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Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. One Greek king, Menander I, probably became Buddhist, and was immortalized in Buddhist literature as 'Milinda'. [122] The other was Nicaea (Victory), thought to be located at the site of modern-day Mong, Punjab. [114], After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against King Porus, who ruled a region lying between the Hydaspes and the Acesines (Chenab), in what is now the Punjab, in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. A 1998 article in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by bowel perforation and ascending paralysis. Alexander the Great was one of the best-known rulers in ancient history. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius' significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus. In 336, however, on Philip’s assassination, Alexander, acclaimed by the army, succeeded without opposition. [40] Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, Demaratus, who mediated between the two parties. [177] Diodorus, Curtius and Justin offered the more plausible story that Alexander passed his signet ring to Perdiccas, a bodyguard and leader of the companion cavalry, in front of witnesses, thereby nominating him. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until age 16. He never lost a battle, despite typically being outnumbered. A decree brought by Nicanor to Europe and proclaimed at Olympia (September 324) required the Greek cities of the Greek League to receive back all exiles and their families (except the Thebans), a measure that implied some modification of the oligarchic regimes maintained in the Greek cities by Alexander’s governor Antipater. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. [274], The figure of Dhul-Qarnayn (literally "the Two-Horned One") mentioned in the Quran is believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander. Intelligence on both sides was faulty, and Alexander was already encamped by Myriandrus (near modern İskenderun, Turkey) when he learned that Darius was astride his line of communications at Issus, north of Alexander’s position (autumn 333). [187] 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. On the subsequent advance of the Macedonian king, Taxiles accompanied him with a force of 5,000 men and took part in the battle of the Hydaspes River. Alexander’s second in command was Parmenio, who had secured a foothold in Asia Minor during Philip’s lifetime; many of his family and supporters were entrenched in positions of responsibility. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war between "The Successors" (Diadochi) ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocs: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Mesopotamia and Central Asia, Attalid Anatolia, and Antigonid Macedon. 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. For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed. Left in charge of Macedonia in 340 during Philip’s attack on Byzantium, Alexander defeated the Maedi, a Thracian people. [12], In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike, sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. PD Shepherd Atlas. [165] The recent discovery of an enormous tomb in northern Greece, at Amphipolis, dating from the time of Alexander the Great[166] has given rise to speculation that its original intent was to be the burial place of Alexander. [271], Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more so than any other ancient figure. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, Hellenistic influence on Indian art was far-ranging. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age thirty), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala. 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. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it. In early summer 327 Alexander left Bactria with a reinforced army under a reorganized command. By the time of his death at thirty-two, he ruled the largest Western empire of the ancient world. While in Babylon, Alexander became ill after a prolonged banquet and drinking bout, and on June 13, 323, he died at age 33. Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, §7.20- Greek, Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander, §7.20- English, "The Mughal Sikander: Influence of the Romance of Alexander on Mughal Manuscript Painting", "Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexander_the_Great&oldid=999873762, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from April 2016, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2015, Articles containing Persian-language text, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Pages using Sister project links with default search, Articles with Encyclopædia Britannica links, Wikipedia articles with BALaT identifiers, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with TePapa identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the, Conquest of Arabia and the entire Mediterranean basin, Development of cities and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties", "Empire" as a description of foreign policy, This page was last edited on 12 January 2021, at 11:09. The cities perforce complied, but often ironically: the Spartan decree read, “Since Alexander wishes to be a god, let him be a god.”. He spent the winter organizing Egypt, where he employed Egyptian governors, keeping the army under a separate Macedonian command. [60] The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the battle of Megalopolis. The Histories of Alexander the Great (Latin: Historiae Alexandri Magni) is the only ancient Latin biography of Alexander the Great. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. On his reaching the oracle in its oasis, the priest gave him the traditional salutation of a pharaoh, as son of Amon; Alexander consulted the god on the success of his expedition but revealed the reply to no one. “I would accept,” Parmenio is reported to have said, “were I Alexander”; “I too,” was the famous retort, “were I Parmenio.” The storming of Tyre in July 332 was Alexander’s greatest military achievement; it was attended with great carnage and the sale of the women and children into slavery. Undefeated in battle, he un leashed his army on countries great and small to forge an empire that stretched over three continents, from Greece to India and as far south as Egypt. Alexander the Great, also known as Alexander III or Alexander of Macedonia, (born 356 bce, Pella, Macedonia [northwest of Thessaloníki, Greece]—died June 13, 323 bce, Babylon [near Al-Ḥillah, Iraq]), king of Macedonia (336–323 bce), who overthrew the Persian empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer, and in particular the Iliad; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. At Susa Alexander held a feast to celebrate the seizure of the Persian empire, at which, in furtherance of his policy of fusing Macedonians and Persians into one master race, he and 80 of his officers took Persian wives; he and Hephaestion married Darius’s daughters Barsine (also called Stateira) and Drypetis, respectively, and 10,000 of his soldiers with native wives were given generous dowries. [86] He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road. Darius’s death left no obstacle to Alexander’s claim to be Great King, and a Rhodian inscription of this year (330) calls him “lord of Asia”—i.e., of the Persian empire; soon afterward his Asian coins carry the title of king. [186], When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting techniques, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his forces to his opponents' style. [199] He had great self-restraint in "pleasures of the body", in contrast with his lack of self-control with alcohol. The anguish that Alexander felt after Hephaestion's death may also have contributed to his declining health. Alexander now occupied Babylon, city and province; Mazaeus, who surrendered it, was confirmed as satrap in conjunction with a Macedonian troop commander, and quite exceptionally was granted the right to coin.

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