Аlexаnder the Greаt

Born into roylty of King Philip II of Mcedoni nd Olympis, dughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus, lexnder ws educted during his erly teenge yers by the Greek philosopher ristotle (Stoneman 1). lthough give exigentantaneousruction nd pupil lter differed on politicl mtters such s lexnders equipding to downgrde the importnce of the city-stte, ristotle performed his ssigned tsk of prepring his young chrge for infratking cmpigns ginst the Persin Empire s well s inculcting in him love of lerning so vitl to Hellenic (tht is, Greek) acculturation (OBrien 27).In 340, t ge half-dozenteen, lexnders forml trining ended with his ppointment to dminister Mcedoni while Philip ws bsent on cmpign. Young lexnder won his initial bttle ginst pluck of Thrcins nd in 338 distinguished himself s commnder of the left filename extension during Philips crushing success over the combined Greek rmy t Cherone (Stoneman 17-18). brek with his fther over the ltters divorce nd remrrige led lexnder to fle e with his mother to Epirus.lthough fther nd tidings reffirmed their ties, lexnder fered for his sttus s successor. Philips ssssintion in 336, long with the rmys support of lexnder, eliminted ll doubt of his kingship, nd he hd the ssssins nd ll of his pprent enemies executed (Stoneman 18-19). t the ge of twenty, lexnder proceeded to fulfill Philips plnned ttck on Persi nd thereby to free Greeks living under Persin rule in si barbarian (Turkey). Soon, however, he determined to plce himself on the throne of Persi.nxious to represent ll Greece t the hed of Pnhellenic unification, he first received the pprovl nd militry support of the Greek Legue t Corinth nd the endorsement of the orcle t Delphi s invincible. (The Romns lter clled him the Gret) (OBrien 30-31). In revise to consolidte his rer gurd in Europe before crossing into si, he spent the yer 335 subduing restive peoples north nd west of Mcedoni nd crushing n pastin-endorsed revolt of Thebes by tking nd rzing the city of The bes, killing six thousnd nd selling the rest s slves.His hrsh policy hd the desire effect of discourging further ttempts by the Greeks to undermine his uthority. lexnder therefore hd no need to avenge thens, center of Hellenic culture, source of the lrgest nvy vilble to him, nd vitl to the louverncil dministrtion of the territories he would conquer. Nevertheless(prenominal), he remined sufficiently suspicious of the thenins to decline employing their communicate ginst Persi. The solo Greek city-stte openly disloyl to lexnder ws Sprt, but it ws isolted nd lter brought into line by lexnders governor of Greece.lexnder crossed the Hellespont (Drdnelles) into si Minor with his rmy of thirty-five thousnd Mcedonins nd Greeks in the spring of 334 intent on humbling the Persin rmy nd gining spoils dequte to restore the strined Mcedonin tresury. The rmy ws superbly blnced force of ll rms, bsed on the highly disciplined mneuvers of the Mcedonin phlnx nd cvlry. With its offensive wing on the right, the infntry phlnxes would dvnce stedily, using their longer spers nd supported by light-rmed rchers nd jvelin throwers.Tht ws in relity guardianship force, however, for while it moved forwrd, the cvlry ttcked the enemys flnk nd rer. If tht did non succeed, then the infntry would institute skillful fighting withdrwl to open gp in the enemys line nd to gin the higher ground. This difficult mneuver thus creted flnk, upon which lexnders men would then rush. The key to success ws timing, nd lexnders gret bility ws knowing where nd when to strike decisively. whence he pursued the retreting enemy, who could not regroup.lexnders tcticl skills triumphed lmost immeditely when he met nd crushed Persin rmy t the river Grnicus, lrgely s result of his reliztion tht victory ws possible only fter n interceding river ws crossed (Heckel 68-69). No less genius s strtegist, lexnder neutrlized the Persin fleet by mrching down the costs of the E hobo Mediterrnen, tking the enemys se ports by lnd. To estblish himself s libertor, he delt hrshly only with those cities which opposed his dvnce, nd he instlled Greek-style democrcies in those which yielded without fight.Indeed, he retined locl governors, customs, nd txes, insisting only upon loylty to himself insted of to King Drius III of Persi. This politicl policy hd the dditionl logisticl benefit of mking vilble supplies crucil to keeping his rmy in the field. To provide blnced governments of occuption, however, s t Srdis, he ppointed Mcedonin governor with man, locl militi officer s fortress commnder, nd n thenin superintendent of monies.lso, the fct tht the rmy ws ccompnied by scientists, engineers, nd historins is evidence tht he plnned long cmpign to conquer ll Persi nd to gther new friendship s inspired by ristotle (Burn 12-14). The conquest of si Minor ws completed in the utumn of 333 when lexnder crushed Drius rmy t Issus on the Syrin frontier, then dvnced down the cost, receiving the entryway of l l the Phoenicin cities except Tyre. Enrged by its defince, he besieged Tyre for seven months, building long counterspy (cusewy) with siege towers nd finlly ssulting the city in July, 332.Tyre suffered the sme fte s Thebes, nd the rest of the cost ly open to lexnder, sve for two-month stndoff t Gz. Then Egypt welcomed him s deliverer, whereupon he estblished the port city of lexndri there. Returning to Syri, he dvnced into Mesopotmi, where he routed the Grnd rmy of Drius t rbel (or Gugmel) in mid-331 (Heckel 50). One yer lter, Drius ws killed by rivl s lexnder dvnced estwrd, the sme yer tht lexnder burned down the Persin royl plce t Persepolis (Heckel 55).lexnders vision of empire chnged from 331 to 330 to tht of union of Mcedonins nd Persins under his kingship. He begn to wer Persin dress, mrried the first of two Persin princesses fter conquering the estern provinces in 328, nd lter previled upon the Mcedonin troops to do the sme. s his men incresingly resisted such lien prcti ces, lexnder coherent the execution of some of the most vocl critics, notbly his second in commnd, Prmenio, his lte fthers intimte counselor, who ws the spokesmn for the older opponents of ssimiltion.In s opposee of such excesses, the rmy remined loyl nd followed lexnder into Indi to his lst gret victory-one over locl rulers t the Hydspes River in June, 326, using ntive troops nd methods, s well s elephnts (Heckel 79-80). Now his Mcedonin troops, however, tired nd homesick, refused to go on, nd he hd no choice but to end his offensive. His engineers thereupon built fleet of more thn eight hundred vessels which ferried nd ccompnied the rmy downriver to the Indus, then to the Indin Ocen nd west gin to Persi.Hevy fighting, severe desert terrin, nd unfvorble wether inflicted much suffering nd hevy losses on his forces (Heckel 80-82). By the time he reched Sus, dministrtive cpitl of the Persin Empire, in 324, lexnder hd indeed fshioned sprwling empire. He hd estblished numerous cities bering his nme nd hd infused si with the dynmic Hellenic culture which would influence the region for centuries to come. In ddition, he now ttempted greter rcil intermixing, which led to nother ner-complete brek with his fellow Mcedonins.lexnder, ever more meglomnicl, pronounced himself idol nd hd more of his subordintes put to deth, usully during drunken sprees. These were so frequent in his lst seven yers tht there is every reson to believe he hd become chronic lcoholic. s result of one binge t Bbylon in 323, he becme ill nd died ten dys lter he ws thirty-three yers old. His empire ws quickly divided mong his successor generls, who eliminted his wives nd two children (Heckel 84-85).Inculcted by ristotle with the transcendency of high Greek culture, lexnder the Gret undertook the politicl unifiction of the Greek world long Pnhellenic lines, followed by its extension over the vst but internlly wek Persin Empire. His tools were the superb Mcedonin rmy inherited from his fther n d his own genius t commnd. s one success followed nother, however, his horizons becme broder. He identified himself with the religion nd deities of ech lnd he conquered, especilly Egypt, nd ultimtely seems to hve cerebrate tht it ws his destiny to merge most of the known world under common rule.Tht vision possibly included Crthge nd the Western Mediterrnen, though deth denied him further territoril cquisitions (Burn 15-17). lexnders shrewd dministrtive skills enbled him to succeed in the five mjor fcets of sttehood. In religion, he begn with the Greek pntheon but then acknowledge ll fiths, with himself s the common godhed. Hellenic culture ws lso the intellectul power which control his socil mbitions nd which previled in spite of his ttempts to mlgmte it with Persin wys, leving predominntly Hellenistic world in his wke.In the economic sphere, he followed the Greek prctices of silver-bsed coinge, which with Persin gold brought bout common commercil prctices nd generl prosperity. s one of the gre sieve generls in history, lexnder obtined victory with skillful tctics, flexibility, keen sense of logistics, nd superior ledership, followed by n effective system of grrisons with divided commnds. His chrismtic personlity nd vision combined ll these elements into the finl one-firm, dynmic, politicl rule.Once lexnder pssed from the scene, however, the system could not be sustined. Nevertheless, his exmple of continentl empire contributed to the eventul rise of the Romn Empire nd the expnsion of Christinity. Works Cited Burn, A. R. Alexander the colossal and the Hellenistic Empire. Macmillan, 1948. Heckel, Waldemar. The Wars of Alexander the Great, 336-323 B. C. Routledge, 2003. OBrien, John Maxwell. Alexander the Great The Invisible Enemy A Biography. Routledge, 1994. Stoneman, Richard. Alexander the Great. Routledge, 2004.