Invasion of Persia
- Alexander was now ready to invade Persia now that Greece was secure
- alexander marched with 35,000 men to attack Persia
- Persian rushed 40,000 men to meet Alexander at Anatolia
- Alex decide to attack first and with his cavalry, very effective and defeated the Persians
- that victory alarmed the Persian King Darius III
- his response was to raise a huge army ranging between 50,000 and 75,000 men
- alex knew he was outnumbered so he called for a surprise attack with his best troops and ordered them to go straight for the Persian king
- The Persian king fled and so did his army
Peace?
- after two major battles lost, Darius III was ready to give up so land in hopes that Alexander would stop his conquest
- The Macedonian advisors told Alexander to take the offer, but he refused
- his goal was to conquer all of the Persian empire
In Egypt
- Alexander was welcomed into Egypt as a liberator even though Egypt was a Persian territory
- was even crowned a pharaoh
- named a city, Alexandria after himself, very common for him to do
Conquest
- Alex still wanted to kill King Darius III of Persia so he pursued hum
- this pursuit made him a great conqueror but bad at governing the land he conquered
- he eventually found king Darius dead, one of his own men had killed him
- many thought that once Darius was dead, Alexander might stop the conquest, they were wrong
- he invaded certain areas of India and successfully defeated them there as well
- only problem alex struggled with was the low morale of his army
low morale
- Alexanders troops had been fighting for a very long time and traveled very far
- had fought for 11 years
- had marched 11,000 miles
- in bad conditions, deserts and even monsoon rains
- very disapointed, alexander agreed to return home
Governor
- when alex had reached Babylon, he anounces that he wants to unite hus empire by building new cities, roads, harbors, and conquer Arabia
- what happens after big promises in this era?
- he became seriously ill with a fever and died at the age of 32
Legacy
- married a persian princess
- he even wore a persian dress and presided over a mass marriage of 80 of his men to persian women
- very interesting cultural impact-spreading hellenistic culture
- at the time of his death, Alwx had conquered a vast amount of land
Generals
- Eventually these 3 generals got control of his land
- Antigonus became King of Macedonia and took control of the Greek city-states
- Ptolemy siezed Egypt, took the title of Pharaoh, and began a dynasty
- Seleucid got control over the old Persian Empire. He didnt take the democratic approach with him, the rulers had all the power and not the people
What is your overall opinion of Alexander the Great? was he really that special or just a barbaric person who allowed greed to get the best of him?
I thought Alexander was a great guy. I think he was pretty special because he used his knowledge in battle and while he was conquering other city-states. He knew alot, and he wasnt that barbaric, because he knew when enough was enough. He knew his army wouldnt fight for him if he didnt treat them right, so he turned around and went back home. He allowed greed to get the best of him only when he was hunting down Darius the Great because he would destroy everything and rebuild nothing. He was an important leader.
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