Alexander the Great,King of Macedonia,prefecture of Greece.This statue is situated near the harbour of Thessaloniki,the second bigger city of Greece after the capital Athens. Alexander the Great was born in Pella in 356 B.C,the capital of ancient Macedonia, a kingdom of ancient Greece.He was killed in Babylon of Persia in 323 B.C. He ruled the macedonian kingdom from 336 B.C till his death in 323 B.C.His parents :
Father : Philip the 2nd,king of Macedonia.
Mother : Olympiad,daughter of the king of Molossos from Epirus (NW Greece) Neoptolem the 1rst.
Alexander the Great had one of the best teachers of the ancient world,the philosopher Aristoteles.
Before becoming king, Alexander as a prince was known from the battle of Chaironia in 338 B.C. where his father had delegated to him the leadership of the left side of the troops.Two years before in 340 B.C Alexander at the age of 16,when Philip was gone away,was a steward of the throne.During that time Alexander campaigned and overbeaten the rebels of the tribe of Medon.
In 336 Pausanias murdered Philip and Alexander as a prince was named king of Macedonia.That time he was 26 years old.The circumstances were very difficult for Alexander the Great.Both internal and external Macedonia the problems were serious.There were disputes about the throne,while outside of the country rebellions of the Thraces and the Trivalones took place parallel to the moving of other Greek states who were asking to be autonomous again.Alexander the Great used his powerful military strategy which was created from his father Philip in coordination of loyal generals and managed to control his power inside the kingdom,beat his barbaric enemies and confront the Greek states.He marched to Thessaly where he was named general-emperor.After moved to Viotia were the local congress delegated to Alexander the leadership of Greece.He restored his good relations with Athens and headed to Peloponessos.In automn of 336 B.C. in Korinth, Alexander summoned representatives from all the Pelloponisse cities to decide about the campaign against Persia.Only the Spartans didn't attend the meeting.The congress decided to declare Alexander the Great general-emperor and all the cities aggreed to send troops under the macedonian command against the Persians.
The excellent military skills of Alexander appeared in spring of 335,while he was leading the macedonian and other greek troops against the Trivallons in the today North Bulgaria.They were threatening the macedonian state.In 10 days Alexander the Great and his army reached Aimos,crushed the Trivallons and in one night they passed river Dounavis,beated the Yettes and estabished a macedonian guard.Then his returned and moved to the SW and beated the Illyrians.
During his struggle against the Illyrians,a rumor that Alexander was dead was the cause for many greek cities to rise up and rebel.First the Thebians attacked the macedonian guard.Athenians sent armours and weapons to the Thebians.Alexander the Great marched very fast against the rebeling greek cities.In 7 days time he reached Thessaly,and the next 5 days he attacked Viotia and reached outside Thebian walls.He tried to convience the city to surrender but his efforts falled to the gap.After that,Alexander the Great occupied the city of Thebes and destroyed to the ground.The punishement of Thebes paralised every other thought of rebellion to the other cities.Athenians sent embassadors to congratulate Alexander for his victories on the Trivallons,Illyrians and for the occupation of Thebes.He established macedonian garishons into all the greek cities and moved to Macedonia to prepare for the march against the Persians.
Alexander the Great in Asia.
In 334 B.C. Alexander the Great campaigned against Asia and Persia.He named Antipatros co-king and marched against Asia in charge of 40.000 soldiers (infantry and cavalry from Macedonia and other Greek cities). He started from Pella,passed from Amfipoli and moving near to the sea stoped to a city named Systos.From there the army boarded on the fleet and crossed Hellespond.In the place of ancient Troy,Alexander sacrificed to Athena and honored the tomb of Achilles.The first battle was in river Granikos and ended with a victory of Alexander the Great.After the first victory Alexander sent to Athens the loot of the battle : 300 armours dedicated to godess Athena with the instription '' Alexander son o Philip and the Greeks,except Spartans,from the barbarians who live in Asia'' .All the Greek mercenaries of the Persians who were captured by the Greek-macedonian army were taken to Macedonia as slaves,becouse the fought on the enemy side !!!After the win of Granikos river Alexander gained the favour of all the greek cities of Asia Minor.He set them free and gave them their autonomy.Then he moved, some times without fights,sometimes he needed to fight, to Sardes where he established the temple of Olympian Zeus in Efesos then in Milytos,in Alikanarsos,in Frygia,in Karia,in Lykia,in Pamfylia and in Pisidia.He gathered his troops to Gorgio,near river Saggarious and reinforced with new troops from Greece.After they walked to the south towards Kilikia,reached Tarsos and camped in Myrianthos (the after named, Alexandreta).Darius, the Persian King,started from Babylon to meet Alexander's army.The two armies conficted in Issos at 333 B.C.,in the battle that shown the future of Asia.The Persians were defeated and Darius managed to escape abandoning his family in the hands of Alexander the Great.Next, Alexander moved south towards Syria and Palestine.He occupied Egypt and cut out the Persians from the Mediterrenean Sea.Alexander tourned out Darius proposal for peace and invaded Foiniki,occupied Tyros and after 7month invasion he occuried Gaza and the whole area of the Delta of the river Nile.In 331 B.C. he founded Alexandria.In Ammon's temple he was announced legitimate king of the Faraoh and son of Ammon.He crossed Syria and infiltreted in the heart of Persian state fighting the forces of Darius in Gavgamila in 331 B.C. near Mosoul.Once more he crushed the enemy forces and occupied Babylon,Sousa,Persepolis,Ekvatana.In the early 329 B.C. Alexander crossed the Indian Kaukasus and reach the east limits of the Persian state,near river Iaxartis where the founded Alexandria Extreme.There he married the daughter of ruler Oxyartis of Bactirian, Roxane.
Alexander's campaign in India.
Alexander The Great excited from the idea of the global empire decided to invade India.He crossed Indian river towards Ydaspis where he had one of he most great victories against the ruler of Indian, Poros in 326 B.C.There he founded two more cities Nikaia and Voukefalas(the last in memory of his horse who died there).Then he occupied a part of the Indian river plains and marched towards river Yfasis (west Hemalaia) at the end of his campaign.Alexander the Great founded 12 temples dedicated to the Olympian gods and offered sacrificies to them.A multi-numered army which was summoned there was given in charge of Nearhos.A part of the army and Alexander boarded on the ships and the rest followed moving south towards the beaches,neutralising any enemy resistance on their way. They stopped at Patala where they built a big port.On February 324 B.C. Alexander reach Sousa,where he was married the daughter of Darius the 3rd,Stateira.In Spring 323 B.C. Alexander the Great set Babylon as his new capital.His next plans were to conqueor Arabia,but he got sick and died in 323 B.C.
That was the bright life of Alexander the Great,the Greek king of Macedonia and whole Greece.During his quest Alexander managed to promote the Greek civilisation,the Greek Olympian Gods,the Greek language, but always parallel to the local customs which he respected.He managed to found a common monetary union to all the occupied areas.In every place Alexander passsed he left evidence proving his Greek origin and the Greek origin of Macedonia.
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