Invasion of Persia- ready to invade Persia now that Greece was secure, marched with 35,000 men to attack Persia, Persian rushed 40,000
Continues, the victory alarmed the Persian king, Darius the third, response was to raise a huge army from 50.000 to 75,000 meg, Alex knew he was outnumbered so he called for a surprise attack with his best troops, ordered them to go straight to the Persian king, the Persian king fled and so did his army.
After two battles lost, Darius the third was ready to give up land in hopes that Alex would stop his conquest, Macedonian advisors to alexander told him to take the offer Alex refused, Alex’s goal was to conquer all of the Persian empire.
Alex in Egypt- was welcomed into Egypt as a liberator even though Egypt was a Persian territory, crowned pharaoh, he named a city (Alexandria) after himself, very common for him to do.
Alex wanted to kill king darius the third of Persia so he pursued him, pursuit made him a great conqueror but bad at governing the land he conquered, he eventually found him dead, because one of his own men had killed him.
Many thought that once darius was dead alex might stop the conquest, they were wrong, he invaded certain areas of india and successful defeat there as well, only problem was alex struggled with low morale of his army.
Alex’s troops had been fighting for a long time and traveled far, fought 11years, marched 11,000 miles, in bad conditions, deserts and even monsoon rains, alex agreed to go home after being disappointed.
Governor, alex reached Babylon, announced he wants to unite his empire by building new cities, roads, and harbors to conquer Arabia.
What happens after big promises or vows in this time era?
Married a Persian princess, wore a Persian dress and presided over a mass marriage of 80 of his men to Persian women, interesting cultural impact spreading Hellenistic culture, time of death, alex had conquered a vast amount of land, generals fought over who got the power of the empire
Generals- the three generals of alexander got control of his conquered land, Antigonus-became king of Macedonia and took control of the greek city states. Ptolemy- seized Egypt, took the title of pharaoh, and began a dynasty. Seleucid- got control over the old Persian Empire, didn’t take the democratic approach with him, the rulers had all the power.
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? Write a paragraph.
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