[258] This process can be seen in such great Hellenistic cities as Alexandria, Antioch[269] and Seleucia (south of modern Baghdad). Alexander immediately headed south. It included: The enormous scale of these plans has led many scholars to doubt their historicity. He also received news of a Thracian uprising. [271], The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially Athenian. [198] Ancient authors recorded that Alexander was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he forbade other sculptors from crafting his image; scholars today, however, find the claim dubious. Therefore, since his feet did not reach its lowest step, one of the royal pages placed a table under his feet. Why was Alexander the Great called "the Great"? He was one of the ancient rulers who gave out his best or worse to the world. 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. While he was sleeping, the goddess appeared and told him to found a city there and move into it the Smyrnaeans from the "old" city. Alexander then marched for three days to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Macedon was an ancient Greek kingdom. [290], After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with Alexander the Great. [251] Two of these pregnancies Stateira's and Barsine's are of dubious legitimacy. [102] The Greeks however regarded the gesture of proskynesis as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. Greek astronomical treatise) and Paulisa Siddhanta texts depict the influence of Greek astronomical ideas on Indian astronomy. Conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, The first known person to call Alexander "the Great" was a Roman playwright named, Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009), A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336167 B.C. Demades likened the Macedonian army, after the death of Alexander, to the blinded Cyclops, due to the many random and disorderly movements that it made. [63][64], Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000,[61] drawn from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace, Paionia, and Illyria. [140], After three days, unable to persuade his men to back down, Alexander gave Persians command posts in the army and conferred Macedonian military titles upon Persian units. [117] The silver coinage had a beardless head of Heracles wearing a lionskin headdress on the obverse and Zeus aetophoros ('eagle bearer') enthroned with a scepter in his left hand, on the reverse. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age thirty), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala. The head priest of the cult was the chief priest in the Ptolemaic . [34], After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese, welcomed by all cities; however, when they reached Sparta, they were refused, but did not resort to war. [138][139] As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedon, led by Craterus. He invited the chieftains of the former satrapy of Gandhara (a region presently straddling eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan), to come to him and submit to his authority. The song 'Alexander the Great' by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden is indicative. [20], Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy, Hephaistion, and Cassander. Alexander III of Macedon (Ancient Greek: , romanized: Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC - 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. [284] The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of Macrinus briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewellery, or embroidered into their clothes. [102] As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly the theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants". When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents. [219][222] However, he had little interest in sports or the Olympic Games (unlike his father), seeking only the Homeric ideals of honour (tim) and glory (kudos). [275] Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ancient Greek religion: the concept of Boddhisatvas is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes,[278] and some Mahayana ceremonial practices (burning incense, gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practised by the ancient Greeks; however, similar practices were also observed amongst the native Indic culture. [31], Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae, taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. [7], Alexander III was born in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon,[8] on the sixth day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion, which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain). According to local customs, the setting sun was considered a symbol of ruin. [286] Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as amicita (friendship) and clementia (clemency), but also iracundia (anger) and cupiditas gloriae (over-desire for glory). [308] Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in search of immortality. Alexander the Great Symbol - Etsy UK Check out our alexander the great symbol selection for the very best in unique or custom, handmade pieces from our shops. 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. . [19], When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor, and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus, the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the Academy to take up the post. [77], Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. [107] Following Alexander's death, many Greeks who had settled there tried to return to Greece. Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. [62] Alexander had no obvious or legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's death. The Cutting of the Gordian Knot is an Ancient Greek legend associated with Alexander the Great in Gordium in Phrygia, regarding a complex knot that tied an oxcart. The Alexander Romance, in particular, has had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from Persian to medieval European to modern Greek. Thus, in Bactria and Sogdiana, Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the center. Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas, a relative of his mother, and by Lysimachus of Acarnania. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. He then stormed the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains) which had been blocked by a Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury.[87]. [132], As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. However, the infantry, under the command of Meleager, rejected this arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion. military genius. [305], The figure of Dhu al-Qarnayn (literally "the Two-Horned One") mentioned in the Quran is believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander. [124] Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery, and made him an ally. [36][37], When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice in 338 BC,[38] the niece of his general Attalus. Alexander died a mysterious death at the age of 32 in Babylon in 323 BC. He reportedly read this passage to his patron King Lysimachus, who had been one of Alexander's generals and who quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time. From Pamphylia onwards the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. Alexander the Great was apparently fascinated with everything that could be seen as a symbol of power. Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and invaded India in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over Porus, an ancient Indian king of present-day Punjab, at the Battle of the Hydaspes. [62], After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), Philip II began the work of establishing himself as hgemn (Greek: ) of a league which according to Diodorus was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in 480 and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. Left to fight alone, they were defeated. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus Parmenion, who had been charged with guarding the treasury at Ecbatana, was assassinated at Alexander's command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. [47][48][49], Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. [69] According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone and hacked it apart with his sword. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth), and announced his plans to attack the Persian Empire. Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and Justin all mentioned the theory that Alexander was poisoned. [299] His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in Cilicia as drawing back from him in proskynesis. On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days. [88] Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. [216] His intelligent and rational side was amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general. Macedon was an Ancient Greek polity. [91] Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him. Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians. The Ptolemaic cult of Alexander the Great was an imperial cult in ancient Egypt in the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC), promoted by the Ptolemaic dynasty.The core of the cult was the worship of the deified conqueror-king Alexander the Great, which eventually formed the basis for the ruler cult of the Ptolemies themselves. Alexander was emboldened to divide his forces, and Ambhi assisted Hephaestion and Perdiccas in constructing a bridge over the Indus where it bends at Hund,[121] supplied their troops with provisions, and received Alexander himself, and his whole army, in his capital city of Taxila, with every demonstration of friendship and the most liberal hospitality. [107] The cities' locations reflected trade routes as well as defensive positions. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred to Apollo near Delphi, a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. [17] 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. [283] The Corinthian order is also heavily represented in the art of Gandhara, especially through Indo-Corinthian capitals. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea, Philip commanded the right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. [144][244] This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health and detached mental state during his final months. [162] Another recent analysis suggested pyogenic (infectious) spondylitis or meningitis. Marble portrait head of Alexander the Great: the head was cut to fit into a separately made body. Alexander followed close behind and captured the strategic hill-fort after four bloody days. [295], The diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the later Roman expansion into these territories and entire basis for the Byzantine Empire, according to Errington. Because of the visual similarity, they were also associated with the fossils shells of ancient snails and cephalopods, the latter now known . While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern Greece. This is in line with the description of him given by the Greek biographer Plutarch (c. 45 c.120AD): The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. [42] Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered. [149] Another theory is that his successors wilfully or erroneously misheard "ti Krateri""to Craterus", the general leading his Macedonian troops home and newly entrusted with the regency of Macedonia. [98] Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. The types of these coins remained constant in his empire. [63][64] At first, all went well. [136], 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. Alexander is a male given name.The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Aleksander and Aleksandr.Related names and diminutives include Iskandar, Alec, Alek, Alex, Alexandre, Aleks, Aleksa and Sander; feminine forms include . [65][f] He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. [195], At Issus in 333 BC, his first confrontation with Darius, he used the same deployment, and again the central phalanx pushed through. Miletus, held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. [196] In India, confronted by Porus's elephant corps, the Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants and used their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers. Etsy Search for items or shops Close search Skip to Content Sign in UK Locale Picker United Kingdom 0 Basket Back to School Jewellery & Accessories Further south, at Halicarnassus, in Caria, Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale siege, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates, to withdraw by sea. There was. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV, executed. [62] Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them. Philip II had waged war against the Thracians to the north, which left Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent. [102] Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne". The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them. [144][216][243] Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander. Among Alexander's family, "the king or ruler who ended up dying in his bed was rare," says Philip Freeman, a biographer of Alexander the Great and a classical historian at Luther College in . [216] While Alexander worried that his father would leave him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world",[217] he also downplayed his father's achievements to his companions. Alexander had a close emotional attachment to his companion, cavalry commander ( hipparchus) and childhood friend, Hephaestion. How Rome Fell: death of a superpower. [153] Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,[230] a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at Siwa. [232] 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. [33], As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea, Boeotia. The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. A 1998 article in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by bowel perforation and ascending paralysis. When Alexander died at the age of 32, he ruled a territory that spanned three continents and covered nearly 2 million square miles. Geoff W. Adams, The Roman Emperor Gaius "Caligula" and His Hellenistic Aspirations, pp 46. "[55] At Corinth, Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader") and, like Philip, was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis, and a fabulous treasure. When Alexander took the throne he ordered for all of his rivals to the throne to be killed to ensure no-one would . [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. He studied with Alexander, as did a handful of other children of Ancient Macedonian aristocracy, under the tutelage of Aristotle. There, his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. His father Philip was probably Alexander's most immediate and influential role model, as the young Alexander watched him campaign practically every year, winning victory after victory while ignoring severe wounds. 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. [59], News then reached Alexander that the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus and King Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open revolt against his authority. [81] The Greeks interpreted this message - one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs - as a prophecy.[78]. He had been holding a memorial feast to honour the death of a close personal friend when he was seized with intense pain and collapsed. The trilogy "Alexander the Great" by Valerio Massimo Manfredi consisting of "The son of the dream", "The sand of Amon", and "The ends of the world". [78] Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive. [54] This reply apparently delighted Alexander, who is reported to have said "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes. Ernst Badian argued that they were exaggerated by Perdiccas in order to ensure that the Macedonian troops voted not to carry them out. [141], Historical sources frequently give conflicting accounts of Alexander's appearance, and the earliest sources are the most scant in their detail. During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. A coin depicting Alexander the Great, conqueror of Egypt, with Horns of Amon on his head. A ten-year journey to the edge of the known world, fighting barbarians and pursue eternal glory, and through all of this, Alexander was just 20 years old. None of Alexander's contemporaries, however, are known to have explicitly described Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion as sexual, though the pair was often compared to Achilles and Patroclus, whom classical Greek culture painted as a couple. [305], 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. [234], Alexander married three times: Roxana, daughter of the Sogdian nobleman Oxyartes of Bactria,[235][236][237] out of love;[238] and the Persian princesses Stateira and Parysatis, the former a daughter of Darius III and the latter a daughter of Artaxerxes III, for political reasons. [22], During his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed Artaxerxes III. In the process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered. [91] Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person: Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects? Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Some of the most pronounced effects of Hellenization can be seen in Afghanistan and India, in the region of the relatively late-rising Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250125 BC) (in modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan) and the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC 10 AD) in modern Afghanistan and India. [181], During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander began to exhibit signs of megalomania and paranoia. [270] Alexander sought to insert Greek elements into Persian culture and to hybridize Greek and Persian culture, homogenizing the populations of Asia and Europe. [224] He had great charisma and force of personality, characteristics which made him a great leader. [26], Suda writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns. Their works are lost, but later works based on these original sources have survived. [204], Historians have understood the detail of the pleasant odour attributed to Alexander as stemming from a belief in ancient Greece that pleasant scents are characteristic of gods and heroes. [163] Other illnesses fit the symptoms, including acute pancreatitis, West Nile virus,[164][165] and Guillain-Barr syndrome. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the Romance tradition. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some 5,200,000km2 (2,000,000sqmi),[257] and was the largest state of its time. [191] This was due to use of terrain, phalanx and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and the fierce loyalty of his troops. A few years earlier, in 332 BC, Alexander invaded Bactria and Gandhara when this territory was under ramanic influence (perhaps Buddhist and Jain). [50] He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, but spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes. [102] The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family. Several examples of capitals displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far as Patna, especially with the Pataliputra capital, dated to the 3rd century BC. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it. [102] Pierre Briant explains that Alexander realized that it was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians. Alexander has figured in both high and popular culture beginning in his own era to the present day. His portrait types were utilized and . Persian coins continued to circulate in all the satrapies of the empire.[119]. In addition to speech works, sculptures and paintings, in modern times Alexander is still the subject of musical and cinematic works. [citation needed], The strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days passed between the start of his illness and his death; such long-acting poisons were probably not available. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40years of war between "The Successors" (Diadochi) ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into three stable power blocs: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria and East, and Antigonid Macedonia.
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