In what country was Alexander the Great born? Alexander the Great and ancient Russia. New king of Macedonia
Perhaps, every person from the school bench remembers who Alexander the Great is. It was under Alexander the Great that a whole historical period known as the Hellenistic era began, and the cultural influence of Greece on Europe, Asia and Africa during his reign reached its peak. In our review, little-known facts about this amazing man who lived only 32 years, but managed to change the world beyond recognition.
1. Alexander III the Great
Alexander the Great, also known as Alexander III the Great, was a king of ancient Macedonia, a pharaoh of Egypt, a king of Asia, and a Persian king. It belonged to the ancient Greek Argead dynasty from the Peloponnese. His name comes from the Greek words "Alexo" (protect) and "Andr" (man). Thus, his name means "protector of the people".
2. Alexander was taught by Aristotle
Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, hired Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers in history along with Socrates and Plato, as a teacher for thirteen-year-old Alexander. Aristotle taught Alexander everything he knew for three years (until Alexander's sixteenth birthday, when he ascended the throne of Macedonia). Alexander's mother, Olympias of Epirus was the daughter of the Epirus king Neoptolemus I.
3. Alexander had two children
Until now, there are disputes regarding the sexual orientation of Alexander the Great. However, he had three wives: Roxana, Stateira and Parisat. It is believed that Alexander had two children: Hercules (an illegitimate son from his mistress Barsina) and Alexander IV (son from Roxana). Unfortunately, after Alexander's death, his children were killed before they reached adulthood.
4. Founded cities
Alexander founded over seventy cities, of which he named at least twenty after himself (the most famous being Alexandria in Egypt). In addition, not far from the site of the battle near the Hydaspe River (today known as the Jelam River in India), Alexander founded the city of Bucephalus, named after his favorite horse, which was mortally wounded in battle.
5. Pilgrimage to the tomb of Alexander
He was one of the most revered foreign figures in Rome, even many years after his death. Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Augustus made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Alexander in Alexandria.
6. Ailurophobia
Few people know what Alexander, Genghis Khan and Napoleon had in common. The first thought that comes to mind is that these are plans for world domination, but in fact all these people suffered from ailurophobia - fear of cats.
7. Not a single lost battle
The tactics and strategy of Alexander the Great are still being studied in military academies. From the time of his first victory at the age of eighteen until his death (at the age of thirty-three), the great commander did not lose a single battle.
8. Greco-Buddhism
Few have heard of Greco-Buddhism. The term refers to the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism that developed between the fourth and fifth centuries AD in Bactria and the Indian subcontinent (modern-day Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan). This unusual culture was the cultural consequence of a long chain of events that began with the Greek raids into India during the time of Alexander the Great. Further, its development took place during the creation of the Indo-Greek kingdom and the heyday of the Kushan Empire.
9. Gordian knot
One of the most famous legends associated with Alexander the Great is the legend of the Gordian knot. The myths say that the Phrygian king Gordius tied the most difficult knot and declared that whoever could untie it would become the next king of Phrygia. In 333, when Alexander conquered Phrygia, he, without thinking for a long time, cut the famous knot with a sword.
10. First Macedonian State
The Republic of Macedonia is a modern country located in the center of the Balkan Peninsula in South-Eastern Europe, and has no historical connection with the ancient Greek Macedonian kingdom. The first Macedonian state was founded in the 8th century BC. e.
11. Contest drinkers
One day, Alexander held a drinking contest among his soldiers. Although the troops were delighted with such an undertaking, in the end forty-two soldiers died from alcohol poisoning.
12. Alexander's Tolerance
After the victory over the Persians, Alexander began to dress like a Persian king and got two Persian wives. The reason for this is simple - he believed that the peoples he conquered would feel more comfortable when their new ruler adhered to their customs.
13. Cause of death of Alexander
Despite the fact that there were many theories over the years, the real cause of Alexander's death remains one of the mysteries of the ancient world. Modern medical experts argue that malaria, a lung infection, liver failure, or typhoid could have been the cause. However, no one can say anything for sure.
14. Hero of Alexander
His favorite books were the Iliad and the Odyssey. From childhood, Alexander the Great was inspired by the heroes of Homer, he even slept with the Iliad under his pillow. The imagination of the future great commander and ruler was subdued by the Greek warrior Achilles, who fought in Troy.
15. Idol Alexander
However, Alexander's biggest idol, who had a significant influence on him, was Hercules (Hercules). His admiration for the most famous Greek mythological figure of all time was so deep that Alexander called himself the son of Zeus (just like Hercules) and always boasted that he was a descendant of Hercules.
The name of Alexander the Great is inscribed in gold letters on the list, each of which has gone down in history more than deservedly.
Alexander the Great is one of the few ancient figures to whom we refer in a modern cultural context. Alexander's activity is in many ways reminiscent of some episodes recent history western countries. For example, his campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq are very similar to Western interventions in these regions that have taken place over the past decades. Alexander was the leader of the nations different history and culture. At times, his reign was unsuccessful because he did not understand local customs and beliefs. At the present stage, many lessons can be learned from how Alexander tried to build bridges between the West and the East. These lessons can be used by the creators of modern political strategies in different multicultural regions.
"Greatness" Alexander
We do not know who and when first called Alexander the Great. It probably wasn't during his lifetime. Historians believe that he was first called the Great in the Roman comedy of the 1st century BC. This comedy featured the name Magnum(Latin word meaning "great"). At some point between his death in 323 BC and the 1st century BC, he began to be regarded as the Great. Most likely, the Romans named him so because they estimated the greatness of the rulers in the number of corpses: a victorious Roman commander had to kill 5,000 enemies before he was awarded a triumph - a solemn procession through the streets of Rome among an enthusiastic crowd. Alexander cold-bloodedly slaughtered hundreds of thousands of local residents during his campaigns, and in Afghanistan and India, he sometimes destroyed entire tribes and staged real genocides. If Alexander were alive today, he would be court martialed for war crimes, but in antiquity his military victories, strategic genius, and high enemy death toll attracted the Romans.
// Portrait of Alexander the Great. National Library of France (gallica.bnf.fr)
Alexander was an extraordinary ruler. Some of his subjects worshiped him as a deity. He died young - at 33, but managed to do a lot. However, greatness was associated precisely with his military career. Alexander was a genius of military strategy and tactics. Wherever he went, he always met a larger army than his own, but he always won. Alexander was king and combined the functions of a commander, politician, statesman, diplomat and people's leader. But if you consider Alexander as a complete "set" of roles, you can find quite serious failures in their performance.
Raising Alexander
by the most important person in the life of Alexander was his father, Philip II of Macedon. Philip was a better king than Alexander in terms of what he did for his kingdom. Unlike Alexander, he remained a typical Macedonian warrior until his death. Philip did not conquer such a huge empire as Alexander did, but as a king he fulfilled his duties to the people better than Alexander. Some ancient authors acknowledged this.
When Philip ascended the throne in 359, Macedonia was a socially and culturally backward country. It had no economy, no permanent trained army, and was generally in ruins. Philip changed everything. During the 23 years of his reign, he created a trained intimidating army, which Alexander then led to Asia. It was the best pre-Roman army in the ancient world. Philip II carried out an economic reform that made Macedonia a prosperous kingdom, and then began to expand the borders and eventually took over all of Greece. It was Philip who decided to invade the Persian Empire after capturing Greece. In the summer of 336 BC, he was ready to launch an invasion of Greece, but a few days before he was killed. Thus, the plan to invade the Persian Empire did not belong to Alexander - he inherited it from his father and, in order to surpass him, decided to go further than Philip could have imagined. The fact that Philip left behind a very stable and prosperous kingdom and a powerful army enabled Alexander to achieve all that he had achieved.
Alexander had an extraordinary intellect. At the age of 6 or 7, he could play the lyre, have conversations with adults on various topics. He read all Greek literature, Homer was his idol. When Alexander was 14–16 years old, he was taught by Aristotle. But the greatest influence on Alexander was not Aristotle, but his father, Philip. For most of his life, Alexander wanted to imitate him, and when he grew up and enjoyed his own military successes, he wanted to surpass Philip. Alexander wanted to become Achilles of the 4th century BC.
First steps in politics
When Alexander was 16 years old, Philip made him regent of Macedonia, and he himself went on a campaign against Byzantium. At this time, Alexander spoke out against the northern tribe on the Strymon River and defeated him. When he was 18, Philip made him commander of the right wing at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. At stake in this battle was the freedom of Greece. This is one of the most important battles in history. Philip defeated the Greeks in it, and Alexander played an important role in this: he helped destroy the enemy’s left flank, including the Sacred Band from Thebes. At 18, Alexander had already fought in several battles and was clearly prepared as the heir to the Macedonian throne. He was ready to invade Persia and make a military reputation for himself, but Philip decided that he needed to stay behind to govern Macedonia and Greece.
// Empire of Alexander at the time of the death of Philip II / wikipedia.org
From this moment there was a radical change in the relationship between Alexander and his father: from this moment on, a deterioration in relations between Philip and Alexander can be traced. Alexander began to act behind Philip's back. He told his friends: "As long as my father is alive, I will not do anything great." In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated, and it is possible that Alexander and his mother, Olympias, were involved in this assassination. After the death of Philip, Alexander became king and began to prepare an invasion of the Persian Empire. He wanted to outshine his father. Historians believe that Philip did not intend to take over the entire Persian Empire. Perhaps he only intended to annex Asia Minor, while it was clear to Alexander from the very beginning that he would go further than his father and achieve great success.
Conquest strategy
Alexander never had a final plan of action, although one is vital to any strategy. Strategy, by definition, has a goal: when you intrude somewhere, you must know where to stop, and if you get to this point, then you have achieved your goal. Alexander never knew where to stay. He invaded Persia to avenge the suffering of the Greeks during the Persian Wars, and by 330 BC, only four years after a campaign of many thousands of miles, Alexander had ended an empire that had endured for centuries. In 330 BC, he began to call himself the king of Asia.
After the conquest of Persia, Alexander's army was about to return home, but Alexander persuaded the soldiers to march on Bactria and Sogdiana (present-day Afghanistan). This became a new phase of the invasion. Now it was Alexander's war, and not revenge for the Greeks, as was the case with Persia. The next three years saw the fiercest battles ever fought by the Macedonians. Bactria and Sogdiana were taken, and then Alexander invaded India. But on the river Gidasp, which flows in the Punjab plain, Alexander's army rebelled. The warriors believed that they had fought enough and should turn back. This rebellion was a symbol of distrust of Alexander as a commander, commander and king.
// Empire of Alexander the Great / wikipedia.org
Probably Alexander wanted to reach the Ganges. He talked a lot about the peoples who lived there, and about what this country is like. But it is possible that if he had reached the Ganges, he would have decided to go further. Only a rebellion of the troops forced him to turn home. When Alexander turned back, the army thought they were finally returning to Greece, but he began to talk about invading the Arabian Peninsula and to think of an invasion plan. He arrived in Babylon in 323 BC and then planned to invade south into the Arabian Peninsula. But on June 12, 323 BC, on the eve of the invasion, Alexander died. There is an opinion that if he had survived and conquered the Arabian Peninsula, he would have turned to the Western Mediterranean and Carthage. When it came to land conquest, Alexander could not stop.
King of Asia
As the army moved east, not only Alexander, but also some of his generals began to wear Persian attire, use perfume, add scented oils to baths, and so on. Macedonians were not accustomed to such luxury: they were simple villagers, accustomed to peasant food and village wine, often wearing the same clothes for several days. They did not have any of the grandeur that we used to associate with the Persian court. After the battle of Issus in 333 BC, Alexander entered the tent of the great king Darius on the battlefield and saw his luxury: boxes, gold and silver dishes on tables and thin bedspreads. Then he said: “So this is what it means to be a king!”
In addition, Alexander made the Persian attire part of his daily attire and presented himself accordingly. He combined Macedonian and Persian outfits and caused discontent of both peoples. His people did not like it because they saw that these "barbarian" outfits became part of his "uniform", and the Persians felt that he was not doing enough, because he still wears elements of Macedonian clothing and armor.
// Alexander meets the Indian king Porus, captured in the battle on the Gidasp River / wikipedia.org
Alexander sincerely struggled with the dilemma he faced: before him there was not a single Macedonian king who was also king of Persia. He didn't have an example to follow, to base his rule on, or to figure out how to present himself, so he faced this newness every day. He took on a new title - the king of Asia, began to combine Macedonian and Persian clothes in order to try to please people both in the West and in the East. He could not call himself the great king of Persia, since he had no connection with Ahuramazda, the Zoroastrian god of light, whereas the Achaemenid royal family had one. Alexander was a conqueror: he ruled not by the right of blood, but by the right of conquest.
To reconcile people with his rule, he began to invite the Persians to government posts and the army, tried to look like a ruler who unites East and West. Alexander was not an idealist, he did not want to unite all peoples - he was a pragmatist and focused on maintaining his position.
Influence of culture on Alexander
In his youth, Alexander read most of the Greek literature. In particular, he was interested in the poetry of Homer and ancient philosophy. When he went to Asia, he took with him philosophers, scientists, and historical writers to converse with them and discuss his thoughts. He also took books with him, and we know that when he had read everything, he sent a request to Greece to send him more books. He truly appreciated literature and fine arts, and patronized the court painters, who painted several paintings and portraits with him. Alexander appreciated the culture of the places in which he fought, and could be fascinated by their art. When he arrived in Babylon, he immediately set up headquarters in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, because there were Babylonian hanging gardens. He entered Babylon through the Ishtar Gate because he had read about it and was looking forward to seeing it. Passing through them as a conqueror was important and symbolic.
Personal life
As a child, Alexander was not interested in girls. This side of his life worried his parents: there are stories that Philip and Olympias hired prostitutes for their son when he was 14–18 years old, but he refused them. It is believed that he lost his virginity to a woman named Barsina, whom he knew when he was little. But it was only after the battle of Issus in 333 BC, when one of the commanders-in-chief brought Barsina to him. Alexander was then 23 years old. Apparently, after this incident, he had many love affairs. Alexander and Barsina never got married, but lived together. In 327 BC, Barsina gave birth to a son named Hercules. In the same year, Alexander married Roxana of Bactria.
Alexander had several homosexual relationships, the most famous of which was with his friend Hephaestion, whom he had known since childhood. Hephaestion and Alexander were very close. Hephaestion died about a year before Alexander's death. Alexander was heartbroken and felt a huge emptiness in his life. There are many opinions, but the story that Hephaestion and Alexander were lovers is most likely true. It is important that in those days the Greeks did not have such words as "homosexual", "lesbian" or "bisexuality". But if applied to ancient society, then everyone would be bisexual. Alexander's army was completely fine with the fact that he spent one night with his wife, Roxana, and the next with Hephaestion.
// Marriage of Alexander. Mosaic from Pompeii / wikipedia.
Most likely, some of the stories about his adventures are fictional, since he was a king of Macedon who achieved superhuman status during his lifetime due to his conquests and battles, and history often portrays such people as greater than they really were. One day, Thalestra, the queen of the Amazons, met Alexander and they spent two weeks incessantly having sex. The Amazons were a highly respected tribe of female warriors, renowned for their strength and martial prowess, and they were ruled by a queen. Perhaps Alexander's propaganda machine made up the story about him and Thalestra to make him look better. The amount of propaganda associated with Alexander is such that it is difficult to get to the real Alexander hidden behind the legends.
Death of Alexander the Great
Alexander died a few months before he turned 33. There are many conspiracy explanations for Alexander's death, but most likely he died of natural causes. Alexander was seriously wounded in India during the storming of the city of Malls. He was hit with an arrow in the chest, and when the doctor pulled it out, air came out of the wound with blood. It looks exactly like a punctured lung. Alexander took several weeks to recover and was so weak that he had to be carried to the camp. He also received other wounds during the campaign, but never left his harsh lifestyle and heavy drinking.
Alexander drank a lot, although he was not an alcoholic. From time to time the Macedonians organized drinking parties that could last for several days. In 324 BC there was a famous feast at which Alexander took part in a competition to see who would drink more. About a dozen people died due to excessive drinking. The Macedonians drank pure wine, while the Greeks diluted it with water. Alexander drank at banquets, but he was never drunk when he went into battle or made plans for battle. When it was time for a feast, he drank non-stop, but then he sobered up and moved on.
After all the wounds that Alexander received in battle, he did not change his lifestyle, and his body simply failed. Historians think he had alcoholic pancreatitis. One evening, after he had drunk at a feast and was on his way to bed, one of his friends said, "One more!" Alexander returned and was given a jug with twelve quarts of wine (this is most likely an exaggeration). He drank the whole jug, fell to the ground, his body began to twitch in convulsions, he fell into a semi-comatose state, lost the ability to speak, and a few days later died without regaining his speech. These symptoms are very similar to alcoholic pancreatitis.
Alexander's legacy
Alexander did not leave behind a legitimate heir: his wife Roxana was pregnant when he died. Only a few weeks later she gave birth to a son, who later became Alexander IV. When Alexander died, the entire command of Babylon - its generals, bodyguards, commanders and satraps - gathered to decide what to do. It was a constitutional crisis: Alexander had no heirs. The commanders-in-chief decided that until Roxana gave birth to a child, Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus, would be king. When Alexander IV was born, he also became king. A dualistic monarchy emerged. The high command divided the empire among themselves.
Perdiccas, the second in command of the army, was given control of what was to become Babylon. new capital empires, and the rest divided other lands. Ptolemy took Egypt, where he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty. These people were very ambitious, they hated each other, which, most likely, Alexander deliberately sought: he separated his military leaders so that they would not unite and try to overthrow him. Just a year after his death, his companions, whom we now call the diadochi (“successors”), began a series of wars against each other, and this war lasted 40 years. Each of them tried to tear off a bigger piece from the empire. During these wars, they used the Macedonian kings Philip III and Alexander IV as hostages and eventually killed them. After three or four decades, the great kingdoms of the Hellenistic world were formed.
// The division of the power of Alexander the Great after the battle of Ipsus (301 BC) / wikipedia.org
Alexander was both good and bad. He was bad in the sense that his legacy was the end of the Macedonian Empire, which Philip and Alexander spent so much effort to create. Also after him, the disastrous forty-year wars, arranged by his successors, fell upon the Mediterranean and Greece. Alexander had not married before, and he did not have a son who could become heir. He was a king, and the main task of a king is not only to protect his country, but also to have an heir. He married Roxanne too late, and this led to chaos and bloodshed.
The good side of his reign is that he opened the East to the West in a way that no one before him. As a result, trade and cultural contacts and communications were established between Greece and the Mediterranean, Egypt, Syria, Bactria in the east. Alexander's conquests made it clear to the Greeks that they were part of larger world than the Mediterranean alone.
By the Spear. Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire (Oxford University Press 2014; paperback November 2017)
Philip II of Macedonia (Yale University Press 2008) / Philip II of Macedonia (Eurasia, 2014)
Demosthenes of Athenes and the Fall of Classical Greece (Oxford University Press 2013)
more detailed information about the biography of Alexander the Great can be obtained from the articles listed below - in the block "More on the topic ..."
Alexander the Great - the greatest conqueror of all time, the son of King Philip II and Olympias, the daughter of the Epirus king Neoptolemus, was born in 356 BC, died in 323. Alexander's tutor from the age of 13 was Aristotle, who awakened in his pupil that idea of greatness, that strength and rigor of thinking that ennobled the manifestations of Alexander's passionate nature, and taught him to exercise power moderately and consciously. Alexander treated his teacher with the greatest respect, he often said that he owed his life to his father, and to Aristotle that he lived with dignity. The ideal of Alexander the Great was the hero of the Trojan War, Achilles. Full of energy and striving for action, Alexander often complained at the victories of his father that he would not leave anything for him. In gymnastic and other competitions, Alexander had no equal; while still a boy, he tamed the wild horse Bukefal, who later served as his war horse. The battle of Chaeronea (338) was won thanks to Alexander's personal bravery.
Philip II was proud of his son and saw in him the executor of his most daring assumptions and hopes. Subsequently, however, Philip's removal of Alexander's mother, his marriage to Cleopatra, and a whole series of humiliations experienced by Alexander himself broke the good relations between father and son; rumor attributed even to Alexander participation in the murder of Philip. At the very accession of Alexander to the throne (in the autumn of 336), he had to endure the struggle with the conspiracy of Attalus, Cleopatra's uncle, who wanted to enthrone the latter's son, and with the Greeks, who were preparing an uprising against the Macedonian hegemony. Attalus, Cleopatra and her son were killed, and against the Greeks, Alexander hastily undertook a campaign in Thessaly, passed Thermopylae and entered Thebes. The Athenians asked for peace, granted to them and to all the Greeks by Alexander. The envoys of the Greek cities gathered at Corinth, where, by the way, Alexander met with Diogenes and where a general war against Persia was decided, and Alexander the Great was recognized as the supreme leader of all Hellenes; only the Spartans refused to join the alliance.
After the death of Darius, all the peoples of Persia looked to Alexander the Great as their rightful ruler. Only the northeastern provinces continued to resist, and Alexander, having occupied Hyrcania and passing through the Caspian Sea to Zadrakarta (present-day Astrabad), headed for Bactria, where Bessus, who had taken the title of king, gathered his army. The revolt in Aria forced, however, Alexander to deviate to the south. Having suppressed the uprising and founded a city here, Alexander decided, in order to cut off Bessus' path to the south, to occupy Arachosia and Drangiana, which he succeeded without much difficulty. Unusual for the old warriors of Alexander the Great, the luxury with which he surrounded himself here, and the absence of any advantages for the Macedonians in comparison with Asian subjects, caused displeasure in Alexander's army. In the autumn of 330, a conspiracy was discovered, after the disclosure of which Alexander ordered the death of the old commander Philip - Parmenion, whose son Philot was suspected of participating in the conspiracy. Despite the extreme cold, Alexander moved from Arachosia, where he also founded Alexandria, to Bactria, crossing the snow-covered mountain passes of the Hindu Kush. Bessus cleared Bactria without opposition. Alexander the Great then occupied Marakanda (Samarkand) and moved forward to Kiropol, and he had to overcome a new uprising that engulfed many provinces; at this time, Alexander also made his famous campaign in the country of the Scythians. Alexander then set up his luxurious court in Maracanda and celebrated his marriage to Roxana with great pomp. In Alexander, more and more, the features of an oriental despot were revealed. Clitus, who had previously saved his life, was killed by Alexander during a dispute, and Aristotle's nephew and student Callisthenes and two noble youths were executed for refusing to kneel before Alexander.
The desire to bring satisfaction with new successes to the army dissatisfied with innovations forced Alexander the Great to undertake a campaign in India, which he began at the end of 327 with a 120,000-strong army. After a series of bloody battles and victories, Alexander reached the Indus in the spring of 326, then won a victory and captured the king Porus near the river Hydaspa, on the western bank of which he founded the city of Bukefalu, and on the eastern bank of Nicaea, but then the exhausted troops refused to go forward, to Ganga; this was joined by the unfavorable predictions of the priests, and in the autumn of 326 Alexander began a retreat down the Hydaspes, with the command of three parts of the fleet entrusted to Nearchus, Crater and Hephaestion.
Alexander the Great and King Por
Almost all the tribes encountered on the way submitted without resistance; only one tribe of the Mulls offered resistance, and during the assault on their fortified city, Alexander was seriously wounded. Alexander descended to the very Indian Ocean, won a number of victories along the way, made an extremely difficult 60-day passage through the desert to the main city of Gedrosia - Pura, and then went to Karamania, where Crater and Nearchus joined him. Nearchus continued along the coast of the Persian Gulf to the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates, and Hephaestion with most of the troops headed for Persis (now Fars). Alexander himself, through Pasargadae and Persepolis, went to Susa, where the abuses of his governors required his intervention and received severe retribution.
The fusion of east and west now seemed to have been achieved, and in order to establish it even more firmly, Alexander the Great took Stateira, the eldest daughter of Darius, as his wife; up to 80 people close to him and up to 100 other Macedonians, he also married Persians. The same attitude of Alexander towards the barbarian and Macedonian troops again aroused indignation, suppressed by the personal intervention of Alexander. Having subjugated and almost destroyed the wild tribe of Cossians, Alexander returned to Babylon, where he diligently patronized trade in laying roads, building harbors and cities. He was especially interested in the project to colonize the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf and, by circumnavigating Arabia, to establish direct trade relations by sea between Egypt and the Euphrates region. The day had already been appointed for the departure of the fleet, but Alexander, after the farewell feast given by Nearchus, who was heading the fleet, fell ill with a fever, which gradually took on more and more dangerous character; in June 323 Alexander the Great died at the age of 32. The embalmed corpse of Alexander two years later was transported by Ptolemy to Egypt and buried in Memphis, and then transferred to Alexandria, to a specially arranged temple. Now, after the death of Alexander, who did not leave a successor, strife began between his generals, and the empire of Alexander the Great fell apart. His conquests, however, had the consequence that Asia Minor, previously cut off from the influence of Greek culture, merged with the Greek world, adopting many features of the Hellenic civilization. The subsequent historical period is therefore called the era of Hellenism.
State of Alexander the Great
Of the extremely numerous artistic images of Alexander, very few have come down to us. The bust with an inscription found in 1779 near Tivoli, located in the Louvre, is considered to be the most faithfully conveying the appearance of Alexander. A marble statue of Alexander as a youth is kept in the Munich Glyptothek, and a similar marble head in the British Museum; a bronze statue of Alexander in full dress was found at Herculaneum. The name of Alexander is associated with the famous marble bust in Florence, the so-called "Dying Alexander" (actually the image of a giant) and the largest surviving mosaic of antiquity. Of the arts dedicated to Alexander, the works of the new time are the most famous: the frescoes of Sodoma in the Villa Farnesine in Rome “Alexander’s wedding with Roxana”, Thorvaldsen’s relief depicting Alexander’s entry into Babylon and Piloty’s “Death of Alexander” in the Berlin National Gallery.
Sodom. Wedding of Alexander the Great and Roxanne. Villa Farnesina, Rome. OK. 1517
The biographies of Alexander the Great, compiled by his collaborators Callisthenes, Anaximenes, Cleitarchus, and others, and based on these not entirely reliable sources, the story of Diodorus and Trogus Pompey, as well as the biographies of Plutarch and Arriane, give more or less reliable information about military activities Alexander the Great. To judge his ideas and goals, political organizations and projects, we do not have any materials. The personality of Alexander already in antiquity, but especially among medieval poets of the East and West, became a favorite subject of legendary tales. Literature about Alexander the Great is very extensive.
Alexander the Great was born in the autumn of 356 BC. e. in the capital of ancient Macedonia - the city of Pella. From childhood, in the biography of Macedonian, he was trained in politics, diplomacy, and military skills. He studied with the best minds of that time - Lysimachus, Aristotle. He was fond of philosophy, literature, did not attach himself to physical joys. Already at the age of 16, he tried on the role of a king, and later - a commander.
Rise to power
After the assassination of the king of Macedonia in 336 BC. e. Alexander was proclaimed ruler. The first actions of Macedonian in such a high state post were the abolition of taxes, the reprisal against the enemies of his father, the confirmation of the union with Greece. After the suppression of the uprising in Greece, Alexander the Great began to consider a war with Persia.
Then, if we consider short biography Alexander the Great, military operations followed in alliance with the Greeks, the Franks against the Persians. In the battle near Troy, many settlements opened their gates to the great commander. Soon, almost all of Asia Minor submitted to him, and then Egypt. There Macedonian founded Alexandria.
King of Asia
In 331 BC. e. the next major battle with the Persians took place at Gaugamela, during which the Persians were defeated. Alexander conquered Babylon, Susa, Persepolis.
In 329 BC. BC, when King Darius was killed, Alexander became the ruler of the Persian Empire. Becoming the king of Asia, he was subjected to repeated conspiracies. In 329-327 BC. e. fought in Central Asia - Sogdean, Bactria. Alexander in those years defeated the Scythians, married the Bactrian princess Roxana and set off on a campaign in India.
The commander returned home only in the summer of 325 BC. The period of wars ended, the king took up the management of the conquered lands. He introduced several reforms, mostly military ones.
Death
From February 323 BC. e. Alexander stopped in Babylon and began planning new military campaigns against the Arab tribes, and then to Carthage. He raised troops, prepared a fleet, and built canals.
But a few days before the campaign, Alexander fell ill, and on June 10, 323 BC. e. died in Babylon from a severe fever.
Historians have not yet established the exact cause of the death of the great commander. Some consider his death natural, others put forward versions of malaria or cancer, and still others - about poisoning with a poisonous medication.
After the death of Alexander, his great empire fell apart, wars for power began among his generals (Diadochi).
Alexander III of Macedon (356 to 323 BC) is one of the most influential political figures of antiquity. The majestic commander who conquered the territory from the coast of Greece to the northern part of Africa, including the lands of modern Turkey, Pakestan and Iran.
On the 13th anniversary of his reign, the legendary warrior ancient egypt united the lands of East and West through a certain technique of warfare and cultural exchange. By the time of the death of Alexander the Great, which overtook him on the battlefield at the age of 32, his reputation had reached such a peak that he was considered a saint. It is not always possible to separate the truth from the myths that have been woven around the ruler for centuries. Everyone knows about the conquests of the king, but few know who Alexander the Great really was.
1. Macedonsky's main teacher was Aristotle, and he studied with other philosophers.
Philip II of Macedon invited to raise his son, 13-year-old Alexander - the heir to the throne, Aristotle, the greatest of all philosophers in history. Few facts are known about the three years spent by the future commander under the tutelage of a scientist. At the same time, in Greece, Alexander the Great tried to find the famous ascetic Diogenes, who was a great cynic and spent his nights in a large earthen vessel to prove his beliefs. Alexander approached the thinker in the public square and asked Diogenes if he could offer him something from his untold riches. To which the philosopher replied:
“Yes, you can. Step aside, you've blocked the sun from me". The young prince was fascinated and impressed by Diagen's refusal and declared: "E If I had not been born Alexander, I would have been Diogenes.”
A few years later, in India, Macedonsky stopped fighting because of the need to continue the conversation with a gymnosophist, a representative of the religious Hindu group "Jane", who avoided human vanity and wearing luxurious clothes.
2. For 15 years of military conquests, the Macedonian army has not lost a single battle.
The strategy and tactics of fighting Alexander the Great is still included in the curriculum of military schools. The first victory was won by him at the age of 18. He led troops at great speed while allowing them to expend the minimum amount of force to reach and break enemy lines before the enemy could react. Having acquired the Greek kingdom in 334 BC. the commander crossed over to Asia (today - the territory of Turkey), where he won the battle with the Persian troops led by Darius III.
3. Macedonian named after himself more than 70 cities and one - in honor of his horse.
In memory of his victories, the commander founded several cities. As a rule, they were built around military forts. He called them Alexandria. The largest city was founded at the mouth of the Nile River in 331 BC. Today northern capital ranks second in terms of area among the cities of Egypt. Other settlements are located along the path of military achievements of the Greek heir to the throne: in Iran, Turkey, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Near the Khidaspes River, where the most difficult victory of the Indian campaign was won, the city of Busefal was formed, named after the beloved Macedonian horse, which was mortally wounded in battle.
4. Alexander's love for his future wife Roxana flashed at first sight.
After a lightning capture in 327 BC. hitherto impregnable mountain fortress, Sogdian Rock, the 28-year-old commander examined his captives. At that moment, Roxana, a teenage girl from a Bactrian noble family, caught his eye. Shortly thereafter, as was customary according to the wedding ceremonies, the king cut the loaf of bread with his sword and shared half with his bride. A son from Roxana, Alexander IV, was born after the death of Macedon.
5. Alexander had a great smell.
Plutarch in The Life of the Noble Greeks and Romans, almost four centuries after the death of the king, reports that the skin of Alexander “ gave off a pleasant smell", And his “his breath and body were so fragrant that the clothes he wore were covered in perfume". “The detail inherent in the olfactory characteristics of the image of the king is often attributed to a tradition that arose during his reign. The rulers were endowed with divine attributes as all-conquering and powerful.” Alexander himself openly called himself the son of Zeus during his visit in 331 BC.
6. After the victory over Persia, Macedonian adopted the traditional style of clothing of the Persians.
After six years of constant incursions into the territory of the Persian Empire in 330 BC. The Macedonian army managed to capture Pesepolis, the ancient center of Persian culture. realizing that The best way to maintain control over the local population is to adopt their way of life, the Greek commander began to wear a striped tunic with a belt and a diadem. This horrified the cultured Punists in Macedonia. In 324 BC he made a magnificent wedding in the city of Susa, where 92 Macedonians were forced to marry Persians. Alexander himself married Stateira and Parysatis.
7. The cause of death of Alexander the Great represents the greatest secret of the ancient world.
Siwa Oasis, Egypt In 323 BC. the illustrious ruler fell ill after drinking wine at a feast. A few days later, at the age of 32, Macedonian died. Considering that the father was killed by his own assistant, among the suspects were the close circle of the king, especially the wife of Antipater and her son, Cassandra. Some ancient biographers even suggested that the whole Antipater family became the organizers. Modern medical experts speculate that Macedonsky's cause of death was malaria, liver failure, a lung infection, or typhoid fever.
8. The body of Alexander is kept in a vat of honey.
Plutarch reports that the body of Macedon was first sent to Babylon to the Egyptian embalmers. However, leading Egyptologist A. Wallis Budge suggested that the remains of an ancient Egyptian warrior were dipped in honey to prevent decay. A year or two later, it was returned to Macedonia, but it was intercepted by Ptolemy I, one of the former generals. Therefore, knowing the location of the body of Macedon, Ptolemy received the status of the successor to the great empire.
The chronicles describe how Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and the future emperor of Rome Octavius (August Caesar) made a pilgrimage to the grave of Macedon in. In 30 BC. Octavian examined the 300-year-old mummy of Macedon and laid a wreath on it. The last record of a visit to the grave by the Roman emperor Caracal dates back to 215 BC. Subsequently, the tomb was destroyed and its location was forgotten due to political upheavals and the beginning of the Roman era.