Profiles in History: Alexander the Great

Well guys, it's been a relaxing, blog free two weeks, but it's that time again. Time to break out the old internet and pray you can think of a topic or two and write a few paragraphs before the week is out. I don't know about anyone else, but due to the lack of comments with suggestions/corrections, I am going to go ahead and assume that I am doing things right. So, down to business.

Alexander the Great was a Macedonian King that went on to conquer everything to the east of Greece until his own men grew tired of war and turned back at the Indus River. He brought Greek thinking to empires thousands of miles away, to millions of people in Asia. His conquests began the process of globalization, bringing many isolated cities, kingdoms, and empires into contact through the trail of destruction and victory behind him.

Alexander was born in 356 BCE, the son of Philip, the Macedonian King who had developed the country of Macedon, controlled an efficient, and after the pacification of Greece, experienced military. Alexander studied under one of the greatest minds of his time, Aristotle, a philosopher who taught Alexander about science and philosophy. At the age of sixteen, Alexander got his first taste of kingship, when he ruled Macedonia as a regent while his father conquered Greece. This is pretty impressive, considering how when I was sixteen, I was still learning to drive. At the age of twenty in 336 BCE, his father was assassinated and Alexander rose to the throne and began a rule that would soon extend across much of Asia.

Even at the beginning, Alexander the Great's rule was a bit rough. Many of the states that his father worked hard to bring under Macedonian rule did not feel that they owed this boy any allegiance. Alexander had to go back and reconquer many cities and crush numerous rebellions and by 335 BCE, having secured his borders, he marched out to destroy the Persian Empire for trying to do the same thing to Greece years ago.
Alexander's army began at 42,000 men and went on into the heart of Persia with amazing speed. Alexander conquered several Persian treasuries, coastal cities to deny the Persians Naval superiority, and to top it all off, routed the Persian army, led by Darius the Third, the Persian King. During the retreat, Alexander the Great captured Darius's personal treasury and his family. Alexander went on to capture almost every Persian city and fortress, leaving death and new cities behind him. He was not a very forgiving man, there's actually a pretty brutal story about one of Alexander's battles. After the siege of Tyre, Alexander had all men of military age crucified and had everyone else sold into slavery. Again, not exactly a good Samaritan. At the Battle of Aguala, Darius was routed again, but this time, Darius could not get away. One of Darius's regional chieftans captured and killed the Persian King in hopes of getting on Alexander's good side. Instead, Alexander got angry and executed him. With no more Persia to conquer, he felt it was time to go on. He believed in his destiny to rule and pushed on into Egypt, Assyria, Syria and Babylon.

At the banks of the Indus River, Alexander's own men refused to advance any further. After a decade of war, they could not stomach another battle. Without an army, Alexander realized his dream of World domination was over. On the way home, Alexander put many of the conquered regions in order and executed those who did not govern properly.

In 323 BCE, Alexander the Great became extremely ill in Babylon. As he lay on his deathbed, his soldiers demanded to see him and they did. They walked slowly by his bed and he could only wave with his hand, as it hurt him to speak. This is a great example of the loyalty his men felt towards Alexander. As he lay dying, his generals asked him who would inherit his Kingdom. It is reported that Alexander told them, "The strongest." By June, 323 BCE, Alexander died and the massive Empire he built in twelve years splintered into rival factions, all because of Alexander's last words.