Alexander the Great - Essay Example

Module Alexander was born in Pella in the Macedonian capital. His father at that time was the king of Macedonia. His father went to the East to fight against the Byzantine and left him as the in charge of Macedonia when he was only 16 years old. At the age of 16, Alexander was able to defeat the Byzantium empire and as a result was gifted a town named “Alexandropolis”. This locality was first of the many states and cities that were named after Alexander the great. Hephaestion was one of the closest bodyguard and had become a lifelong friend to Alexander for all of his life. The teachings that he received from his tutor were kept in his tent when he fought against other great leaders and to his luck, defeated him without much loss all in all. Alexander became allies with the Athens and Thebes in 338 and was successful in taking over the Greek states. The war was led by the 18 year old Alexander himself. Although there is no written evidence on whether, he in reality did go and fight against his enemies. However, many believe that he was certainly present at Chaeronaea, the war venue. After this, Alexander was formally recognized by the Congress at Corinth in 337. Philip had started a campaign in 340 as a rebellion to the Byzantine which resulted in Athens and Thebes being provoked into fighting against the Macedonians. The two sides were caught in war in 338. The war venue was Chaeronaea, where Alexander aged only 18 was leading the army just like he was taught. However, a lot of people state that he did not take part in the war. On the other hand, it is certainly believed by a larger number of people that he in fact was a very great participant of the war. To his relief, Alexander won the battle without suffering much loss. Phillip was as a result crowned as the owner of the Greek states. After this battle, Alexander found his place in the congress in Corinth in the year 337 BC. The campaign against Persia: from 336 BC One of the terms of the treaty was that a war was to be fought with Persia and Phillip was to be the commander in chief, leading the troops to war. In the spring of 336, 10,000 troops were sent towards the east. While the troops were at the east borders, Phillip was murdered by one of his many courtiers. As a result, it was decided by the followers of Phillip, that his son, Alexander would follow his father’s steps and march his followers to the battle ground. To the surprise of Alexander, the unity between Thebans and the League is broke and it was therefore seen that Alexander took on the Thebes in 335, killing a number of about 6000 men. Even after this tremendous victory, Alexander did not take a moment of hesitation and decided to enslave those Thebans that had survived the war while the Thebes ground was divided among those living around the Theban territory. By the spring of 334, Alexander was only 22. However, age did not stop him from evening out the long lasting cold war between the Greek and the Persians. As a consequence, Alexander, took 5000 cavalry and 30,000 foot soldiers and went into the suburbs of Persia. However, the road of love and romance took over the great ruler and he decided to take a round of the site of Troy before he took over Persia. It is believed that he ran to the tomb of Achilles, naked and the Trojans gave the Athens a shield. After receiving this shield, Alexander took it with him to every fight that he fought afterwards. Unluckily, the Macedonians faced a challenge while going back to their respected country. Troops of the Persian army were sent into the suburbs towards the East putting a stop to the charge led by their mighty king. Thousands of them were captured and around an estimated 2000 warriors were sent back to provide Macedonians with slaves for labor mines. Marching into Egypt After about 18 months from the above mentioned incident, Alexander was successful in defeating the Persians. He got back Anatolia, which was under the Persians from the last 200 years. Alexander the great, went towards the South coast in order to get a hold of the Persian fleets present at the Mediterranean Sea. He aimed at cutting of all links the fleet had with their empire. Many fleets surrendered by opening their gates and by 332, Alexander had taken over Persia as, the governor surrendered as well. Later that year, Alexander went into Egypt. Egypt had been under the rule of the Persians for about 200 years as well. Alexander was successful in taking over the Egyptian empire and hence, found “Alexandria” which was one of the most successful cities that he had created in his life. War towards India By the late winter of 327 and 326 BC Alexander went fighting with a few clans of India. He fought a fierce battle with a number of them in order to get India under his reign. A fight with Aspasioi was a difficult one, as Alexander was injured because of a dart that hit him. On the contrary, Alexander was still successful in taking over the clan by the end of the fight. The next in line were the Assakenoi who were very determined not to lose but the fort of Massaga was taken over after a bloody war fought between the two sides. Alexander was unfortunately hurt on the ankle during the war. History claims that the mighty Alexander did not just take over India, but he made sure that all the “buildings were turned into rubbles“. The next fort, namely Ora was taken over in a similar series of events. The Assakenians had no choice but to flee to the fort of Aornos. Alexander was met with the war that he had long waited for, a war that included elephants and made it apparent that Alexander the great would have his first defeat. However, Alexander was successful in tackling the Indian troops the right way and it is therefore, that after many bloody and long lasting fights, Alexander took charge of the Indian regions as well. References HISTORY.com,. Alexander The Great - Ancient History - HISTORY.Com. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 May 2015. Historyofmacedonia.org,. Alexander The Great (Alexander Of Macedon) Biography. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 May 2015. LiveScience.com,. Alexander The Great: Facts, Biography & Accomplishments. N.p., 2013. Web. 15 May 2015. Mark, Joshua, Donald Wasson, and Donald Wasson. Alexander The Great. Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 May 2015. Read More