What is the significance of the career of alexander the great

He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire. Against overwhelming odds, he led his army to victories across the Persian territories of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat. The young king of Macedonia, leader of the Greeks, overlord of Asia Minor and pharaoh of Egypt became 'great king' of Persia at the age of Over the next eight years, in his capacity as king, commander, politician, scholar and explorer, Alexander led his army a further 11, miles, founding over 70 cities and creating an empire that stretched across three continents and covered around two million square miles.

These aspirations would lead to some of the most important decisions and events in history. Not only should he be remembered for his conquests, but he should also be known for his promotion of cultural exchange, the great changes to geopolitics that he triggered, and the example that he set for future great men. All of these are reasons that Alexander truly deserves to be known as the Great. Image 1. Image 2. Image 3.

In Uncategorized. Very fascinating topic. I had no idea that Alexander began his career at such a young age, nor that he had such a large effect on so many people and places. What surprised me most was your discussion of cultural exchange.

I would have expected to see Alexander force his own culture upon the conquered, but he only does this subtly, instead preferring to combine the two.

For me, this has very real implications for the modern world, so perhaps in future articles you can connect history to the present in some way I realize this is not always feasible depending on the specific subject. Great post! I find the idea of ancient to medieval warfare and conquest to be an absolutely fascinating topic. For just one person to accomplish so much as Alexander the Great is absolutely remarkable and definitely defines a strong precedence challenged by few such as Julius Cesar with his conquests throughout present day Europe with the most notable feats being the consolidation of Gaul and his crossing of the Rubicon.

One event took place at Hydaspes which devastated Alexander: the death of his beloved horse, Bucephalus. Alexander wanted to press on and attempt to conquer all of India, but his war-weary soldiers refused, and his officers convinced him to return to Persia. So Alexander led his troops down the Indus River and was severely wounded during a battle with the Malli. After recovering, he divided his troops, sending half of them back to Persia and half to Gedrosia, a desolate area west of the Indus River.

In early B. Wanting to unite the Persians and Macedonians and create a new race loyal only to him, he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at a mass wedding. He also took two more wives for himself. But after Alexander took a firm stand and replaced Macedonian officers and troops with Persians, his army backed down.

To further diffuse the situation, Alexander returned their titles and hosted a huge reconciliation banquet. By B. Thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, he started plans to conquer Arabia.

After surviving battle after fierce battle, Alexander the Great died in June B. Some historians say Alexander died of malaria or other natural causes; others believe he was poisoned. Either way, he never named a successor. Now We May Know Why. Many conquered lands retained the Greek influence Alexander introduced, and several cities he founded remain important cultural centers even today. The period of history from his death to 31 B. Alexander the Great. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Alexander the Great of Macedon Biography.

Alexander of Macedonia. San Jose State University. The Battle of Issus. Fordham University. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!

Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. For more than two centuries, the Achaemenid Empire of Persia ruled the Mediterranean world. With the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt under his control, , Alexander successfully deprived the Persians of naval bases and was free to move inland to conquer the eastern half of the Persian Empire.

At the Battle of Gaugamela, fought in B. Darius brought soldiers from all over his empire, and even beyond. The battle soon became a war of nerves. From that point on the Persian army started to collapse and the Persian king fled, with Alexander in hot pursuit. Darius was later betrayed by one of his satraps, or regional governors, named Bessus who then claimed kingship over what was left of Persia , and was killed by his own troops in B.

He needed to have the appearance of legitimacy to appease the people, so Alexander provided a noble burial for Darius. Alexander was influenced by the teachings of his tutor, Aristotle, whose philosophy of Greek ethos did not require forcing Greek culture on the colonized. In this way, he would gain their loyalty by honoring their culture, even after the conquest was complete, creating security and stability.

Alexander himself even adopted Persian dress and certain Persian customs," Abernethy said. Wishing to incorporate the most easterly portions of the Persian Empire into his own, Alexander campaigned in central Asia from and B. It was a rocky, frost-bitten conflict, which raised tensions within his own army, and led to Alexander killing two of his closest friends. At some point during Alexander's campaign in central Asia, Parmenio's son, Philotas, allegedly failed to report a plot against Alexander's life.

The king, incensed, decided to kill not only Philotas and the other men deemed conspirators, but also Parmenio, even though he apparently had nothing to do with the alleged plot. According to the first-century A. When Parmenio was reading the letter from his son, a general named Cleander, who aided Polydamas with his mission, "opened him Parmenio up with a sword thrust to his side, then struck him a second blow in the throat…" killing him, Quintus Curtius wrote.

A second casualty of Alexander's fury was his friend Cleitus, who was angry at Alexander for adopting Persian dress and customs. After an episode where the two were drinking, Cleitus scolded the king, telling him, in essence, that he should follow Macedonian ways, not Persian customs.

Cleitus lifted up his right hand and said, "this is the hand, Alexander, that saved you then at the Battle of Granicus ," according to Arrian. Alexander, infuriated, killed him with a spear or pike. Alexander took his act of murder terribly. Alexander's days in central Asia were not all unhappy. After his troops had captured a fortress at a place called Sogdian Rock in modern-day Uzbekistan in B.

Plutarch explained in " The Life of Alexander the Great " that he made an alliance with a local ruler named Taxiles, who agreed to allow Alexander to use his city, Taxila, as a base of operations. He also agreed to give Alexander all the supplies he needed — which was very useful given Alexander's long supply lines.

In exchange, Alexander agreed to fight Porus, a local ruler who set out against Alexander with an army that reportedly included elephants. The two armies met at the Hydaspes River in B.