by Faisal Khalid
Hamdard University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)
by Faisal Khalid
In an amazing eleven-year journey of conquest, young Alexander of Macedonia conquered all the way from Egypt to India. Behind him came Greek institutions and the Greek language, which became the standard of the ancient world. The intoxication of power caused Alexander to become strange to his friends, and he died unhappy.
Alexander was born on 356 B.C. He was born in Pella the ancient capital of Macedonia, was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, and of Olympias, a princess of Epirus. His tutor was Aristotle, who trained him in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine and philosophy.
Unfortunately in the summer of 336 B.C. his father was assassinated and he ascended to the Macedainian throne. Also unfortunate was that by that time he found his empire in disorder. He had enemies all over, in home and people threatening rebellion abroad. He did quickly deal with this by killing all of the threats and restoring order to his small empire. Then he restored order to Thessaly which had attempted independence. Before the end of summer he had reestablished his position in Greece and was elected by a congress of states at Corinth.
In 335 B.C. as general of the Greeks in a campaign against the Persians, originally planned by his father, he carried out a successful campaign against the defeating Thracains, penetrating to the Danube River. On his return he crushed in a single week the threatening Illyrians and then hastened to Thebes, which had revolted. He took the city by storm and razed it, sparing only the temples of the gods and the houses of the Greek lyric poet Pindar, and selling the surviving inhabitants, about 8000 in number, into slavery. Alexander's promptness in crushing the revolt of Thebes brought the other Greek states into instant and abject submission.
As you can see Alexander had started his way to being a great and powerful ruler. It is said that while visiting Athens to seal a pact, Alexander visited the Oracle at Delphi, despite it being a day when prophecy was forbidden . In his attempts to drag the priestess to the place where she gave her Oracles, she screamed: "My son, you are invincible!" That was apparently all he needed to hear and in the spring of 334 he departed to Asia.
Near the point of his death he begin to believe he was a god so he begin to tell his people that he was descend from Hercules by printing coins that had them both on them. His mother also told him that a serpent had impregnated her rather then his father adding to his thoughts that he was a god. also before his death he had some of his cities worship him as a god.
His death is still shrouded in mystery to this day. It does seem hard to believe that a 33 year old man could one day out of the blue just die. Modern historians have tried to piece together what happened.
Something of defiant interest is the theory that Alexander the Great may possibly have been gay. Although he did have a wife and a son and it is likely that he slept with women. The 1956 epic film showed his life more as an asexual though, him being so busy he never had the time for women. This is a misconception, for it is generally accepted that he had a preference for men. Unfortunately, he did not have many lovers and the ones he did have never spoke about it.
Hephaestion was, by far, Alexander's closest friend. They were notorious for spending lots of time together, philosophizing on life, sharing ideas and discussing the future. When his mother Olympias once sent Hephaestion an angry note, he replied, " Stop quarreling with me; not that in any case I should care. You know Alexander means more to me then anyone." Whether this was a physical relationship was never documented. However, according to Mary Renult, "In spite of Homer's reticence, classical Greece assumed the heroes' love to be sexual."
It is important to consider Alexander's relationship with his mother, Olympias, as affecting his sexuality. It is widely thought that Alexander had an Oedipal attraction to his mother. As a child, he saw his parents' relationship deteriorate as they became virtual enemies to each other. Philip had many concubines and eventually married one of them. Naturally, this left a great impression on the young boy, stuck in the middle of the feud, and it was only natural that he identified with his mother. Mary Renault remarks that, " for Alexander, his father's constant absences on campaign, combined with his mother's possessive love, made this a certainty." So great a bond was formed with his mother, that it may have prevented other women from entering his life.
Most of Alexander's life was either his boyhood when he was being tutored or his manhood when he was campaigning far from home in other lands. He took control of almost the entire known world and most of his people and troops believed him to be godlike and invincible.
The Triumph and Tragedy of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great's relation to triumph is obvious, he created an army which took over most of the known world. But what is not known widely is how tragic his life was. I cannot do full justice to his life but I will do my best to describe it.
When Alexander was a child his parents were constantly fighting and his father was usually away on campaigns, so he rarely say him when he was young. He therefore was usually under his mother's influence.
When he was a young man his father was killed and he had to take over an entire country himself which was in very bad shape. As he grew he had to deal with disputes, revolts and cruel neighboring rivals.
When he was a grown man he killed many people, including killing friends while he was in drunken rages who had saved his life. At one point in his life he killed a life long friend while drunk and then realizing what he had done would have killed himself if his bodyguards had not restrained him. He then went into seclusion for three days.
This is most likely just a small amount of things that shaped Alexander the Great's life and it is likely some of the memories tormented him through most of his life. Most of Alexander's life was one big problem after another. I personally think it would have been hard to live with so many friends lives on my hands, but maybe he could.
Alexander the Great's Parents
Alexander's father was Philip II, the king of Macedonia, who put together a great army and crushed his foes. Under his superb political leadership, the once fractious Greek city-states codified into a confederation. He controlled everything and used the Corithian League for his own conquests.
One of Philip's many wives was Olympia, Alexander's mother and Daughter of the late king Epirus. It was due to no small feat on her own part, that her son, the young crowned prince, succeeded as mightily as he did. She had an iron will, and did everything to protect and advance Alexander's interests, constantly instilling the notion of greatness.
It was through his mother that Alexander could claim a lineage that included both Achilles, and at least indirectly, Hector, the two Great combatants of the Trojan War. This was to have a profound effect on Alexander, and his own self-awareness.
Philip as well, was deeply committed to Alexander's success. He was neither aloof, nor standoffish toward his son. And though he was away on many campaigns for long stretches, his attitude toward Alexander showed every indication of parental pride and affection. The feeling was unfortunately not mutual. To be sure, Alexander loved his father but also did everything in his power to distance himself from Philip. Even when he was older, and having achieved great success of his own, Alexander would minimize the influence and down-play the achievements of his father; but make no mistake, Philip built the empire with which Alexander would conquer the world.
Philip II was killed on the second day of his daughter's wedding. In an attempt to make it look like he wasn't a petty tyrant he was dressed in a white robe. After placing his bodyguards far behind him, one stepped forward and slew the king with a dagger. The assailant was then descended upon immediately and slaughtered in a hail of javelins.
B.C. to A.D. Timeline
B.C
c.9000 First walled city founded at Jericho.
Alexander the Great Timeline
Alexander the Great(Fine Lines)
On the day that Alexander was born, the temple of Diana at Ephesus 1 burned down, an omen which the fortune-tellers of the East interpreted as a sign that on that day, the force that would destroy Asia had entered the world.
Alexander had light skin, blond hair, and melting blue eyes. A sweet natural fragrance came from his body, so strong that it perfumed his clothes.
Action and glory, rather than pleasure and wealth, were what Alexander wanted from life. Fame was his passion. When he heard of the conquests of his father, King Philip of Macedonia, Alexander was not happy about the additional wealth and power that he would inherit, but instead was sad that there would be less left for him to conquer. Alexander often lamented to his friends that the way things were going, nothing would be left for him to do once he became king.
Alexander wanted a kingdom involved in trouble and war, where he would have an ample field to exercise his courage and make his mark on history. He disdained a life of comfortable sloth. This young warrior was always a great patron of the arts and of learning. He enjoyed and encouraged hunting and the martial arts, except for boxing.
Bucephalus was Alexander's horse throughout most of his career. Some horse traders had brought this magnificent animal to King Philip and offered him for sale, but no man could ride him. The traders were taking Bucephalus away when Alexander remarked that it was a shame to lose such a fine horse just because no one knew the right way to manage him. Philip at first ignored the boy, but Alexander persisted. Finally Philip said: "Do you presume to criticize those who are older than you, as if you knew more, and could do better?" Alexander boldly declared that he would ride the horse, and everyone laughed. He bet the price of the horse, and got the chance to try.
Alexander had noticed that Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow, so he turned the horse to face the sun and settled him down, then walked him in that direction for a while, stroking him whenever he became eager and fiery. Suddenly, Alexander jumped on his back and drew in the bridle gently, but firmly, until all rebelliousness was gone. Then he let Bucephalus go at full speed, urging him on with a commanding voice.
Alexander's father and the others looked on nervously until they saw Alexander turn at the end of his run and come back in triumph. "Oh my son," said King Philip with tears in his eyes, "find yourself a kingdom equal to and worthy of yourself, for Macedonia is too little for you."
After this, Philip sent for Aristotle 2 to be Alexander's tutor. Ordinary teachers would not be enough for Alexander, who could easily be led by reason but refused to submit to compulsion. All kinds of learning and reading interested him, but Homer’s Iliad 3 was by far his favorite book. He always took a copy, annotated by Aristotle, along on his campaigns. Aristotle had a profound influence on Alexander, who said that he loved Aristotle as much as Philip -- his father had given him life, and his teacher had taught him to use it.
When Alexander was sixteen, Philip left him in charge of Macedonia while he went away on a campaign against the people of Byzantium. The Maedi rebelled while Philip was gone, and Alexander led an army against their largest city. He moved out the Maedi and renamed the city "Alexandropolis," after himself.
Philip put Alexander in command of the cavalry at the Battle of Chaeronea, 4 and Alexander led the charge that broke the Theban Sacred Band. 5 This early bravery made his father so fond of him that Philip liked nothing better than to hear his soldiers say that Philip was their general, but Alexander was their king.
Philip had a stormy home life with Alexander's mother, Olympias. Philip had spied on her once and seen a snake in her bed, and ever since then they had been estranged. Philip's new marriages enraged Olympias, who was a violent, jealous, and unforgiving woman. The trouble in the women's chambers spread to the whole kingdom. Olympias even managed to turn Alexander against his father.
The breaking point came when Philip married Cleopatra, the very young niece of Attalus. At the wedding feast, Attalus (who was drunk), in his toast, asked the Macedonians to pray to the gods for a lawful successor to the kingdom through his niece. This so irritated Alexander that he threw a cup at Attalus and shouted: "What am I then -- a ?" Philip (who was also drunk) took Attalus' side and came at Alexander with a sword, but he slipped and fell down on the floor. Alexander derided his drunk and clumsy father and then left Macedonia, along with Olympias.
An old friend of the family came to visit Philip, and Philip asked him if the Greeks were at peace with each other. The visitor replied: "It is strange that you are so worried about Greece when your own house is torn apart by so many wars." Philip got the point, and called Alexander home. But soon another matter came between Alexander and his father.
By yet another wife, Philip had a son named Arrhidaeus, who had been a healthy boy until Olympias gave him some drugs that damaged his brains. The satrap of Caria asked for a marriage between his daughter and Arrhidaeus, hoping to ally himself with Philip's family. Olympias, aided by a few of Alexander's companions, filled Alexander's head with suspicions that Philip was preparing to hand over the kingdom to Arrhidaeus. So Alexander sent Thessalus, an actor, to the satrap with instructions to disparage Arrhidaeus and to offer a marriage with Alexander instead.
Of course the satrap was much happier with the prospect of Alexander rather than Arrhidaeus as his son-in-law. But when Philip heard about Alexander's proposal, he emphatically told his son that it was unworthy of the power he was due to inherit to beg for an alliance with a man who was no more than the slave of a barbarian king. Philip had Thessalus sent to him in chains, and he banished some of Alexander's companions who had talked Alexander into this.
Shortly afterwards, Philip was was murdered. The assassin was Pausanias, who was angry because Philip had refused to give him justice for some injury done to him by Attalus. But it was Philip's wife who was the instigator. Olympias took this enraged young man and made him the instrument of her revenge against her husband. Once Philip was out of the way, Olympias tortured her hated young rival, Cleopatra, to death.
So, at the age of only twenty, Alexander became king of Macedonia.
The neighboring states and the cities of Greece rebelled against Macedonian rule now that they saw a boy on the throne. Alexander's council advised him to give up trying to subjugate the Greeks and to concentrate his resources on keeping the barbarian nations of the north under control. Treat the Greeks kindly, they said, and that will dissipate the first impulses of rebellion.
But Alexander rejected this advice. If any sign of weakness were perceived at the beginning of his government, everyone would be encouraged to attack, so only in bravery was there safety. First Alexander marched to the Danube and beat down all opposition from the tribes in that area. When everything there was peaceful again, he turned south and marched to Greece.
There had been a revolution in Thebes. The demagogues there were urging all of the other Greeks to join Thebes and free themselves from Macedonian domination. Athens also was being agitated by talk of war and rebellion, particularly from the demagogue Demosthenes. 6
After a march of two weeks, Alexander appeared at the walls of Thebes and demanded that the city send him the two leaders of the rebellion. To show how willing he was to forgive what was in the past, Alexander offered a full pardon for all those that would take it. The Thebans gave him an insulting reply, so Alexander killed six thousand of them, demolished their city, and sold all of the surviving inhabitants as slaves.
This severe example would make the other Greeks think twice about the consequences of disobedience. And soon the Athenians repented and reaffirmed their allegiance to Macedonia. Whether Alexander's new gentleness toward the Athenians was the result of remorse over the horrible cruelty done to Thebes, or merely that his passion for blood was satisfied, is not certain. However, from then on Alexander always showed kindness to any Theban survivor he could find.
Soon afterwards, representatives of the Greeks assembled at Corinth and named Alexander to lead them in a war against Persia. 7 While Alexander was at Corinth, politicians and philosophers came to congratulate him, but he noticed that the famous philosopher Diogenes, who lived there in Corinth, did not come.
So Alexander went to visit Diogenes at his home and found him lying down, sun-bathing. Diogenes raised himself up a little when he heard the crowd approaching, and Alexander asked the philosopher very courteously if there was any favor a king could do for him. Diogenes only said: "Yes, please take your shadow off me." Alexander's companions, on the way back, were making fun of the simple-minded old man, but Alexander told them: "Laugh if you must, but if I were not Alexander I would choose to be Diogenes."
Between 30,000 and 43,000 infantry and between 3,000 and 4,000 horsemen followed Alexander into Asia Minor [334 B.C.]. He had only 70 talents for their pay, and no more than thirty days' provisions. Alexander was 200 talents in debt, having spent everything he had in making sure that his best men were able to provide for their families. When one of his generals asked what he had kept for himself, Alexander answered: "My hope." This general then refused the pension that Alexander offered him, saying: "Your soldiers will be your partners in that."
With such desire and determination, Alexander and his army crossed the Hellespont into Asia and came to Troy. 8 At the tomb of Achilles, who was his ancestor on his mother’s side, Alexander anointed the gravestone with oil and then ran around it naked with his companions, according to the ancient custom. Achilles, he said, was a lucky man to have had a good friend while he was alive and a good poet to preserve his memory after he was dead. 9
Meanwhile, the Persians had camped on the other side of the Granicus River to prevent Alexander from crossing. The Persian force numbered 20,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry, and their position was strong. The river was deep, and its banks were high. The task of assault seemed to be impossible, but Alexander immediately led thirteen squadrons of horsemen across under a shower of arrows. With frenzied persistence they managed to get up the muddy banks and close with the enemy.
Alexander's white plume and brilliant armor made him easy to pick out, so the bravest Persians clustered where he was, and that is where the fight was most furious. One Persian chieftain knocked Alexander dizzy with a battle-ax, but Clitus saved Alexander's life by spearing the assailant before he could finish the kill.
The Macedonian phalanx, meanwhile, had managed to get across the river and form up on the other side. The Persians could not stand up against their push, and soon the whole Persian army was running for their lives. The losses on the Persian side were 20,000 infantry and 2,500 cavalry, but Alexander lost only 34 men.
This first victory changed everything. All of the cities on the coast surrendered to Alexander, except for Halicarnassus and Miletus, which he had to take by force.
Now Alexander faced a difficult decision: whether to consolidate his conquests, in order that their resources could provide a secure base for later operations, or to move immediately against the Persian king Darius in the heart of his empire. Consolidation was Alexander's choice, so he moved down the coast to take control of Lycia, then turned north to Phrygia.
There, in the city of Gordium, he accepted the challenge of the Gordian Knot. A very intricate knot tied together the yoke of an ancient chariot, and there was a legend that whoever could undo the knot would become the master of the world. Alexander pulled out his sword and chopped through the Gordian Knot, instead of involving himself in its mysterious entanglements.
King Darius of Persia was on the way from Susa with an army of 600,000 men. For some time, Alexander stayed in Cilicia, which Darius and his advisors attributed to Alexander’s fear of encountering the overwhelmingly large Persian force. The real reason for Alexander's delay was that he was getting over a serious illness.
All of Alexander's attendants were afraid to try any remedies, because if their remedy failed, and Alexander died, the Macedonians might blame the physician. But there was one, Philip the Acarnanian, who dared to try, and he risked his own life to save Alexander's. Alexander received a letter from Parmenio, warning of treachery by this physician, who, said the letter, had been bribed by Darius to give poison instead of medicine. Alexander read the letter, then put it under his pillow, showing it to no one. When Philip came in with the potion, Alexander took out the letter and handed it to him, and while Philip read the letter, Alexander drank the potion with a smile. In a short time, Alexander was well.
The Persians had camped in flat and open country, where they could take advantage of their superiority in cavalry. But as weeks passed with no sign of Alexander (who was recovering from his sickness), Darius' flatterers convinced him that the Greeks were afraid to fight, and therefore Darius should move his army to Issus to cut off their escape. Darius marched to Issus at the same time that Alexander marched into Syria to meet him, and the two armies passed each other. When Alexander heard that the Persians were behind him at Issus, he immediately turned back and hurried to fight there.
Darius was in an equal hurry to get out of Issus, because when he saw the rough terrain, which made his cavalry useless, and split up his army, he realized that the Greeks could have the advantage. Before Darius could escape from his own trap, Alexander had arrived. Alexander personally commanded the right wing, which crushed the Persian left. Darius panicked and rode away, leaving behind his chariot, his bow, his shield, his mantle, his army, and 110,000 Persian casualties. 10
Among the captives taken in the Persian camp were the mother, wife, and daughters of Darius. Alexander assured these women that they had nothing to fear from him or his men, since he fought with Darius only for his empire, and not for personal spite. He guaranteed that they would continue to be treated according to their rank and would have everything they used to have from Darius. Alexander was always very chaste and courteous in his relations with the opposite sex, and he had a great respect for the institution of marriage. He used to say that two things reminded him that he was human, and not a god: sleeping and the act of generation, as if to say that both weariness and are produced by the same weakness and imbecility of human nature.
In eating, also, Alexander was totally in command of his appetite, and neither a glutton nor a gourmet. When offered the services of some cooks who were said to have great skill, he declined, saying that the best stimulus to a good appetite was a long march before breakfast and a moderate breakfast to create an appetite for dinner. It was generally believed that Alexander was addicted to wine, but that impression arose from the fact that he liked to stay up late over wine talking.
When he had free time, Alexander would read, write, or hunt. He would not have dinner until after dark, and this would be a very long meal because he loved good conversation. Usually, his own talk was amusing and intelligent, but Alexander sometimes would lapse into braggadocio. This gave his flatterers a chance to ride him, and put his friends in the unpleasant position of choosing between shame and danger -- they disdained to compete in flattery but were afraid not to join in.
After the Battle of Issus [333 B.C.], Alexander sent some men to Damascus to take possession of the money and baggage that the Persian army had left there. Every soldier in the Greek army became a rich man, with beautiful women for slaves. Alexander allowed this because he wanted them to get a taste of barbaric luxury that would make them more eager to conquer more territory. He considered it to be like giving bloodhounds the scent.
Then Alexander proceeded down the coast to the city of Tyre, which refused to surrender to him. While his army sat down for a siege at Tyre [332 B.C.], Alexander went into Arabia.
One day, he fell behind the rest of his army because his old teacher, Lysimachus (whom he used to compare to Phoenix, the guardian of Achilles) could not keep up. Night found Alexander in a very dangerous position: far behind his army and without any fire to combat the cold. He noticed some enemy campfires, so he ran over to one, killed two soldiers with his knife, then carried back a burning stick to his men. This was typical of Alexander -- he was always encouraging his men by a personal example of readiness to work and face danger.
During the seven months that it took before Tyre finally was sacked, Darius wrote to Alexander and offered to pay ransom for the prisoners held by Alexander. Darius also offered to give Alexander one of his daughters in marriage if Alexander would be satisfied with dominion over all of the countries west of the Euphrates. Alexander told his friends about the offer, and asked their advice. Parmenio said, "If I were you, I would take it gladly."
Alexander responded, "So would I, if I were Parmenio, but I am Alexander, so I will send Darius a different answer." This was Alexander's answer to Darius: "All of Asia is mine, including all of its treasure. This money you offer is already mine. As for your daughter, if I want to marry her, I will do so, whether or not you approve. If there is something you want from me, you may come in person and ask for it. Otherwise, I will have to go to where you are."
After Tyre and Gaza had been taken, Alexander went into Egypt. He founded the city of Alexandria [331 B.C.] at the mouth of the Nile, pursuant to a dream he had. His fortune-tellers predicted that Alexandria would become a great city that would feed many strangers, and so it came to pass.
Then Alexander decided to take a long journey to an oasis in the middle of a vast desert, to visit the temple of the god Ammon. 11 Not only would water be scarce along the way, but sandstorms had buried whole armies there before. All of these dangers and difficulties did not matter to Alexander, who could not be diverted from his plan once he had decided to do something. Alexander's good luck made him firm in his opinions, and his natural courage made him delight in overcoming difficulties, as if conquering armies was not enough, and only Nature herself was a fit opponent for him.
At the temple of Ammon, Alexander asked the oracle whether he would be allowed to conquer the world, and the oracle said yes. Returning out of Egypt, Alexander accepted the surrender of all countries west of the Euphrates. Then he went after Darius, who by this time had gathered another army, this time of a million men.
The two armies came in sight of each other one night at Gaugamela [also known as Arbela, on October 1, 331 B.C.]. The noise and campfires of the vast barbarian camp were so frightening that some of Alexander's generals advised a night attack because it would be too dangerous to take on such a huge force in daylight. But Alexander replied: "I will not steal victory." To some, this sounded immature and conceited, but it was a wise strategy: if Darius lost this battle, in broad daylight on a field he had chosen, he would have no excuse for defeat, as he had before at Issus. With his heart broken, Darius would not try again. The war would be over, even though in his empire Darius had plenty of men and resources to keep up the fight for a long time. So Alexander and his men rested until late the next morning. 12 He awoke alert and cheerful after a long sleep.
As long as Alexander was riding around before battle, he used another horse besides Bucephalus, who by now was growing old. But when the time came for fighting, he mounted Bucephalus, and commenced the attack. On this day Alexander gave a long speech to the Thessalians and other Greeks, who answered him with loud shouts, whereupon he put his javelin into his left hand and lifted up his right to the gods in a prayer for victory. Just at that moment, an eagle soared over him and then flew toward the enemy, and this omen put fire in each man's heart. The horsemen charged at full speed, followed by the Macedonian phalanx. The Persians did not wait for them, but fell back, and Alexander kept herding them into the center, where Darius stood, along with his best men. These fugitives crowded in and impaired the ones who stood their ground, so that none of them could do any fighting. Dead Persian bodies piled so high around Darius that they almost covered the horses of his chariot. Darius mounted a mare, and once again he left his army behind him. 13
Parmenio, who had command of the left wing, sent an urgent message to Alexander, saying that if reinforcements were not sent from the front to the rear, the Greek camp and all of the baggage would be lost to the Persians. Alexander replied to Parmenio that he should remember that if they won, they would not only recover their own baggage but also take the enemy's; and if they lost, then they would not have to worry about possessions because their only business would be to die like brave men.
Without opposition, Alexander marched to Babylon, which immediately surrendered. Then he went to Susa, where he took possession of an immense amount of gold and other treasures. He continued on into Persia itself and took Persepolis, the capital, where he spent the winter with his army [January - May, 330 B.C.]. Darius, meanwhile, escaped to the north with a small remnant of his once-splendid force.
Before going to find Darius, Alexander held a party for his officers. He even let them bring women with them, one of whom was a certain courtesan named Thais from Athens. After the drinking had gone on for some time, Thais announced that she would like to burn down the palace built by King Xerxes, who had burned down Athens. Thus, she said, it might be said that even the women who followed Alexander took greater revenge on the Persians than all of the Greek generals who had tried before. This flattering and amusing proposal naturally got a good reaction from the drunken crowd, and Alexander went along. He led the way with a lighted torch in his hand, and the others followed, yelling and dancing. When the rest of the Macedonians heard the noise and found out what was going on, they joined in. They hoped that by burning the palace of the monarch of Persia, Alexander would clearly indicate his intention to return to Macedonia instead of settling among the barbarians. However, after the fire had burned for a while, Alexander gave orders to put it out.
Of all the things that Alexander won from Darius, the most precious was an exquisite box. He asked his friends what treasure he should keep in it. There were various suggestions, and good arguments why each was the most precious thing that he owned, but Alexander finally declared that the honor would not go to any of these but to his annotated copy of the Iliad.
Among the presents that he sent back to Greece, a huge quantity of frankincense and myrrh went to his tutor, Leonidas. The reason for this gift was that one day, when Alexander was still a boy, Leonidas had told him not to use so much of these spices in the sacrifice he was performing, saying: "When you have conquered the countries where these things grow, then you may be more liberal, but for now do not waste the little that we have." Alexander sent the following note with the gift: "We send you plenty of frankincense and myrrh so that in the future you will not be a niggard to the gods."
Alexander's natural generosity increased along with his wealth, and he gave with the grace that makes a gift really appreciated. For example, Ariston had killed an enemy, and as he showed Alexander the head to prove it, he mentioned that the customary reward for such a service in his country was a gold cup. Alexander smiled and said: "Yes, an empty one. But here is one full of good wine, and a toast to your good service and friendship."
Another time, one of the common soldiers was driving a mule that carried some of Alexander's treasure. The mule was too exhausted to go on, so the soldier put the load on his own shoulders. Alexander saw the man staggering along, and he asked what was the matter. The soldier told him that the mule was too tired to carry the load, and that he was about at the end of his endurance too. "Don't give up now," said Alexander, "but carry what you have there to the end of the journey, then take it to your own tent, to keep for yourself."
Alexander was always more displeased with those who refused his generosity than with those who abused it.
His mother, Olympias, wrote to Alexander often, and she repeatedly advised him not to make his friends so rich that they would become kings themselves, with the power to buy their own retinue, while Alexander became poor and weak through his generosity. Alexander sent his mother many presents, and stayed in close touch with her, but he declined to follow her advice. This made Olympias angry, and Alexander patiently endured her wrath. Olympias also tried to meddle in the government of Macedonia, and he bore with this as well. Antipater, his governor in Macedonia, wrote Alexander a long letter full of grievances against Olympias, and Alexander said to his friends: "Antipater does not realize that one tear of a mother erases ten thousand letters like this."
Now that they were rich, and addicted to pleasure, Alexander's soldiers began to be lax about their military training. He gently scolded them, saying that he wondered how they could not have learned, after all of their battles and hardships, that those who labor sleep better than those who are labored for, and that luxury leads to slavery, while royalty goes with pain and work. "Haven't you learned yet," he said, "that the honor and perfection of our victory consists in avoiding the vices that have made our enemies so easy to beat?"
Alexander was particularly concerned about their lack of exercise. He made his point by saying that no one could claim to be a soldier if he did not take care of the equipment that was nearest to himself, i.e. his body -- even though he might have splendid armor and a fine horse. Alexander led by his own example in this: instead of enjoying lazy days of pleasure, he hunted lions. But his followers had become arrogant now that they were rich. They were tired of marching and fighting. Finally, their bad attitude led them to say bad things about their leader.
At first Alexander was patient with them, saying that a king should do good to others, even if he is paid back with evil words. He continued to show kind attention to his friends. But there was one thing Alexander would never tolerate: any disrespect to his reputation as a soldier, which was more precious to him than his life and possessions.
Finally, the time came to track down Darius. After covering four hundred miles in eleven days, Alexander and his soldiers were nearly dead from thirst. Some Macedonian scouts had brought back a few bags of water from a distant river, and they offered Alexander a helmet-full. Although his mouth was so dry that he nearly was choking, he gave back the helmet with his thanks and explained: "There is not enough for everyone, and if I drink, the others will faint." When his men saw this, they spurred their horses forward and shouted for him to lead them. With such a king, they said, they would defy any hardships.
News came that one Bessus had betrayed Darius and made him a prisoner in his own camp. Alexander moved on at a furious pace, and no more than 160 of his horsemen could keep up with him. When they got to the camp, they found that Bessus had left Darius to die. Darius was barely alive, and as he died he told one of Alexander's men that it was the culmination of all of his bad luck not to be able to live long enough to pay back Alexander for the courtesy he had shown to his mother, wife, and children. Darius died before Alexander could get to see him [July 330 B.C.]. Alexander put his own cloak over Darius and sincerely lamented his death. The body was sent to Darius' mother for an honorable funeral, suitable to his rank. The reward of the traitor Bessus was to be torn apart by bent trees.
In Parthia, Alexander rested his army. It was there that he first put on barbarian clothes, which at first he wore only when he talked to the barbarians, as if to win them over by conforming to their customs. But afterwards he dressed that way in front of his soldiers. This filled them with grief, but they were willing to indulge a few eccentricities in such a brave commander.
Alexander's good luck continued. Heavy rain solved the water problem, and also prevented sand from blowing. When the Macedonians lost their way, some ravens came to guide them. These birds flew ahead to indicate the right direction, and at night the ravens' calls kept them on the right path.
Alexander continued into Bactria and conquered it [328 B.C.]. There, among the captives, he saw Roxane, the daughter of the king. It was true love at first sight, and Alexander married her. Instead of taking Roxane by force, Alexander went through all of the Bactrian ceremonies for an official marriage. This demonstration of his self-control and respect for their culture endeared him to the barbarians.
Hephaestion was the friend who most approved of Alexander's adoption of foreign customs, and he imitated Alexander in these changes. But Craterus continued to adhere to Macedonian ways. Alexander used Hephaestion in dealing with the barbarians, and Craterus in dealing with the Greeks. He showed more affection for Hephaestion, whom he called Alexander's friend, and more respect for Craterus, whom he called the king's friend. These two friends always had a secret grudge against each other, sometimes even quarrelling openly in front of the soldiers.
In the army there was widespread resentment over Alexander's change to foreign clothes and customs. To the barbarians, he would demand the groveling due to an oriental despot, and would claim the title of Son of God. 14 But to the Greeks, Alexander was more modest. He used to say that God was the common father of all of us, but especially of the best. Among his friends he made no effort to keep up the persona he projected to the barbarians.
Philotas, the son of Parmenio, had a reputation among the Macedonians second only to Alexander himself. Philotas was brave and able to endure any fatigue of war, and he was almost as generous to friends as Alexander.
But Philotas carried his arrogance and his pride of wealth too far. In him there was none of the grace and gentleness of true greatness, so his spurious majesty drew a lot of envy and hatred. For a long time Alexander had heard complaints about Philotas. Philotas' father, Parmenio, knowing this, advised Philotas to behave more modestly.
One of the slaves that Philotas had won was Antigone of Pydna. One day, Philotas was drunk, and he boasted to Antigone that he and his father had won all of the victories, even though the boy Alexander had taken the credit. Antigone passed this on to another woman. Eventually, Craterus heard about this remark, and he brought Antigone secretly to Alexander. Alexander listened to her account and then told her to continue to pump Philotas and bring him reports of what he said. But Alexander did not take any action because he was afraid to disturb his army still further.
The breaking point came with the matter of Limnus. This Limnus, a Macedonian, conspired to assassinate Alexander, and he tried to bring in Nicomachus, who refused to go along. Nicomachus confided the secret to his brother, and the two brothers went to Philotas and asked to see Alexander on a matter of the greatest importance. Both of them tried again and again, but Philotas kept putting them off by telling them that Alexander was too busy.
So the two brothers went to someone else, who arranged an interview with Alexander. The brothers told Alexander about Limnus' conspiracy, then went on and told how Philotas had prevented them from warning him earlier. This enraged Alexander. He sent a soldier to bring Limnus in for questioning. When this soldier reported back that Limnus had died avoiding arrest, Alexander became even more angry because he had lost all means of finding out who else was involved.
But Philotas' enemies told Alexander that certainly such an insignificant person as Limnus could not be the ringleader of the conspiracy. They suggested that interrogation should start with those who apparently had such an interest in preventing detection. Once they had Alexander's attention for this sort of insinuation, they went on to show a thousand reasons why Philotas should be suspected. They succeeded so well that Alexander ordered Philotas arrested and questioned under torture. Although Philotas denied that he had any part in the conspiracy, Alexander had him executed. Alexander also sent assassins to kill Philotas' father, Parmenio, who was second in command of the army and had been a loyal friend of Alexander’s father, King Philip.
These proceedings made Alexander a terror to his friends. And soon afterwards, Alexander personally killed his close friend Clitus. 15 Alexander had received a present of fresh fruit from Greece, and, as was his custom, he invited some of his friends to come and share the fruit with him. Among these was Clitus.
After everyone had had plenty to drink, including Clitus and Alexander, some of them started to sing a song making fun of some Macedonians who recently had been defeated in a battle with the barbarians. The older men were displeased, but Alexander and the younger men enjoyed it, and called on the singers to continue. Clitus remarked that it was not good to entertain the barbarians with jokes about Macedonians, especially when the subjects of the satire were better men than those who made fun of them, even if their luck had been worse.
Alexander joked that Clitus was pleading for himself, giving cowardice the name of bad luck. Clitus then got to his feet and said: "This cowardice, as you are pleased to call it, saved the life of the Son of God at the battle of Granicus. Those poor Macedonians you laugh at have, by their wounds fighting for you, made you so great now that you disown your father Philip and call yourself the son of Ammon."
Stung by these words, Alexander threatened Clitus: "Do you think you are not going to be punished for those words, which you say to make the Macedonians rebel against me?" Still Clitus would not shut up. "We are punished enough already," he said, "if this is our reward for our work, and those men are lucky who did not live to see Macedonians have to beg Persians for access to their king, and to see Greeks beaten by barbarian rods." 16 Alexander grabbed a spear and threw it, killing Clitus.
All that night and the next day, Alexander cried bitterly, until finally he ran out of tears and could only lie on the floor of his chamber and sigh. His friends thought that this silence meant he was in danger, so they broke in. 17 But Alexander paid no attention until they brought Callisthenes, a close friend of Aristotle, to see him, along with another philosopher named Anaxarchus.
Callisthenes tried soothing moral arguments, but Alexander was not comforted. Anaxarchus awoke Alexander from his depression by saying: "So there is Alexander the Great, who is feared by the whole world. Look at him lying on the ground, sobbing because he fears what men might say about him -- as if he himself should not give them law, and establish the boundaries of justice and injustice. He who conquers is the lord and master, not the slave, of the idle opinions of little men." With speeches like this, Anaxarchus comforted Alexander but corrupted his character, making him bolder to do wrong than he had been before. 18
These two philosophers, Anaxarchus and Callisthenes, warred over the soul of Alexander. The flatterers and parasites around Alexander already hated Callistenes because of his popularity with both the young soldiers and the old. The old men admired Callisthenes for his simple life and contentment, and the young men for his eloquence. His detractors said that Callisthenes seemed to have an attitude of superiority. When he was invited to a party, most of the time he would not come. If he did, he would usually sit silently as if he disapproved of what was going on.
One night Callisthenes was present where a large crowd had been invited to dine with Alexander. When the cup was passed to Callisthenes, he was called upon to make an extemporaneous oration in praise of the Macedonians. Callisthenes spoke with such eloquence that everyone present gave him a standing ovation and threw flowers. Alexander remarked that it was easy to be eloquent on such a good subject, and he gave Callisthenes a greater challenge: to speak about the faults of the Macedonians, so they might all learn to be better in the future.
It was truly said by Aristotle that Callisthenes was a powerful speaker, but he had bad judgment. Callisthenes did so well at describing the faults of the Macedonians that they all hated him from then on. Some say that Callisthenes died in prison after seven months in chains; others say that he was hanged.
Alexander wanted to invade India, but his soldiers were so burdened with booty that they moved very slowly on the march. One day, at dawn, after all of the wagons were loaded, Alexander set fire to his own and to those of his friends. Then he commanded the rest of the army to burn their wagons too. By now, Alexander had become very severe and pitiless in punishing any disobedience. Although a few were unhappy, most of the army was glad to see this barbaric baggage burn away so that they could be warriors again.
King Taxiles ruled a large area in India. When he heard that Alexander was coming, Taxiles did not wait, but went in person to meet him in peace. "Why should we make war on each other," Taxiles said, "if the reason for your coming is not to rob us of our water and our food? Those are the only things that a wise man has no choice but to fight for. As for any other riches or possessions, if I have more than you I am ready to share. But if fortune has been better to you than to me, then I have no objection to being in your debt."
These courteous words pleased Alexander, and he replied: "Do you think your kind words and courteous conduct will avoid a contest between us? No, I will not let you off so easily. I will do battle with you on these terms: no matter how much you give me, I will give more in return." Thereupon Taxiles made many fine presents to Alexander, but Alexander responded with presents of even greater value and topped them off with a thousand talents in gold coins. This generosity displeased Alexander's old friends but won the hearts of many of the Indians.
King Porus, however, refused to submit, and he took up a position to prevent Alexander from crossing the Hydaspes River. Porus was a huge man, and when mounted on his war elephant he looked in the same proportion as an ordinary man on a horse. After a long fight, Alexander won the victory, and Porus came to him as a prisoner. Alexander asked him how he expected to be treated, and Porus replied: "As a king." When Alexander asked a second time, Porus explained that in those words was included everything that a man could possibly want. Alexander not only allowed Porus to keep his kingdom as a satrap, but he also gave him more territory.
This was a costly victory, however. Many Macedonians died, and so did Alexander's old war horse, Bucephalus. This grieved Alexander so much that it seemed as though he had lost an old friend. On that spot he ordered a city to be built, named Bucephalia.
Such a difficult victory over only 22,000 Indians [May 326 B.C.] took the edge off the courage of the Macedonians. They had no enthusiasm for Alexander's proposed crossing of the Ganges, a river said to be four miles wide and six hundred feet deep, to encounter an army on the other side consisting of 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 war elephants. Alexander was so angry at their reluctance that he shut himself up in his tent, saying that if they would not cross the Ganges, he owed them no thanks for anything they had done so far. But finally the persuasions of his friends, and the pleas of his soldiers, got Alexander to agree to turn back.
To exaggerate his reputation, Alexander left bridles and armor that were much bigger than normal, and huge altars to the gods. On a flotilla of rafts and barges, Alexander's army floated down the Indus River.
Along the way, they stopped to take some fortified cities, and at one of them Alexander came very close to losing his life. Alexander was the first one up the ladders onto the wall of the city of the Mallians, and then he jumped down into the town with only two of his guards behind him. Before the rest of the Macedonians could catch up and save him, Alexander had taken an arrow in the ribs and had been knocked dizzy by a club. He was unconscious when they carried him away, and he fainted when the doctors cut out the arrow. Rumors spread that Alexander was dead.
While in India, Alexander took ten of the Brahmins 19 prisoner. These men had a great reputation for intelligence, so Alexander decided to give them a test. He announced that the one who gave the worst answer would be the first to die, and he made the oldest Brahmin the judge of the competition.
Which are more numerous, Alexander asked the first one, the living or the dead? "The living," said the Brahmin, "because the dead no longer count."
Which produces more creatures, the sea or the land? Alexander asked the second. "The land," was his answer, "because the sea is only a part of it."
The third was asked which animal was the smartest of all, and the Brahmin replied: "The one we have not found yet."
Alexander asked the fourth what argument he had used to stir up the Indians to fight, and he answered: "Only that one should either live nobly or die nobly."
Which is older: day or night? was Alexander's question to the fifth, and the answer he got was: "Day is older, by one day at least." When he saw that Alexander was not satisfied with this answer, the Brahmin added: "Strange questions get strange answers."
What should a man do to make himself loved? asked Alexander, and the sixth Brahmin replied: "Be powerful without being frightening."
What does a man have to do to become a god? he asked the seventh, who responded: "Do what is impossible for a man."
The question to the eighth was whether death or life was stronger, and his answer: "Life is stronger than death, because it bears so many miseries."
The ninth Brahmin was asked how long it was proper for a man to live, and he said: "Until it seems better to die."
Then Alexander turned to the judge, who decided that each one had answered worse than another. "You will die first, then, for giving such a decision," said Alexander. "Not so, mighty king," said the Brahmin, "if you want to remain a man of your word. You said that you would kill first the one who made the worst answer." Alexander gave all of the Brahmins presents and set them free, even though they had persuaded the Indians to fight him.
Alexander's voyage down the Indus took seven months. When he finally arrived at the Indian Ocean, he decided not to take the army home by ship but to march them through the Gedrosian Desert. 20 After sixty miserable days, they arrived at Gedrosia, where they finally found enough to eat and drink. Many died in that desert: out of the 120,000 infantry and 15,000 cavalry that Alexander took with him into India, only one in four came back.
The news about the difficulties he had in India, his brush with death, and the huge attrition of his army in the desert, all made the conquered nations think of revolution. The satraps and commanders he had left in the provinces thought that now they could do anything they wanted. Even in Macedonia, Alexander's mother had deposed the man Alexander had left in charge. But still Alexander wanted to go on to new adventures. This time, he proposed to sail around Africa to the Pillars of Hercules [Gibraltar].
The tomb of Cyrus had been looted by one of the Macedonians, and for this Alexander ordered the grave-robber executed. The inscription on the tomb was: "Whoever you are, and wherever you come from (for I know that you will come), I am Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire. Please let me keep this dirt that covers my corpse." It greatly disturbed Alexander to see by this example how fragile human fame could be.
At the same time, Calanus (one of the Brahmins who had accompanied Alexander back from India) asked that a funeral pyre be built for him. Once everything was ready, Calanus did the customary ceremonies for a funeral, then said goodbye to his Macedonian friends. He told them to tell Alexander that Calanus would be seeing him in Babylon soon. Then he climbed on the pyre, lit it, and stayed perfectly still until he was ashes.
That night, Alexander held a banquet for a large number of his friends and officers, and he offered a prize for the man who could drink the most wine. Promachus drank twelve quarts and got the prize, but three days later he died. Forty-one others also died from this debauch.
At Susa [324 B.C.], Alexander took Statira, the daughter of King Darius, as another wife. 21 At the same time, he married the best-bred ladies of Persia to his friends. These marriages were jointly celebrated by a magnificent festival for nine thousand guests, each of whom got a gold wine-cup. Alexander also paid off all of the debts of his soldiers, which took 10,000 talents.
When he had left for India, Alexander had put 30,000 Persian boys into Greek military training, and by now they had developed into strong and expert fighters. They put on a demonstration of their military exercises, which pleased him, but depressed the Macedonians, who now believed that Alexander had no more use for them.
When Alexander allowed some of the sick and wounded to return to Macedonia, the other Greeks asked to leave too. They added that Alexander no longer needed their services, now that he had such a fine bunch of Persian dancing boys, with which he could go on to conquer the world. This infuriated Alexander, and after a long and abusive tirade he fired all of his guards and replaced them with Persians. Not long afterwards, the Greeks repented. They stood outside Alexander's tent for two days and nights until he finally relented and sent them back with rewards for their services.
Alexander continued on to Ecbatana, where he took care of some business of his empire and then relaxed and enjoyed himself with public spectacles. Three thousand actors and artists had just arrived from Greece to amuse him. But Alexander's happiness did not last long, because his best friend, Hephaestion, died of a fever.
Alexander's grief over Hephaestion went beyond all reasonable bounds. He crucified the doctor who had treated Hephaestion. 22 He ordered all of the manes and tails of the animals in his army to be cut off as a sign of mourning, and he tore down the walls of the cities nearby. He banned all music. Then he went into the country of the Cossaeans and for no reason massacred the entire nation.
The tomb of Hephaestion was to be a memorial of unprecedented magnificence, and Alexander spent most of his time going over the plans with his architects. On his way to Babylon, the local fortune-tellers prophesied that he would die if he entered the city. But Alexander paid no attention. As he came to the walls, he saw some crows fighting with each other, and some fell near him. Even this omen could not deter Alexander from entering Babylon.
Other strange omens, however, did get Alexander's attention. A donkey kicked his biggest lion to death. And one day there was a man sitting on Alexander's throne in a trance. After this, Alexander lost his confidence in the gods and in his friends. Once he allowed fears of supernatural influence to take root in his mind, he became so easily frightened that the smallest event took on enormous significance. Crowds of fortune-tellers and priests infested his court.
Contempt of divine power makes a man miserable, but, on the other hand, so does superstition. Like water, it seeps in to fill the depressed mind with fear and foolish notions. Alexander drank heavily, and he caught a fever. After suffering for twelve days, he died in Babylon [June 10, 323 B.C.].
NOTES:
1. The temple of Diana at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
2. Aristotle was the pupil of Plato and the most famous philosopher of his time. He left behind a huge body of work on logic, political theory, and natural science.
3. The Iliad has always been a favorite of warriors. The subject is a few weeks in the ninth year of the siege of Troy, when Achilles, a warrior as strong and grand as Alexander, lost his best friend in battle and took ferocious revenge on the enemy. Recent archeological discoveries have revealed that Troy really did exist and that it was as large as Homer described it.
4. At the Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.), King Philip of Macedonia defeated Athens and its allies and became the boss of Greece. Two years later, however, Philip was assassinated.
5. The Sacred Band in the army of Thebes was an elite unit of 300 picked warriors. See the life of Pelopidas.
6. Plutarch's life of Demosthenes has not been included in this collection.
7. A panhellenic war against the Persians had been a dream for some time.
Xenophon and the Ten Thousand (mercenaries) showed how easy it would be, and what incredible wealth was there. Agesilaus (see the life of Agesilaus) had easy success until he was called home to fight wars in Greece. However, it took a Macedonian to pull the Greeks together and get them to stop fighting themselves.
8. Troy was the site of the Trojan War (circa 1250 B.C.), where Alexander's ancestor, the great Achilles, grandson of Aeacus, did the deeds immortalized in the Iliad by Homer.
The story of the Trojan War may be found in the Iliad of Homer, the Metamorphoses of Ovid, and the Aeneid of Virgil. Briefly:
Eris, the goddess of discord, was angry because she alone among all of the gods had not been invited to the wedding of Peleus (the father of Achilles) and Thetis (a sea goddess). She showed up anyway and threw in a golden apple, inscribed with the words: "To the most attractive." Three goddesses squabbled over the golden apple: Hera (Juno), the queen of the gods, Aphrodite (Venus), the goddess of love, and Athena (Minerva), the goddess of wisdom. To settle the argument, the three goddesses agreed to allow some mortal man to make the judgment and award the apple. The arbitrator selected was Paris, a young prince of Troy, a city that was a major power because it dominated the channel linking trade between the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea.
The three goddesses appeared to Paris and applied their persuasions. Hera offered wealth and power beyond any man in the world. Athena offered wisdom. But Aphrodite offered what this young man could not resist: the most beautiful woman in the world. This is essentially the same choice any young man must make: love, money, or wisdom. The judgment of Paris was for Aphrodite, and Helen was his prize. She happened to be married at the time, however.
Paris sailed off to Sparta and was received as a guest of Menelaus, its king, who was Helen's husband. Paris repaid the kindness of his host by stealing his wife and much loot, which he took back to Troy. Menelaus' brother was Agamemnon, the King of Mycenae, who collected a large army to punish Paris and Troy.
After a ten-year siege, Troy was taken by the stratagem of the Trojan Horse. The Greeks built a huge horse of wood, too big to fit through the gates of Troy, then left this strange monument behind and pretended to sail home. Inside the horse were some of the best Greek warriors. Despite the warnings of Cassandra, the Trojans were completely fooled, and they made a passage through their walls, dragged the horse inside, and then everyone had a victory party. Late that night, as the Trojans were sleeping off their debauch, the Greeks inside the horse came out and opened the gates. The rest of the Greeks, who had turned back and landed again, entered and sacked the city.
That was the end of the Trojans, but Aeneas, one of the princes of their allies, escaped from the slaughter with some companions and founded Rome. Aeneas was the son of Aphrodite (Venus) and a descendant of the original king of Troy.
9. Achilles' best friend was Patroclus, who borrowed Achilles' armor to turn back the Trojans and was killed by Hector when he carried his victory too far. Achilles' extravagant grief over the loss of his friend was imitated later by Alexander when he lost Hephaestion. Homer, of course, was the poet referred to by Alexander.
10. Arrian tells us that the Persians were putting up a good fight until Darius ran. Then they all panicked, and trampled each other trying to escape in the narrow mountain passes. Alexander's losses were very light, only 450 killed and 4,500 wounded, including Alexander, who got a sword cut on his thigh. Arrian is the leading ancient biographer of Alexander, and he wrote shortly after Plutarch. His account is a real history, and therefore is much more complete than Plutarch's.
11. Ammon was a ram with curved horns, supposed to be an Egyptian form of Jupiter. After spying on Olympias and noticing a snake in her bed, King Philip had consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi for the meaning of this strange sight. The oracle replied that the snake was a form of Ammon -- Greek gods were capable of assuming different shapes. Olympias told Alexander the secret that Ammon was his real father, not Philip.
12. Arrian tells us that Darius, who was expecting an attack that night, kept his men standing in formation all night, so that by the next day his army was exhausted.
13. Darius lost even though he outnumbered Alexander by 20 to 1.
14. Arrian tells us that Alexander introduced the Persian custom of prostration in his court, and even Macedonians were expected to grovel on the floor when they saw him. Although it was optional for Macedonians, Alexander clearly was more pleased with those that did than those that did not. It was hard for him to have a consistent policy since he had to be a god to the barbarians and a friend to the Macedonians.
15. Clitus was the brother of Alexander's nursemaid, a senior commander under Philip, and the commander of the Royal Squadron of Alexander's cavalry. He had saved Alexander's life at the Battle of the Granicus River. Clitus was one of the Macedonian commanders that most disliked the change in Alexander from warrior king to barbarian megalomaniac. This incident took place in Marakanda, 328 B.C.
16. Alexander had police recruited from the local population.
17. Alexander tried to kill himself with the same spear he used on Clitus, once he saw what he had done. He called himself the murderer of his friends, which was a fact.
18. Alexander cried when he heard Anaxarchus talk about the infinite number of worlds in the universe. One of Alexander's friends asked him what was the matter, and he replied: "There are so many worlds, and I have not yet conquered even one." This anecdote comes from Plutarch's essay in the Moralia entitled " On Contentment of the Mind."
19. Brahmins were the priests and scholars of India, the highest of the four castes in the Vedic social order. The other castes were the soldiers, the merchants, and the laborers. By the time Alexander came to India, there was already a very ancient and well-developed civilization. Buddha lived approximately two hundred years before Alexander, and before Buddha there was a long tradition of Vedic culture and institutions in India.
20. Arrian tells us that the reason Alexander wanted to try this desert crossing was that no one had ever brought an army through there before. He knew of the difficulties they would encounter. The loot from their expedition had to be left behind for lack of animals to carry it, since most of the animals died of thirst. Anyone who could not keep up was left behind to die. Then when they finally found a stream of water and camped beside it, monsoon rains caused a sudden flood that drowned all of the women and children and all of the surviving animals, and only a few of the soldiers managed to escape drowning in the desert. This took place in 325 B.C.
21. Great men in the ancient world usually were polygamous. Once Alexander was dead, however, Roxane had her rival killed. She and Alexander's baby were murdered later by Cassander in Macedonia.
22. This doctor was not at fault, except that he had left his patient and gone to see a play. Hephaestion took that opportunity to break the diet that the doctor had prescribed, and he ate a whole chicken and drank a lot of wine. This aggravated his fever, and soon he died.
23. "If the rule of due measure is neglected, and great power is put into things too small -- such as sails on ships, food in bodies, or authority to souls -- then there is disaster. No mortal, when young and irresponsible, will ever be able to stand in the highest ruling position on Earth without his mind being filled with foolishness, earning him the detestation of even his closest friends. When this happens, it quickly ruins the soul itself and obliterates all of its power." Plato, Laws, III, 691.
Battles Of Alexander The Great
THE BATTLE OF CHAERONEA
Alexander's schooldays were over. From now on the young Crown Prince was to be trained in a harder school, with greater responsibilities than even Isocrates would have dared to prescribe. His may well have been a deliberate 'hardening' policy on Philip's part: both he and Olympias were worried, among other things, by the boy's lack of heterosexual interests. No sooner had Philip left on his Byzantine campaign than rebellion broke out among the border tribes of Thrace and Paeonia. Alexander took a flying column up north, defeated the insurgents, captured their city, and turned it into a Macedonian military outpost This new settlement he named Alexandropolise-a flamboyant gesture which Philip surely recognized for the danger signal it was. Alexander's appetite for royal power would not content itself for long with the Regency. Sooner or later there was bound to be trouble between father and son.
But for the moment they remained on close and friendly terms. During his absence Philip kept up a regular correspondence with the young Regent. Such extracts from his letters as have survived are as full of solid parental advice as those of Lord Chesterfield. 'He advised him,' says Plutarch, 'that, among the men of influence in the cities, he should make friends of both the good and the bad, and that later he should use the former and abuse the latter.' A report that Alexander had been trying to secure the cooperation of certain Macedonians by bribery caused his father intense annoyance. Since Philip himself was a past master at the art, his comment is worth noting. 'What on earth,' he inquired, 'gave you the deluded idea that you would ever make faithful friends out of those whose affections you had bought?'-an interesting comment on the King's attitude to Greek politicians.
By the summer of 339 Philip's situation had become critical. For years he had successfully played the divide and rule game with the Greek states but now there was a danger of them coming against him. He had looked forward to leading a Persian invasion under the specious banner of Panhellenism, with a few mores states with him. Now the Greeks had made a deal with Artaxerxes and if he didn't do something fast they would invade him. In the event, he moved faster then anyone would have thought. The whole Macedonian army swept down into central Greece. All of the time Philip kept up a screen with diplomatic blarney to lull Greek suspicion. His ambassadors went ahead to Athens and Thebes to try and break up any last minute pacts between these two.
Yet even now Philip still seems not to have given up all hope of a peaceful settlement. Especially if he could swing an alliance with Athens. It might also bring a number of undecided states to his side as well. But an Athenian army must be brought to battle for all the world to see if he failed. Philip needed to bring the Athenians and their allies to battle on his terms, which would be at land. At sea they would have the advantage.
Late on September afternoon, a horrified Athenian assembly heard that Philip, far from besieging Amphissa which he had declared as an objective, had turned east and occupied Elatea, a key point on the road to Thebes and Attica. Demosthenes now emerged as the patriotic hero of the hour, the champion of Athenian liberty. By sheer force of conviction he did what Philip had feared, a defensive coalition between Athens and Thebes. An Athenian army marched into Boeotia, and the two new allies promptly set about fortifying the north-west passage into central Greece.
A force of 10,000 mercenaries was also dispatched westward to cover the road from Amphissa. These dispositions blocked both his possible lines of advance. Nevertheless, Athens real strength lay in her navy, with over 300 triremes in active service. Athen's operations in the Dardanelles and during the siege of Byzantium had shown just how vulnerable Philip was at sea. Yet Demosthenes was proposing to block his advance by land. Nothing could have suited Philip more,
Now his only remaining task was to get the Greeks to come out and fight. Macedonia's formidable cavalry and the trained men of the phalanx would do the rest. In the event everything proved absurdly easy. Philip arranged for a bogus dispatch to be captured by the task force guarding Amphissa. This told them that the king was going to leave and deal with an uprising in Thrace. Thinking the enemy had gone, the Greek mercenaries became careless and Philip launched a night attack in strength and wasted them.
The Greeks did the only thing they could which was to flee the passes and established a shorter defense line at Chaerinea, between the Cephisus River and the citadel. This put them in a very strong position. In cavalry the two sides were about equally matched, with 2,000 on each side. But the Greeks had mustered some 35,000 infantry to Philip's 30,000, and the latter probably represented the full field strength of the Macedonian army. Philip was sufficiently impressed to make one last attempt at negotiation.
Phocion, back from the North Aegean, recommended accepting his proposals, but Demosthenes, tireless and adamant, would have none of it. The King, seeing that he would get nowhere through diplomacy, now prepared for a final show-down. He captured Naupactus, as Athens had anticipated, left a small holding force at Delphi, and deployed the rest of his troops across the plain north of Chaeronea. It was there on August 4th of 338 that the two armies met, in what was one of the most decisive encounters in all of Greek history.
The battle took place at dawn. On the allied right wing were the Boeotians, some 12,000 strong, led by the famous Theban Sacred band. On the left were Athens 10,000 hastily mustered hoplites. The center consisted of the remaining allied contingents reinforced with 5,000 mercenaries. On the extreme left was a screen of lightly armed troops linked with the main force with the acroplis defense. The cavalry was held in reserve.
Philip knew that any major opposition he got would most likely come from the Thebans. Since they had more or less been allied with him when they threw in their lot with Athens, they had the most to fear at his hands in the event of a defeat. Furthermore, their troops were experienced veterans, as well trained as his own. Philip knew, better than anyone, how much Macedonian discipline owed to Theban methods.
His tactical dispositions were made accordingly. He himself would command the right wing. In the center he placed the regiments of the phalanx. The command of the heavy cavalry on the extreme left wing, opposite the Sacred band, went to Alexander, an extraordinary responsibility appointment for a boy of 18, since it was he who had to deliver the knock out blow that would win or lose the battle.
Philips strategy was the same as that which he had employed against the Illyrians at Lake Okhrida. His right wing slightly outflanked the Athenian left, while his own center and left were echeloned back at an angle from the Greek line. So that when he and the guards brigade engaged the Athenians, the rest of the Macedonian army was still advancing. More important still was that these ideas produced an inevitable and most likely unconscious drift to the left among the Athenians, which was followed by the allied and mercenary troops of the Greek center.
The Athenians, as expected, had launched a wildly enthusiastic charge at the first onset. Their general, Stratocles, seeing the guards brigade give way, completely lost his head (not literally yet) and began shouting: 'come on, let's drive them back to Macedonia!' But Philip's withdrawal, as Stratocles should have seen, was anything but disorderly. Step by well-drilled step the guards brigade moved back, still facing to their front, a hedgehog bristle of sarissas holding the pursuit at bay. On rushed the Athenians, yelling and cheering, the Greek center stretching ever more perilously as they pressed forward.
Presently two things happened for which Philip had been waiting for. The Macedonians backed up on to the rising ground by the banks of a small stream, the Haemus, and that fatal gap at last opened between the Greek center and the Theban brigade on their right. Into that gap, at the head of Macedonians finest cavalry division, thundered the young crown prince, driving a wedge to the very heart of the Theban ranks, while a second mounted brigade attacked the scared band from the flank. Very soon the Thebans were entirely surrounded. At the same time Philip, away on the right, halted his retreat, and launched a downhill counter charge. What the cavalry had begun the phalanx would finish. They poured through the broken lines in Alexander's wake and engaged the Greek center front and flank simultaneously.
After a severe struggle the entire allied army broke and fled, with the exception of the sacred band. Like Leonidas' Spartans at Thermopylae, these 300 Thebans fought and died where they stood, as though on parade, amid piles of corpses. Only 46 of them were taken alive. The remaining 254 were buried on the site of their last stand. There they lie to this day, in seven soldierly rows, as the excavator's spade revealed them, and close by their common grave the Lion of Chaeronea still stands guard, weathered and brooding, over that melancholy plain.
When the battle was over, Philip called off his cavalry pursuit, raised a victory trophy, made sacrifice to the gods, and decorated a number of his officers and men for conspicuous gallantry. The future of Greece lay, at long last, in his strong and capable hands. But he knew well enough how close a fight Chaeronea had been.
Furthermore Athens could still cause him a great deal of trouble. Indeed, the day after the battle news reached Chaeronea that the Athenians were arming their slaves and resident aliens, and making ready to defend to their city to the death. We are told that Philip was thoroughly alarmed by this reaction
The Athenian fleet remained intact, so did the harbour and arsenals of Piraeus. If the city's inhabitants decided to stick it out, they could maintain supplies and communications by sea more or less indefinitely. In the circumstances, however complete his triumph at Chaeronea, there was every reason for the King to be conciliatory.
The terms which Philip now offered Athens were better than anyone had dared to hope. The Athenian dead would, after all, be given up. All 2,000 prisoners would be released without ransom. Philip guaranteed not to send Macedonian troops across the frontiers of Attica, or Macedonia warships into Piraeus, Athens was to keep a nucleus of Aegean islands, including Delos and Samos. In return for these favors, however, she was to abandon all other territorial claims, to dissolve the Athenian Maritime League, and to become Macedonian's ally. Her leaders accepted Philip's terms en bloc, without argument. They were in no position to object. Any privileges which Athens might henceforth be granted were an arbitrary favor from the Macedonian King, reversible at will.
All the same, the Athenians could at least take comfort from the fact that they had received incomparibly better treatment then Thebes. If Philip was to hold central Greece, Thebes' very considerable power must be systematically broken up. He therefore abolished the Boeotian League, which was in effect, an embryo Theban empire. Its member cities, including Plataea, were given back their independence, a very shrewd piece of diplomacy. The Thebans themselves were forced to recall all political exiles, and a puppet government was set up, with a Macedonian garrison to watch over it from the Cadmea. Theban prisoners, unlike Athenians, had to be ransomed and at a good price, otherwise they were sold as slaves.
Philip could be kind enough when it suited him. He had no objection to the Thebans raising a great monument at Chaeronea in memory of the Sacred Band; a soldier himself, he appreciated truly valorous opponents. He refrained from imposing garrisons on most of the leading Greek cities, but despite his fits of jovial generosity, there could be little doubt now where the real power lay. The Greek states retained no more than a pale shadow of their former freedom.
The Battle of Granicus
In the early spring 334 King Alexander of Macedonia set out at last from Pella at the head of his expeditionary force, and marched for the Dardanelles. Ever since childhood he had dreamed of this moment: now the dream had been fulfilled, and he was entering on his destiny of conquest. He was the young Achilles, sailing once more for the windy plains of Troy, but he was also Captain General of the Hellenes, whose task it was to exact just vengeance for Xerxes' invasion of Greece. The two roles merged in his mind, as the two events had merged in history.
Xerxes had made it clear that his expedition was the Trojan War in reverse. Alexander therefore in turn revised the details of the most famous of all Oriental attacks. To began with, he crossed the Narrows at the same point. He brought his host the 300 miles to Sestos in 20 days, which was good going. The advance corps had held the bridgehead, and his crossing took place without opposition, This was the most extraordinary piece of luck for Alexander.
His one great weakness lay in his fleet. Darius' Phoenician navy was almost three times as large and far more efficient. A determined attack by sea during the actual crossing might well have scotched the invasion before it was well launched. But no such attack took place, not one enemy ship was sighted. Coordinated strategy could not be called the Persian High Command's strongest point.
Accompanied by some 6,000 men, Alexander made his way overland to Elaeum, at the southern tip of the Galipoli peninsula. Here he sacrificed before the tomb of Protesilaus, traditionally the first Greek in Agamemnon's army who stepped ashore at Troy. Alexander prayed that his own landing on Asiatic soil might be luckier, an understandable request since he intended to be the first ashore himself and Protesilaus had been killed almost immediately.
Then he built up an alter at the point where he was about to leave Europe, made a sacrifice, and invoked the gods for victory in his war of vengeance. When this was done, he and his party crossed the Dardanelles in the sixty vessels in which Parmenio had sent down from Sestos. Alexander steered the admiral's flagship himself. When the squadrons were halfway across the river, Alexander sacrificed a bull to Poseidon, and made libation with a golden vessel, just as Xerxes had done.
The King's first act on landing at 'the Achaean harbor' (possibly Rhoeteum) was to set up another alter, to Athena, Heracles, and Zeus for safe landings, and to pray 'these territories might accept him as King of their own free will, without constraint'. Then he set off for Ilium. He was welcomed by a committee of local Greeks who presented him with ceremonial gold wreaths. Alexander then offered sacrifice at the tombs of Ajax and Achilles, or what was presented as such. To be on the safe side, Alexander made a placatory offering at the sacred hearth of Zeus of Enclosures, where, according to legend, his ancestor Neoptolemus had slain Priam. During a sightseeing trip he was asked if he would care to inspect a lyre which had belonged to Paris. He refused curtly, saying that all Paris had ever played on this instrument were 'adulterous ditties such as captivate and bewitch the hearts of women'. 'But', he said, 'I would gladly see that of Achilles, to which he used to sing the glorious deeds of brave men'.
From Ilium Alexander moved north again, and rejoined the main army at Arisbe, a little way outside Abydos. From here the invasion force marched north east following the road to Dascylium, where the Phrygian satrap had his seat of government. The first town they came to was Percite, still safely in Macedonian hands. But the next major city on their route, Lampsacus, was now controlled by Memnon and quite a number of other Greek towns in Asia Minor were in the same position. The philosopher Anaximenes, acting as his city's official envoy, persuaded Alexander to by-pass Lampsacus, probably with a massive bribe. The King's shortage of money was already public knowledge.
With only a month's supplies and enough pay to last a fortnight, Alexander's one hope was to tempt the Persians into a set battle, and inflict a crushing defeat on them. Thus he had neither the time nor the reserves to invest in a city; if it did not surrender on his approach, he left it severely alone. By now the Persians, who had been too late to stop him at the Dardanelles, saw clearly enough what his intentions were. Arsites, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, sent out an appeal for help to his fellow governors in Asia Minor. Arsamenes, on the Cilican seaboard, and Spithridates, who ruled over Lydia and Ionia. The three of them established a base camp at Zeleia, east of the River Granicus and summoned their commanders to a council of war.
The most sensible plan of campaign was that put forward by Memnon of Rhodes. What he proposed was a scorched earth policy: destroy all crops, strip the countryside, if need be burn down towns and villages. Such a policy, as he made clear, would very soon force the Macedonian army to withdraw for lack of provisions. Meanwhile, the Persians should themselves assemble a large fleet and army, and carry the war across into Macedonia while Alexander's forces were still divided.
This was first class advice, unfortunately it came from a mercenary, whose brilliance and plain speaking did not endear him to his Persian colleagues. A little tact might have got Memnon all he wanted, but he went on to say that they should at all costs avoid fighting a pitched battle, since the Macedonian infantry was so far superior to their own. The Persians were hurt in their dignity, Memnon's plan was therefore rejected and the Persians decided to fight it out. Nothing could have pleased Alexander more. Nevertheless, his opponents still enjoyed one very considerable advantage: choice of terrain. Once they realized how badly Alexander needed a fight they could, without much difficulty, bring him to battle where and when they pleased.
In the event, they chose a defensive strategy: once Memnon's scheme had been discarded, this was probably the most sensible alternative. If Alexander could be lured into attacking a strongly held position, over dangerous ground, where his cavalry would find it difficulty in charging and the phalanx could not hold formation, then that might well be the end of the invasion.
Having collected all available reinforcements, the satraps advanced to the River Granicus, which Alexander would have to cross if he wanted to reach Dascylium - or to force an engagement. They chose a position on its eastern bank which offered the best possible conditions for the strategy of which they had in mind. They then drew up their forces in depth, and waited. The overall force available to Arsites was not much over 30,000 men, whereas Alexander had 43,000 infantrymen alone. But in the cavalries there was much difference: the satrap had 15,000-16,000 cavalrymen to Alexander's 6000+. This factor dictated much of his subsequent tactics. Whatever he did, he must avoid exposing his interior infantrymen to the open ground. If he (the satrap) was to defeat Alexander, it would be through the skillful use of his cavalry and mercenaries in combination.
When the Macedonians reached the river and saw the conditions under which they would have to attack, there was something of a panic among Alexander's officers, and a small wonder. They were veterans with many years of hard campaigning behind them, and they could see that this was a death-trap. Parmenio did his best to reason with the King. The Persians could not be tempted out of their entrenched position: they had every advantage, and they knew it. The depth and the speed of the river meant that the Macedonians would have to cross in column, and while they were struggling up that slippery bank on the far side, in general disorder, they would be fatally vulnerable. A failure at the outset, Parmenio concluded, would be a serious thing now, and highly detrimental to our success in the long run.
Reluctantly the King was forced to agree. The account of the battle composed afterwards by his official propagandists made it take place that same afternoon, after a direct frontal assault across the river. Actually, under cover of darkness the army marched downstream until a suitable ford was found. Here they bivouacked for a few hours. The crossing began at dawn. While it was still in progress, Arsites' scouts gave the alarm. Several regiments of cavalry hastily galloped down to the ford, hoping to catch Alexander's men at a disadvantage.
This time, however, they were too late. the bulk of the army was already on the eastern bank, and Macedonian discipline had no difficulty in coping with a surprise attack of this sort. While the phalanx formed up to cover their comrades in the river, Alexander led his own cavalry in a swift outflanking charge. The Persians wisely retreated. Alexander got the rest of his columns across, and then deployed them in battle formation. It was rich, rolling land, ideal for cavalry engagement.
There was only one plain that Arsites and his fellow commanders could adopt. They put all their cavalry regiments into the front line, on as wide a front as possible, while the infantry was held in reserve. Then they advanced towards Alexander's position.
If they were also determined to kill the King himself, they certainly could have had no trouble in identifying him. He was arrayed in the magnificent armor he had taken from Athena's temple at Ilium, his shield was blazoned as splendidly as that of Achilles, and on his head he wore an extraordinary helmet with two great white wings or plumes adoring it. All around him thronged an obsequious crowd of pages and staff officers.
Having observed that Alexander was taking the battle station on the right wing, the Persians transferred some of their best troops from the center to meet his assault. This was precisely what Alexander had hoped they would do. Then with trumpets blaring, while hills and river re-echoed to the terrible 'Alalalalai!' of the phalanx, the King charged, leading his cavalry in wedge formation. He feinted at the enemy left, where Memnon and Arsamenes were waiting for him. Then suddenly swung his wedge inwards, diving at the now weakened Persian center. Meanwhile Parmenio, always on the left flank, was fighting a holding action against the Medes and Bactrians. Alexander was making a classic 'pivot' attack, with his left wing as usual, forming the axis.
A desperate and truly Homeric struggle now ensued. Mithridates, Darius' son-in-law, counter charged at the head of his own Iranian cavalry division, accompanied by 40 high ranking Oersian nobles and began to drive a similar wedge into the Macedonian center. Alexander's spear had broken in the first onslaught, and old Demaratus of Conrith gave him his own. The King wheeled round and rode straight for Mithridates. The Persian hurled a javelin at him with such force that it not only blew through his shield but hit the cuirass behind it. Alexander plucked it out, sent spurs to his horse, and rove his own spear far and true into Mirthidates' breastplate. At this, says Diodorus, 'adjacent ranks of both sides cried out at the superlative display of prowess'. It is all remarkably like a battle scene from the Iliad.
However the breastplate held and the King's spear broke off short. Mirthidates, shaken, but still game, drew his sword for hand to hand fighting. Alexander jabbed the broken spear into his opponents face, hurling him to the ground. But he was so preoccupied with him that he didn't see the Persian noble coming at him from behind. Rhosaces now rode at him from the flank and hit him in the head with his saber with such force that it went through his helmet to the bone of his scalp.
Alexander swaying and dizzying, managed to waste this new guy, but while doing this, Rhosaces' brother, Spithridates, the satrap of Ionia, moved in behind him about to deliver the coup de grace. In the very nick of time 'Black' Cleitus, the brother of Alexander's nurse, severed Spithridates' arm at the shoulder with one tremendous blow. It was none to soon, the King collapsed half fainting to the ground, and a battle royal raged over his prostrate body.
Meanwhile the phalanx was pouring through the gap in the Persian center, and had begun to make short work of Arsites' native infantry. Somehow the King struggled on to his horse again, and the Companions rallied round him. The enemy center began to cave in, leaving their flanks exposed. Parmenoi's Thessalian cavalry charged on the left, and in a moment the entire Persian line broke and fled. Their infantry division, except for the mercenaries, put up little resistance.
But Memnon and his men retreated in good order to a high knoll above the battle field, and there made a last stand. They sent a herald to Alexander asking for quarter, but the King was in no mood to grant it. He now concentrated his entire attention on destroying them. While the phalanx delivered a frontal assault, his cavalry hemmed them in the from all sides to prevent mass break out. Memnon himself somehow got away but Alexander had not seen the last of him.
The battle of Granicus was over, and the Captain General had won a famous victory. His personal conduct during the battle was heroic to a degree. Seldom can the palm for valor, awarded him 'by common consent', have found a more deserving recipient. Casualties among the Persian cavalry units numbered some 2,500 of which 1,000 were native Iranians. The highest number of casualties said to have been suffered by Alexander's infantry is 30: two sources reduced this number to nine. Similarly with the cavalry: the maximum loss recorded is 120, but the same two authorities admit to no more than 60, of which 25 were companions who fell 'in the first charge'. Alexander then had statues of these 25 erected at Dium in Macedonia, a strange gesture, never to be repeated. He also added his statue in the group as well.
Memnon's 2,000 surviving mercenaries were chained like lions and sent back to forced labor in Macedonia, probably down the mines. This was for revenge. Alexander's reason was that 'they had violated Greek public opinion by fighting with the Orientals against Greeks'. In other words he was making a placatory gesture as Captain General of the League.
A little good PR in Greece never came amiss, but we may doubt whether propaganda was his primary motive. Aristobluls says he was influenced more by anger than by reason', and this surely, is the plain truth. Once more, under cover of executing the league's decrees, Alexander had made it very clear what would happen to any Greeks who might be rash enough to oppose him.
After this defeat Darius could no longer fail to take the Macedonian threat seriously. From the very jaws of defeat Alexander had snatched an overwhelming victory. The whole of western Asia Minor now lay open before him.
The Battle of Issus
While Darius awaited his reinforcements in Babylon, Alexander was thrusting south across the rocky, volcanic uplands of Cappadocia, under a burning August sun. Between them and the coastal plain stretched the great barrier of the Taurus Mountains. The only pass was a deep, twisting canyon. Alexander, understandably, anticipated trouble at the Gates; but there was no other feasible route. He was saved a good deal of trouble-unintentionally-by Arsames, the Persian governor of Cilicia. Had the Gates brought up all his troops, and staked everything on holding the pass, Alexander would have had no option but to retreat. Instead, bent on imitating Memnon's strategy and avoiding a head-on collision, Arsames left only a small force at the Gates, and devoted much time and energy to devastating the Cilician plain behind them. The entire Macedonian army was able to advance through the defile, four abreast, and down into the plain. Alexander himself said afterwards that he never had a more amazing piece of luck in his entire career.
He now heard reports that Arsames was evacuating Tarsus. In accordance with his chosen policy, Arsames intended to loot the city of its treasure, then burn it. At once, Alexander sent Parmenio ahead with the cavalry and the light-armed troops. Upon learning that Alexander was approaching, they fled in haste, leaving the treasure and the city intact. Darius was marching from Babylon, and the satrap was making his way east to meet him.
Alexander entered Tarsus on 3 September 333, sweating, hot and exhausted after a rapid forced march from the foothills of the Taurus. Through the city itself ran the river Cydnus, clear, fast-flowing, and ice-cold with melted mountain snows. When he reached its banks, the young King at once stripped off and plunged in. Almost immediately he suffered an attack of cramp so severe that those watched took it for some sort of convulsion. His aids rushed into the water and pulled him out half-conscious. He was ashy-white, chilled to the bone. Before he took his bath he seems to have been suffering from some kind of bronchial infection, which now quickly turned into acute pneumonia. For days he lay helpless, with raging fever. His physicians were so pessimistic about his chances of recovery that they with held their services, in case they should be accused of negligence - or worse, of murder.
Only one Doctor offered to treat him (Philip of Acarnania). He was Alexander's confidential physician, with whom he had known since childhood. Philip told him that there were certain quick-acting drugs, but they involved an element of risk. The King raised no objection, since his mind was running feverishly on Darius' advance. Philip's cure worked; but it was touch and go. The purge had an immediate and violent effect. The King's voice failed, and he began to have terrible difficulty in breathing; he soon lapsed into a semi-coma. Philip massaged him, and applied a series of hot fermentations. His tough constitution pulled him through the crisis, while the drug did the rest. His fever dropped, and three days later he had sufficiently recovered enough to show himself to his anxious troops.
He now sent Parmenio, the Allied infantry, the Greek mercenaries, and the Thracian and Thessalian horse cavalry, to report about Darius' movements and to block the passes. Meanwhile he himself spent another one to two weeks convalescing in Tarsus. Whether well or sick, he was never idle. For the first time, he took over a major mint, and used it to strike his own coins- a highly significant innovation. Until he crossed the Tarsus, he could still claim to be 'liberating' the Greeks. But from Cilicia onwards he came as a conqueror. If he wanted Syrians or Phoenicians to acknowledge his overlordship, he had to build up an authority similar to that wielded by the Great King himself.
It was now that Harpalus, head Treasurer and Quarter master General, supposedly defected, though the evidence is ambiguous. Harpalus may in fact have been on a secret mission to watch the political situation in Greece, with defection as his cover-story. The whole affair remains shrouded in mystery and propaganda. Whatever Harpalus was up to in Greece did not prevent his subsequent reinstatement: he is by far the most enigmatic member of Alexander's entourage, and we have by no means heard the last of him.
Encouraging news from Parmenio meant that there was time to make at least a perfunctory show of 'subjugating' Cilicia. Alexander first visited Anchialus, a day's march west of Tarsus, then the nearby town of Soli, and then returned to Tarsus. Philotas and the cavalry were sent ahead as far as the Pyramus River, on the west side of the Gulf of Alexandretta. Alexander himself followed with the Royal Squadron and infantry. He seems to have been much concerned to win support from Cilicain towns en route; but this did not noticeably delay his advance. Less than two days later he arrived in Castabala, where Parmenio met him with the latest news.
Darius had pitched camp at Sochi, which is somewhere east of the Syrian Gates. Parmenio urged Alexander to marshal his forces at Issus, and wait there for Darius. In so narrow a space there was less danger being outflanked. Also, from Issus Alexander could anticipate Darius from whichever pass he chose to come through. Yet Alexander seems to have convinced himself that if Darius moved at all, it would be through the Syrian Gates. At all events, the King did not wait at Issus. He took the rest of the army south through the Pillar of Jonah to Myriandrus, pitched camp opposite the pass, and waited for an enemy who never came.
This clearly was just the move that Darius had been hoping he would make. While Alexander was held up at Myriandrus by a violent thunderstorm Darius set out north on a lightning dash for the Amanic Gates. having got through the pass unopposed, he swooped down from Castabala on Issus, where he captured most of Alexander's hospital cases. Their hands were cut off and seared with pitch; they were then taken on a tour of the Persian army, turned loose, and told to report what they had seen to Alexander. From Issus the Great King advanced as far as the Pinarus River and took up a defensive position on its northern bank. He now lay in Alexander's rear, squarely across his lines of communication, and could thus force him to fight a reversed-front engagement. Alexander had been caught in an almost perfect trap. There was nothing for it but to fight, and in highly unfavorable circumstances. Nor did he have much choice of tactics: it was a frontal assault or nothing. His own Macedonians had marched nearly seventy miles in two days, and at the end of this marathon effort torrential rains had washed them out of their tents. They were sodden, exhausted and resentful. Yet somehow Alexander's outrageous optimism proved infectious.
At dawn the Macedonian army began its descent from the Jonah pass towards Issus. It took Alexander 3 miles to get clear of the pass, after which he had to march another 9 before reaching the Pinarus River. He began his march in column of route. Then, as the ground opened out before him, he deployed battalion after battalion of the infantry into line, keeping his left flank close by the shore and pushing his right up into the foothills. When all the line regiments had been brought up, Alexander began to feed in the cavalry squadrons. Most of them, Thessalians included, he massed on the right wing, under his own command. Parmenio, for the moment, had to make do with the Greek allies.
As usual, the Persians' great weakness lay in their infantry. Darius' Asiatic levies were worse than useless against the Macedonian phalanx so he put them in the rear. To make up his front line was something of a problem. In the very center he placed his Royal Bodyguard, a crack Iranian corps of 2,000 strong, whose spear butts were decorated with golden quinces. He himself was stationed immediately behind them in his great ornamental chariot. Flanking the Bodyguard on either side were Darius' indispensable Greek mercenaries at about 30,000. Finally on the wings, came 2 divisions of light armed Persian infantry, the so called Cardaces. These appear to have been Iranian youths who were undergoing or had just completed their training.
By the time Darius had moved all his infantry units into battle formation it was mid afternoon, and the Macedonians were getting uncomfortably close. Not that Alexander showed any impatience. He led his troops forward at a leisurely pace, with frequent halts to check their dressing and observe the movements of the enemy. Darius' intentions were still far from clear. Then, suddenly, the Persian cavalry squadrons that had been acting as a screen were signaled back across the river and dispatched to their final battle stations. At this point Darius' intentions became very clear indeed, and Alexander had to carry out a last-minute reorganization of his own line. Instead of massing the Iranian cavalry opposite Alexander's right, where it had been expected, the Great King was moving all of his best squadrons down to the seashore, against Parmenio.
Alexander at once sent the Thessalians back across to his left, as reinforcements, ordering them to ride behind the phalanx so that their movements would remain unobserved. Reports now came in that the Persians up on the ridge had occupied a projecting spur of the mountain, and were now actually behind the Macedonian right wing. Alexander sent a mixed force of light- armed troops to deal with them. He himself was still far more concerned by the possibility of a frontal outflanked movement. He pushed forward his cavalry pistols, and brought across two squadrons from the center to strengthen his right wing. The Persians in the hills, however, made no attempt to fight, and a quick commando assault soon routed them. Alexander left 300 cavalry to watch their movements, but recalled the archers and Agrianians as extra protection for his flank.
So the Macedonian army, now deployed on a three-mile front, continued its steady advance. When it was just beyond bow shot Alexander halted in the hope that the Persians might charge. They unfortunately didn't. Darius had a first class defensive position, and was not in the least inclined to leave. Alexander saw now that any further delay would be useless. It was already late afternoon. After a final inspection he led on once more, slowly at first, in close formation, until they came within range of the Persian archers.
These now fired off a huge volley, and there was so many that some even collided in flight. Then a trumpet rang out, and Alexander, at the head of the Companions, charged across the river, scattering Darius' archers and driving them back among the light infantry. It was a magnificently successful assault, and the battle on the right wing was won in the first few moments.
In the center things did not go anywhere as well. The phalanx had great difficulty in getting across the river at all. For awhile neither side could advance more than a few feet. Then came the inevitable aftermath of Alexander's headlong charge: a dangerous gap then opened on the right flank of the phalanx. This was too good a chance for the mercenaries to miss. They drove a deep wedge into the Macedonian line: and during the desperate fighting that followed Ptlomey, son of Seleucus, and some 120 Macedonian officers lost their lives.
Meanwhile Alexander, having rolled up the Persian left wing, now swung his wedge of cavalry inward against the rear files of the mercenaries and the Royal Bodyguard. From this moment he and his men strained every nerve to kill or capture Darius. The Great King offered the best focal point for any further resistance involving all the provinces of the empire. His loss would cripple the Persian cause. Besides, the vast majority of his subjects cared little who ruled them as long as their own local interests were left intact.
The moment he located the Great King's chariot, Alexander charged straight for it. Oxathres, Darius' brother, leading the Royal Household Cavalry, fought desperately to protect him. Dying men and horses lay piled in wild confusion. Alexander received a wound in his thigh. For a moment there was a real danger that the horses of Darius' chariot might carry the Great King headlong through Alexander's lines. Darius, abandoning royal protocol in this emergency, grabbed the reins with his own hands. A second, lighter chariot was some how found and brought up. Darius, seeing himself in imminent danger of capture, scrambled into it and fled the field.
By now Alexander's center and left were both seriously threatened, and he had no option but to postpone his pursuit of the Great King. He must have been in a fury of frustration; nevertheless he acted promptly and with crushing effectiveness. He swung his whole right wing round in a wedge against the mercenaries' flank, and drove them out of the river with heavy casualties. When Nabarzanes' heavy cavalry saw their own center being cut to pieces, and heard of the Great King's flight, they wheeled their horses about and followed him. The retreat soon became a rout. The Persians were encumbered by their heavy scale-armor, and the Thessalians harried them relentlessly.
As soon as Alexander sew that the phalanx and the Thassians were out of danger, he and his Companions set off on a headlong chase after Darius. But everything was against them. The Great King had over a half a mile's start on them. Worse, the route he had taken - probably the mountain to Dortyol and Hassa - was now jammed with the disorganized remnants of the Persian Imperial Army. Nevertheless, the pursuers kept going for some twenty-five miles. Only when it was completely dark did Alexander give up and turn back. Despite everything, he did not reach camp empty handed. Darius had very soon abandoned his chariot, and fled over the mountains on horseback, stripping off his royal mantel and all other insignia by which he might be recognized. These, to
c.6000 Catal Huyuk flourishes in Anatolia.
c.3500 Sumerian civilization flourishes.
c.3500 Pictographic writing in Sumer.
c.3500 Earliest Chinese cities.
c.3500 Megalithic tombs in north-west Europe.
c.3500 Flax used for textiles in Middle East.
c.3100 Dynastic period begans in Egypt.
c.3000 Temple constructed at Uruk.
c.2680 Beginning of Old Kingdom in Egypt.
c.2590 Cheops begins Great Pyrimidin Egypt.
c.2500 Beginning of Indus Vally civilization (to c.1500).
c.2500 Canaanite tribes settle in Palestine.
c.2500 Use of papyrus by Egyptians.
c.2300 Mesopotamian empire established.
c.2200 Beginning of Xia dynasty in China.
c.2100 Construction of ziggurat at Ur.
c.2000 Hittites invade Anatolia.
c.2000 Construction of Babylon.
c.2000 Beginning of Minoan civilization in Crete (to c.1450).
c.2000 Completion of Stonehenge.
c.1991 Beginning of Middle Kingdom in Egypt.
c.1860 Development of early Semitic alphabet.
c.1780 Hammurabi of Babylon promulgates legal code.
c.1650 Hyksos invasion of Egypt.
c.1600 Beginning of Mycenaean civilization in Greece.
1567 Beginning of New Kingdom in Egypt.
c.1500 Composition of the Vedas begun in India.
c.1360 Amenhotep IV ( Akhenaton ) establishes worship of Sun God.
c.1300 Construction of Temple of Abu Simbel for Rameses II.
c.1260 Archaeological dating of Trojan War.
c.1200 Olmec civilization begins to flourish on Mexico.
1175 Egypt divided into Upper and Lower Kingdoms.
c.1100 Phoenicians develop alphabetic script.
c.1066 Zhou dynasty in China.
c.1000 Israelite kingdoms established by David and Solomon.
c.1000 Building of Tthe Temple in Jerusalem begins.
c.850 Homer writes Iliad and Odyssey.
814 Traditional year of the foundation of Carthage.
c.800 Beginning of period of composition of the Upanishades.
776 First Olympic Games in Greece.
753 Traditional year of the foundation of Rome.
671 Assyrian conquest of Egypt.
c.650 Iron technology in China.
c650 Earliest Latin inscriptions.
621 Laws of Draco in Athens.
c.600 Age of Greek lyric poetry.
586 Babylonian captivity of the Jews.
581 First Phythian Games.
581 Building of Shwe Dagon Pagoda, Myanmar.
c.550 Cyrus the Great begins expansion of Persian Empire.
c.550 Abacus developed by Chinese.
c.530 Pythagoras founds school in Greece.
c.530 Temple of Apollo built at Corinth.
521 Darius the Great divides Persian Empire into strapies.
c.520 Death of Lao Zi, founder of Taoism.
509 Foundation of Roman Republic.
490 Persians defeated by Athenians at Marathon.
c.483 Death of Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism.
480 Persians defeat Greeks at Thermopylae.
480 Greeks destroy Persian fleet at Salamis.
479 Death of Confucius.
462 Pericles' reforms in Athens.
c.460 Construction of Temple of Zeus at Olympia.
456 Death of Aeschylus.
450 Codification of Roman law (the Twelve Tables).
433 Completion of Parthenon at Athens.
431 Beginning of Peloponnesian War (until 404).
425 Death of Herodotus.
406 Death of Sophocles.
403 Overthrow of the Thirty Tyrannts in Athens.
c.377 Death of Hippocrates.
c.370 Plato opens Academy in Athens.
359 Philip of Macedon becomes king of Macedonia.
c.350 Tomb of Mausolus completed.
c.350 Hill fort constructed at Maiden Castle, England.
347 Death of Plato.
336 Assassination of Philip of Macedon.
329 Alexander the Great reaches India.
323 Alexander the Great dies.
322 Death of Aristotle.
310 Epicurus opens school of philosophy at Mitylene.
304 Foundation of Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt.
c.300 Euclid teaching in Alexandria.
c.290 Foundation of library at Alexandria.
264 First Punic War Begins ( to 241 ).
c.250 Writing of the Septuagint.
238 Hamilcar begins conquest of Spain.
221 Qin dynasty unifies China.
221 Beginning of Great Wall of China.
218 Second Punic War begins( to 201 ).
218 Hannibal invades Italy from the north.
212 Death of Archimedes.
206 Han dynasty in China.
205 Scipio completes conquest of Spain.
168 Revolt of the Maccabees against Antiochus IV.
146 Romans destroy Conrith.
c.110 Opening of Silk Road across Central Asia.
c.100 Dionysius Thrax writes first Greek grammer.
51 Cleopatra becomes Queen of Egypt.
c.50 Julius Caeser writes accont of Gallic Wars.
46 Adoption of Julian Caesar.
44 Assassination of Julius Caesar.
43 Death of Cicero.
31 Beginning of Roman Empire.
30 Death of Antony and Cleopatra.
19 Death of Virgil.
6 Annexation of Judaea by Rome.
c.5 Birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
356 B.C.
? Alexander born in Pella. The exact date in unknown, but probably either 20 or 26 July.
? Philip captures Potidaea.
? Parmenio defeats Paeonians and Illyrians.
354 B.C.
? Demosthenes attacks idea of a 'crusade against Persia'.
? ? Mid-summer: Philip captures Mathone: loses an eye in the battle.
352 B.C.
? Artabazus and Memnon refugees with Philip, who now emerges as potential leader of crusade against Persia.
351 B.C.
? Philip's fleet harassing Athenian shipping.
? Demosthenes' First Philippic.
348 B.C.
? August: Philip captures Olynthus.
? Aeschines' attempt to unite Greek states against Philip fails.
346 B.C.
? March: embassy to Philip from Athens.
? Halus besieged by Parmeniio
? April: peace of Philocrates ratified.
? Second Athenian embassy held up till July.
? July: Philip occupies Thermopylae.
? August: Philip admitted to seat on Amphictyonic Council, and presides over Pythian Games.
? Isocrates publishes Philippus.
344 B.C.
? Philip appointed Archon of Thessaly for life.
343 B.C.
? Non-aggression pact between Philip and Artaxerxes Ochus.
? Trail and acquittal of Aeschines.
343 B.C.
? Aristotle invited to Macedonia al Alexander's tutor.
342 B.C.
? Olympia's brother Alexander succeeds to throne of Epirus with Philip's backing.
340 B.C.
? Congress of Allies meets in Athens.
? Demosthenes awarded gold crown at Dionysia.
? Alexander left as Regent in Macedonia: his raid on Maedi and the foundation of Alexandropolis.
? Philip's campaign against Perinthus and Byzantium.
339 B.C.
? September: Philip occupies Elatea.
? Isocrates' Panathenaicus.
338 ? B.C.
? August 2: Battle of Chaeronea.
? Alexander among ambassadors to Athens.
? Philip marries Attalus' niece Cleopatra.
? Oylmpias and Alexander in exile.
337 B.C.
? Spring: Hellenic League convened at Corinth.
? Recall of Alexander to Pella.
? Autumn: League at Corinth ratifies crusade to against Persia.
336 B.C.
? Spring: Parmenoi and Attalus sent to Asia Minor for preliminary
? military operations.
? June: accession of Darius III Codomannus.
? Cleopatra bears Philip a son.
? Wedding of Alexander of Epirus to Olympia's daughter.
? Murder of Philip.
? Alexander accedes to the throne of Macedonia.
? Late summer: Alexander calls meeting of Hellenie League at
? Corinth, confirmed as Captain-General of anti-Persian crusade.
335 B.C.
? Early spring: Alexander goes north to deal with Thrace and Illyria.
? Revolt of Thebes.
334 B.C.
? Alexander and the attacking force cross into Asia Minor.
? May: Battle of the Granicus.
? General reorganization of Greek cities in Asia Minor.
? Siege and capture of Miletus.
? Autumn: reduction of Halicarnassus.
? Alexander advances through Lycia and Pamphylia.
333 B.C.
? Alexander's column moves north to Celaenae and Gordium.
? Death of Memnon.
? Mustering of Persian forces in Babylon.
? Episode of the Gordian Knot.
? Alexander marches to Ancyra and thence south to Cilician Gates.
? Darius moves westward from Babylon.
? September: Alexander reaches Tarsus: his illness there.
? Darius crosses the Euphrates.
? ? Sept.-Oct.: Battle if Issus.
? Alexander advances southward though Phoenicia.
? Marathus: first peace-offer by Darius.
332 B.C.
? ? January: submission of Byblos and Sidon.
? Siege of Tyre begun.
? ? June: second peace-offer by Darius refused.
? July 29: fall of Tyre.
? Sept.-Oct.: Gaza captured.
? ? November 14: Alexander crowned as Pharaoh at Memphis.
331 B.C.
? Early spring: visit to the Oracle of Ammon at Siwah.
? ? April 7-8: foundation of Alexanderia.
? Alexander returns to Tyre.
? July-August: Alexander reaches Thapsacus on Euphrates; Darius moves his main forces from Babylon.
? September 18: Alexander crosses the Tigris.
? Darius' final peace-offer rejected.
? Sept. 30 or Oct. 1: Battle of Gaugamela.
? Macedonians advance from Arbela on Babylon, which falls in mid-October.
? Revolt of Agis defeated at Megalopolis.
? Early December: Alexander occupies Susa unopposed.
? Alexander forces Susian Gates.
330 B.C.
? ? January: Alexander reaches and sacks Perseplis.
? ? May : burning of temples etc. in Persepols.
? Early June: Alexander sets out for Ecbatana.
? Darius retreats toward Bactria.
? Greek allies dismissed at Ecbatana; Parmenio left behind there, with Harpalus as Treasurer.
? Pursuit of Darius renewed, via Caspian Gates.
? July; Darius found murdered near Hecatompylus.
? Bessus establishes himself as 'Great King' in Bactria.
? March for Hyrcania begins.
? Late August: march to Drangiana.
? The 'conspiracy of Philotas'.
? March though Arachosia to Parapamisidae.
329 B.C.
? March-April: Alexander crosses Hindu Kush by Khawak Pass.
? April-May: Alexander advancing to Bactria; Bessus retreats across the Oxus.
? June: Alexander reaches and crosses the Oxus; veterans and
? Thessalian volunteers dismissed.
? Surrender of Bessus.
? Alexander advances to Maracanda.
? Revolt of Spitamenes, annihilation of Macedonian detachment
? Alexander takes up winter quarters at Zariaspa.
? Execution of Bessus.
328 B.C.
? Campaign against Spitamenes.
? Autumn: murder of Cleitus the Black.
? Defeat and death of Spitamenes.
327 B.C.
? Spring: capture of the Soghdian Rock.
? Alexander's marriage to Roxane.
? Recruitment of 30,000 Perisan 'Successors'.
? The 'Pages Conspiracy' and Callisthenes' end.
? Early summer: Alexander recrosses Hindu Kush by Kushan Pass: the invasion of India begins.
? Alexander reaches Nysa; the 'Dionysus episode'.
? Capture of Aornos.
326 B.C.
? Advance to Taxila.
? Battle of the Hydaspes (The Jhelum) against the rajah Porus.
? Death of Bucephalas.
? ? July: Mutiny at the Hyphasis.
? Return to the Jhelum: reinforcements move down-river.
? Campaign against Brahmin cities: Alexander seriously wounded.
325 B.C.
? Revolt in Bactria: 3000 mercenaries loose in Asia.
? Alexander reaches Patala, builds harbor and dockyards.
? ? September: Alexander's march through Gedrosian Desert.
? Defection of Harpalus from Asia Minor to Greece.
? The satrapal purge begins.
? Nearchus and the fleet reach Harmozia, link up with Alexander at Salmous.
? Arrival of Craterus form Drangiana.
324 B.C.
? January: Nearches and fleet sent on to Susa.
? The episode of Cyrus' tomb.
? Alexander returns to Persepolis.
? Move to Susa, long halt there.
? Spring: arrival of 30,000 trained Persian 'Successors'.
? The Susa mass-marriages.
? March: the Exiles' Decree and the Deification Decree.
? Craterus appointed to succeed Antiparter as Regent, and convoy troops home.
? Alexander moves from Susa to Ecbatana.
? Death of Hephaestion.
323 B.C.
? Assassination of Harpalus in Crete.
? Alexander's Campaign against the Cossaeans and return to Babylon.
? Alexander explores Pallacopas Canal; his boat-trip through the marshes.
? Arrival of Antipater's son Cassander to negotiate with Alexander.
? May 20/30: Alexander falls ill after a party; and dies on 10/11th June.
