[14], On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. A coin depicting Alexander the Great, conqueror of Egypt, with Horns of Amon on his head. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image. [57] The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi, and defeated their army near the Lyginus river[58] (a tributary of the Danube). According to Curtius, "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubble. The tomb of Alexander the Great is attested in several historical accounts, but its current exact location remains an enduring mystery. The Macedonian Lion - History of Macedonia [263][264][265], Libanius wrote that Alexander founded the temple of Zeus Bottiaios (Ancient Greek: ), in the place where later the city of Antioch was built. [104] However, when, at some point later, Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. [181] According to Diodorus, Alexander's companions asked him on his deathbed to whom he bequeathed his kingdom; his laconic reply was "ti kratisti""to the strongest". [127] Alexander founded two cities on opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, naming one Bucephala, in honour of his horse, who died around this time. [35] At Corinth, Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on the old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. [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. [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. [271], The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially Athenian. [303], In pre-Islamic Middle Persian (Zoroastrian) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet gujastak, meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. Ernst Badian argued that they were exaggerated by Perdiccas in order to ensure that the Macedonian troops voted not to carry them out. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages,[301] containing many dubious stories,[299] and was translated into numerous languages. ISBN 1-84176-091-9. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the Romance tradition. [287], The Itinerarium Alexandri is a 4th-century Latin Itinerarium which describes Alexander the Great's campaigns. [239][240] He apparently had two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon by Roxana and, possibly, Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games. [113] Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire. [155] However, in a 2003 BBC documentary investigating the death of Alexander, Leo Schep from the New Zealand National Poisons Centre proposed that the plant white hellebore (Veratrum album), which was known in antiquity, may have been used to poison Alexander. "[123] A similar slaughter followed at Ora. He had conquered the Persian Empire, traveled farther east than the god Dionysus, and survived a multitude of war wounds. Alexander the Great | Biography, Empire, Death, & Facts [222] This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn. Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and Augustus, among others, are noted as having . military genius. Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. Alexander the Great Symbol - Etsy UK In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of Aornos. [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. [169] Perhaps more likely, the successors may have seen possession of the body as a symbol of legitimacy, since burying the prior king was a royal prerogative. [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. [51], Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Constantinople 1453: The End of Byzantium. [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. [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. In 336 he sent Parmenion, with Amyntas, Andromenes and Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia to make preparations for an invasion. causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. He developed a life-long love of reading and music. [147], Given the propensity of the Macedonian aristocracy to assassination,[150] foul play featured in multiple accounts of his death. [116] Alexander minted gold staters, silver tetradrachms and drachims, and various fractional bronze coins. [196] At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes. In 333 bc, Alexander the Great, on his march through Anatolia, reached Gordium, the capital of Phrygia. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword and the women and children were sold into slavery. 336-323 BC. [275] The process of Hellenization also spurred trade between the east and west. [69] According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone and hacked it apart with his sword. [122] A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander was wounded in the shoulder by a dart, but eventually the Aspasioi lost. [195], When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting techniques, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his forces to his opponents' style. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira, which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile. [83] Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela. [56], Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. [78] He was pronounced son of the deity Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert. [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. Alexander the Great Symbol - Etsy Norway A few years earlier, in 332 BC, Alexander invaded Bactria and Gandhara when this territory was under ramanic influence (perhaps Buddhist and Jain). [98] Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. [153][162], Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy in modern times. The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them. Alexander then led the League of Corinth, and used his authority to launch the pan-Hellenic project envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all Greeks in their conquest of Persia.[5][6]. It is also known as the Macedonian Star, Macedonian Sun, Sun of Vergina, and Star of Vegina, after Macedonian royal tombs. Below is a coin with the face of Alexander the Great, depicting the king with the lion's scalp on his head. [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. [73][74] The men of military age were massacred and the women and children sold into slavery. Curtius Rufus, a Roman historian from the first century AD, who wrote the Histories of Alexander the Great, gives this account of Alexander sitting on the throne of Darius III: Then Alexander seating himself on the royal throne, which was far too high for his bodily stature. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves,[c] and his tactics remain a significant subject of study in military academies worldwide. He ascended the throne around age twenty. [110], When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general Antipater, an experienced military and political leader and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon. [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. For other uses, see. [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. [293], Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the Aristotelian school based on a legend that Aristotle had poisoned Alexander. [13], In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike, sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black. These Greco-Buddhist kingdoms sent some of the first Buddhist missionaries to China, Sri Lanka and Hellenistic Asia and Europe (Greco-Buddhist monasticism).

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