Macedonian King, Alexander the Great was born in 356-323 B. C. He was born to King Philip II and his fourth wife Queen Olympia in Pella. In addition, many divine things happened on the night of Alexander’s birth. For instance, the fire and many philosophers thinks s destroyed temple of Diana in the Athens that Goddess of the hunt, moon and birth was very supervising Alexander’s birth.
At the time of Alexander’s birth, two eagles landed on the roof of his palace which symbolized Alexander as the ruler of the world. Evelyn). In his early life, Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle who is known as the greatest philosophers in history. In his early age, Alexander The Great was involved in many battles and high command position. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and defeated the Mediterrean. He also captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. At eighteen years in 338 BC, Philip gave Alexander a commanding post among the senior generals as the Macedonian army invaded Greece.
At the Battle of Chaeronea, Alexander The Great defeated Greeks and showed his bravery by the elite Greek force, the Theban Secret Band (Garraty). Alexander also destroyed or captured every building in Thebes and 30,000 people became slaves. However, Alexander’s father was assassinated by his bodyguard in 336 B. C. After death of his father, Alexander becomes ruler of Macodoian at the age of twenty years old. First, Alexander gathered support of Macodian army and killed his enemies to take his father territory and to become the leader of the Corinthen League.
Also, Alexander’s mother Olympia further ensured her son’s claim to the throne by torturing the daughter of King Philip II and by forcing Cleopatra herself to suicide. In 334 B. C, Alexander fought battle of Granicus River against Darius III of Persia. Even though, Darius III outnumbered his army due to his better military skills he won the battle. After the Granicus, Alexander saw himself as the liberator of the Greek cities of Asia. (Warry 27). After Alexander’s victory on the Granicus, Alexander marched southwards and captured those Greek cities which were stopping him including Halicarnassus.
Furthermore, Alexander was very smart because, he accepted the offer of Ada and established her as queen of all Caria and Halicarnassus to sustain his power. In 333 B. C, he fought against Darius in the Battle of Issus and defeated him in that battle and forced him to flee. Alexander keeps expanding his region based on his welltrained army and their support. In 332 B. C, he wins siege of Tyre and attacks Gaza and shows his dominance to other kings. By 331 B. C, Alexander found new city called Alexandria and won battle of Gaugamela against Darius.
As a result, Alexander’s claim to be king of Persia was sealed with blood and iron (Robertso). In between, there was tension growing in his empire, Cletius was military commander and saved Alexander’s life in battle of Gaugamela started talking inappropriate about Alexander’s family in drunk condition. Due to Claudius’s bad comment on Alexander’s mother, Alexander killed Cletius and felt regret afterwards. (Robert 86). After Alexander’s capture in 327 B. C. of Sogdian Rock, a teenager daughter names Roxanne came there and he fell in love at first sight. Afterwards, Alexander and Roxanne had a traditional wedding.
Furthermore, having conquered Persia heartland, Alexander goes eastward and fought for seven years. He kept expanding his region by not only pushing his army eastern parts of India but also in India which was controlled by Persians since fifth century B. C. (Roberts). Furthermore, Alexander won against King of Prussia in 326 B. C. However, Alexander’s army suffered heavy causalities while fighting Elephants therefore, Alexander had to turn back. The enemy’s army was so strong that it was nearly 3 times a strong as with Alexander’s with Elephant force which made it nearly impossible to beat ( Kurke, Lance B 11).
In 325 B. C He also began training an army of thirty thousands Persians and dismissed a large numbers of Macedonian troops. (Roberts 86). He also forced his commanders his commander to marry to Persians women which badly impacted his empire. Despite his turn back, he had plenty of achievements. One of his greatest achievements was when he penetrated into western Asia and led a large army into Asia Minor to carry out his father’s plan for conquering Persia. Even though, he was sometimes outnumbered by his enemy, he still won battle due to his good decision and strategy.
Alexander founded a lot of great lasting cities such as Alexandria in Egypt. He established Alexandria as the center of learning and commerce. Alexander also expanded his region ranging from Mediterranean to Northern India.. However, there were some changes happened in Alexander’s life. For example, After Alexander traveled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possible lover, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. His death devastated Alexander, and he ordered the preparation of an expensive funeral pyre in Babylon, as well as a decree for public mourning.
Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia, but he would not have a chance to realize them. In 327, Alexander the Great died at Babylon in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. His death has remained mysteries of the accent world. Some says that he gotten sick after drinking too much wine. Most likely, he died due to malaria during his stay at Babylon. As a result of his mysterious death, Alexander The Great leaved his legacy behind including his battles, horse and cities that named based on his name.
Alexander the Great’s death is still a mystery to the world. Scientist believes that this great king died in early June of 323 BC. Which makes it difficult to go back and find the exact cause of his death. The proposed cause is that Alexander died from being an alcoholic causing him to have liver disease and strychnine poisoning. This is just a theory but in 1998 according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine Alexander must have died from malaria, which caused him to get typhoid fever. Which was very common in ancient Babylon.
These are some controversy of Alexander’s death. Alexander the Great has been famous for centuries and use widely known for greatness in wars. People in the 21st century still use alexander’s military strategies to help make countries army stronger and better. Alexander has motivated people across roman that they built as statue of him in remembrance. His status is located in Thessaloniki, in Nea Paralia, Macedonia right by the sea where Alexander the Great is sitting on a horse with a sword (Life and Accomplishments of Alexander 3rd).
The Monument is about twenty feet tall and interesting (Life and Accomplishments of Alexander 3rd ). It’s a beautiful place to visit and idea place for a person like me who is always interested in ancient history. Based on historic information Alexander the Great was heroic commander who lead his strong army to victory. His achievements lead to his greatest name ” Alexander the Great” in todays society people still know him due to his sympathy for his country. He has made many scarifies for his country which put him on top of the world for famous kings across the world.
