The Battle of Gaugamela has been said to be the final straw in King Darius’ defence, in which the outnumbered Macedonian forces defeated the united forces of Persia, essentially making Alexander the Great the king of the Persian Empire.
After the assassination of his father, Philip of Macedon, Alexander took off on a journey that lasted the rest of his life. Taking his inherited army of about 32,000 he set out to conquer all of Persia. Starting with the Battle of River Granicus, he went south along the coast of Asia Minor to Halicarnassus after a year he met King Darius for the first time at Issus where he took his opposer's mother, wife and daughter. Leaving Issus Alexander followed the Mediterranean coastline taking the Island of Tyre on his way into Egypt freeing both those at Jerusalem and in Egypt itself from the religious oppression of the Persian rule. Alexander the Great planed
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Attempting to outflank him Darius ordered His cavalry to follow creating a vacuum in the Persian line to be filled by the Macedonian cavalry after a sharp turn back. At the same time, Darius deployed his scythed chariots only to be rendered ineffective when the phalanx simply opened up to allow the chariots to pass through. Immediately following, the Macedonian infantry set upon the Persians and hand to hand combat quickly followed. Realizing that victory was hopeless Darius, the king of Persia, turned tail and ran. Leaving behind an army that no longer had adequate leadership or a reason to fight. In the Summer of 331 B.C. Alexander the Great and his army of Macedonians defeated the well maned Persian army after their leadership, king Darius III, left in an act of cowardice. However, Jona Lendering says in his book Alexander de Grote. De ondergang van het Perzische rijk “ It wasn't Alexander's courage or Darius' cowardice that decided the fate of the Persian Empire, it was the signs that were seen in the
Alexander adopted Persian governing practices, but he had little use for Persian culture. According to his Greek biographer Plutarch, he considered himself "a governor from God and a reconciler of the world." He hoped that Greek culture would, through his actions, permeate all of Asia, inspiring its peoples to pursue virtue, excellence, and truth. This heroic idealism blended with practicality in his plan to develop the Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus rivers as commercial waterways linking all of Asia These undertakings promised to be long and difficult, however, and Alexander was an impatient man. His soldiers' unwillingness to proceed past the Indus was a great disappointment to him, for which he compensated by throwing his own festivals and celebrations. Alexander showed early leadership qualities. When King Phillip invaded Thrace, he left Alexander in charge of Macedonia at the age of 16. During his father's absence, one of the Thracian tribes, the Maedi, rebelled. Alexander was able to mobilize an army and put down the rebellion. In 336 B.C, Alexander's father was assassinated, putting Alexander on the throne at the age of 20. Shortly after this, Alexander left Macedonia with his armies to put down rebellions in the countries of Illyria, Thrace and Greece, all of which had previously been conquered by King Phillip. Alexander then moved his armies into Asia Minor and began to conquer the peoples there. Among the countries conquered by Alexander were Syria, Phoenicia and
(http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/text?lookup-trm+ov+8.5&vers=engligh&browse+1). In conclusion, the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Persian Wars aided by unforgettable acts of heroism, divine support, and most importantly, Greek unity.
Alexander began his military campaign and his rule much where his father left off. Whether or not it was his aim, this created a sense of normality for the men that was part of his father’s regime. Alexander’s position as a warrior-king who stood side-by-side among his men also served to create respect among his peers. Gradually, as Alexander conquered more Persian land, he began to adopt the policies of Persian rulers. Alexander’s change in policy extended beyond just political roles, he gave consideration to the local gods in many of the lands that he conquered. Eventually, Alexander brought people in from the conquered nations to serve under him.
Darius had an advantage over Alexander the Great, he had more troops, better resources, and he chose the battle field. Although Darius had the advantage he was not as smart as Alexander. Alexander had good communication with his troops; he planned according, in addition he was well organized before the battled. He did not stray away from his plan he stuck to it. Alexander troops were heavily armed they moved in formation, and they were shield with their long spears they stayed close together and moved in formation. In addition he did not have all his troops engaged in the battle at once he planned an awesome attack strategy that won him and his troops the war.
In the Battle of Marathon Persian mistakes had a part in their failure but it was also the Greeks’ superior armour, weapons, and tactics that were the main reason for their loss. A mistake the Persians made that may have changed the tide of the battle was loading the cavalry back onto their ships. This mistake gave the Greeks a greater chance at victory as they had less to fight against and were not able to be trampled by horses. A larger reason for their failure would be that the Greeks had
The Persian empire had grown from a small kingdom to an immense empire stretching from Troy to modern day Russia. King Darius was their leader at the time, strangely enough, Darius was an imposter to the throne. When the previous king had passed into the next life, Darius had pretended to be his brother and they all believed him. By 490 B.C. the new leader was Xerxes, the famed god king. Xerxes had just come to victory at the marathon and his troops were eager for another, the sight of the narrow pass between two mountains being defended by over seven thousand Greeks and three hundred Spartans.
The Persian war brought massive change to the people of both Sparta and Athens. The Persians were great conquerors who crushed rebel cities with ease. King Darius sent a large force to punish Athens with its interference. The Persian army landed at Marathon where Athenian forces attacked. Though they were outnumbered 2 to 1 they emerged victorious. Athens had convinced Sparta and other city-states to join them in their battles.
Alexander’s first major victory was at the Granicus River. In May of 334 BC, Alexander’s army met the Persians in battle and defeated them. Following this victory, Alexander continued his march into Persia, and many towns simply surrendered, including Sardis. After a siege at Halicarnassus which Alexander eventually won, he moved on to meet the Persians again at Issus in November of 333 BC, under the command of Darius III of Persia. The Persian army had an advantage in numbers over Alexander’s, more than 2 to 1; but Alexander, using his ability to anticipate his enemies’ plans and counter them, again soundly defeated the Persians. In the midst of the battle, Darius fled. The
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
Alexander is the son of King Philip of Macedonia and Queen Olympias. We see Alexander's daily life and the strained relationship between his parents. Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry, and military combat. Young Alexander impresses his father by taming an intractable horse, but both mother and son are banished from the kingdom, Olympias advising her son to seize the throne before Philip has him murdered. As things work out, Philip is murdered, and Alexander rules Macedonia. (BBC)
Have you heard of a man named Alexander the Great, the famous historical figure? There are many amazing stories about him explaining the courageous things he had accomplished. However, if you learn more about him and his accomplishments you will soon realized the real person Alexander was. Alexander the Great, ruler of his empire was in fact not great as his title states. The definition of great is a person who shows concern for others, has leadership and shows intelligence. Alexander didn’t show any of these characteristics therefore he doesn’t deserve the title of “great”.
Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in Pella, Greece. He took over the throne when he was 21, in 336 BC, when his father was murdered. In his time as king, Alexander united the Greek city states and built over a dozen cities, including Alexandria. His empire stretched over 2 million square miles, and he never lost a battle in his lifetime. Alexander died of Malaria in 323 BC.
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
The image of the Persians that is described is different to what they are normally described as being, words such as ‘chivalry’ would normally be attached to the Greeks rather than the Persians. The whole image created by Aeschylus of the Persians seems to paint them as weaker but not in obvious terms, rather presenting them as stronger with a plan that fails them works better than presenting them as generally weaker than the Greeks. But this mirrors the real life events, the Persians seemed to the stronger out of the two, but their plan failed to that of the
Have you ever wondered why Alexander from Macedonia is called Alexander the Great. According to history, it is because he is the most glorious general in the history who conquered Persia, Greece, Egypt and Babylon in a very inexperienced age. He became the commander of Macedonian armies at age eighteen and the king of Macedonia at age twenty. After six years of preparation, he conquered the great Persian empire. Unfortunately, he died at age thirty-three. He would have conquered many lands if he hadn’t died at a such young age. He was a legend and an icon for great kings like Charlemagne, Julius Caesar, and Pompey. World’s most famous generals tried to compete with him but they couldn’t accomplish. After years, his tomb