Alexander III, known as the Great (
Macedonian) (356-323 gg. BC), . king of Macedonia, . the son of Philip II of the genus Argeadov, . because the ancestors of
Alexander the paternal line came from Argos, . where the rules once Heracles, . basis of which Argeady taken out of belonging to Heraclides, . princess of Epirus and the Olympics, . daughter of Neoptolemus and his father had the gift of outstanding practice, . leader and organizer, . mother was a woman with unbridled temperament, . strange, . mysterious, . visionary and inspiring others superstitious fear, and
Alexander himself among the people the case is allocated brilliance of imagination, . which led him to life, . and among those romantic dreamers, . what he achieved,
. He was born in Pella in 356 g. BC. The exact date of birth, historians still argue - some believe that
Alexander was born in July (July 22), others suggest that sometime in October. Royal court, where he grew up, was the focus of feverish activity, for Philip through wars and diplomacy has sought to put Macedonia in the Greek chapter of policyholders, and the atmosphere of the royal palace was literally full of plans and ideas. Association of the Greek people in the war against the Persian Empire was a global goal for the ambition of the Greeks, the constant theme of idealist philosophers.
Philip II, father of
Alexander (golden bas-relief)
On the formation of his outlook and character in my childhood was greatly influenced by two men. First, his preceptor Lysimachus,
Alexander instilled a love for Homer and impress on him the idea of the identity of the fate of
Alexander and his ancestors on the maternal side of Achilles. The second man, whom
Alexander called his mentor was Leonid raising a prince in Spartan spirit, and who taught him various military sciences
. Greek achievement in literature, . Philosophy, . V-century history have departed quite a vulgar, . to bear the stamp of classical nobility: hence the sense of Hellenic civilization was made this is a new kind of concrete, . which could lead to an enthusiastic attitude to the system of ideal values, . hallowed tradition,
. And when
Alexander was the fourteenth year, in the years 343-342 BC, in Pella at the invitation of Philip, Aristotle, to lead the formation of his son. We do not know how this could mastermind master passionate spirit of the young
Alexander, in any case,
Alexander through his life carried the hot, passionate love for Homer. But not only from books, he received education. Visit Pellet ambassadors from many countries, Greek and Oriental, gave him additional information about the actual state of the world. His early military training taught. At age 16, he rules in the absence of Philip in Macedonia and suppressed the revolt of the hill tribes on the northern border and in the following (338-meters), he led the charge for "Holy Tape" (select squad of heavily armed soldiers of the city of Thebes) in the Battle of Chaeronea and smashed her,
.
Olympics, the mother of
Alexander (golden bas-relief)
Then came the turn of family strife, which are usually plagued polygamous royal houses of the East. In 337, Philip left the Olympics, he took himself another wife, Cleopatra.
Alexander went with his mother at her home in Epirus. And although he came back, and there was an external reconciliation between father and son, internally between them arose alienation. The new wife became pregnant, her relatives took on more and more weight, threatened law
Alexander as heir to the throne. Negotiations Piksodarom, satrap of Caria, started with the
Macedonian court in order to link both houses by marriage,
Alexander pushed for new quarrels with his father. But:
In 336 g. in Egah in the presence of guests who have come from all over Greece at the wedding feast of his daughter to
Alexander I of Epirus, Philip suddenly killed. It is clear that the hand of assassins sent by someone from the royal entourage, among others, and
Alexander was unable to avoid suspicion, but this kind of wine is hardly consistent with his character as it emerges in those early years of his youth.
Accession to the throne.
Alexander was not the only contender for the vacant throne, but, having received recognition and support of the army, he was soon swept away from its path all his rivals. Put to death a newborn son of Philip and Cleopatra, and a cousin of
Alexander Amyntas, and
Alexander assumed to be interrupted by the works of his father. These acts were on the verge of opening the most brilliant of their glory - the invasion of ownership of the great Persian king. Been collected a powerful army of the united Greek forces, and part of it has gone for the crossing of the Hellespont to Asia Minor coast and capture a bridgehead for further invasion of Persia. The murder of Philip postponed a strike because it immediately deprive the reliability of the main army base, Macedonia, and in such an undertaking, associated with depression in the vast territory of the Persian Empire, the reliability of the rear solved all.
Removal Philip was the reason for all the mountain peoples of the north and west raise their heads, and for the Greek states - get rid of their fears.
. The demonstration of force in Greece, led by the new king of Macedonia, instantly sobered hot heads and the council in Corinth,
Alexander was recognized as chief of the army of the Hellenistic world in the fight against the barbarians, instead of his father Philip
. In the spring of 335, he went from Macedonia to the north, crossed the Balkans and, breaking the hill tribes, put an end to war with them. His army has shown with unprecedented skill and discipline. Then he walked on the earth triballov (Rumelia) to the Danube and brought the tribes into submission. Meet its own attraction to the unusual and wanting to capture the imagination of the world, he crossed to the other side of the Danube (in terms of the then military art, it is incredibly difficult technical problem) and burned the fortified town of Geti. Meanwhile, the Illyrians rose in revolt against the government of Macedonia, and captured the city of Pelias, prevailed over the mountain passes to the west of Macedonia,.
Alexander with his army passed directly through the mountains, defeated the Illyrians and restored the prestige and power of Macedonia in the region. At that time he received the news that the unrest in Greece, and Thebes took up arms. Forced march bringing his entire army under the walls of the city, he found the Thebans surprise. And a few days, the city that a generation ago occupied a dominant position in Greece, was taken. Now there is the part of
Alexander is not followed by any half-measures: the city was destroyed to its foundations, with the exception of churches and homes, where once lived the great Greek poet Pindar. Now I could believe and hope that some time stunned the Greeks did not deliver the anxiety
Macedonian king. Reactivate the Panhellenic (Panhellenic) Union, which is still ignored Sparta against the barbarians. To Athens - although, as we know, the power of Macedonia was not to their soul and they often were behind many of
Alexander's troubles -
Alexander treated with great reverence, always.
The invasion of Asia Minor.
In the spring of 334 g.
Alexander crossed into Asia with the army, composed of
Macedonians, Illyrians, Thracians and contingents of the Greek states - a total of 30000-40000 people. Concentration place of the army became the city of Abydos on the Hellespont.
Alexander himself over, first visited the place where stood the ancient Troy, and there offered sacrifices Athena Ilionskoy, took his shield, which, according to tradition, belonged to Achilles. And left the dead offering great Homeric legends - is eloquent testimony to the, . that in the soul of the young king of all of this establishment is in the poetic brilliance, . that people are subsequently evaluated differently, . in accordance with the, . role they assign the imagination in human affairs,
.
To meet the invader, the great Persian king in Asia Minor there was the army, not much larger than
Alexander's army, assembled under the command of the satraps of the western provinces near the town green. Under their authority was also a detachment of Greek mercenaries - soldiers - professionals, but they were far more serious threat to the army of the
Macedonian king, than the other forces of the Persians. Connection with Macedonia, that is, from its base,
Alexander could be implemented only through a narrow place the Hellespont, and he was moving away from it the risk of being completely cut off from its rear, its reserves. For the Persian commanders would be a reasonable strategy to lure the Greek army behind him into the depths of the country, while avoiding direct confrontation for the time being, as urged by the commander of the Greek mercenary Memnon rodosets. Granik. Code of honor of the Persian nobility, or the rejection of the enemy seriously, did not allow the Persians to adopt this strategy, and
Alexander found them lying in wait for his army on the banks of the river Granicus. This was mainly cavalry battle in which a common code of honor made the
Macedonians and Persians to engage melee, and at the end of the day the remnants of the Persian army fled, leaving open the invader great roads of Asia Minor. Now
Alexander could do the first part belonging to him as commander in chief of the Greeks plan to release the Greek cities of Asia Minor, . Why so long to publicly demanded enthusiasts Panhellenism:
Alexander moved to the old Lydian capital, Sardis, . residence of the Persian governor on this side of Taurus, . and a strong city surrendered without a fight,
. After that, all the Greek cities of Ionia and fell Eolii friendly Persian Government of the oligarchs and tyrants and established democratic order under the supervision of the commanders of detachments of the
Macedonian king. Only where the city defended garrisons, in the service of Persia, and staffed mainly by Greek mercenaries, the Liberator could expect the probability of resistance. In fact, from Ephesus, the garrison fled, only learned of the defeat at Granicus, however, had to besiege Miletus. The Persian fleet tried in vain to remove the siege of the city, and Miletus could not long resist the army storming the
Macedonians. Only at Halicarnassus,
Alexander first met with stubborn resistance, where Memnon to the satrap of Caria collected all ground forces still remaining in Persia in the west. With the onset of winter,
Alexander conquered the city, but two of its fortified citadel long withstand the siege.
Meanwhile, the
Macedonian king made clear that he had come here not just to take revenge on the Persians, not just to lead a punitive war, and to become the king of Persia. In the conquered provinces, he appointed a
Macedonian governors, and Caria restored power to a local dynasty of Princess Ada, who took him as a son. In the winter, while Parmenion, his deputy at the post commander, moved on the central plateau, dominating the province of Phrygia,
Alexander walked along the coast, where he surrendered Lycians and pledged allegiance to the Greek coastal cities of Pamphylia. Mountains in the heart of the continent were the habitat of warlike tribes, which the Persian authorities were never able to subjugate. For their conquests
Alexander did not have time, but he stormed some of their strongholds to keep them under control and went across their territory, and then turned to the north of Pamphylia in the interior of the continent.
In the spring of 333 g. He was the coastal road to Perga, passing the cliffs of the mountains Climax by timely change in the wind. The fall in sea level during this transition, resulting in
Alexander and was able to go this route, was interpreted by flatterers of
Alexander, including the historian Callisthenes as a sign of divine grace. Passing Perge, he came in proud, the Phrygian town, which allowed well-known problem with the Gordian knot, which could be unleashed only in the future ruler of Asia,
Alexander cut it with a sword. Here it came to him the news of the death of Memnon, a talented military commander of the Persians and the commander of the fleet.
Alexander immediately benefited from the news and leaving Gordias, quickly moved on Ankiru, and thence south through Cappadocia and the Cilician Gates. In Cilicia at the time of its delayed fever. Meanwhile, Darius and his huge army approached the eastern side of the mountains Aman. Exploration on both sides made a mistake, and
Alexander had camped when he learned that Darius is on his rear lanes in Issa. Turning immediately to meet Darius,
Alexander found his army stretched along the river Pinar. Here,
Alexander won a decisive victory. The Persians were defeated, Darius fled, leaving his family in the hands of
Alexander.
The conquest of the Mediterranean coast and Egypt.
From Issa,
Alexander marched south into Syria and dates, capturing coastal cities in order to isolate, to deprive the Persian fleet of its bases and then eliminate this serious fighting force. The Phoenician city of Arad Marafie and calmly surrendered, and the forward was sent Parmenion to avoid missing a rich mining in Damascus, where he kept the treasures of Darius, intended for warfare, the so-called war chest. In response to the letter of Darius, where he offered the world and part of Persia,
Alexander replied arrogantly, listing all the past misfortunes of Greece and demanding unconditional surrender to him as lord of Asia. Taking the city of Byblos and Sidon, he was stuck in the island city of Tyrus, which closed its gates in front of him. To get it, he applied the methods of siege afloat, but tiriytsy resisted, having held out for seven months. In the meantime (winter 333/332 g.) Persians have taken a number of counterattacks on the ground in Asia Minor, but were defeated by Antigonus, the military leader
Alexander the Great and the governor of Phrygia. So this the Greeks and the sea, where they regained the number of cities and islands.
While the continued siege of Tyrus, Darius sent a letter to the new proposal: he would pay a huge ransom in quire thousands of talents for his family and cede all their lands to
Alexander to the west of the Euphrates. Say Parmenion said: "I would agree if I were
Alexander". "I would, too, - followed by the famous reply of
Alexander, - whether I Parmenion". Sturm Tire in July, the 332 was the greatest achievement of
Alexander, followed him a great slaughter and sale of the remaining residents, mostly women and children into slavery. Leaving Parmenion in Syria,
Alexander moved to the north, meeting no resistance until he came to Gaza. The city stood on a high hill. Fierce resistance delayed it here for two months, and during the attacks of the enemy, he was seriously wounded in the shoulder.
In November, 332 g. He came to Egypt. The people greeted him as a liberator, and the Persian satrap Mazak chose to surrender. At Memphis
Alexander sacrificed to Apis, the sacred bull of the Egyptians and was crowned the traditional double crown of the pharaohs, as a result of local priests were placated and their religion was supported by the authorities of the
Macedonian king. Winter he spent doing administrative systems of Egypt, appointing provincial governors from the local nobility, but holding, the army troops in towns in constant readiness under the command of the devotees
Macedonians. He founded the city of Alexandria at the mouth of the western branch of the Nile, and sent an expedition to the upper reaches of the river, to ascertain the reasons for a permanent summer flood of the Nile. From Alexandria he went to Paretoniyu, and from there with a small detachment to visit Siutsky oasis, where the famous oracle of the god Amun. The priests of Amun met
Alexander traditional greeting, like Pharaoh, the son of Amun.
Alexander asked the prophet a number of questions about the success of his campaign, but received no response to any one of them. However, still used the visit to great advantage for themselves. Later, this incident contributed to the history that he was recognized as the son of Zeus, and thus its "deification". In the spring of 331, he returned to Tir, appointed governor of Syria, a noble
Macedonian Asklepiodora and prepared to speak into the Persian empire in Mesopotamia. With the conquest of Egypt, its authority throughout the eastern Mediterranean coast is nothing more threatening, she was full.
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Life Story (Part II).
Life Story (Part III).
Ancient Greece Alexander of Macedon.
Famous Greek.
