Alexander the Great: Conquest of Persia - Research Paper Example

Alexander the Great: conquest of Persia Contents Contents 1 Introduction 2 Discussion 3 Conclusion 8 Bibliography 9 Introduction ALEXANDROS PHILIPPOU MAKEDONON lived in the time period of 356-323 B.C. In comparison with any other conqueror of the world, Alexander III deserves to be called the great. Although Alexander died at the age of thirty three, still Alexander was able to conquer almost the entire world which changed the face of the history forever. During the first half of the fourth century B.C., the Greek cities and the states remained mostly autonomous. As almost all the states focused upon their own interests, frequent disputes and temporary alliances were quite common. After the death of Philip II of Macedonia, the reign of Alexander-The Great began which changed the political landscape of Europe and Asia forever1. Alexander-The Great conquered the Persian Empire and was keen to develop a unique kingdom where all the people in the kingdom, including both Greek and Non-Greek, would be able to live in relative state of autonomy under the monarch. Various scholars have actually debated the intent of Alexander. As a matter of fact, some have still failed the consensus concerning Alexander. The present study looks to analyze the conquest of Alexander the Great for the Persian Empire. The study looks to understand how successful Alexander the Great was in the conquest, as well as how successfully Alexander-The Great was able to develop the unique monarchy that he always dreamt of2. Discussion Alexander was born in 356 BC at Pella which was the capital of Macedon. Under his father, Philip II, Macedon became stronger and most importantly, first ever united nation in the whole of Europe. Greece was still in the middle of a golden age as art, philosophy and literature were flourishing. But the relatively smaller states and cities were not inclined to be united. Although Philip II admired the Greek culture, some of the Greeks, on the other hand, actually loathed the Macedonians as barbarians. Alexander was quite handsome and had an athletic physique. At a young age, Alexander excelled in hunting and horse riding. At a tender age of thirteen, the leading Greek philosopher, Aristotle, came to Macedon as tutor. He taught Alexander about his favorite Homer’s ‘Iliad’. Alexander also learned about ethics, politics and different fields of sciences like geography, botany, zoology, etc. However, the prime interest continued to be military strategy. This is something Alexander learned from his father who was instrumental in reforming the Greek phalanx into a united fighting machine3. Alexander’s father, Philip, was determined to conquer Persia. But even before starting the conquest, he knew that he had to solve the internal problems of Greece first. This was achieved successfully, through the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. This brought all the states and cities of Greece together, except Sparta. Under the leadership of Philip, young Alexander commanded the Macedonian in the battle of Chaeronea and destroyed the famous sacred band of Thebans. But two years later, in 336 BC, Philip was killed by a young noble belonging to the personal bodyguard of Philip who pulled a short knife and stabbed Philip through the heart killing him instantly. Many believed that Alexander’s mother actually planned the murder4. However, this was never actually proved. Alexander became the king. Alexander was already very popular with the army and, hence, the army as expected accepted him as the king without any hesitation. In the same year, Alexander moved towards the south and reached Corinth. Alexander received congratulations of various people living in the city of Corinth which also included the Diogenes the Cynic, a great philosopher. However, later that year, Thebes again revolted and Alexander destroyed the city. Alexander, however, allowed the other cities to keep up the democratic governments. As Greece was secure, Alexander started to prepare the army to achieve the bold dreams of his father, i.e. the invasion and the conquest of Persia. Two centuries before, the mighty Persians had pushed towards West to include some of the Greek cities of the Asia Minor- one third part of the total Greek world. In the spring of 334 BC, Alexander crossed the Hellespont, now known as the Dardanelles, the narrow passage between Asia Minor and Europe. Alexander had the Greek and Macedonian force of almost thirty thousand foot soldiers. They were complemented by five thousand cavalry. The foot soldiers were wearing armor of the Greek hoplites, but the soldiers carried Macedonian weapon. Along with the army, there were also a team of geographers, botanists and other individuals related to the field of science that actually were collecting samples, information and specimens for Aristotle5. In the region of the Asian Minor, Alexander visited the ancient Troy to pay respect to the Achilles and some of the other heroes. At the river of Granicus, Alexander defeated a large army of the Persian cavalry which was actually four times the size of the army of Alexander. Then Alexander continued to march towards the coast and continued to free the Greek cities from the Persian Empire. Those cities also joined Alexander as allies. During the winter season, Alexander moved towards the inland to free the tribes living in the hills6. In 333 BC, Alexander’s army and the huge force met led by the Persian emperor called Darius met at the Issus. Alexander charged with his cavalry against Darius. The army of Alexander defeated the huge Persian Army. But Darius managed to flee. Then Alexander decided to march southwards along the coast of Phoenicia. The main objective of such a movement was to cut off the huge Persian navy from all the harbors. One of the islands called the Tyre was actually held out more than half a year until Alexander constructed a causeway and battered all the stone walls7. However, the battle for Persia was far from over. Darius was actually planning a revolt. Darius gathered all the military strengths, chariots, elephants, huge number of cavalry and also foot soldiers. Alexander again led the cavalry towards Darius. On the other hand, the phalanx attacked with long pikes. But somehow, Darius managed to flee once more. This battle was believed to be decisive and after the battle, Alexander was proclaimed the king of Persia. According to Aristotle, the city of Babylon was so large that it almost took more than a day to reach the words of the decisive victory of Alexander to reach all the people. The people of the city welcomed Alexander as he made sacrifices to the god of Babylon Marduk. The Persian capital called Susa also opened the gates. In 329 BC, Alexander again set out for the pursuit of Darius. As the army of Alexander came near, Besus seized and stabbed Darius as he refused to step down. Alexander found him dying and finally he was truly the king of Persia. Here is needs to be mentioned that, after the victory, the army wanted to go back home. But Alexander was determined to push forwards and reach the extreme eastern limit which, he believed, was not far away. At last in 325 BC, Alexander reached the delta of the Indus River and followed it to reach the Indian Ocean. Then Alexander led the army overland and across the desert. During this time, many died of hunger and thirst. Long marches and various wounds became an everyday affair and Alexander failed to recover from a fever which was believed to be malaria. Finally, he passed away on 323 BC. Three centuries after the death of Alexander is known as the Hellenistic age. This actually means to ‘To act like a Greek’. A civilization produced during the disordered period from the death to the disbanding of the empire of Alexander to the victory of the Romans over the Greeks during the battle of Actium. During this period, the Greek language and culture had spread the Eastern Mediterranean. Hellenism was quite unique and it stood for ideals along with historical culture. Among the components, there was rational approach towards life, use of rationality rather than authority, search for ideal in everyday field of life, appreciation of the humanistic point of view to develop ideal harmony of state and individual. Hellenism had spread all across the Mediterranean due to the great conquests of Persia from 334 to 325 B.C8. At Ammon in the Libyan Desert, Alexander visited the oracle of the Greek God Zeus and the priests saluted Alexander as the son of the great god. This again reflects the religious and ideological side of Alexander-The Great. Alexander was always known for visiting famous holy sites during the campaigns. However, neither of the points was of any strategic importance. But if the historians are believed even then these visits were symbolic of having a method to the madness. These visits actually occurred symbolic for reasons. Here it needs to be understood that Alexander’s originality represents the complementary element of the pragmatism side. Such elements actually allowed him to maintain the control over the vast kingdom and administer the kingdom accordingly9. The sudden death of Alexander left the generals without any plan about how to administer and control the vast territory that was conquered by him. Some of the followers included the file and the ranks of the Macedonian army. The army wanted to preserve the entire empire. But the generals wanted to break the empire up and develop kingdoms for themselves. It took more than forty years of struggle and warfare to separate the kingdoms that were carved out. Finally, after the years of struggle, four major dynasties emerged such as the Seleucids in Asia and Asia Minor, Ptolemies in Egypt and, at last but not the least, Macedonia and Greece. These kingdoms were named from the generals of Alexander such as the Antigonus, Seleucus and Ptolemy. The richest and the most powerful of the three kingdoms was the Ptolemy. The kingdom reached new heights of material and cultural splendor under Ptolemy II who ruled from 285 to 246 B.C. After the death of the Philadelphus, the kingdom entered long lasting periods of war and internal frictions that finally ended when Egypt became a part of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. Conclusion Alexander was one of the greatest and, arguably, the most famous figures in the history. Through excellent political, administrative, military and leadership skills, Alexander was able to conquer the world. The conquest of Alexander not only reflected the domination but also the belief that both east and west could be united in one string under a single system of a single government. The vision of Alexander the great encouraged a revolutionary change of concepts and customs along the path of unification that the march of line created. The conquest of the Persians was actually a reflection of his vision and military strategy. Some of the historians, however, believed that the great Alexander was a bloodthirsty tyrant whose ravages ended only when his own army went against him. But there are other researchers who consider Alexander to have been a missionary of peace who was driven by dreams of universal brotherhood. Even today, more than two thousand years after his death, the debate about Alexander the Great goes on. Some still admire him as one of the most brilliant leaders of all times, while some others still treat him as tyrant; after all these years, Alexander the Great remains one of the most controversial topics for historians. Bibliography Abbott, Jacob. Alexander the Great. USA: Mundus Publishing, 2009. Burgan, Michael. Alexander the Great: World Conqueror. USA: Capstone, 2006. Cartledge, Paul. Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past. USA: Pan Macmillan, 2011. Fox, Robin. Alexander the Great. UK: Penguin, 2006. Langley, Andrew. Alexander the Great. UK: Oxford University Press, 1997. Lonsdale, David. Alexander the Great: Lessons in Strategy. USA: Routledge, 2007. Stoneman, Richard. Alexander The Great. USA: Routledge, 2004. Thompson, Michael. Granicus 334 BC: Alexander's First Persian Victory. USA: Osprey Publishing, 2007. Warry, John. Alexander 334-323 BC: Conquest of the Persian Empire. USA: Osprey Publishing, 2013. Read More