CHAPTER VIII.

Monarchy of Alexander the Great and Hellenism

192. Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was born in 356, according to legend, on the night when a madman, Herostratus, who wanted to glorify his name, burned down the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the then "wonders of the world." Already as a boy, Alexander amazed everyone with his dexterity, courage, beauty and intelligence. Philip, wishing to give his heir real Greek education, invited the great philosopher to be his teacher Aristotle, who managed to inspire Alexander with an interest in knowledge, respect for science, a desire for everything high and noble. Even at a very young age, Alexander fell in love with the Iliad, and of her heroes, especially Achilles, who even became a role model for him, and an insatiable thirst for glory and a passion for military affairs took precedence in his soul over mental interests and aspirations.

Alexander the Great. Bust from the British Museum

For sixteen years he had participated in his father's campaigns, and at eighteen he even commanded one of the detachments in the Battle of Chaeronea and contributed a lot to the defeat of the Greeks. He became king at the age of twenty. A man by nature unusually ardent, quick in his decisions and firm in their implementation, he was born for ebullient, tireless activity, not recognizing anything as impossible for himself, not stopping at any obstacles. With an imperious disposition that did not tolerate contradictions and disobedience, he combined grandiose plans, which, moreover, grew more and more as they were carried out. In a restless striving forward, all to new exploits, all to greater glory, whatever the cost, Alexander could not retain in himself for a long time the ideal mood of early youth, but it was precisely this indomitable passion for great enterprises, the haste with which Alexander carried out his plans , perseverance in carrying out once adopted decisions had as a consequence that at the age of thirteen(336–323) During his reign, he produced one of the greatest upheavals in history.

193. Suppression of the Greek uprising

At the very beginning of his reign, twenty-year-old Alexander showed the Greeks who they would have to deal with. The news of the violent death of Philip and the rumor that Alexander was also killed during a campaign against the Thracians , made a strong impression in Greece, which decided to take advantage of these events to regain their freedom. The Athenians, among whom again the first role fell to the lot of Demosthenes, as well as the Thebans and other Greeks, revolted against Macedonia, but Alexander quickly appeared in Greece, defeated the Thebans in Boeotia and forced the Boeotians and Phocians, who avenged Thebes for previous insults, to destroy this city, whose inhabitants were doomed to be sold into slavery. Athens, who helped the uprising with money and weapons, had to ask for pardon. The agreement of the Greeks with Philip was again confirmed, and in 334, Alexander, at the head of a Greek Macedonian army of 35 thousand people, moved through the Hellespont to Asia.

194. Conquest of Persia

Conquest of Persia Alexander the Great made extraordinarily fast. The head of the thirty-thousandth Greek mercenary army in the service of the Persians (Memnon) advised to lure Alexander deep into the country, but the Persians wanted to immediately block the way for the Macedonians and at the river Granike(flows into the Propontis) suffered a severe defeat; only the Greek mercenaries behaved steadfastly. Alexander did not pursue the Persians. Wanting to cut off their forces from the sea, he went south along the coast of Asia Minor, taking one by one the Greek cities, to whom he promised not only liberation from the barbarian yoke, but also the return of independence. Only in one Halicarnassus did he meet with significant resistance. Having made then trip to Phrygia he moved from there to Syria at the northern edge of which, at Isse, met the main army of the Persians under the command of the king himself Darius III Kodoman. Here a battle took place between them, and the victory again went to the Macedonian king. Darius fled, leaving his family and treasures to the mercy of fate. Then it was natural for Alexander to attack Phenicia, the cities of which, in the era of the decline of Greece, restored their fleet, which was the main naval force of the Persian king. And the Phoenician cities, one after another, submitted to the victorious Macedonian king with the exception of Thira, put up stubborn resistance. The siege of this important point delayed Alexander for seven months, but when this city was taken and destroyed, blow to the Phoenician fleet, ceased to be dangerous for the success of the entire enterprise. Moreover, the Macedonian-Greek fleet, supported by the anti-Persian movement on the islands of the Aegean Sea, completely liberated this sea from the Persians, which, of course, dealt a blow to the anti-Macedonian enterprises in Greece itself. By the time of the siege of Tyre, in addition, the conquest of Jews, where Alexander left inviolable both the faith and the political order of the Jews, as he generally did when occupying certain areas of the monarchy of the Persian king. The further path of the conqueror lay in Egypt, which submitted to the new government all the more willingly because a terrible hatred of the Persians prevailed here. Alexander, with his respect for the Egyptian religion, even won the special favor of the local population. From here, he deliberately undertook a campaign through the Libyan desert to the oasis, where there was a famous temple ammon, and the priests there declared him to be a god, the son of the sun. In Egypt, west of the Delta, he founded the city of Alexandria which was then destined to acquire great historical significance. Meanwhile, while Alexander was conquering Syria and Egypt, Darius in Babylon gathered a huge army, mainly from the natives of the eastern parts of the kingdom, but Alexander hurried to meet her through Syria, managed to cross the Euphrates and the Tigris without hindrance, and once again defeated the Persians between Gaugamela and Arbela(near the ruins of Nineveh) . Darius fled, but was subsequently killed by one of his satraps, and Alexander occupied Babylon, Susa and Persepolis, in which he also captured all the treasures of the Persian king. From the spring of 334, when Alexander crossed the Hellespont, to the autumn of 331, when the last great defeat of the Persians took place, which decided the fate of the monarchy of Cyrus, it's been three and a half years, and in the next 330, Alexander, considering the war with the Persians over, let go of Ecbatan allied Greek troops home. The Persian monarchy was destroyed in just three or four years. Already in Persepolis, Alexander declared himself king of the Persians, and after death. Darius was recognized in this new dignity by the Persians themselves.

195. Hike to India

First half of the twenties of the 4th c. took place in new campaigns and conquests, since Alexander wanted to conquer all the eastern regions of the former kingdom of the Persians. In the northeast he reached Oxus and Jaxart[Amu Darya and Syr Darya] , having founded four new Alexandrias along the way (of which one called "Far Alexandria" was located on the site of the present Khujand). In the far east it undertook the conquest of India. Having united with some Indian princes, Alexander (in the spring of 326) crossed the Indus but here he was met by a warlike prince Por with a large army, in which there were a lot of elephants. And Alexander won a brilliant victory over him, although he left power to him. He was now drawn further east, to the country of the Ganges, but when he was about to cross one of the tributaries of the Indus (Hyphasis), his the army began to murmur and Alexander had to abandon his intention to take the war to the region of the Ganges. Along the Indus, on which he equipped a whole flotilla, he went down to the sea conquering the local tribes along the way and founding new cities In the summer of 325, she began her return to the west: with the land army, Alexander went through a number of deserts (the campaign through Gedrosia - present-day Balochistan was especially difficult), until he reached Susa, where he remained for quite a long time, organizing his monarchy, the fleet he built under the command of a Cretan Nearcha sailed from the mouth of the Indus to the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Statue of Alexander the Great. Istanbul Archaeological Museum

196. Character of Alexander's monarchy

Having become the heir of the Achaemenids, Alexander, to the great displeasure of the Macedonians and Greeks, became seek rapprochement with the Persians and follow Persian customs. He brought noble Persians closer to him, appointed some of them satraps, more and more often dressed in Persian, took three oriental princesses as his wife, married even ten thousand of his warriors to Persian women and taught about thirty thousand barbarians the Greek military art. Appearing on solemn occasions in the diadem of the "great king", he even began to demand that they prostrate before him and give him divine honors. Alexander's intention was to create a state in which Hellenes and barbarians would enjoy the same rights in government and in the army, and revive the decrepit East with a new spirit of Greek culture. In his vast kingdom he built cities(about 70 in total), built roads and canals, pacified the robber tribes that interfered with trade communications, etc., and thanks to this, new centers of Greek culture appeared in the East, new ways for its distribution. Eastern barbarians, whose religious beliefs and customs Alexander treated with respect, easily submitted to the new ruler. For them, it was not unusual for the king to demand to kneel before him, as before a kind of incarnation of a deity. The Greeks should have treated this demand differently.

197. Relations to Alexander of the Greek cities

At the beginning of Alexander's conquest of the monarchy of the "great king" in European Greece, they were still thinking about the overthrow of the Macedonian hegemony. In 331, Sparta rebelled, with which some other regions of the Peloponnese joined, but the ruler of Macedonia left by Alexander Antipater suppressed this movement and forced Sparta to make peace. In Athens, they did not dare to undertake anything serious, and the mood hostile to the new order was expressed only in the fact that Aeschines had to leave the city forever, and Demosthenes was crowned with a golden wreath. But the Greek cities were too weak and scattered to enter into a decisive struggle with Alexander. On the other hand, Greek cities in Asia Minor they looked at him as a liberator from the Persians and tyrants or oligarchs, who were supported in them by Persian politics. Alexander even bought numerous supporters in the person of exiles from individual cities, whom he ordered to return to their homeland.

198. Greek opposition in the army of Alexander

But even in the army of Alexander there were a lot of dissatisfied. The Greeks looked with displeasure at how Alexander distinguished and exalted the barbarians: in this respect they were representatives of the old view, according to which, in general, the vanquished should have been deprived of all rights, in particular, the Hellenes were called to rule, and barbarians are by nature doomed to remain in eternal slavery. Alexander stood above this national prejudice of the Greeks, but at the same time, on the other hand, he demanded from the Greeks that they submit to the very authority against which they had been fighting for centuries, that is, that they themselves adopted the views and customs of Eastern servility, and this already offended the legitimate sense of human dignity, which was very developed in the free citizens of the Greek communities. They saw in the new policy of Alexander the desire to restore the very Persian despotism against which their ancestors waged war. On a trip to the northeast Philotas, the son of one of the best royal commanders, Parmenion, plotted on the life of Alexander and, together with his father and other conspirators, paid for it with his life. Another time, when also a very prominent commander, clitus, who saved Alexander's life in the battle of the Granicus, began to reproach the king at one feast under the influence of wine vapors because he only likes to listen to the flattery of the Persian courtiers, and then sang a mocking song composed against the king in Greece, Alexander immediately struck his devotee with a dart to death servant. In 324, against Alexander happened quite a serious movement in the army itself, and he was forced to send some of the soldiers home.

199. Death of Alexander the Great and the fate of his inheritance

Alexander returned to Babylon, which was made the capital of the state, only in the spring of 323. Even before his arrival, embassies from different countries came here to express their surprise and humility to him. The king had new grand plans- a sea expedition around Arabia and even, very likely, the conquest of Carthage. In the midst of preparations for new undertakings, in the summer of 323 Alexander fell ill with a fever and died a few days later at the age of thirty-three. He left only a feeble-minded half-brother (Philip Arrhidaeus), and soon after his death a son (Alexander) was born to one of his wives; both of them were declared kings under the tutelage of the chief military leader Perdiccas, who distributed separate areas to other generals to manage. These, as they are called, diadochi(i.e., successors) soon entered into fierce struggle for power and land, while in 301 Battle of Ipsus (in Phrygia) did not definitively discover none of them was able to maintain the unity of the greatest monarchy, which had not yet seen the light of day.

Empire of Alexander the Great. Click to enlarge

Macedonia is a small state in northern Greece. It was ruled by kings from the Argead dynasty. They were believed to be descendants of Midas himself. For a long time, the state was isolated, engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding, but then ties with Greece began to be established.

Childhood and youth of Alexander the Great

Macedonia reached relative prosperity with the reign of Philip II: the territory of the country expanded: it included Pangea, Epirus, Thessaly, Halkidiki, the Thracian coast of the Aegean Sea, all mainland Hellas, with the exception of Sparta, recognized the authority of Philip. From one vassal province, he took a wife - Olympias, who bore him a son, named Alexander III of Macedon. It seemed that feats were expected from a boy from childhood. His mother Olympias was descended from Hercules and the kings of Argos. However, Philip was not so scrupulous to his son. Despite the fact that Alexander received a brilliant and versatile education: he studied history, diplomacy, philosophy and other sciences. His mentors were Aristotle, who instilled a love of literature and medicine, his mother's brother, the Spartan Leonid, who taught him strict military discipline, and the jester and actor Lysimachus.

According to Plutarch, Alexander in his youth did not have an athletic physique, and was not interested in various competitions. However, at the age of ten, he tamed the horse Bucephalus, which was abandoned by his father due to excessive obstinacy. At the age of 16, Alexander remained in Macedonia instead of Philip, who went to Byzantium. He proved himself to be a tough ruler and a talented commander, suppressing uprisings of the tribes of Thrace Medov and leading the left wing of the Macedonian army in the battle of Chaeronea.

However, there were frequent disagreements with the father for various reasons. In the end, after the death of Philip (he was killed by his bodyguard), all the sympathies of the Macedonian nobility were on his side. Although there were still contenders for the throne. In addition to the legitimate son of Alexander, there was a son of Arrhidaeus from Philinna's mistress and Alexander's cousin Amyntas (in fact, the throne belonged to him. Philip usurped power). The decisive factor was the support of the troops, who had been in battles with the young prince more than once. Thus, in 336 BC. Alexander was proclaimed king of Macedonia.

Activities of Alexander as king of Macedonia

He actively began to solve the internal problems of the country: he abolished taxes for a while, destroyed all possible contenders for the throne, organized the Corinthian Congress, the purpose of which was to confirm the agreement already concluded with Greece, confirming the sovereignty of Greek cities. Further, having gathered an army, the Illyrian and Thracian tribes moved to Thebes, where the centers of uprisings blazed. The most difficult thing was to suppress the rebels in Thebes - the city was under siege for a long time, but Alexander managed to take it and sell the entire population into slavery, which caused a sharp dissonance in Greece. It is one thing to destroy or plunder a city, in which case it can be restored, but the sale of the entire population into slavery in all corners of the east meant only one thing - the former Thebes will never be again.

Having pacified the Macedonian provinces, the king turned his attention to the old dream of his father - the Achaemenid state. In 334 BC. The Macedonians crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor. Most of the Persian possessions in Asia Minor voluntarily took the side of Alexander. For example, the Lydian and Phrygian kingdoms. Halicarnassus and Miletus resisted the longest, solely because of the presence in these cities of Persian troops, transferred there after the uprisings of the Balkan states, which led to the Greco-Persian wars. A curious event happened to Alexander in Phrygia. There was a legend that whoever could untie the Gordian knot tied by King Gordius would conquer the whole world. Alexander, without thinking twice, cut it and subsequently, as you know, conquered very vast territories. Returning to his conquest, in just a year Asia Minor submitted to the Macedonians.

Capturing territories: Phenicia, Egypt, Palestine

In 333 BC. the armies of Alexander and Darius III, Shah of Persia, met at Issus. The Persians were completely defeated. Darius fled, leaving his family and the royal treasury on the battlefield. It is worth paying tribute to Alexander - the Shah's family was not executed, but received many privileges. Moreover, the daughter of Darius Stateira became the wife of Alexander. The shah offered peace to Alexander several times, but achieved nothing: Macedonsky walked with a confident step along the Achaemenid satrapies and it was obvious that he would become the next ruler.

Alexander was given a headache by the Phoenician cities (they needed to be conquered as quickly as possible to prevent the Persians from using their fleet to its full potential). The city of Tire was under siege for seven months. But Alexander managed to capture it and, as in the case of Thebes, sold all the inhabitants into slavery. With the fall of Tire in the Mediterranean, the Persian fleet ceased to exist. Then Alexander moved through the Palestinian lands to Egypt. Most of Palestine surrendered voluntarily, only the city of Gaza had to be besieged for almost two months. Egypt welcomed Alexander with open arms, where he became pharaoh. It was there that he began to spread rumors about his divine origin. In the ancient world and the early Middle Ages of the East, an integral part of the ascension to the throne was the compilation of a genealogy, that is, the origin of the king / pharaoh / shah from legendary heroes, mythical kings and gods. Now they spoke of Alexander as the son of Zeus, the descendant of Hercules and the sun god Ra.

After spending a year and a half in Egypt, Alexander in 331 BC. continued the conquest of the Achaemenid state. In this year, the battle of Gaugamela took place, after which Alexander became the Shahanshah of Persia. However, uprisings broke out in the conquered territories under the leadership of impostors who called themselves the last of the Achaemenid family, but they were all successfully suppressed.

After the fall of the Achaemenid state, the eastern provinces were in no hurry to recognize Alexander as their ruler. Within three years (from 329-329 BC) hostilities were introduced in Bactria and Sogdiana. More precisely, they were not fought, and the Macedonian army ran after the tribes, trying to catch at least someone. It was considered good luck to enslave some seedy population on their way. Moreover, the tribes introduced guerrilla warfare against them, which exhausted the forces of the Macedonian army. In the end, the local kings called on the power of Alexander.

Domestic policy of Alexander the Great

In domestic politics, Alexander showed himself to be a just king, but he did not introduce any innovations into the administrative and political life of the country. He, first of all. Known for the fact that the era of Asian Hellenism began with him (the period of Greek domination in the East, characterized by the spread of the Greek language and culture; dates from the arrival of Alexander (334 BC - the fall of Ptolemaic Egypt (30 AD). After him campaigns in the east, many cities were formed, such as Alexandria (in Egypt), Bucephalus (in Pakistan), Alexandria (in Arachosia), Alexandria Eskhata (in Sogdiana), etc. Alexander cherished dreams of conquering the whole world, but his army, tired from constant campaigns, she began to grumble.After just a year, attempts began on the life of Alexander.To prevent his soldiers from returning to Greece, he ordered them to marry the daughters of tribal leaders.Plutarch calls this 'marriage of 10 thousand'.Alexander himself took Roxana as his wife, Bactrian princess.

Not heeding the discontent of the army, Alexander moved towards India. At first, luck favored the Macedonians. They successfully crossed the Indus River, captured the Punjab (the five-river region, where the most fertile lands of India are located), the possessions of King Abha from Taxila (modern Islamabad). But near the Ganges River, the army refused to follow their king: supplies were running out, the army was exhausted by the unusual climate. Alexander turned his army south, intending to conquer the local tribes on his way home. He didn't succeed. In one of the battles he was wounded by an arrow and the return to Iran through the deserts of Gedrosia became the most difficult test for the Macedonians.

Having settled in Susa, Alexander began to reform the local army along the Macedonian model. The phalanx of troops was recruited from the youths of Asian tribes, the cavalry included local aristocrats. This caused a revolt among the Macedonians - Alexander was accused of betrayal. The rebellion was crushed. Its instigators are executed. New forces were needed by the king. He planned to enslave the captive Arabia and capture Carthage. Ships were actively built in the country and foreign embassies were received. But just five days before the start of the campaign, Alexander fell ill and died at the age of 32.

After the death of Alexander, there were no heirs. Roxanne gave birth to a boy named after his father, but he and his mother were poisoned in palace coups. The empire of Alexander the Great was torn apart by his commanders: Kasander ruled in Macedonia, Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus owned lands from Syria to the Indus River, Lysimachus - Thrace and Asia Minor.

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356 BC – 323 BC- the life of Alexander the Great

338 BC- Macedonian victory over Greeks at Chaeronea

334 BC- the beginning of Alexander's campaign against Persia, the victory at Granik.

333 BC Alexander's victory over the Persians at Issus.

331 BC- the battle of Gaugamela, the defeat of the Persian state.

327–324 BC.- the last campaign of Alexander the Great (to India).

1. Greece and Macedonia. Wars between the policies led to the decline of Greece. People died, cities were destroyed, fields were trampled down. Many citizens did not want to fight, because during the campaigns they had to leave their farms, crafts and trade. And in the event of their death, families were completely left without breadwinners. They were increasingly concerned about their own interests, and not the interests of the entire policy. The unity of the collective of citizens of the policy disappeared. There were more and more poor people, they were ruined by wars. The poor hated the rich who profited from the war.

Constant wars between city-states, the intensification of the struggle between the rich and the poor threatened Greece with death. Where was the way out of this danger? First of all, it was necessary to stop the wars between the Greeks. But how to do that? Many believed that only a strong ruler could do this, who would unite all the Greeks and lead their campaign to the east - to Persia. Victory in this campaign will bring new markets to the poor, artisans and merchants, and rich booty will help restore devastated Greece.

So many saw the savior of Greece in King Philip of Macedonia. But Philip also had many opponents in different policies. They said that the Macedonian king did not want to save, but to seize Greece, destroy democracy and establish his sole power.

Macedonia has long been a backward region on the northern borders of Greece. The Macedonians were engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture. Trade and craft were poorly developed. There were almost no cities there. The policy as a collective of citizens did not develop there either. As a long time ago, the Greeks in Macedonia were ruled by kings, but the royal power was limited by the council of the nobility.

In the middle of the IV century. BC. King Philip united all of Macedonia under his rule. He created a strong army. It was based on a phalanx of foot soldiers and heavily armed cavalry. The infantry was recruited from the peasants, and the Macedonian aristocrats were the cavalry. The Macedonian phalanx in battle was a formation of soldiers in the form of an elongated (up to 1 km) rectangle. In depth, the phalanx consisted of ranks of soldiers of 16 or 24 people. Each warrior, except for the shield and sword, had a long peak (4 m or more). In battle, the densely packed warriors of the eight front ranks put their pikes forward, and the phalanx, bristling with the points of the pikes, moved towards the enemy. It was very difficult to approach her. From the flanks, the phalanx was protected by cavalry. If the enemy still managed to get around the phalanx and go to its rear, then the soldiers of the last eight rows turned around and lowered their peaks in front of them. The “bristled beast” was the name given to the Macedonian phalanx.

Philip took over the gold mines and minted gold coins. This gave him the means to buy the best equipment for the siege and capture of cities, weapons, as well as to bribe his supporters in the Greek states.

The Macedonian king skillfully intervened in the feuds of the Greek policies, subjugating them one by one and pitting them against each other. When Philip invaded Greece, Athens managed to create an alliance of several city-states against Macedonia. In the decisive battle near the city of Chaeronea in 338 BC. Philip defeated the Greek army. The cavalry on one of the flanks of the Macedonian army was commanded by Philip's 18-year-old son Alexander.

Having won, Philip did not ravage Athens. He invited the defeated Greeks to unite in an alliance. In the city of Corinth, a meeting of representatives of the Greek policies was convened, and almost all the city-states of Greece united in a pan-Greek union. They pledged never to fight each other again. The Macedonian king was appointed commander-in-chief of the allied army. He was the head of the union. The assembly in Corinth decided on a holy war with Persia. The reason for the war was revenge on the Persians for the fact that during the Greco-Persian wars they destroyed many temples of the Greeks.

But on the eve of the campaign against Persia, Philip was killed. His 20-year-old son Alexander became the new king of Macedonia. He led the campaign of the Macedonians and Greeks against the Persian state.

2. Campaigns of Alexander the Great. Alexander was brought up as a warrior from childhood. He not only learned to master weapons perfectly, but even in his youth gained experience in commanding troops. Alexander was not only a skilled warrior, but also a highly educated person. His teacher was the great Greek scientist Aristotle. The character of Alexander combined the riot and bloodthirstiness of a warrior and deep knowledge of various sciences about nature, man, literature, and art.

In the spring of 334 BC. Alexander, at the head of an army, landed on the coast of Asia Minor, not far from the place where Troy had once been. The Persians at first did not attach serious importance to declaring war on them. The army of the huge Persian state far outnumbered the army of Alexander. In addition, the Persian king considered Alexander just a boy, a boastful upstart.

And not the entire Persian army entered the first battle with Alexander, but only the troops of the governors of the Persian king in Asia Minor. The battle took place on the banks of the Granik River. Its outcome was unexpected for the Persians - they were utterly defeated.

Having won the first major victory, Alexander moved south along the Mediterranean coast. His plan was to capture the ports where the Persian fleet was based. Then the ships of the Persians would be left without supplies and reinforcements, and their sailors would have to surrender. Alexander announced that he was bringing freedom to the Greeks of Asia Minor from the rule of Persia, and in almost all the Greek cities of Asia Minor he was greeted enthusiastically as a liberator.

The frightened Persian king Darius III realized that Alexander could only be defeated by gathering all his strength. He personally led a huge army, gathered from all corners of a huge power. The army of Darius III moved to cut across the army of Alexander the Great, which was already on the outskirts of Phoenicia, where the main bases of the Persian fleet were located.

The battle took place on one of the October days of 333 BC. near the city of Issa in northern Syria. The Persians failed to either break through the Macedonian phalanx or encircle it. During the battle, Alexander with his horsemen broke through to the chariot of Darius. The young commander longed to fight the ruler of the Persians in a duel. But Darius III got scared and rode away from the battlefield, abandoning his army. The Persians suffered a crushing defeat. Alexander captured the mother, wife and daughters of Darius. The royal convoy with a huge amount of gold was also captured.

After the Battle of Issus, Alexander did not move deep into Persia, but continued his journey further south along the Mediterranean coast. With the inhabitants of the cities of Phenicia and Palestine, who did not want to surrender, he dealt with very cruelly - of those who survived, thousands of men were crucified on crosses, and women and children were sold into slavery.

In Egypt, Alexander the Great was greeted as a liberator from the hated Persian rule. The Egyptian priests proclaimed Alexander the son of the god Amon (the main god of the Egyptians) and honored him as a living god and pharaoh.

Having fulfilled his original plan to seize all the Mediterranean possessions of Persia, Alexander the Great decided to finally defeat this yet the most powerful power of the East. The army of Macedonians and Greeks rested in Egypt in 331 BC. set out on a campaign deep into Persia.

Autumn 331 BC Alexander's army crossed the Tigris River and near the village of Gaugamela met in a decisive battle with the newly assembled Persian army. Darius III threw war chariots on the Macedonian phalanx, to the wheels of which sharp scythes were attached. But the chariots stumbled upon a forest of peaks put forward. The decisive blow was dealt by the Macedonian cavalry, in the ranks of which Alexander himself fought. Darius III fled again. Alexander rushed after him, but he got only the dead body of the ruler of the Persian state - the Persians themselves killed their king.

After this victory, Alexander easily conquered all of Persia, he met serious resistance only in Central Asia. Now Alexander the Great became the ruler of a huge power, which spread over three parts of the world: Europe (Macedonia and Greece), Africa (Egypt) and Asia. Many different peoples lived in this power, who not only spoke different languages, but also lived according to different customs. If, for example, the Greeks got used to freedom, equality in rights, then the Persians or Egyptians for centuries got used to living in submission to the ruler, whose will replaced the law for them.

Alexander the Great made ancient Babylon the capital of his vast state. He lived in a luxurious palace built by the Persian kings. He liked it when the Persians fell on their knees before him, and he forced the Macedonian and Greek soldiers to do the same. The freedom-loving warriors of Alexander considered such a humiliation insulting. They did not like the fact that Alexander left the local Persian rulers in power, and the fact that he began to recruit Persians into the army. Several conspiracies were organized against Alexander, but the king brutally cracked down on the conspirators.

Alexander the Great imagined himself the greatest of men. He demanded that the Greeks recognize him as a god. This was unheard of, but fearing reprisal, the Greeks agreed. The Spartans replied: "If Alexander wants to be a god, then let him be." But even this was not enough for Alexander the Great. He decided to become the ruler of the whole world inhabited by people. Back then, the Greeks knew little or nothing about other continents. The nearest country in the East was India. And there in 327 BC. Alexander went on his new campaign. At first he managed to win several victories, but then heavy rains began. In the streams of water, in the mud, the warriors made their way through the jungle with difficulty. Finally, the army rebelled and demanded that the king go back. Alexander had to agree. The return from India to Babylon through unfamiliar places proved to be a long and difficult undertaking. On the way back, many soldiers died from disease, hunger, thirst, attacks by local residents. He was wounded, and then Alexander himself fell seriously ill.

Shortly after returning to Babylon, Alexander the Great died, before reaching the age of 33. They had not yet had time to bury him, and Alexander's generals had already begun a struggle for power. The wars between them were long and brutal. During them, the mother, wife and son of the great commander were killed. And the huge power created by Alexander the Great fell apart into several new states, the kings of which were his commanders and their descendants. The largest of these were the Macedonian (which included Greece), the Syrian and Egyptian kingdoms. In the new states in the East, the Greek language and Greek culture spread.

Known for his ambitions for conquest, Alexander the Great took his place in history as the great ancient Hellenic commander and conqueror.

For 10 years of military campaigns, he conquered more than half of the lands known at that time and did not suffer a single defeat in battles!

short biography

Alexander the Great (name - AlexanderIII; nickname - "Great") born July 20-21, 356 BC in Macedonia. His father - PhilipII, was the current king of Macedonia. His mother - Olympics daughter of the king of Epirus.

It is known that at the age of 7 the boy began to be taught the art of war and various sciences. Alexander showed no interest in philosophy and mathematics. But in riding a horse and archery, as well as some other physical and military sciences he had no equal.

Disciple of Aristotle

One of the teachers of the young Alexander the Great was Aristotle- the famous wisest ancient Greek philosopher. Thanks to his teacher's stories about the universe and its many riches and wonders, the boy began to dream of conquering new lands.

After another news that his father Philip defeated another enemy and conquered the city, AlexanderIII would become sad and say: “At this rate, there will be nothing left for me ...”

Young commander

At the age of 16, Alexander underwent his first baptism of fire during the battle with the Athenians. His command of the cavalry decided the outcome of the battle in favor of the Macedonians and earned the young commander the nickname "Great". Philip's soldiers praised him!

The father was pleased with his son's first practical experience, and from that moment on, young Alexander began to closely study military science: the basics of warfare, the features of actions phalanx- the military unit of the Macedonians, which made their numerical minority unimportant in battles with enemies.

King of Macedonia

When Alexander was 20 years old, his father was treacherously killed by one of his associates. The time has come to accept the royal throne and government. Alexander the Great did not participate in the internal administration, but he actively and fruitfully proved himself as a commander and invader, first of neighboring cities, and later of neighboring and distant lands.

There is a legend that during the siege of Athens, the main commander of the Greeks came out to Macedon Focion and said the following words:

“Why would you fight against your fellow tribesmen, against the Hellenes? You are striving for fame and fortune, so go to Asia, fight against the barbarians. There you will win wealth, achieve military glory, and among the Greeks you will be famous for kindness.

Macedonian took advantage of the wise advice of the Greek commander, retreated from Athens and sent his 40 thousandth army(according to some sources - there were about 50 thousand soldiers) on a campaign to the lands of Asia, Persia, Egypt.

pharaoh of egypt

Crossing the Hellespont, Alexander and his army took the first fight with the Persian army near Troy, on the river Granik.

The Persian army was defeated by a talented commander from Macedonia. After that, many cities of the Persians surrendered to the young king without a fight.

In 332. BC. Macedonian without any resistance entered Egypt and became his Pharaoh. By that time, almost all the military power of the Egyptians was in Asia Minor.

King of Asia

After strengthening his position in the Egyptian lands and building the city of Alexandria, Macedonian decides to go deeper into the Asian lands. By that time DariusIII, the Persian king, managed to gather a large army for a new battle with Alexander.

October 1, 331 BC e. a great battle took place Gaugamelach, during which the troops of the Persians and the peoples subject to them were defeated. Darius once again fled from the battlefield, which further dropped his authority.

After this battle, the satraps of many Persian lands began to call the conqueror Alexander King of Asia and opened the gates for him without a fight.

Persian king

Then Alexander moved to the south, where the ancient Babylon and Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire, opened their gates to him. The Persian satraps, having lost faith in Darius, began to switch to the service of the King of Asia.

From Susa, Alexander went through the mountain passes to Persepolis, the center of the original Persian land. After an unsuccessful attempt to break through on the move, Alexander with part of his army bypassed the detachments of the Persian satrap Ariobarzan, and in January 330 BC. e. Persepolis fell.

The Macedonian army rested in the city until the end of spring, and before leaving the palace of the Persian kings was burned.

According to the famous legend, the fire was organized by the hetaera Thais of Athens, the mistress of the military leader Ptolemy, who provoked the drunken company of Alexander and his friends.

AT May 330 BC e. Alexander resumed his pursuit of Darius, first in Media and then in Parthia. July 330 B.C. e. King Darius was killed as a result of a conspiracy of his military leaders. Bactrian satrap Bess who killed Darius, called himself the new king of the Persian Empire. Bessus tried to organize resistance in the eastern satrapies, but was captured by his comrades-in-arms, handed over to Alexander and executed by him in June 329 BC. e.

Hike to India

After the victory over the Persians, Alexander the Great did not return to his native land, but moved to India. In battle, he defeated the army of the Indian king Pora and wanted to reach oceans. But then his army rebelled.

The Macedonians did not want to fight anymore, they demanded a return to their homeland, accused their king of an excessive thirst for wealth and fame. He had to give in. He had grandiose plans, he wanted to conquer the whole world, he thought to build a road through the Sahara desert, dig wells along it and much more.

Death of Alexander the Great

Upon his return to Babylon, Alexander soon fell ill with a fever. The disease progressed, the Great commander fought with it for 10 days, but June 13, 323 BC Alexander the Great died.

His body was transported to Alexandria, where he was buried with great honors in a golden coffin.

Unfortunately, the military conflicts in Greece did not stop forever. The exhausting Peloponnesian wars did not put an end to the eternal rivalry between Athens and Sparta, the Greek policies, immersed in internecine struggle, became easy prey for another conqueror: Philip II of Macedon at the battle of Chaeronea in 388 BC. put an end to the independence of Greece, and in the same place, in Chaeronea, the star of the eighteen-year-old son of Philip Alexander rose, under whose leadership the Theban cohort was utterly defeated.

In 336 BC. after the death of his father, Alexander, having dealt with rivals who claimed the throne, began to strengthen the Macedonian kingdom, which during his reign knew great victories and power.

The territory of Greece and Persia, conquered by the Macedonians.

The young monarch, distinguished by his brilliant mind, inexhaustible zest for life and extraordinary abilities as a commander, had great teachers: Leonidas instructed him in the art of war, Lysimachus was engaged in his literary education, Aristotle gave him what he could, from his deep knowledge of science, history, geography, he taught the young Alexander the rudiments of rhetoric and ethics.

Freed from relatives who encroached on the throne, Alexander proclaimed himself commander-in-chief at the all-Hellenic council in Corinth (in 335 BC), then subjugated the peoples who rebelled against him in the north of Macedonia, and defeated the Illyrians, pushing them back to the Danube.

After that, Alexander crushed the armed uprising of the Greeks, razing Thebes to the ground, but sparing Athens. Having celebrated a triumph in Greece, he began to prepare an expedition to Asia, conceived by his father. In 334 BC. Alexander entrusted power in Macedonia to one of his governors, and he himself crossed the Hellespont with an army of forty thousand infantry and five thousand horsemen, of which only half of the soldiers were Macedonians: the rest of the army were Greeks, mostly Spartans.

Greek coin of the 2nd century. BC.; on the reverse side of it is the head of Alexander.

At the Granik River, the Macedonian king inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persian army and thus established his own dominance throughout Asia Minor, freeing the Ionian Greek cities and returning them to democratic rule instead of the oligarchic pro-Persian one. Then Alexander continued his campaign and cut the Gordian knot in Gordion: long before that, the oracle predicted dominance in Asia Minor to a man who would untie the most complicated knot stored in the temple of Zeus, connecting the yoke to the tongue of the royal chariot.

Further, Alexander crossed the Taurus and at Issus defeated the army of Darius III (333 BC); Darius fled to Babylon, but Alexander captured his family (mother, wife and three children), who, according to Persian custom, accompanied the king on a campaign.

Dramatic battle at Issus with the army of Alexander: Macedonian expansion meant the end of the political independence of Greece.

Rejecting the peaceful conditions of the defeated Persian king, who even gave him one of his daughters as his wife, Alexander opened the gates to the East for himself, however, fearing strikes from the rear, he decided to start the conquest from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean; thus he subjugated Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, marching through the Libyan desert to the temple of Amun, where the Egyptian priestesses called him "the son of Zeus," a title honored by the pharaohs. In Egypt, the Macedonian king founded the city of Alexandria (332 BC), which later became the center of Hellenistic culture.

In 331 BC. Alexander's army resumed the campaign to the East, rushing to Persia: having crossed the Tigris and Euphrates, in the battle of Gaugamel, Alexander finally defeated the army reassembled by Darius, occupied Babylon and Susa and entered Persepolis, which was then burned. Revealing the plot of the Macedonian nobility, Alexander ordered the execution of Bessus, the Persian commander who dethroned and killed Darius. The military campaign against Persia ended, and from that moment Alexander was awarded the title with which he went down in history - Alexander the Great.

The myth about the invincibility of the great Macedonian had already begun to be created, during his lifetime he was attributed to the host of immortal gods, but this tireless commander seemed not at all going to be content with what he had achieved. He was preparing a new expedition and together with it once again moved to the East. Having reached India, Alexander the Great subjugated the outskirts of the Persian Empire and conquered Parthia, Icarnia and Bactria, where he founded a city named after his beloved horse Bucephalus.

In incessant battles, he continued to move deep into India and, approaching the Ifasi River, announced his intention to move on, but exhausted soldiers, threatening a rebellion, forced him to curtail the campaign. Alexander with the army moved back, while the fleet, led by Nearchos, landed to survey the coast. In 324 BC. Alexander the Great entered Susa in triumph and set about rebuilding his great empire.

A year later, while planning an expedition to Arabia, he died of a malarial fever. This happened on June 13, 323 BC.

Alexander the Great on his deathbed

The greatest commander of antiquity, who tried to unite the entire known world under one crown, was thirty-four years old. The empire he created did not long outlive him; Alexander's generals divided the lands and provinces among themselves, founding various kingdoms and destroying his dream of connecting East with West.