Alexander the Great - His Wars for Conquest and Legacy to the World - Essay Example

Alexander the Great: His Wars for Conquest And Legacy to the World Alexander the Great occupies a special niche in history as “Ruler of the World” who conquered much of ancient civilization through his military genius and political savvy, traits he inherited from his father and honed to perfection by experience. He lived one of the most amazing military careers in history, never losing a battle, although his conquering army was always outnumbered in the field. The secrets of his military successes included the phalanx 1 which gave the enemy little opening for retaliatory attack. He understood early on the importance of the cavalry as an offensive weapon, and was a master at compensating for a shorthanded army. In the middle of the fighting, he was not above abandoning a carefully laid-out battle plan to change tactics when the enemy seemed to be gaining the upper hand. This change of maneouvers was often carried out in a split second as to catch the enemy flatfooted, thus changing the tide of the battle in his favor. 2 Before Alexander died at age 33 of possible malaria, typhoid or viral encephalis, his 12 years of military campaign built a vast empire that consisted of Persia, Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia with boundaries reaching as far as Punjab in India. He also consolidated his rule over Macedonia and Greece, the original dominion of his king-father whose crown he inherited.3 Had he lived a few years more he would have conquered other unknown territories west and east of the ancient world. In fact, the plan just before his death was to direct his army to the west of Europe and then march farther eastwards where, according to his boyhood tutor Aristotle, “the land ends and the Great Outer Sea begins.” The Making of a Conqueror A life as warrior and conqueror had been laid out for Alexander the Great since birth. There was the nurturing influence of his father King Philip II of Macedonia, a brilliant military commander and politician who had conquered and annexed almost all Greek cities to his empire except for Sparta. Philip wanted to establish a larger Federal League of Corinth to include the warlike Persia in faraway mid-east, which had signified the same intention towards the Macedonia-Greece league. When Alexander was a young boy, the reign of his father was already under constant threat by the Persians with conquest in mind. In fact, the Persians had already attempted several invasions on the Macedonia-Greek hegemony and had wrought severe damage on the Greek cities under Philip’s control. Other Greek cities near and within Asia Minor had been taken over by the Persians. The first wave of attacks on Macedonia was led by Persian King Herxes, followed later by his successor Darius the Great, although these initial attempts to take over the kingdom were so far successfully repelled by Philip’s army. At home, the restive Greek states in the north and west also posed a problem because they had always wanted to be independent from Macedonia, although they were kept in line by Philip’s rule.4 As heir apparent to King Philip, Alexander knew early on that these challenges to the crown concerned him and that one day, he needed to rise in defence of his kingdom and future. Even as a boy, Alexander showed that he measured up to this challenge. Schooled in war and politics by his father, he was tutored in everything else by the great philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle it was who gave Alexander extensive training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine and philosophy. It is said of this special teacher-student affinity that Aristotle conquered the world with his thought, Alexander with his sword. Alexander always kept a copy of Homer’s Iliad given by Aristotle and had shown great fascination at the exploits of Achilles.5 He had also expressed admiration for Cyrus the Great, ancient founder of the Persian Empire who, unlike his latter-day successors, respected the traditions and religions of the peoples under his dominion. These impressions reflected in his subsequent battles for world conquest when Alexander flirted with danger and made out like the hero and warrior Achilles. After he succeeded in placing a new state under his expanding empire, he also saw to it that the people in that state were free to practice their own religion, customs and beliefs.6 When Alexander was 12, a Thessalian brought a black horse so wild that no one in the empire could mount it. It did not take long for Alexander to decipher that the horse behaved that way because it was afraid of its own shadow. So when he mounted the horse, he always turned it in the direction of the sun and soon the horse overcame its irrational fear. This moved his father to comment: “My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself. Macedonia has no room for thee.” The black horse was named Bucephalus and was Alexander’s favorite mount for 20 years until the animal died at age 30, some Alexander historians say of old age and others say of wounds sustained in a battle in India. The second time Alexander made his father extremely proud of his son came when he was only 18 and placed in command of one flank of the Macedonian cavalry that fought a combined rebel band of Theban and Athenian warriors. That was Alexander’s baptism of fire and his men were greatly outnumbered by the enemy, but Alexander made quick work of the enemy force by being the first man to charge.7 Securing Macedonia Alexander was 20 when the Macedonian army proclaimed him the new king after his father died in the hands of an assassin. As the new ruler of the threatened empire, the first thought that came to Alexander’s mind was to invade Persia to put his father’s interrupted plan into action. But the first order of business was the increasing restlessness of the Greek cities unified by Philip under the Macedonian flag. Emboldened by the death of Philip, some of the Greek states led by Thebes and Athens sought to retake their independence, belittling the capabilities of the young Macedonian king. Alexander turned out to be a tougher customer than his father, and was always the first man to charge the enemy troops. His army scuttled the combined Theban and Athenian rebel band at the initial skirmish and then proceeded to quell other Greek uprising at the Macedonian border of the Danube River. Alexander’s men moved into Thrace, struck across the Balkans, Shipka Pass and Rumelia, then crossed the Danube to subjugate the Getae and Celtic tribes, and turned back to smash a coalition of Illyrians who were attempting to invade Macedonia. The conquering army left burnt settlements and thousands dead in its path. While securing the borders, Alexander learned that the Thebans had regrouped and mounted a stronger challenge, attempting to establish a rebel government in Greece with support from the other Greek states of Athens, Arcadia, Eolia and Etholia. This rebel army was stronger than the Macedonians but it failed to stop Alexander from bringing Thebes to its knees. After three days of fighting, Thebes was razed to the ground, over 6,000 of its people were killed, and 30,000 of the survivors that included women and children were sold as slaves for 440 talents 8 of silver across the Middle East.9 Among those spared were the priests, the leaders of the pro-Macedonian party in the Greek state and the descendants of the renowned poet Pindar, whose house was the only structure left standing in the beaten city. The total destruction of Thebes scared off Athens and other Greek states whose elders quickly abandoned all desires of further resisting Alexander’s rule. This entire demonstration of military prowess and authority took about 15 days.10 From this victory over the once recalcitrant Greek states, Alexander boosted his army by conscripting the defeated Greek soldiers into the fold. Thus, when he finally trained his sights on the possible conquest of Persia, with its talked-about wealth in gold and silver, there was the added urgency of finding more resources to pay the Greek states for the services of their soldiers in Alexander’s army. Moreover, Alexander saw the need to liberate other Greek cities forcibly taken by the Persians some years before. These were enough motivations for Alexander to embark on his conquest of Persia, but historians ascribe different reasons for the military endeavor. Some say he was acting on a divine inspiration to unite the human race and “spread the light of Greece into the darkness of the world.”11 Others say he was a megalomaniac bent on world domination. There are those who believe Alexander just wanted to teach Darius a lesson, or that he only felt a natural urge to fight and be welcomed as a conquering hero everywhere just like his mythical idol Achilles. Warpath to Persia Two years after the death of his father, Alexander led his troops into Asia Minor to conquer the Persian Empire. The combined Macedonian-Greek army brought a just a few fighting ships and very little in the way of treasury, only weapons, food supply and an overpowering hunger to conquer the world. Alexander set out to conquer the world with only 30,000 foot soldiers and some 5,000 troops on horseback. Of this fighting force, 14,000 were Macedonians, 3,000 of them belonging to the hypaspists 12 and the rest made up of Cretans, Illyrians, Thracians and other allies of the Greek League.13 The weaponry was equally divided among the archers, the cavalry and the infantry phalanxes armed with shields and sarises.14 The conquering army also embarked on the mission with explorers, engineers, architects, scientists, court officials and historians in tow. Alexander’s second in command was Parmenio, a trusted hypaspist of King Philip who had been instructed to live in Asia Minor along with a few of his men precisely to prepare the ground for a possible Macedonian invasion of Persia. Thus, with Parmenion at his side, Alexander had some knowledge of the enemy terrain. How Alexander started the invasion was a study in military strategy. The initial targets of the attacks were the coastal cities of the Persian-controlled Asia Minor that served as homeports of the Persian navy, and included many satraps 15 along the Sea of Marmara, Granicus River and the port city of Sidon. The idea was to prevent the Persian navy, which outnumbered the Macedonian navy by about 1 million men, from reinforcing its ports once the fighting got underway. So while the Persian naval ships were patrolling the Mediterranean Sea, Alexander’s men were immobilizing its lightly defended coastal strongholds. In the coastal areas where the Persian defences were strong, Alexander gave the enemy troops the impression that their superiority in numbers and firepower would work in their favour.16 This happened to the Persian satraps along the Granicus River who became so overconfident of their strength that they ignored a suggestion of Memnon, the Greek mercenary general serving as war consultant to Persia, that they draw Alexander’s men into the open plains instead of engaging them in a toe-to-toe battle at the river banks. The plan of the Persians was to lure Alexander and his troops across the river and then pounce on them while crossing it. But Alexander’s military acumen went into play. He used his cavalry to feign a full cavalry charge on the Persian flank and when the Persians moved their own cavalry from the centre to the flank, Alexander sent his cavalry right smack into the weakened centre of the enemy force. This broke the Persian defences and its soldiers went running every which way for cover. Alexander’s invading troops tussled with the vastly superior army of Persian king Darius on many other occasions. In all encounters, Alexander’s army was always outnumbered but his military genius always made him prevail. An example of his brilliance as military strategist was the way he handled himself at the Battle of Granicus.17 In the battle for the island city of Tyre, Alexander exhibited the same ability to think on his feet. The task for taking over Tyre became difficult when the Tyrans walled themselves in, leaving only the sea as possible access route. Alexander’s troops had just invaded Sidon, the port city that served as shipyard for the Persian navy in its earlier invasions of Egypt and Greece, and took some battle ships from there to Tyre. When Alexander’s men threatened to approach the island fortress by sea, the Tyran archers rained arrows on them. So Alexander took a new tack and embarked on one of the most astonishing civil engineering feats in his time. In between defending his position against attacks by the Tyran archers, Alexander built a 200-foot sand-and-rock bridge on the sea leading to the island city. The bridge took seven months to build, which showed that patience was one of Alexander’s strongest suits, and when Tyre was within striking distance Alexander let go with stone flame-throwers and light catapults. The bridge was then completed with less resistance and the Tyrans suffered 7,000 dead, with 2,000 of its soldiers crucified.18 Defeat of Darius After soundly defeating the Persians at the Battle of Granicus, Alexander went on to liberate the Greek cities in parts of Asia Minor that were earlier grabbed by Persia – Sardis, Miletus, Caria, Ionia, Cappadocia, Phrygia. It was at the Battle of Issus where Alexander met and matched wits with the Persian tyrant Darius. Again, the odds were stacked against Alexander whose 35,000 men were ranged against the 100,000-strong army of Persia. Alexander’s men were also battle-weary while the Persians were fresh from home, and Darius was in a defensive position, picking the place where he wanted to fight. Darius deployed his men on a narrow coastal plain as part of a plan to fight in rows instead of through mass formation. Then Alexander quickly noticed a chink in the armor of the Persians when he saw their archers positioned themselves near a group of young Persian soldiers at the left flank of the main body of the enemy force where Darius stood at the centre. Alexander deduced that the archers were so positioned because the left-flank soldiers could not hold that position. This was the exact spot where Alexander led his cavalry assault, and when he did, the entire left flank crumbled, giving his cavalry men a clear shot at Darius who hastily retreated with his loyal guards. The fleeing Darius left his throne tent made up of his harem, silk carpets, golden baths, imperial escorts, 3,000 talents of gold, his mother, wife and a daughter. Three years later, after Alexander liberated the Persian-held Greek cities in Asia Minor, Darius again posed a challenge at Gaugemala, this time with over 1 million men and new weaponry: war elephants from India and 200 fully armed chariots. This battle unfolded in much the same way as that in Issus, with Alexander making up for quick thinking and good military strategy what he lacked in firepower.19 Alexander defeats Darius for the third and final time on the plains of Arbela, where the Persian leader came with over 1 million men. He was soundly beaten just the same. Afterwards, Darius was killed by one of his own generals in his hideaway while organizing a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Alexander went on to conquer Babylon, which he did not really need to. After having himself installed as king of Persia, Alexander ordered his troops to march farther eastward into the heart of Asia where he claimed the final piece of the Persian puzzle – the fierce Sogdian warlord Oxyartes. At last, all parts of the Persian empire were in Alexander’s hands.20 Largest Empire At the peak of his career, Alexander’s empire spanned from the Ionian Sea to the northern part of India. He did not quite conquer the whole world as was his dream, but he succeeded on a large portion of the ancient world.21 Alexander’s campaign of world conquest did not stop at Persia. He marched his men towards Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia and took the cities of Marathus, Aradus, Byblos and Sidon along the way. At the Phrygian capital of Gordium, it is said that he untangled the Gordian Knot, although it was not clear if he figured the right formula or hacked it with his sword. Legend had it that whoever untied the knot would end up as king of all Asia, which Alexander had indeed become. Several months later, he also occupied Egypt where the Persian satrap still in position gave up without resistance. Egypt had been under the harsh rule of Persia and the Egyptians welcomed Alexander with open arms. This made Alexander the first conqueror to reach Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor and Asia up to western India.22 The states along his path of conquest that resisted had their people killed or sold into slavery. The cities that gave up peacefully were rewarded, as in the case of Susa and Persepolis, which were gifted with treasures of gold and silver. Along the way, Alexander also founded many cities that were named after him. The last major battle of Alexander for conquest took place along the Hydaspes River, this time against Indian King Porus who ruled a vast domain that included most of what is now Pakistan. Porus was proud of his 200 war elephants, which he considered his secret weapon, and knew how to use them. While the troops of Alexander and Porus squared off against each other across the river, Porus lined up his war elephants at the other side to prevent Alexander’s men from crossing. The strategy taken by Alexander was to order his men to march up and down the riverbank as if poised for an attack. This ploy was used for two weeks until Porus appeared to have dropped his guard, which was the intention. Finally, when the elephants seemed nowhere in sight at nightfall, Alexander used night cover to cross the river. His troops made it over the river into the midst of the Indian troops who were caught unawares. It was Gaugamela all over again. Porus withdrew his soldiers from the centre of the lines to support the elephants on the flanks, and when the centre was left open, Alexander’s phalanx swept in for the kill.23 Legacy to the World Alexander brought West and East together in a brotherhood of man, with peoples of different nations and colors speaking a common language, trading goods on a common currency and sharing knowledge in math, science, medicine and the arts.24 Alexander’s many conquests gave way to the Hellinistic Age, in which the Greek and Mideastern cultures combined. This was the earliest attempt to unify the world and one of the more important legacies of Alexander’s reign. The intention was to make Europe and Asia one large country with Babylon as capital. For this reason, Alexander married an Asian woman and encouraged 10,000 of his soldiers to marry Persian women. Alexander founded cities from Macedonia to India and created trade routes to increase the flow of goods between east and west. Thus, Persian goods went to Athens and Greek goods came to Babylon. Alexander established Greek as the common language and a common currency to unite the peoples of his empire. The cities were built in areas that had no real cities and Greek ideals, thought and culture spread to the Middle East and Asia. Alexander also brought the east back to Greece. The Greek knowledge of the east increased as botanists, scientists and philosophers who tagged along with Alexander on his military campaign studied and catalogued plants, science and philosophy of the people and brought these data to Greece. He also changed the world in many ways, bringing to the Greeks a new way of fighting, to the Persians the more modern Greek way of life, and to everyone in his empire a view of the world.25 This became the foundation of what is now known as the western civilization. Bibliography: 1 – In ancient Greece, the phalanx was a body of heavily armed infantry with shields and long spears in close formation; Worthington, I., 2004, Alexander the Great, Routledge, 1st ed. 2 – Nelson, H., The Conquests of Alexander the Great, Webpage design (online) at: http://etap 1 org/whs/project/history/alexander.html 3 – The Life and Successes of Alexander the Great, Webpage design (online) at:http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/alexanderthegreatsucceed1.htm 4 – Gergel, T. (ed), 2004, Alexander the Great, London: Penguin Group ISBN 0-14-200140-6. 5 – Messengers of Light Website, Alexander the Great, Webpage design (online) at: http://shangha.net/messenger/alex html 6 – Popovich, J., 2000, Alexander the Great, Webpage design (online) at: http://1st muse.com/frames/index.html 7 – Lane Fox, R., 1973, Alexander the Great, London: Allen Lane. 8 – A talent of precious stone is equivalent to 27 kilograms; Popovich (2000). 9 – Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia CD-ROM, 1996, Alexander the Great, Grolier Electronic Page Inc. 10 – Cartledge, P., 2004, Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past, London: Pan Macmillan ISBN 1-4050-2292-8. 11 – The Legacy of Alexander the Great, Webpage design (online) at: http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/alexanderthegreatlegacy2.htm 12 – Hypaspists are loyal troops close to the king; Lane Fox (1973). 13 - Popovich (2004). 14 – The 5 and ½ meters long lances used by ancient Greek warriors are sarises; Alexander the Great Website. Available at: Http://www.entergroupltd.com/alex.web/ 15 – Satraps were the local rulers who ran their provinces or cities in the name of the emperor; Nelson. 16 – Popovich (2000). 17 – Gergel (2004). 18 – Alexander the Great Website. 19 – Nelson. 20 – World Book Encyclopaedia, 1995, Alexander the Great, 8th ed., Vol.1, Field Enterprises Inc. 21 – Nelson. 22 – Popovich (2000). 23 – Messengers of Light Website. 24 – The Legacy of Alexander the Great. 25 – Ibid. Read More