Introduction
History has recorded Alexander as one of the most famous kings during the ancient years who was powerful and intelligent in his political operations. Also referred to as Alexander III, Alexander the Great or Alexander of Macedonia, he had to settle and polish numerous issues within his empire to fight against and conquer other neighboring empires. Before his rise into Kingship, Alexander who was born in 356 BCE in Macedonia was a son of Phillip II the King of Macedonia and husband to Olympias who was the daughter to Neoptolemus the King of Epirus. As highlighted by the Eye Witness to History (2000), Alexander was among the leaders who ruled over the biggest empires in the ancient days. Leading a royal yet normal life as a child, Alexander earned a sound education that incorporated both intellectual and martial subjects at the Macedonian Court. It is during this time that Alexander was tutored and mentored by Aristotle mostly on science and medicine.
Alexander’s Greatness was highly contributed by his skills and experiences acquired in his teenage years in the empire like serving as a regent and engaging in the Athens attack during his father’s reign.
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Coming to Power
The assassination of Alexander’s father, Phillip II dictated the rising of a successor to his throne. While there was no one who had been chosen earlier, there was a dispute among the male children of Phillip II Alexander included. Moreover, the existence of many wives who most had children with King Phillip II played a significant role in the dispute between the sons of Phillip II. Among the team, he became victorious and succeeded his father’s throne in 336 BCE. Before his years of campaigns and war against other nations, some of his achievements during his reign included the receiving of the Celtic ambassadors in the Balkans during 335 BCE. In addition to this, in 334 BCE, a year after taking in the Celtic ambassadors, the Sardis surrendered to Alexander the Great’s rule. During his rule, Alexander’s campaigns took place between 334 BCE to 323 BCE which was the year his reign seized after his death (Tucker, 2009) .
Persia Invasion
The campaign against Persia was one of the incomplete missions that were commenced by Phillip II before his death. On the other hand, his assassinations spark the attacks observed during the reign of Alexander the Great his son. Before conquering the Persians, Alexander pursued them severally, and in each attack he earned the victory. Alexander was crowned the leader whom they referred to as ‘Hegemon’ after brutally treating Thebes which was city state of Greek. Alexander’s move to invade Persia among other reasons was to free the Greek colonies that were under the rule of King Darius III in Asia. The early victories that Alexander achieved against Persia catalyzed his desires to conquer the whole Persian Empire and take full dominion. Despite the preparation of the Persian army that was larger than that of the Macedonians led by Alexander the Great, Persia was subdued and defeated all through (Spark notes, 2017) .
While the King of Persia had faced defeat twice, he still prepared his army for another campaign which as always was geared towards proving the other empire wrong and regaining its power and respect. During his preparations, he ensured that the selected battlefield favored his army in more than one ways. For instance, at the same spot at which his army was defeated twice that is Issus, Darius II ordered a further leveling off the ground which was flat, but he could not let anything of whatever sort hinder his victory against the powerful Macedonian army. He had a powerful army that always out-numbered the Macedonian army and the possession of the scythe – wheeled chariots that were feared during the ancient days. He ensured that the military that had 200, 000 soldiers was increased to one million individuals. His preparations were ready by 1st of October 331 BC, and according to his tactics and plans, Darius was ready for the attack.
As highlighted in the Eye Witness to History (2000), the Macedonian army only had 35 000 troops that were supposed to face the prepared one million Persian armies. As mentioned earlier, King Darius was sure that his tactic of fighting on a flat, leveled and plowed battleground would favor his team. On the contrary, Alexander was smarter and tactically ensured that the Persian army was off the flat ground. Alexander ordered his cavalry to move right which led the Persian army off the anticipated prepared flat battle field. Out of confidence and readiness to earn the victory, the Persian army fell in the bait when they chose to follow suit and match towards the Macedonian army that was slowly drifting off the anticipated battle field. Consequently, the Persian army found themselves on a rough and unfavorable terrain which gave Alexander’s team an upper hand over the Persian army and he figured out a way to get behind them which increased his chances of conquering the Persian army. As a result, the commander of the Persian army Darius fled away leaving his men behind without guide and command which as a result left victory to the Macedonian army led by Alexander the Great.
Darius’ failure and defeat occurred to him fleeing to Mesopotamia which is currently known as Iraq leaving behind his army and family. Darius’ action further gave Alexander an upper hand to continue winning over the Persians, and he also took hostage the mother, wife, and children to Darius. Alexander’s actions were intended to cause Darius to face him individually, but it was all in vain. Darius offered a ransom to Alexander for the release of his family members but was declined by the Macedonian King. Darius’ offers of the ransom included a vast territory in his Persian empire, a hand in marriage to his daughter and an alliance between the two empires depending on the demands of the Macedonian emperor – Alexander the Great. On the contrary, Alexander had an entirely different desire upon the Persian King which was to suppress and make him a slave in the Macedonian empire. The adamant Persian King did not hesitate to put into practice his leadership roles of defending his people and fighting against his foes – the Macedonian Empire. As a result, he set another campaign in 331 BCE at a strategic point in Gaugamela which is a plain that situated between a high standing hill and a river. In the month of November of the same year, the two armies met at the Gaugamela plains, and the battle at this point was no different from the one at Issus. The Macedonian army triumphed over the Persian troop which was a significant contributor to the Persian King retreat. While he was on his heels to get away from the Macedonian King, Darius managed to get away from the hands of Alexander the Great which was a point of disappointment to his empire and his captor – the Macedonian Empire (Hamilton, 2017) . Unlike the battle at Issus, Alexander opted to go after Darius after the win at Gaugamela to confront him in person. Unfortunately, he was not able to catch up with him hence missed out on having a face-off with the Persian King.
The events that took place between the Persian and Macedonian Empires were significant contributors to the self - handing over of the Susa and Babylon cities to the leadership of Alexander the Great. Analysts and most historians debate that whether or not these cities had surrendered themselves to the rule of the Macedonian empire, they would have eventually been attacked and subdued. Alexander III was not done with Darius and his empire. Without an alliance between the two kings and considering that the two had unfinished campaign after Darius fled away, Alexander provocatively married the eldest daughter to Darius without his knowledge, consent, and involvement. Furthermore, he also went out of his way and broke some of the rules shared by both empires which included the arrangement of mass weddings between his court's men and the Persian finest women. Despite the fact that his decisions and actions were unpopular in his Kingdom and the adjacent ones, no one defied his rule which explains why he was known as Alexander the Great. Besides, his tactics on the battle ground, Alexander’s decisions were final and undisputed.
Alexander’s persistence to find Darius caused him to cross the Zagros Mountains during the winter season to achieve the center of Persia. Despite his confidence to face his foes and conquer them, he was resisted from subduing the territory by its residents. Unfortunately for the Persians, their resistance was unsuccessful, and therefore they ended up surrendering notably Persepolis which is the capital city to Persia. The Macedonian troops were ordered by Alexander to loot Persepolis after their free surrenders and that led to the killings of the Persian men and enslaving of the women and children. As for the palace and other buildings, the Macedonian troops brought them down to ashes by setting them on fire.
As if that was not enough, Alexander kept pursuing Darius, and therefore he moved towards Ecbatana a region in which Darius had formed a new capital to his Empire. In awareness of the arrival of Alexander the conqueror, Darius had to flee before he was captured. Fortunately for the Macedonian King, he caught up with the Persian ruler around 330 BCE. His plans of finding Darius were futile despite the fact that he had caught up with him because he had been assassinated by one of his governors in the Empire’s provinces who were referred to as Satraps. Going by the name Bessus, the local, provincial governor of the Persian Empire was captured by Alexander and handed over to the authorities in Persia in charge of execution. Despite the enmity that existed between the Persian and Macedonian Empires, Alexander ensured that Darius II was accorded to a royal burial which he deserved as a ruler of the Persian Kingdom and despite his failures.
The campaigns of the Macedonian Empire did not stop there, and therefore Alexander together with his troops matched to Bactria which was east of its territory. The execution of Bessus – the provincial governor of Persia and his allies was followed by the marriage of Alexander and a Bactrian Princess who was known as Roxane. In most of his successful campaigns, Alexander did not only ensure that the Kings of his captors were brought down to their knees, but he also enslaved their women and children and at the end married a noble woman especially the daughters to the Kings. As reckoned by H.W Parke (2013), his actions were an insult to most of the noblemen of the Empires in which he had attacked, and therefore it resulted to some of them attempting to assassinate him. The attempt to kill Alexander was futile, and it increased his strong desire to subdue all the kingdoms that were around Macedonia. The aftermath of taking over most of his captors was his loyalty to the cultures and ways of lives of the people which led to Alexander learning and adopting some of the customs of the regions under him like Persia. Some of the distinct cultural practices of the Persians and the Greeks were the acts of bowing to a king. While Persians had a tendency of bowing to a king, it was a taboo for the Greek people to bow to a fellow human because only the gods of Greece deserved honor from fellow man. Despite this background and cultural practice, Alexander demanded the honor of being bowed at by everyone within the Empire. Moreover, he even made sure that he was fully dressed as a Persian royalty while in the courts. The practice went on for a long time even with the hesitation from the men in the Empire under Alexander.
According to Joseph Roisman (2002), Alexander campaigns did not stop with the Persian and the Bactrian Empire. Hence he set out to Arabia, Africa, and the Caspian Sea. Unfortunately for Alexander he became ill and died after eleven days of illness in the spring of 323 BCE while on his campaigns. Unfortunately for him, his Empire crumbled at his death because there was a split and fight at the Macedonian Empire for succession. Moreover, his son Alexander IV was murdered at the age of thirteen while Darius III became the empire to Persia paralyzing all the efforts of Alexander the Great.
Conclusion
Alexander the Great subdued many Empires are increasing his territory during his tenure as an Emperor of Macedonia, Greece. His risk taking tactics and lack of fear was the number one contributor to him being referred to as the ‘Great.’ Moreover, his experience during his childhood under the reign of his father was a time that exposed him to campaigns and attacks of other regions. Furthermore, it is clear that Alexander just expounded on what his father had begun.
References
"Alexander Defeats the Persians, 331 BC," Eyewitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2000).
Hamilton, R. (2017). Alexander the Great . Retrieved July 17, 2017, from Midas Word: http://www.midasword.com.au/ancient-history/alexander-the-great-the-persian-invasion/
Parke, H. (1985). The massacre of the Branchidae. The Journal of Hellenic Studies , 105, pp.59-68.
Roisman, J. (2002). Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great. BRILL.
Spark notes. (2017). Alexander the Great - Conquering Persia . Retrieved July 17, 2017, from Spark Notes: http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/alexander/section8.rhtml
Tucker, S. C. (2009). A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. ABC-CLIO.
