi sunbathing nude on a riverbank.
Alexander told Diogenes he could cut his head off if he did not come with him to Athens.
Diogenes told him then they could both watch as his head fell to the ground and rolled to a stop.
Alexander then offered Diogenes anything he wanted in the whole world as a free gift.
Diogenes said all he wanted was for him to step aside, because he was blocking the sun from shining on him.
Alexander was in the world and of the world; in contrast, Diogenes was in the world but not of the world.
[Festival of birth of Alexander IV, son of Alexander by Roxana]
[Death of Alexander]
Alexander died at age 33 after twelve years of constant military campaigning.
On the afternoon of June 11, 323 BCE, Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon.
He died suddenly after a bout of heavy drinking; some suggest he was poisoned.
No cause of death has ever been proved. He had suffered many wounds in battle.
His death was possibly a result of a relapse of malaria, poisoning or alcoholism.
What is certain is that Alexander died of a high fever.
Alexander's death has been reinterpreted many times over the centuries.
His conquests ushered in centuries of Greek cultural influence over distant areas.
The first portrayals of Gautama Buddha appeared at this time; they are similar to Greek statues of Apollo.
Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ancient Greek religion.
The concept of Boddhisatva is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes.
Some Mahayana ceremonial practices are similar to those practiced by the ancient Greeks.
These rituals include burning incense, gifts of flowers and food placed on altars.
Zen Buddhism may draw in part on the ideas of Greek stoics, such as Zeno and his paradoxes.
Some say Alexander was attempting to better the world by his military conquests.
Others say his purpose was primarily to rule the world.
They argue that he preferred fighting to negotiating, being more a general than a statesman.
They claim that his attempts at cultural fusion were strictly practical and that he never admired Persian culture.
His character suffers the interpretation of historians who are subject to the biases of their times.
Those who favored world conquest saw Alexander in an extremely positive light.
Those who witnessed nuclear warfare saw little in him and his deeds that was not inherently selfish or expedient.
Both interpretations saw him as a man of the world, not of the spirit; thus, he was a beggar, not a king.
To master yourself, go within, beyond the mind, to the innermost center of being.