Indian campaign

Invasion of the Indian Subcontinent

After the death of Spitamenes and his marriage to Roxana to cement his relations with his new Central Asian satrapies, Alexander was finally free to turn his attention to the Indian subcontinent. Alexander invited all the chiefs of Gandhara, in the north of what is now Pakistan, to come to him and submit to his authority.

Omphis, whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Hydaspes, complied, but the chiefs of some hill clans,refused to submit.

In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against these clanes.

A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart but eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi, who fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to Alexander in the strong of Massaga, Ora and Aornos.

The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle.

According to Curtius, "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles".

A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of Aornos.

Alexander followed close behind their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort after the fourth day of a bloody fight.
After reducing Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against a local ruler Porus,in the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.

Alexander was greatly impressed by Porus for his bravery in battle, and therefore made an alliance with him and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom.

Alexander named one of the two new cities that he founded, Bucephala, in honor of the horse that had brought him to India, and had died during the battle.

Revolt of the Army

At the east of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful Nanda Empire of Magadha and Gangaridai Empire of Bengal.

Worried about having to face other powerful Indian armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, refused to march further east. This river marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests. Alexander spoke to his army and tried to persuade them to march further into India but, he change his opinion and return. Along the way his army conquered the Malli clans and other Indian tribes.

Return

Alexander sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with his general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia through the most difficult southern route along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran (now part of southern Iran and Pakistan).

Conquest of the Persian Empire

Asia Minor

Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with 42,000 soldiers from Macedon, mercenaries and soldiers from Thrace, Paionia, and Illyria.After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the deliver of the Persian provincial capital and continued going down the Ionian coast.

At Halicarnassus, Alexander successfully waged the first of many sieges,and forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria,to withdraw by sea.

Alexander left the government of Caria to Ada, who adopted Alexander as her son.From Halicarnassus, Alexander went through mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coast. He did this in order to nagate the Persians naval bases; since Alexander had no reliable fleet of his own, defeating the Persian fleet required land-control. From Pamphylia onward, the coast held no major ports and so Alexander moved inland.At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium, Alexander "untied'' the Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of Asia".
Most stories said that Alexandet cut the knot apart with his sword

Syria

After spending the winter campaigning in Asia Minor, Alexander's army crossed the Cilician Gates in 333 BC, and defeated the main Persian army under the command of Darius III at the Battle of Issus. Darius was forced to flee the battle after his army broke, and he left all he had behind ( family and riches ).

He afterwards offered a peace treaty to Alexander, the concession of the lands he had already conquered, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family.

Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria, and most of the coast of the Levant.However, the following year, he was forced to attack Tyre. After the capture of Tyre, Alexander crucified all the men of military age, and sold the women and children into slavery.

Egypt

When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated, with the exception of Gaza. The stronghold at Gaza was built on a hill and was heavily fortified. At the beginning of the Siege of Gaza, Alexander utilized the engines he had employed against Tyre. After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold was finally taken by force, but not before Alexander received a serious shoulder wound. When Gaza was taken, the male population was put to the sword and the women and children were sold into slavery.
Jerusalem, on the other hand, opened its gates in surrender.

Thereupon, Alexander's spared Jerusalem and pushed south into Egypt.
Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC, where he was regarded as a liberator. He was pronounced the new "master of the Universe".

Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent currency depicted him adorned with ram horns as a symbol of his divinity.

During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria-by-Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic kingdom after his death.

Assyria and Babylonia

Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Mesopotamia and defeated Darius once more at the Battle of Gaugamela. Once again, Darius was forced to leave the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana but Alexander instead marched to, and captured Babylon.

Persia

From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa, one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its legendary treasury. Sending the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Royal Road, Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city.
The pass of the Persian Gates had been blocked by a Persian army and Alexander had to storm the pass.

At Persepolis, Alexander stared at the crumbled statue of Xerxes and decided to leave it on the ground. During their stay at the capital, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city. Theories abound as to whether this was the result of a drunken accident, or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War.

Death and succession

Final days

On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace in Babylon, aged 32. Roughly 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained his admiral Nearchus, and then, instead of going to bed, spent the night and next day drinking. After this, he had developed a fever, which then grew worse and worse.

The common soldiers had become anxious about his health, or thought he was already dead. They demanded to see him.

Two days later Alexander was dead. Alexander was struck down with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Hercules, and (rather mysteriously) died after some agony.

Possible causes

1) Poison

Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and Justin all mention the theory that Alexander was poisoned. Antipat, close friend of Alexander, arranged he was poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer.

2) Natural causes

Several diseases have been suggested as the cause of Alexander's death; malaria or typhoide fever are obvious candidates. Other illnesses could have also been the culprit, including acute pancreatitis or the West Nile virus.

Last years

Discovering that many of his satraps and military governors, Alexander executed a number of them. He paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that those over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedon, but his troops misunderstood his intention and refusing to be sent away and bitterly criticizing his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units.

Alexander executed the ringleaders of the mutiny, but forgave the rank and file.
After Alexander traveled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possibly lover Hephaestiondied, died of an illness, or,possibly of poisoning.

Alexander, distraught over the death of his longtime companion, sacked a nearby town, and put all of its inhabitants to the sword, as a 'sacrifice' to Hephaestion's ghost. From Persia, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia, but he would not have a chance to realize them.

King of Macedon

In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguard, Pausanias. Pausanias tried to escape, but he was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus. Alexander was proclaimed king by the Macedonian army and by the Macedonian noblemen at the age of 20.

Alexander began his reign by having his potential rivals to the throne murdered.

Olympias had burned alive Cleopatra Eurydice and her daughter. When Alexander found out about this, he was furious with his mother. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, because he was too dangerous to leave alive. News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly and the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedon.

When news of the revolts in Greece reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Athens sued for peace and Alexander received the envoy and pardoned anyone involved with the uprising. Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders and, in the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts.

He first went east into the country of the "Independent Thracians". At Mount Haemus, the Macedonian army attacked and annihilate the Thracian army. The Macedonians went on into the country of the Triballi, and defeated the Triballian army near the Lyginus river.

Alexander then advanced for three days on to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Surprising the Getae by crossing the river at night, he forced the Getae army to move backwards after the first cavalry skirmish, leaving their town to the Macedonian army. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing Cleitus and Glaukias to flee with their armies, leaving Alexander's northern frontier secure.
While he was triumphantly campaigning north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once more. Alexander reacted immediately, but, Thebes decided to resist with vigor.

However, the resistance was useless.

The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission, leaving all of Greece at least outwardly at peace with Alexander.

Regency and ascent of Macedon

When Alexander became sixteen years old, his tutorship came to an end. Philip, the king, departed to wage war against Byzantium. During Philip's absence, the Thracian revolted against Macedonian rule.

Alexander responded quickly,he stoped the insurgence,and founded a city named Alexandropolis.

After Philip's return from Byzantium, he dispatched Alexander with a small force to some revolts in Thrace. During another campaign Alexander is reported to have saved his father's life. Still occupied in Thrace, Philip ordered Alexander to begin mustering an army for a campaign in Greece.

Philip joined Alexander with his army in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae. They went to occupy the city of Elatea, a few days march from both Athens and Thebes.

Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to try to win Thebes's favour.

Philip marched on Amphismes, captured the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes, and accepted the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea and sent a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, which was rejected.

As Philip marched south, he was blocked near Chaeronea, Boeotia by the forces of Athens and Thebes. During the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip commanded the right, and Alexander the left wing, accompanied by a group of generals. Philip deliberately commanded the troops on his right wing to backstep.On the left, Alexander was the first to break into the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed his enemy. With the rout of the Athenians, the Thebans were left to fight alone; surrounded by the victorious enemy, they were crushed.

After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched into the Peloponnese welcomed by all cities. At Corinth, Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" with the exception of Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon of this league (known by modern historians as the League of Corinth).

After returning to Pella, Philip fell in love and married with Cleopatra Eurydice, the niece of one of his generals, Attalus. This marriage made Alexander's position as heir to the throne less secure, since if Cleopatra Eurydice bore Philip a son.

During the wedding banquet, a drunken Attalus made a speech praying to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir to the Macedonian throne. Alexander shouted to Attalus, "What, am I then a bastard?" and he threw his goblet at him.

Philip, who was also drunk, drew his sword and advanced towards Alexander and say : "See there, the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia".
Alexander went away from Macedon taking his mother with him.

Alexander returned to Macedon after six months. The following year, the Persian governor of Caria, Pixodarus, offered the hand of his eldest daughter to Alexander.

Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian. Philip had four of Alexander's friends, Harpalus, Nearchus, Ptolemy and Erigyius exiled, and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains.

Alexanders Childhood

Alexander was born on the 20 July 356 BC, in Pella ( capital of the Kingdom of Macedon ). He was the son of Philip II, the King of Macedon and his mother was Olympias of Epirus.

According to the ancient Greek historian Plutarch, Olympias, dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunder bolt, causing a flame which spread "far and wide" before dying away. Plutarch offers a variety of interpretations of these dream; that Olympia was pregnant before her marriage, or that Alexander's father was Zeus.

On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing himself for a attack to the city of Potidea ( at the peninsula of Chalkidiki ). Aswell, at that day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had beaten and defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games. And it was also said that on this same day, the Temple of Artemis, in Ephesu ( one of the Seven Wonders of the World ) burnt down.

When Alexander was thirteen years old, Philip decided that Alexander needed a higher education and he began to search for a tutor. Many people were passed

over including Isocrates,but in the end, Philip offered the job to Aristotle, who accepted, and Philip gave them the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as their classroom.

Mieza was the school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy and Cassander. Many of the pupils who learned by Alexander's side would become his friends and future generals, and are often referred to as the 'Companions'. At Mieza, Aristotle educated Alexander and his companions in medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic and art.

From Aristotle's teaching, Alexander developed a passion for the Iliad; Aristotle gave him a copy, which Alexander was to take on his campaigns.