What kind of ruler was alexander the great

Seeing that Homer's Iliad inspired Alexander to dream of becoming a heroic warrior, Aristotle created an abridged version of the tome for Alexander to carry with him on military campaigns. Alexander completed his education at Meiza in B. A year later, while still just a teen, he became a soldier and embarked on his first military expedition, against the Thracian tribes. In , Alexander took charge of the Companion Cavalry and aided his father in defeating the Athenian and Theban armies at Chaeronea.

Once Philip II had succeeded in his campaign to unite all the Greek states minus Sparta into the Corinthian League, the alliance between father and son soon disintegrated. Alexander and Olympia were forced to flee Macedonia and stay with Olympia's family in Epirus until Alexander and King Philip II were able to reconcile their differences. In , Alexander's sister wed the Molossian king, an uncle who was also called Alexander.

In the wake of his father's death, Alexander, then 19, was determined to seize the throne by any means necessary. He quickly garnered the support of the Macedonian army, including the general and troops he had had fought with at Chaeronea. The army proclaimed Alexander the feudal king and proceeded to help him murder other potential heirs to the throne. Ever a loyal mother, Olympia further ensured her son's claim to the throne by slaughtering the daughter of King Philip II and Cleopatra and driving Cleopatra herself to suicide.

Even though Alexander was the feudal king of Macedonia, he didn't obtain automatic control of the Corinthian League. In fact, the southern states of Greece were celebrating Philip II's death and expressed divided interests.

Athens had its own agenda: Under the leadership of democratic Demosthenes, the state hoped to take charge of the league. As they launched independence movements, Alexander sent his army south and coerced the region of Thessaly into acknowledging him as the leader of the Corinthian League.

Then during a meeting of league members at Thermopylae, Alexander elicited their acceptance of his leadership. By the fall of , he reissued treaties with the Greek city-states that belonged to the Corinthian League — with Athens still refusing membership — and was granted full military power in the campaign against the Persian Empire.

But, before preparing for war with Persia, Alexander first conquered the Thracian Triballians in , securing Macedonia's northern borders. As Alexander was nearing the end of his northern campaign, he was delivered the news that Thebes, a Greek city-state, had forced out the Macedonian troops that were garrisoned there. Fearing a revolt among the other city-states, Alexander leapt into action, marching his massive army—consisting of 3, cavalry and 30, infantry—southward all the way to the tip of the Greek peninsula.

Meanwhile, Alexander's general, Parmenion, had already made his way to Asia Minor. Alexander and his forces arrived in Thebes so quickly that the city-state didn't have a chance to pull together allies for its defense.

Three days after his arrival, Alexander led the massacre of Thebes. It was Alexander's hope that the destruction of Thebes would serve as a warning to city-states contemplating revolt. His intimidation tactic proved effective; the other Greek city-states, including Athens, chose to pledge their alliance to the Macedonian Empire or opted to remain neutral. In , Alexander embarked on his Asiatic expedition, arriving in Troy that spring.

Many cities surrendered, but some, such as Tyre , which was on an island in modern-day Lebanon, put up a fight and forced Alexander to lay siege. In B. On its northern coast, he founded Alexandria , the most successful city he ever built. Arrian wrote that "a sudden passion for the project seized him, and he himself marked out where the agora was to be built and decided how many temples were to be erected and to which gods they were to be dedicated…".

Alexander claimed the title of pharaoh, and according to Cartledge, looked to attach himself to the line of Egyptian rulers through a traditional ceremony. With the eastern Mediterranean and Egypt under his control, , Alexander successfully deprived the Persians of naval bases and was free to move inland to conquer the eastern half of the Persian Empire. At the Battle of Gaugamela, fought in B. Darius brought soldiers from all over his empire, and even beyond.

The battle soon became a war of nerves. From that point on the Persian army started to collapse and the Persian king fled, with Alexander in hot pursuit. Darius was later betrayed by one of his satraps, or regional governors, named Bessus who then claimed kingship over what was left of Persia , and was killed by his own troops in B. He needed to have the appearance of legitimacy to appease the people, so Alexander provided a noble burial for Darius.

Alexander was influenced by the teachings of his tutor, Aristotle, whose philosophy of Greek ethos did not require forcing Greek culture on the colonized. In this way, he would gain their loyalty by honoring their culture, even after the conquest was complete, creating security and stability. Alexander himself even adopted Persian dress and certain Persian customs," Abernethy said. Wishing to incorporate the most easterly portions of the Persian Empire into his own, Alexander campaigned in central Asia from and B.

It was a rocky, frost-bitten conflict, which raised tensions within his own army, and led to Alexander killing two of his closest friends. At some point during Alexander's campaign in central Asia, Parmenio's son, Philotas, allegedly failed to report a plot against Alexander's life.

The king, incensed, decided to kill not only Philotas and the other men deemed conspirators, but also Parmenio, even though he apparently had nothing to do with the alleged plot. According to the first-century A. When Parmenio was reading the letter from his son, a general named Cleander, who aided Polydamas with his mission, "opened him Parmenio up with a sword thrust to his side, then struck him a second blow in the throat…" killing him, Quintus Curtius wrote.

A second casualty of Alexander's fury was his friend Cleitus, who was angry at Alexander for adopting Persian dress and customs. After an episode where the two were drinking, Cleitus scolded the king, telling him, in essence, that he should follow Macedonian ways, not Persian customs.

Cleitus lifted up his right hand and said, "this is the hand, Alexander, that saved you then at the Battle of Granicus ," according to Arrian. Alexander, infuriated, killed him with a spear or pike. Alexander took his act of murder terribly. Alexander's days in central Asia were not all unhappy. After his troops had captured a fortress at a place called Sogdian Rock in modern-day Uzbekistan in B. Plutarch explained in " The Life of Alexander the Great " that he made an alliance with a local ruler named Taxiles, who agreed to allow Alexander to use his city, Taxila, as a base of operations.

He also agreed to give Alexander all the supplies he needed — which was very useful given Alexander's long supply lines. In exchange, Alexander agreed to fight Porus, a local ruler who set out against Alexander with an army that reportedly included elephants. The two armies met at the Hydaspes River in B. Alexander bided his time; he scouted the area, built up a fleet of ships and lulled Porus into a false sense of security.

When Porus mobilized his forces he found himself in a predicament; his cavalry was not as experienced as Alexander's.

As such, he put his elephants — animals the Macedonians had never faced in large numbers — up front. Alexander responded by using his cavalry to attack the wings of Porus's forces, quickly putting Porus's cavalry to flight. Alexander struggled to capture Sogdia, a region of the Persian Empire that remained loyal to Bessus. Supposedly, one of those on the rock was a girl named Roxane.

As the story goes, Alexander fell in love with Roxane on sight. He married her despite her Sogdian heritage and she joined him on his journey. Some tribes surrendered peacefully; others did not. Even so, after a fierce battle in a raging thunderstorm, Porus was defeated. One event took place at Hydaspes which devastated Alexander: the death of his beloved horse, Bucephalus.

Alexander wanted to press on and attempt to conquer all of India, but his war-weary soldiers refused, and his officers convinced him to return to Persia. So Alexander led his troops down the Indus River and was severely wounded during a battle with the Malli. After recovering, he divided his troops, sending half of them back to Persia and half to Gedrosia, a desolate area west of the Indus River. In early B. Wanting to unite the Persians and Macedonians and create a new race loyal only to him, he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at a mass wedding.

He also took two more wives for himself. But after Alexander took a firm stand and replaced Macedonian officers and troops with Persians, his army backed down.

To further diffuse the situation, Alexander returned their titles and hosted a huge reconciliation banquet. By B. Thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, he started plans to conquer Arabia. After surviving battle after fierce battle, Alexander the Great died in June B. Some historians say Alexander died of malaria or other natural causes; others believe he was poisoned. Either way, he never named a successor. Now We May Know Why. Many conquered lands retained the Greek influence Alexander introduced, and several cities he founded remain important cultural centers even today.

The period of history from his death to 31 B. Alexander the Great. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Alexander the Great of Macedon Biography.

Alexander of Macedonia. San Jose State University. The Battle of Issus. Fordham University. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. For more than two centuries, the Achaemenid Empire of Persia ruled the Mediterranean world. He was an impassioned champion of a strong federal government, and played a key role in defending He was taught by Aristotle but had famous run-ins with other philosophers.

In the ancient world, the young and dashing Alexander the Great led his army from northern Greece to what is now Pakistan, leading from the front, killing enemies with sword and spear, ordering executions and massacres, even stabbing one old friend to death in a drunken rage.