Alexander the Great

Early life Lineage and childhood Archaeological site of Pella , Greece , Alexander's birthplace Alexander III was born in Pella , the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon , [ 1 ] on the sixth day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion , which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain). [ 2 ] [ 3 ] He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II of the Argead dynasty and his fourth wife, Olympias , daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus . [ 4 ] [h] Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander. [ 5 ] Roman medallion depicting Olympias , Alexander's mother Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. [ 6 ] According to the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch , on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image. [ 7 ] Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus . Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious. [ 7 ] Despite this, Alexander could claim, by way of his father Phillip II, descendance from Temenus , a descendant of Heracles (thereby also making him a very distant relation to the hero Perseus ), and descendance by way of his mother's family, the Aeacidae , to Neoptolemus , son of the warrior Achilles . On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice . That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games . It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the World , burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander. [ 8 ] Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception. [ 6 ] In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike , sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black . Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas , a relative of his mother, and by Lysimachus of Acarnania . [ 9 ] Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre , ride, fight, and hunt. [ 10 ] When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents . The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting the horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed. [ 6 ] Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him. [ 11 ] Alexander named it Bucephalas , [ 11 ] [ 12 ] meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as modern day India . When Bucephalas died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala . [ 12 ] Education When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor , and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus , the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the Academy to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira , which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile. [ 13 ] Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy , Hephaestion , and Cassander . Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer , and in particular the Iliad ; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. [ 14 ] Alexander was able to quote Euripides from memory. [ 15 ] In his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed Artaxerxes III . [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Among them were Artabazos II and his daughter Barsine , possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as Amminapes , future satrap of Alexander, and a Persian nobleman named Sisines. [ 16 ] [ 19 ] [ 20 ] [ 21 ] This gave the Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state. [ 19 ] Suda writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns. [ 22 ] ^ Green, Peter (1970). Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C.: a historical biography . Hellenistic culture and society (illustrated, revised reprint ed.). University of California Press. p. xxxiii. ISBN   978-0-520-07165-0 . Retrieved 20 June 2015 . 356 – Alexander born in Pella. The exact date is not known, but probably either 20 or 26 July. ^ Plutarch, Life of Alexander 3.5: "The birth of Alexander the Great" . Livius . Archived from the original on 20 March 2015 . Retrieved 16 December 2011 . Alexander was born the sixth of Hekatombaion . ^ David George Hogarth (1897). Philip and Alexander of Macedon: two essays in biography . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp.  286– 287 . Retrieved 9 November 2021 . ^ McCarty 2004 , p. 10, Renault 2001 , p. 28, Durant 1966 , p. 538 ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010 , p. 171. ^ a b c Roisman & Worthington 2010 , p. 188. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PA2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ). ^ Renault 2001 , p. 28, Bose 2003 , p. 21 ^ Renault 2001 , pp. 33–34. ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010 , p. 186. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PA6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page ). ^ a b Durant 1966 , p. 538, Lane Fox 1980 , p. 64, Renault 2001 , p. 39 ^ Lane Fox 1980 , pp. 65–66, Renault 2001 , p. 44, McCarty 2004 , p. 15 ^ Lane Fox 1980 , pp. 65–66, Renault 2001 , pp. 45–47, McCarty 2004 , p. 16 ^ Lane Fox, Robin (1986). Alexander the Great . Penguin Group. p. 48. ISBN   978-0-14-008878-6 . ^ a b Cawthorne 2004 , pp.  42–43 . ^ Howe, Timothy; Brice, Lee L. (2015). Brill's Companion to Insurgency and Terrorism in the Ancient Mediterranean . Brill. p. 170. ISBN   978-90-04-28473-9 . ^ Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly (2000). Women and Monarchy in Macedonia . University of Oklahoma Press. p. 101. ISBN   978-0-8061-3212-9 . ^ a b Morgan, Janett (2016). Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia Through the Looking Glass . Edinburgh University Press. pp.  271– 272. ISBN   978-0-7486-4724-8 . ^ Briant, Pierre (2012). Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction . Princeton University Press. p. 114. ISBN   978-0-691-15445-9 . ^ Jensen, Erik (2018). Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World . Hackett Publishing. p. 92. ISBN   978-1-62466-714-5 . ^ "SOL Search" . cs.uky.edu . Archived from the original on 9 August 2020 . Retrieved 24 August 2019 .

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Conquest of the Persian Empire Main articles: Wars of Alexander the Great and Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia Strategy Main article: Military tactics of Alexander the Great § Grand strategy Alexander's invasion of Persia as a whole has been denoted as a supreme example of a "strategic line" of conducting war, a line formed by "the chain of logic that connects operations into a single whole." In his book Strategy , Soviet military officer and theorist Alexander Svechin delineates Alexander's strategic steps. After securing his Greek base and the Balkans by subjugating his political opponents, and securing his army's rear through the conquest of all the Afro-Asian coastline, where the Persian fleet was based and from which it was supplied, Alexander moved to confront directly the Persians. He thus resolved the eternal problem of an army conducting operations deep into enemy territory, Svechin states, in an "exemplary manner." [ 1 ] Asia Minor Further information: Battle of the Granicus , Siege of Halicarnassus , and Siege of Miletus Map of Alexander's empire and his route 900km 559miles 15 Babylon 14 Malavas 13 Hydaspes 12 Cophen 11 Cyropolis 10 Persian Gate 9 Uxians 8 Gaugamela 7 Alexandria 6 Gaza 5 Tyre 4 Issus 3 Miletus 2 Granicus 1 Pella     After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) , Philip II began the work of establishing himself as hēgemṓn ( Greek : ἡγεμών ) of a league which according to Diodorus was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in 480 and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent Parmenion , Amyntas , Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia to make preparations for an invasion. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near Magnesia by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary Memnon of Rhodes . [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000 [ 4 ] drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace , Paionia , and Illyria . [ 5 ] [j] He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy. [ 4 ] After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus , Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis ; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. Miletus , held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at Halicarnassus , in Caria , Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale siege , eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates , to withdraw by sea. [ 6 ] Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, Ada , who adopted Alexander. [ 7 ] Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot by Jean-Simon Berthélemy (1767) From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards, the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At Termessos , Alexander humbled and did not storm the Pisidian city. [ 8 ] At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium , Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot , a feat said to await the future "king of Asia ". [ 9 ] According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword. [ 10 ] The Levant and Syria Further information: Battle of Issus and Siege of Tyre (332 BC) In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed the Taurus into Cilicia . After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus . Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis , and a fabulous treasure. [ 11 ] He offered a peace treaty that included the lands he had lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. [ 12 ] Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria , and most of the coast of the Levant . [ 7 ] In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre , which he captured after a long and difficult siege . [ 13 ] [ 14 ] The men of military age were massacred and the women and children sold into slavery . [ 15 ] Egypt Further information: Siege of Gaza (332 BCE) Name of Alexander in Egyptian hieroglyphs (written from right to left), c.  332 BC , Egypt. Louvre Museum . When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at Gaza . The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all the more to make the attempt". [ 16 ] After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword, and the women and children were sold into slavery. [ 17 ] Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator. [ 18 ] To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult the famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert, [ 19 ] at which he was pronounced the son of the deity Amun . [ 20 ] Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with horns , using the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity. [ 21 ] The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as a prophecy. [ 19 ] Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign. [ 19 ] Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed the taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians. [ 19 ] During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria , which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. [ 22 ] Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander. [ 23 ] Assyria and Babylonia Further information: Battle of Gaugamela Entry of Alexander into Babylon by Charles Le Brun (1665) Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Achaemenid Assyria in Upper Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq ) and defeated Darius again at the Battle of Gaugamela . [ 24 ] Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela . Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two. [ 25 ] Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamadan ) while Alexander captured Babylon . [ 26 ] Babylonian astronomical diaries say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering the city: "I shall not enter your houses". [ 27 ] Persia Further information: Battle of the Persian Gate Site of the Persian Gate in modern-day Iran ; the road was built in the 1990s. From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa , one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury. [ 26 ] He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road . Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains ) which had been blocked by a Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury. [ 28 ] On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days. [ 29 ] Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. [ 30 ] During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes I and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War by Xerxes; [ 31 ] Plutarch and Diodorus allege that Alexander's companion, the hetaera Thaïs , instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision. [ 32 ] [ 33 ] [ 34 ] Plutarch claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires [ 32 ] but the flames had already spread to most of the city. [ 32 ] Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning. [ 32 ] Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person: Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects? [ 35 ] Fall of the Persian Empire and the East Administrative document from Bactria dated to the seventh year of Alexander's reign (324 BC), bearing the first known use of the "Alexandros" form of his name, Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents [ 36 ] Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia. [ 37 ] The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. [ 38 ] As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. [ 39 ] Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. [ 40 ] He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne. [ 41 ] The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius. [ 42 ] However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the Iranologist Pierre Briant "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the last of the Achaemenids ." [ 43 ] Alexander viewed Bessus as an usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan . The campaign took Alexander through a number of satrapies in present-day Afghanistan and Central Asia, including Media , Parthia , Aria , Drangiana , Arachosia , Bactria , and Scythia . [ 44 ] In 329 BC, Spitamenes , who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy , one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed. [ 45 ] However, at some point later when Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in the Battle of Gabai. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace. [ 46 ] Problems and plots The Killing of Cleitus , by André Castaigne (1898–1899) During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of proskynesis , either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors. [ 47 ] This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes. [ 43 ] The Greeks however regarded the gesture of proskynesis as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it. [ 48 ] During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government, the army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for Iranians and to a major degree, Persian noblemen. [ 43 ] The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family. [ 43 ] This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time. [ 43 ] Pierre Briant explains that Alexander realized that it was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians. [ 43 ] As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly the theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants". [ 43 ] Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne". [ 43 ] However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at Persepolis in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius's legitimate successor. [ 43 ] Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as the avenger of Darius III". [ 43 ] A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, Philotas , was executed for failing to alert Alexander. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus Parmenion , who had been charged with guarding the treasury at Ecbatana , was assassinated at Alexander's command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, Cleitus the Black , during a violent drunken altercation at Maracanda (modern day Samarkand in Uzbekistan ), in which Cleitus accused Alexander of several judgmental mistakes and especially of having forgotten the Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle. [ 49 ] Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed. This one was instigated by his own royal pages . His official historian, Callisthenes of Olynthus , was implicated in the plot, and in the Anabasis of Alexander , Arrian states that Callisthenes and the pages were then tortured on the rack as punishment, and likely died soon after. [ 50 ] It remains unclear if Callisthenes was actually involved in the plot, for prior to his accusation he had fallen out of favour by leading the opposition to the attempt to introduce proskynesis. [ 51 ] Macedon in Alexander's absence When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general Antipater , an experienced military and political leader, and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon. [ 52 ] Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his absence. [ 52 ] The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the battle of Megalopolis . [ 52 ] Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them. [ 53 ] There was also considerable friction between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the other. [ 54 ] In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during Alexander's campaign in Asia. [ 55 ] Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire. [ 56 ] However, Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians throughout his empire depleted Macedon's strength, greatly weakening it in the years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome after the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC). [ 57 ] Coinage Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great struck by Balakros or his successor Menes , both former somatophylakes (bodyguards) of Alexander, when they held the position of satrap of Cilicia in the lifetime of Alexander, c.  333–327 BC . The obverse shows Heracles , ancestor of the Macedonian royal line and the reverse shows a seated Zeus Aëtophoros. [ 58 ] The conquest by Philip II of Pangaeum , and then of the island of Thasos between 356 and 342 BC brought rich gold and silver mines under Macedonian control. [ 59 ] Alexander appears to have introduced a new coinage in Cilicia in Tarsus , after the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, which went on to become the main coinage of the empire. [ 60 ] Alexander minted gold staters , silver tetradrachms and drachims , and various fractional bronze coins . The types of these coins remained constant in his empire. The gold series had the head of Athena on the obverse and a winged Nike ( Victory ) on the reverse. [ 61 ] The silver coinage had a beardless head of Heracles wearing a lionskin headdress on the obverse and Zeus aetophoros ('eagle bearer') enthroned with a scepter in his left hand, on the reverse. [ 62 ] There are both Greek and non-Greek aspects to this design. Heracles and Zeus were important deities for the Macedonians, with Heracles considered to be the ancestor of the Temenid dynasty and Zeus the patron of the main Macedonian sanctuary, Dium . [ 60 ] The lion was also the symbolic animal of the Anatolian god Sandas , worshipped at Tarsus. [ 60 ] The reverse design of Alexander's tetradrachms is closely modelled on the depiction of the god Baaltars (Baal of Tarsus), on the silver staters minted at Tarsus by the Persian satrap Mazaeus before Alexander's conquest. [ 60 ] Alexander did not attempt to impose uniform imperial coinage throughout his new conquests. Persian coins continued to circulate in all the satrapies of the empire. [ 63 ] ^ Svechin, Alexander (1991) [1927]. 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Alexander III 'the Great'. 336–323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.15 g, 1h). Tarsos mint. Struck under Balakros or Menes, circa 333–327 BC" . CNG . Archived from the original on 18 February 2019 . Retrieved 17 February 2019 . ^ Arrian , Anabasis VII, 3 ^ a b c d G. LE RIDER, Alexandre le Grand : Monnaie, finances et politique, Chapitre V, "Histoire", PUF, 2003, p153-214 ^ REBUFFAT Françoise, La monnaie dans l'Antiquité , Picard, 1996, p. 208 ^ Gerin, Dominique; Grandjean, Catherine; Amandry, Michel; De Callatay. La monnaie grecque , "L'Antiquité : une histoire", Ellipse, 2001. pp. 117–119. ^ BRIANT Pierre, Alexandre Le Grand, "Que sais-je ?", PUF, 2011.

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Legacy Alexander's legacy extended beyond his military conquests, and his reign marked a turning point in European and Asian history. [ 1 ] His campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between East and West , and vast areas to the east were significantly exposed to Greek civilization and influence. [ 2 ] Some of the cities he founded became major cultural centers, many surviving into the 21st century. His chroniclers recorded valuable information about the areas through which he marched, while the Greeks themselves got a sense of belonging to a world beyond the Mediterranean. [ 2 ] Hellenistic kingdoms Main article: Hellenistic period The Hellenistic world view: world map by Eratosthenes (276–194 BC), using information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors [ 3 ] Alexander's most immediate legacy was the introduction of Macedonian rule to huge new swathes of Asia. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some 5,200,000 km 2 (2,000,000 sq mi), [ 4 ] and was the largest state of its time. Many of these areas remained in Macedonian hands or under Greek influence for the next 200–300 years. The successor states that emerged were, at least initially, dominant forces, and these 300 years are often referred to as the Hellenistic period . [ 5 ] The eastern borders of Alexander's empire began to collapse even during his lifetime. [ 6 ] However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most powerful Indian dynasties in history, the Maurya Empire . Taking advantage of this power vacuum, Chandragupta Maurya (referred to in Greek sources as "Sandrokottos"), of relatively humble origin, took control of the Punjab , and with that power base proceeded to conquer the Nanda Empire . [ 7 ] Founding of cities For a more comprehensive list, see List of cities founded by Alexander the Great . Plan of Alexandria c.  30 BC Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded many cities that bore his name , most of them east of the Tigris . [ 8 ] [ 9 ] The first, and greatest, was Alexandria in Egypt, which would become one of the leading Mediterranean cities. [ 8 ] The cities' locations reflected trade routes as well as defensive positions. At first, the cities must have been inhospitable, little more than defensive garrisons. [ 8 ] Following Alexander's death, many Greeks who had settled there tried to return to Greece. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] However, a century or so after Alexander's death, many of the Alexandrias were thriving, with elaborate public buildings and substantial populations that included both Greek and local peoples. [ 8 ] Funding of temples Dedication of Alexander the Great to Athena Polias at Priene , now housed in the British Museum [ 10 ] In 334 BC, Alexander the Great donated funds for the completion of the new temple of Athena Polias in Priene , in modern-day western Turkey. [ 11 ] An inscription from the temple , now housed in the British Museum , declares: "King Alexander dedicated [this temple] to Athena Polias." [ 10 ] This inscription is one of the few independent archaeological discoveries confirming an episode from Alexander's life. [ 10 ] The temple was designed by Pytheos , one of the architects of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus . [ 10 ] [ 11 ] [ 12 ] Libanius wrote that Alexander founded the temple of Zeus Bottiaios ( Ancient Greek : Βοττιαίου Δῖός ), in the place where later the city of Antioch was built. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] Suda wrote that Alexander built a big temple to Sarapis . [ 15 ] In 2023, British Museum experts have suggested the possibility that a Greek temple at Girsu in Iraq , was founded by Alexander. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander." [ 16 ] Hellenization Main article: Hellenization Alexander's empire was the largest state of its time, covering approximately 5.2 million square km. The term Hellenization was coined by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to denote the spread of Greek language, culture, and population into the former Persian empire after Alexander's conquest. [ 5 ] This process can be seen in such great Hellenistic cities as Alexandria , Antioch [ 17 ] and Seleucia (south of modern Baghdad ). [ 18 ] Alexander sought to insert Greek elements into Persian culture and to hybridize Greek and Persian culture, homogenizing the populations of Asia and Europe. Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states. [ 19 ] The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially Athenian . [ 20 ] The close association of men from across Greece in Alexander's army directly led to the emergence of the largely Attic -based " koine ", or "common" Greek dialect. [ 21 ] Koine spread throughout the Hellenistic world, becoming the lingua franca of Hellenistic lands, and eventually the ancestor of modern Greek . [ 21 ] Furthermore, town planning , education, local government, and art current in the Hellenistic period were all based on Classical Greek ideals, evolving into distinct new forms commonly grouped as Hellenistic. Also, the New Testament was written in the Koine Greek language. [ 17 ] Aspects of Hellenistic culture were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. [ 22 ] Hellenization in South and Central Asia Main articles: Indo-Greek Kingdom , Indo-Greek art , and Greco-Buddhism The Buddha , in Greco-Buddhist style , 1st to 2nd century AD, Gandhara , northern Pakistan. Tokyo National Museum . Some of the most pronounced effects of Hellenization can be seen in Afghanistan and India, in the region of the relatively late-rising Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BC) (in modern Afghanistan , Pakistan , and Tajikistan ) and the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD) in modern Afghanistan and India. [ 23 ] On the Silk Road trade routes, Hellenistic culture hybridized with Iranian and Buddhist cultures. The cosmopolitan art and mythology of Gandhara (a region spanning the upper confluence of the Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers in modern Pakistan) of the ~3rd century BC to the ~5th century AD are most evident of the direct contact between Hellenistic civilization and South Asia, as are the Edicts of Ashoka , which directly mention the Greeks within Ashoka's dominion as converting to Buddhism and the reception of Buddhist emissaries by Ashoka's contemporaries in the Hellenistic world. [ 24 ] The resulting syncretism known as Greco-Buddhism influenced the development of Buddhism [ 25 ] and created a culture of Greco-Buddhist art . These Greco-Buddhist kingdoms sent some of the first Buddhist missionaries to China , Sri Lanka and Hellenistic Asia and Europe ( Greco-Buddhist monasticism ). Some of the first and most influential figurative portrayals of The Buddha appeared at this time, perhaps modelled on Greek statues of Apollo in the Greco-Buddhist style. [ 26 ] Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ancient Greek religion : the concept of Boddhisatvas is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes, [ 27 ] and some Mahayana ceremonial practices (burning incense , gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practised by the ancient Greeks; however, similar practices were also observed amongst the native Indic culture. One Greek king, Menander I , probably became Buddhist, and was immortalized in Buddhist literature as 'Milinda'. [ 26 ] The process of Hellenization also spurred trade between the east and west. [ 28 ] For example, Greek astronomical instruments dating to the 3rd century BC were found in the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in modern-day Afghanistan , [ 29 ] while the Greek concept of a spherical Earth surrounded by the spheres of planets eventually supplanted the long-standing Indian cosmological belief of a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower. [ 28 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ] The Yavanajataka ( lit.   ' Greek astronomical treatise ' ) and Paulisa Siddhanta texts depict the influence of Greek astronomical ideas on Indian astronomy. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, Hellenistic influence on Indian art was far-reaching. In architecture , a few examples of the Ionic order can be found as far as Pakistan with the Jandial temple near Taxila . Several examples of capitals displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far as Patna , especially with the Pataliputra capital , dated to the 3rd century BC. [ 32 ] The Corinthian order is also heavily represented in the art of Gandhara , especially through Indo-Corinthian capitals . Influence on Rome This medallion was produced in Imperial Rome , demonstrating the influence of Alexander's memory. Walters Art Museum , Baltimore . Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. [ 33 ] Polybius began his Histories by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. Pompey the Great adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anastole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness. [ 33 ] Julius Caesar dedicated a Lysippean equestrian bronze statue, but replaced Alexander's head with his own, while Octavian visited Alexander's tomb in Alexandria and temporarily changed his seal from a sphinx to Alexander's profile. [ 33 ] The emperor Trajan also admired Alexander, as did Nero and Caracalla . [ 33 ] The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of Macrinus briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewellery or embroidered into their clothes. [ 34 ] On the other hand, some Roman writers, particularly Republican figures, used Alexander as a cautionary tale of how autocratic tendencies can be kept in check by the values of the Roman Republic . [ 35 ] Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as amicitia (friendship) and clementia (clemency), but also iracundia (anger) and cupiditas gloriae (over-desire for glory). [ 35 ] Emperor Julian in his satire called "The Caesars", describes a contest between the previous Roman emperors, with Alexander the Great called in as an extra contestant, in the presence of the assembled gods. [ 36 ] The Itinerarium Alexandri is a 4th-century Latin description of Alexander the Great's campaigns. Julius Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after his wife's funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC. While there, he encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realised with dissatisfaction that he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] Pompey posed as the "new Alexander" since he was his boyhood hero. [ 39 ] After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with Alexander the Great. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style phalanxes , despite the Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation. [ 40 ] [ 41 ] [ 42 ] The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term Phalangarii has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with pikes , and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late Roman Republic who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD. [ 42 ] As a consequence, the Phalangarii of Legio II Parthica may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly Triarii . [ 42 ] Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the Aristotelian school based on a legend that Aristotle had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. But this mania for Alexander, strange as it was, was overshadowed by subsequent events in Alexandria. [ 41 ] In AD 39, Caligula performed a spectacular stunt by ordering a temporary floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons , stretching for over two miles from the resort of Baiae to the neighbouring port of Puteoli . [ 43 ] [ 44 ] It was said that the bridge was to rival the Persian king Xerxes's pontoon bridge crossing of the Hellespont. [ 44 ] Caligula, who could not swim, [ 45 ] then proceeded to ride his favourite horse Incitatus across, wearing the breastplate of Alexander the Great . [ 44 ] This act was in defiance of a prediction by Tiberius's soothsayer Thrasyllus of Mendes that Caligula had "no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae". [ 44 ] The diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the later Roman expansion into these territories and entire basis for the Byzantine Empire , according to Errington . [ 46 ] Letters Main article: Letters of Alexander the Great Alexander wrote and received numerous letters, but no originals survive. A few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive in copies inscribed in stone and the content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources. These only occasionally quote the letters and it is an open question how reliable such quotations are. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the Romance tradition. [ 47 ] In legend Main article: Alexander the Great in legend Alexander in a 14th-century Armenian manuscript Many of the legends about Alexander derive from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself. [ 48 ] His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in Cilicia as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, Onesicritus invented a tryst between Alexander and Thalestris , queen of the mythical Amazons . He reportedly read this passage to his patron King Lysimachus , who had been one of Alexander's generals and who quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time." [ 49 ] In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the legendary material coalesced into a text known as the Alexander Romance , later falsely ascribed to Callisthenes and therefore known as Pseudo-Callisthenes . This text underwent over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations throughout the Islamic and European worlds in premodern times, [ 50 ] containing many dubious stories, [ 48 ] and was translated into twenty-five languages, [ 51 ] for example Middle Persian , Syriac and Arabic . [ 52 ] [ 53 ] In ancient and modern culture Main articles: Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great , Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition , and Alexander the Great in the Quran Alexander in a 14th-century Byzantine manuscript Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many cultures. Alexander has featured in both high and popular culture, beginning from his own era to the present day. The Alexander Romance , in particular, has had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from Persian to medieval European, to modern Greek. [ 51 ] Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more than any other ancient figure. [ 54 ] The colloquial form of his name in modern Greek ("O Megalexandros") is a household name, and he is the only ancient hero to appear in the Karagiozis shadow play. [ 54 ] One well-known fable among Greek seamen involves a solitary mermaid who would grasp a ship's prow during a storm and ask the captain, "Is King Alexander alive?" The answer should be "He is alive and well and rules the world!" causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. Any other answer would cause the mermaid to turn into a raging Gorgon who would drag the ship to the bottom of the sea, all hands aboard. [ 54 ] Folio from the Shahnameh showing Alexander praying at the Kaaba , mid-16th century In pre-Islamic Middle Persian ( Zoroastrian ) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet gujastak , meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. [ 55 ] In Islamic Persia, under the influence of the Alexander Romance (in Persian : اسکندرنامه Iskandarnameh ), a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges. [ 56 ] Firdausi 's Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") includes Alexander in a line of legitimate Persian shahs , a mythical figure who explored the far reaches of the world in search of the Fountain of Youth . [ 57 ] In the Shahnameh , Alexander's first journey is to Mecca to pray at the Kaaba . [ 58 ] Alexander was depicted as performing a Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) many times in subsequent Islamic art and literature. [ 59 ] Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as Socrates , Plato and Aristotle, in search of immortality. [ 56 ] Detail of a 16th-century Islamic painting depicting Alexander being lowered in a glass submersible The figure of Dhu al-Qarnayn ( Arabic : ذو القرنين; lit.   ' The Two-Horned One ' ) is believed by the majority of modern researchers of the Qur'an as well as Islamic commentators to be a reference to Alexander. [ 60 ] The figure is also believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander. [ 56 ] In this tradition, he was a heroic figure who built a wall to defend against the nations of Gog and Magog . [ 61 ] He also travelled the known world in search of the Water of Life and Immortality, eventually becoming a prophet. [ 61 ] The Syriac version of the Alexander Romance portrays him as an ideal Christian world conqueror who prayed to "the one true God ". [ 56 ] In Egypt, Alexander was portrayed as the son of Nectanebo II , the last pharaoh before the Persian conquest. [ 61 ] His defeat of Darius was depicted as Egypt's salvation, "proving" Egypt was still ruled by an Egyptian. [ 56 ] According to Josephus , Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel when he entered Jerusalem, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. This is cited as a reason for sparing Jerusalem. [ 62 ] Alexander conquering the air. Jean Wauquelin , Les faits et conquêtes d'Alexandre le Grand , 1448–1449 In Hindi and Urdu , the name " Sikandar ", derived from the Persian name for Alexander, denotes a rising young talent, and the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji stylized himself as "Sikandar-i-Sani" (the Second Alexander the Great). [ 63 ] In medieval India , Turkic and Afghan sovereigns from the Iranian-cultured region of Central Asia brought positive cultural connotations of Alexander to the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the efflorescence of Sikandernameh ( Alexander Romances ) written by Indo-Persian poets such as Amir Khusrau and the prominence of Alexander the Great as a popular subject in Mughal-era Persian miniatures. [ 64 ] Alexander's legacy would also be evoked in Southeast Asia , with the rulers of the Malacca Sultanate claiming their descent all the way back to him as "Raja Iskander Zul-karnain" ( Alexander of the Two Horns ). The name " Iskander " has been used by multiple Southeast Asian sultans. [ 65 ] In medieval Europe , Alexander the Great was revered as a member of the Nine Worthies ; a group of heroes whose lives were believed to encapsulate all the ideal qualities of chivalry . 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