Alexander the Great changed the world the
Greeks knew forever, hero or villain, the world was not the same after he had
passed through it and the effects of his conquests resonate to this day. From
the Mediterranean to India, Eurasia are places he passed through, destroyed,
built, and changed.
Alexander gained his lifelong love of Homer from his great Greek tutors including Aristotle who provided him with an education in Greek literature and culture which groom his determination to equal or excel the exploits of his legendary ancestors, Heracles and Achilles.
Designated as Emperor of Great Empire
In Summer 336 BC Alexander III was only
twenty years old when he became the emperor of great empire that stretched from
the Danube River to central Greece at the time of his father’s death.
Alexander was treated as his father’s
successor throughout Philip’s reign and carefully groomed for his future role. There
was also rumors of other possible successors of Philip including the former
king, Amyntas IV. However, Philip’s most senior commander, Antipater, quickly
presented Alexander as King to the Macedonian troops at Aegae for the
traditional acclamation and saved the succession for Alexander.
Declaration of Strategy
Philip’s senior commanders advised Alexander
to proceed cautiously and first consolidate his power base at Macedon but Alexander
rejected the advice. Alexander was confirmed quickly in Philip’s former
positions as archon of Thessaly and hegemon of the Corinthian League, and Greek
support for the war against Persia was reaffirmed. In the spring of 335, after
returning from Greece, Alexander campaigned against the Thracians and
Illyrians, which clear the Macedonian yoke that Philip’s death would bring no
easing them. Furthermore, this sudden and dramatic strategy, forced anti
Macedonian politicians at Athens and Thebes to abandon plans to exploit the confusion
after Philip’s assassination to free Greece.
Campaign to Thracians and Illyrians
Alexander’s campaign extended to north till
Danube and his main target was the Triballi, who had humiliated Philip in 339
after his victory over the Scythians. His Macedonian troops fought in a very
disciplined manner, resultantly not only Triballian resistance quickly
collapsed but other Thracian tribes were also bow down. Finally, Alexander
accomplished his first major campaign by inflicting a severe defeat on his father’s
old enemy, the Illyrian king Cleitus and put an end the threats to Macedon’s
western frontier.
Alexander’s Death Rumors and Thebans Revolt
As Alexander was busy in this long
lasting campaign in north which resultantly sparked rumors of his death in
Greece. Even a statesman Demosthenes introduced a supposed eyewitness of
Alexander’s death in the Athenian assembly. To cash this rumors, the Thebans
revolted but Alexander brought the Macedonian army to Thebes and ordered that
Thebes’ Boeotian neighbors decide the city’s fate. They decided that only
Thebes’ temples, the descendants and house of its illustrious poet, Pindar be
spared while rest of the city should be destroyed and the remaining Thebans
sold into slavery. Greeks long remembered this destruction as one of the great
atrocities of their history. Similar ruthlessness was also employed in Macedon,
which included the murdered of Philip II’s last wife Cleopatra, her daughter
Europa and Amyntas IV for the sake of security to the new king, made Alexander
as the unchallenged ruler of Macedonia.
Campaign to Asia
In 334 BC, with fully strong army of
37,000 phalanx troops, infantry, royal guards, cavalry and a fleet of almost
200 Greek ships, Alexander assaulted on Asia. Alexander was the first
Macedonian to land on Asian soil, he visited the traditional site of Troy,
where he sacrificed to Athena, paid tribute to his ancestor Achilles and asked
pardon of the legendary Trojan king Priam for his invasion of Asia. With invasion
of Asia Alexander wanted a quick victory to liberate Macedonian from the
control of the aristocrats and auspiciously, the Persians proved to be
“convenient enemies.”.
Victory of Battle of Granicus: “From
Alexander, the son of Philip, and the Greeks”
In 334 BC, the Anatolian satraps, chose a
bolder course and decided to confront Alexander directly in battle in the hope
of killing him. They met Alexander at the River Granicus, the modern Koçabas,
in northwest Anatolia. Using the Greek mercenaries in the flamboyant “armor of
Achilles” that Alexander had taken from the temple of Athena at Troy, the
Persians nearly succeeded in killing Alexander. But the daring action by
Cleitus, the brother of Alexander’s nurse, saved the king from certain death.
As traitors to the Greek cause Alexander
ordered their slaughter and rigorous imprisonment for almost two thousand survivors
to work in chains. Alexander send an inscription of victory’s announcement to
the Greek world: “From Alexander, the son of Philip, and the Greeks, except the
Spartans” alongwith three hundred suits of Persian armor as dedication Athens. This
victory at the Granicus lead to end of fomenting rebellion in Greece by
Persians.
Victory at the Granicus made clear the
supremacy of Alexander. Surrendered were ordered to obey their newly appointed Macedonian
satraps and to pay the same tribute they had paid to the Persians. Alexander encouraged
democratic parties in the Greek cities of Asia who offered their support to the
Macedonian forces. But control of military affairs remained in the hands of a
Macedonian garrison commander. However, Non-Greek leaders who recognized
Alexander could expect royal favor and promotion.
By the spring of 333, after the fall of
satrapies of Lydia, Caria, and Lycia, Alexander had reached the capital Gordium
of the ancient kingdom of Phrygia which is near modern Ancyra in central
Anatolia.
Victory over the Great King at Issus
In 333 BC Alexander moved south along the Syro-Palestinian coast toward Egypt and choose Issus, a narrow coastal plain in Cilicia to confront the Darius III’s Persian army. Alexander’s cavalry charge on the center of the Persian line which forced Darius III to abandon his army and flee. This turned the defeat of the Persian army into a fearful rout and the royal treasure stored at Damascus quickly fell into the hands of Alexander. Historians considered that victory at Issus was a fundamental turning point of Alexander’s campaign because Alexander had defeated the Great Persian King Darius in the Battle field.
To Be Continued...