He was the son of the king of Macedonia, a small state in the north of Greece. Having lived only 32 years, he managed to conquer almost the entire civilized world and change the course of world history. No wonder he is called "Alexander the Great".
Childhood, education and personality formation
Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in the city of Pella. According to legend, it was on the night of the birth of the greatest king in history that Herostratus, an ordinary inhabitant of the city of Ephesus, out of a desire to become famous, burned down the temple of Artemis of Ephesus, which was considered the 7th wonder of the world. The coincidence of these two events found the following explanation: "Artemis could not protect her temple, because she was busy with the birth of Alexander."
His father was the Macedonian king Philip II. Alexander's mother - Olympias - was the daughter of the king of Epiria, that is, a foreigner in Macedonia. The boy did not like his father because he offended his mother, but at the same time he tried to be like him - strong and courageous. From childhood, Alexander was brought up, as was then customary, in the Spartan spirit. As a result, Alexander grew up indifferent to pleasures, but stubborn and purposeful.
The famous thinker Aristotle was engaged in the education of Alexander. He instilled in the young prince the idea of greatness and developed a sharpness of mind in him. The historian and philosopher Plutarch wrote: “Philip saw that Alexander is naturally stubborn, and when he gets angry, he does not yield to any violence, but with a reasonable word he can easily be persuaded to make the right decision; so my father tried to persuade rather than order."
At the age of 16, Alexander was first entrusted with ruling the country. The father left to fight and left his son in his place. At this time, a rebellion broke out in Macedonia, which the young Alexander brutally suppressed.
Accession to the throne
Three years later, Philip II married for the fifth time, which spurred family discord. The relatives of Philip's new wife hoped to challenge Alexander's rights to the throne. The king's young wife was going to give birth to his son, but this never happened. A year after his marriage, Philip was killed by his bodyguard. There were speculations about the involvement of Alexander and his mother in the death of the king, but it is officially recognized that the motive for the murder was the personal revenge of the bodyguard. So Alexander became king. As an inheritance from his father, he inherited a strong army and claims to dominance in fragmented Greece.
The young king began his reign by executing all relatives who represented at least a potential threat to his place on the throne. His next step was the abolition of taxes for Macedonian citizens. Thus, he attracted the population to his side, but the treasury was empty.
Through the efforts of Philip, most of Greece became dependent on Macedonia. But the rulers of other cities used the death of Philip to declare their independence. Alexander did not hesitate and moved south. With the support of the army left to him by his father, he quickly achieved recognition of his hegemonic rights. After that, Alexander convened a congress of the Panhellenic League and achieved a decision to start a war against Persia, while becoming the supreme commander of all Greek forces.
The beginning of the 10th anniversary of the wars
Less than two years later, at the head of a relatively small army, consisting mainly of Macedonians, Alexander went on a campaign against Persia. In several battles, the well-trained and disciplined Greek army defeated the vastly outnumbered Persian forces. In 333 BC, a year after the start of the campaign, the main army of Persia, led by King Darius III, opposed Alexander. In the battle near the city of Issa, the Persian army was utterly defeated. Darius himself fled, his example was followed by many of the generals of the Persians.
Before the Macedonian king, the prospect of conquering distant eastern lands was opened, but this was hampered by the risk of resistance in the rear - on the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the lands subject to Persia. Alexander turned his army south towards Egypt. On the way, he had to delay for several months to capture two Persian cities. After a long siege, Tire and Gaza were taken, and their inhabitants were brutally killed. Alexander was now able to enter Egypt, which welcomed him as a liberator from Persia.
In 331 BC. e. Alexander's army returned to the east, where they met with a huge Persian army, gathered by Darius, who was defeated two years ago. The Persian camp was illuminated by thousands of lights, giving the impression that it was endless. The commanders of Alexander's army suggested starting the battle immediately, without waiting for the Greco-Macedonian soldiers to lose their resolve and begin to give in to the large number of the enemy. Alexander replied to this: "I do not know how to steal a victory!"
In the battle of Gaugamela that began in the morning, Alexander defeated the army of the Persians. Darius fled again, but was killed by his own entourage, and his body was delivered to Alexander. The Macedonian king ordered the burial of Darius with all the honors and executed the Persian dignitaries who had betrayed him.
King of asia
Having conquered Persia - the most powerful state in Asia - Alexander declared himself the successor of the deceased Darius. He left the Persian nobles in key positions, and surrounded himself with luxury corresponding to the status of the king of Asia. Thus, he ensured for himself the veneration and subordination of the conquered peoples, but, at the same time, this alienated him from his comrades-in-arms in his army. Alexander suppressed any disturbances in his army, up to the fact that he more than once executed for the manifestations of discontent of his former confidants, For example, he ordered the execution of Klyt, the brother of his nurse, who saved Alexander's life in one of the early battles.
The need to extinguish the growing discontent in the army spurred Alexander to advance on a new campaign on the path to world domination, which he had dreamed of since his youth. In 327 BC. e. The 120,000-strong army, which included units from the inhabitants of the conquered countries trained according to Macedonian standards, advanced to India. After a series of heavy and bloody battles, the army of Alexander the Great reached the Indus River. In July 326 BC. e. at a tributary of the Indus, the Hydasp River, a decisive battle took place, in which the king of India, Por, was defeated. The Indian king fought to the last and was captured after being wounded. When the captive king of India was brought to Alexander, he turned to him and asked how Por wants to be treated? Por replied: "Royally." Alexander not only fulfilled this request, but left Time to reign in conquered India and even added to his possessions more lands from among those captured by Alexander himself.
Alexander conquered all the civilized world he knew, but the administration of such a territory required his presence. He decided to return to Persia. There he took up the arrangement of his huge state. Over 10 years of military campaigns, many problems have accumulated that need to be resolved.
A year later, in the summer of 323 BC, Alexander fell ill and after 10 days of fever died in Babylon.
Contribution of Alexander the Great to world history
Alexander the Great lived only 32 years, of which he reigned for 12 years. Of these, he fought for 10 years. During the war, Alexander conquered territory from Egypt to India. In the conquered lands, he left the existing customs and way of life, but the spread of Greek culture throughout the world, nevertheless, was inevitable. It is difficult to overestimate the contribution of Alexander the Great to the development of world history. His biography and the legends that formed about him both during his lifetime and over the next millennia became the inspiration for the work of a huge number of researchers and creators of works of art.
Personality traits and personal life
In his personal life, Alexander has changed a lot during the years of the wars. Ascetic in his youth, as he conquered new and new lands, Alexander surrounded himself with more and more luxury and became despotic. He brought back the long-forgotten tradition of minting the profiles of the reigning ruler on coins. Since his reign, this tradition has been observed in many countries to this day.
After conquering Egypt, Alexander declared himself godlike. Subsequently, he demanded that the Greeks consider themselves similar to the gods. In most Greek cities, this requirement was considered legal. Only the inhabitants of Sparta did not want to recognize the divine nature of Alexander. However, they finally decided: "If he wants to be God, then let it be!"
Alexander had three wives: Roxana, princess of Bactria, Statira, daughter of Darius III, and Parysatida, daughter of the Persian king Artaxerxes III. Roxana gave birth to her husband a son, who was also named Alexander. Another son - Hercules - was born to Alexander the Great by his mistress, the Persian Barsina.
