In 331 BCE, Alexander met King Darius III again on the battlefield at Gaugamela (also called the Battle of Arbela), where, once again facing overwhelming numbers, he decisively defeated Darius III who fled the field. According to the biographer and philosopher Plutarch, Alexander the Great founded at least 70 cities. Easily the most successful of these four, in this regard as in others, was Ptolemy I (r. 323-282 BCE). These generals, Lysimachus, Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucus, initially spent their time warring with each other for more territory but even as they ravaged the land with battles, their very presence in the region encouraged the diffusion of Hellenization which had been established by Alexander. (Chapter 29, Section 3) How many Justices are there in the Supreme Court? Why did Alexander the Great name so many cities after himself? She wanted to put a torch to the building herself in full view of Alexander, so that posterity should know that the women who followed Alexander had taken a more terrible revenge for the wrongs of Greece than all the famous commanders of earlier times by land or sea. To the Persian Gates Alexander then crossed Phoenicia again to meet Darius for the second and last time in the open field at Gaugamela (between Nineveh and Arbela) at the beginning of October 331. Yet he, himself, says, "even the most trustworthy writers, men who were actually with Alexander at the time, have given conflicting accounts of notorious events with which they must have been perfectly familiar" and admits that what actually prompted the burning of Persepolis may never be known. The spread of Greek influence and language is also shown through coinage. While it is clear that his father had a great impact on him, Alexander himself chose to see his success as ordained by divine forces. Alexander's tutor was the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) who impressed upon him the value of Greek culture and philosophy. Cite This Work Archived post. Persepolis was known to the Persians as Parsa ('The City of the Persians'), and the name 'Persepolis' meant the same in Greek. PLUTARCH: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans, Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death. On the other hand, one must allow in the reckoning for a good deal of voluntary emigration by Macedonians to the armies and cities of the successor kingdoms in the Hellenistic period. Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia, a realm . World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. They became aware of his military strength in 356 BCE during the so-called Third Social War in which he defeated the Phocians who had seized the sacred site of Delphi. The tactic was to be the usual onea leftward charge by Alexander from the right wing toward the centre, while Parmenio held the left wing firm. Submitted by Joshua J. Alexander cut it insteador perhaps pulled out the pole pin, as one tradition insisted. Although he made the greatest use of the military information, he decreed a complete overhaul of his country's educational methods and goals to create a significant center of learning at his capital of Pella. - Quora Answer (1 of 2): He created a core in a fort, a short of an acropolis, around it an asty with all the necessary for a Greek city. 360-327 BCE), another friend, was Aristotle's great-nephew, and came to the Macedonian court with the philosopher. Although only 18 years old, he helped turn the tide of battle in the decisive Macedonian victory which defeated the Greek allied city-states. This act was said to be instigated during a drunken party by Thais, the Athenian lover of the general Ptolemy, claiming it would be apt revenge for the city to be burnt "by women's hands", and she is said to have thrown her torch right after Alexander threw the first. A Persian counteroffensive was achieving some notable reconquests (but eventually troop drafts were required by Darius for the campaign that finally took shape at Issus, and the Aegean war shriveled to nothing). Unless Alexander was himself ultimately responsible for his fathers assassination (an implausible view, but one already canvassed in antiquity), he cannot have foreseen the moment of his own succession to a father who, though grizzled, was in the prime of life. Related Content Map of the Successor Kingdoms, c. 303 BCEJavierfv1212 (Public Domain). The Athenian orator Demosthenes (c.384-322 BCE) delivered a number of speeches denouncing Philip II but these did nothing to halt Macedon's growing power. Thebes was next: the Thebans had risen in the optimistic belief that Alexander had died in Illyria. His efforts at Alexandria produced an almost seamless blending of Egyptian and Greek cultures as epitomized in his personal god Serapis. (Chapter 30, Section 6) 2. License. In 334 B.C.E., Alexander invaded Persia, which lay across the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). How many cities did Alexander the great found? Help us and translate this article into another language! Alexander the Great | Timeline | Britannica As far as we know, Alexander founded some twenty towns: the real Greek towns, poleis, which Plutarch must have had in mind, the permanent military garrisons or katoikiai, and the temporary military settlements, phrouria. 5 Famous Cities Founded by Alexander the Great - TheCollector Alexander inherited not only a vast standing army but a healthy treasury, infrastructure, and an entire nation which was now subject to his will. In 329 BCE, he founded the city of Alexandria-Eschate on the Iaxartes River, destroyed the city of Cyropolis, and defeated the Scythians at the northern borders of the empire. Alexander the Great & the Burning of Persepolis. Bibliography It was the first believable suggestion that special religious status could be claimed for Alexander. He died of unknown causes in 323 BCE without clearly naming a successor (or, according to some accounts, his choice of the commander Perdiccas was ignored) and the empire he built was divided among the Diadochi. Alexander's legacy. Where did they all come from? Prigozhin has not been seen since Saturday, when he . The Greeks were justifiably proud of their intellectual achievements and tended to look down on non-Greeks. Alexander's habit of drinking to excess was well known, and certainly in the case of Cleitus' death, significantly influenced the murder. As the wars of the Diadochi settled down and finished, Hellenic influence continued to spread throughout their regions and Greek dedications, statues, architecture and inscriptions have been found in abundance in every locale. The Spartan Agesilaus may have hoped merely to construct a belt of rebel satraps, and Philips ultimate aims are inscrutable. At Troy he visited the tombs of the heroes Achilles and Ajax, paying them due religious honour; this was an early and emphatic statement that he saw himself and his expedition in epic, Homeric terms. (Plutarch, Life of Alexander, I). At the Oracle of Siwa, in the eponymous Egyptian oasis, he was proclaimed a son of the god Zeus-Ammon. Persepolis was known to the Persians as Parsa ('The City of the Persians'), and the name 'Persepolis' meant the same in Greek.Construction on the palace and city was initiated between 518-515 BCE by Darius I the Great (r. 522-486 BCE) who made it the capital of the Persian Empire (replacing the old capital, Pasargadae) and began to house there the greatest treasures, literary works . This in exaggerated. (34-35), Alexander the Great, Marble HeadCarole Raddato (CC BY-SA). 24. Who was a great Ancient Greek philosopher who taught by asking his students through thought provoking questions and a jury found him guilty of disloyalty and sentenced him to death? His troops backed down and submitted to Alexander's wishes, and in a gesture of goodwill, he returned the titles to the Macedonians and ordered a great communal feast at which he dined and drank with the army. He has taught history, writing, literature, and philosophy at the college level. Alexander the Great. Alexanders Companion cavalry punched a hole in the Persian infantry, making straight for Darius himself, who took flight. While what's considered the deep ocean extends from 3,280 feet to 19,685 feet (1,000 meters to 6,000 meters) beneath the surface, deep-sea trenches can . Alexander's army was smaller than 40,000 men, and presumably not all of these wanted to settle in these new lands. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. Social Studies Flashcards | Quizlet Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. Even though he had abandoned his conquest of India, he still paused on his march to subdue those hostile tribes he encountered along the way. This illustrates how seriously Alexander took the propaganda purpose of the war as revenge for the Persian impieties of 480: it is noticeable that the places he accorded specially favourable treatment in his passage through Anatolia often turn out to be places with a good record in the Ionian revolt or the Persian Wars; that is to say, they had been prominent rebels. People of the Near East were to be encouraged to marry with those of Europe and those of Europe to do likewise; in so doing, a new Hellenistic culture would be embraced by all. He was allegedly contemplating another move to expand his empire when he died, after ten days of fever, in June of 323 BCE. Mark, Joshua J.. "Alexander the Great & the Burning of Persepolis." Bessus was captured and executed for his treachery against his former king to send the message that disloyalty of that kind would never be rewarded. World History Encyclopedia. His reasoning behind this decision, both the delay in withdrawal after the mutiny and the form it finally took, is still unclear and debated by historians. Scholar Ian Worthington comments: Homer was Alexander's bible and he took Aristotle's edition with him to AsiaDuring his campaigns Alexander was always intent on finding out everything he could about the areas through which he passed. Alexander the Great, Bronze HeadMark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). According to one view, Alexanders legacy was one of lasting damage; he had exhausted the manpower of Macedon to such a point that the Macedon of Philip V and Perseus inevitably succumbed to the Romans with their almost infinite capacity for replacement. In 331 BCE, he conquered Egypt where he founded the city of Alexandria. Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (active 1st century BCE Lucius Flavius Arrianus, commonly known as Arrian (86 - c. 160 Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great (l Semiramis is the semi-divine Warrior-Queen of Assyria, whose reign Gaius Musonius Rufus (c. 30 CE - c. 101 CE) was an influential L. Mestrius Plutarchus, better known simply as Plutarch, was a World History Encyclopedia is an Amazon Associate and earns a commission on qualifying book purchases. There was also the tomb of the last Pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Alexander_the_Great/. He is further recognized for spreading Greek culture, language, and thought from Greece throughout Asia Minor, Egypt, and Mesopotamia to India and thus initiating the era of the Hellenistic Period (323-31 BCE) during which four of his generals (his successors, known as the Diadochi), in between their wars for supremacy, continued his policies of integrating Greek (Hellenistic) culture with that of the Near East. Why did Alexander the Great conquer many cities? - Answers Darius I had purposefully chosen the location of his city in a remote area, far removed from the old capital, probably in an effort to dramatically differentiate his reign from the past monarchs. this is not true my text book said that he named a little over 70 cities after himself as Alexandria includeing the famous Alexandria Egypt which is . Thus, it was high time for a piece of propaganda and political theatre, especially since the Aegean he had left behind him was not altogether quiet. Alexander began his career of conquest in 335. Ancient Greek civilization - Alexander the Great | Britannica One day maybe a subway system or underground car park will be built . 355-297 BCE), Ptolemy (l.c. According to the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus (and other ancient sources), he started the fire which destroyed the main palace and most of the city as revenge for the burning of the Acropolis in Xerxes' Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE. Chapter 10 (7th grade) Mr B Flashcards | Quizlet So we are talking of well over a hundred thousand Greek people migrating to the new cities. Alexander the Great [ushistory.org] Mark, published on 01 November 2018. In 333 BCE, Alexander and his troops defeated the larger force of King Darius III (r. 336-330 BCE) of Persia at the Battle of Issos. Help us and translate this definition into another language! Serapis was a combination of Egyptian and Greek gods (Osiris, Apis, and Zeus) and his worship was established as a state religion by Ptolemy I. (2019, November 22). Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Porus charged Alexander's forces with elephants and fought so bravely with his troops that, after defeating Porus, Alexander installed him as ruler of a larger region than he had previously held. Whereas Greek armies expected to live off the land to some extent, Alexander used wagons, despite a tradition that Philip had forced his soldiers to carry their own provisions and equipment. Best Answer Copy Because, like nearly every king or conquerer in history, he was a megalomaniac. Farmers who paid rent for their land and worked it as they please were called? Many of his troops objected to this cultural merger and increasingly criticized his adoption of Persian dress and manners which he had affected since 329 BCE. Chapter 29 and Chapter 30 Quizlet Flashcards | Quizlet This map shows Alexander the Great's massive empire and the route he took to conquer it. The region of Macedon spoke a dialect of Greek but its people were still considered barbarians by the Greeks because they did not feel it had any culture. He had enough power and wealth to do whatever he pleased and he chose to fulfil his father's desire to conquer Persia and topple what was then the greatest empire in the world. At the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE, Philip II and his 18-year old son Alexander defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes and this victory enabled him to form the Pan-Hellenic Congress, with himself as its head, which established peace and effectively brought Greece under Macedonian control. : A Historical Biography, Alexander the Great: Man and God by Ian Worthington, The Hellenistic World: The World of Alexander the Great, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. All content copyright 19952023 Livius.org. None of Alexander's generals possessed his natural intelligence, understanding, or military genius but, even so, would found dynasties which, with exceptions, ruled their respective regions until the coming of Rome. Marine One is which form of transport used by the U.S. President? These were the towns that were founded by Alexander. According to Arrian, Persepolis was deliberately and soberly burned as retribution for the Persians burning Athens in 480 BCE. While his various tutors' influences certainly had a profound effect upon him, Alexander seemed destined for greatness from birth. They were full of gold and silver, with the accumulation of revenue from Cyrus, the first king of the Persians, down to that time. (17.72.1-6). 331 B.C. He had already dropped the custom of proskynesis in deference to his men but continued to comport himself as a Persian, rather than Macedonian, king. When Philip II was assassinated in 336 BCE, Alexander assumed the throne, and with the Greek city-states now united under Macedonian rule following Chaeronea, embarked on the great campaign his father had been planning: the conquest of the mighty Persian Empire. In this respect, however, as in others, credit should be given to Philip for his example: Philippi (the renamed Crenides) was not his only city foundation. The numerical advantage at the ensuing Battle of Issus, fought toward the end of 333, was heavily with the Persians, but they were awkwardly squeezed between the sea and the foothills of a mountain range close by. In the summer of 330 BCE, Darius III was assassinated by his own general and cousin Bessus, an act which Alexander was said to deplore. One of the women present, Thais, the Athenian lover of the Macedonian commander Ptolemy, declared that it would be Alexander's greatest achievement in Asia to join in their procession and set fire to the royal palace, allowing women's hands to destroy in an instant what had been the pride of the Persians. He developed a life-long love of reading and music. The conquest of Asia (in the sense of the Persian empire) was more feasible than it had been in 346: Artaxerxes III had died in 338337, and the king now reigning was the much weaker Darius III (he succeeded in 336, after the brief reign of Arses, whom the trilingual inscription found at Xanthus in 1973 shows to have borne the title Artaxerxes IV). Books Study now. Siege of Tyre (332 BC) - Wikipedia forces local levees to start building, and then Greeks back home immediately decide to suddenly move there? They were not happy, so far from the Mediterranean, and on at least two occasions - both after a report of Alexander's death - the homesick veterans decided to go home. Large sections of the palace had been made of cedar, so they quickly took flame and spread the conflagration over a large area [one to three feet of cedar ash were found in the excavation]. Darius III's corpse was treated with the greatest respect, as were the surviving members of his family. The Romans borrowed much of their civilization from the Greeks and as they conquered various regions which had previously been held by Alexander's generals, they encouraged Hellenic thought and culture. Either way, Hellenism played a crucial role in the revolt of the Maccabees who would later found the Hasmonean Dynasty which, through its wars with the neighboring Kingdom of Nabatea, would attract the attention of Rome and lead to the eventual conquest of the region. We care about our planet! As Persepolis had surpassed all other cities in prosperity, so she now exceeded them in misfortune. These cities were structured in the form of a Greek Advertisement Coins 0 coins Premium Powerups Explore Gaming Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Help us and translate this article into another language! If they could agree on one thing, however, it was their dislike of foreigners, whom they referred to as `barbarians', meaning anyone who could not speak Greek. The Persian mercenaries were routed by the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander the Great, also known as Alexander III or Alexander of Macedonia, (born 356 bce, Pella, Macedonia [northwest of Thessalonki, Greece]died June 13, 323 bce, Babylon [near Al-illah, Iraq]), king of Macedonia (336-323 bce), who overthrew the Persian empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic . They celebrated different festivals at different times of the year and made war in different ways. Plutarch claims that Alexander slaughtered the Cossaeans of a neighboring town as a sacrifice to his friend, and Arrian writes that he had Hephaestion's doctor executed for failing to cure him. Submitted by Joshua J. He set out for Asia in the spring (334). 19. Alexander the Great (Facial Reconstruction)Arienne King (CC BY-NC-SA). Why Was Alexander The Great 'Great'? - Quora. The library drew scholars from around the world and elevated Alexandria to a center of learning which rivaled even Athens. Of Alexander's youth, the historian Worthington writes that Alexander "would have been educated at home, as was the custom in Macedonia, and he would have grown used to seeing (and then participating in) the drinking contests that were part of Macedonian court life" but that, aside from that, "we know surprisingly little about Alexander's boyhood" (33). While still processing the grief of Hephaestion's death, Alexander returned to Babylon in 323 BCE with plans for expanding his empire but he would never realize them. These cities were structured in the form of a Greek polis, and reportedly populated primarily by Greek settlers, who formed the new ruling elite in the Hellenistic kingdoms and empires. By these foundations, the sage of Chaeronea implies, the Macedonian conqueror changed the nature of his oriental subjects from barbarians into civilized people. The destruction of Persepolis was an immense loss of the accumulated learning, art, and culture of ancient Persia. His policy regarding the citizens of Tyre is cited by historians, ancient and modern, as a prime example of his ruthlessness. How many cities named Alexandria did Alexander the Great found? Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed Prigozhin was in Belarus, and said he and some of his troops were welcome to stay "for some time" at their own expense. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Having heard of the exploits of the great Macedonian general, the Indian King Omphis of Taxila submitted to his authority without a fight, but the Aspasioi and Assakenoi tribes strongly resisted. Plutarch says that, 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained his fleet admiral Nearcus and his friend Medius of Larissa with a long bout of drinking, after which he fell into a fever from which he never recovered. In 327 BCE, with the Persian Empire firmly under his control and newly married to the Bactrian noblewoman Roxana (l. c. 340 to c. 310 BCE), Alexander turned his attention to India. This army was a formidable machine in the metaphorical sense. Alexander had a strong belief in spreading Greek culture. He carried this culture with him to India in his 327 BCE invasion which was halted only because his men threatened mutiny if he did not turn back. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. All rights reserved. He reached Thessaly in seven days and was in Boeotia five days later. the buildings & Palaces of Persepolis were architectural masterpieces of opulence designed to inspire awe & wonder. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Alexandria, Egypt was founded in. A more-obvious way of achieving conquest was to defeat the king in open battle. Thais was at this time the lover of Ptolemy I, one of Alexander's generals, bodyguards, and one of his oldest friends (possibly also his half-brother). and conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. Their influence over the regions they controlled created what historians refer to as the Hellenistic Period in which Greek thought and culture became entwined with that of the indigenous populace. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. 3. World History Encyclopedia. Construction on the palace and city was initiated between 518-515 BCE by Darius I the Great (r. 522-486 BCE) who made it the capital of the Persian Empire (replacing the old capital, Pasargadae) and began to house there the greatest treasures, literary works, and works of art from across the Achaemenid Empire. He would found the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt which would last until 30 BCE, ending with the death of his descendant Cleopatra VII (l. 69-30 BCE). He invited the great Greek philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son and his son's peers. (17.70.1-6), Alexander went up to the citadel and took possession of the treasures stored there. The religious works of early Zoroastrianism, written on goat-skin parchment, were destroyed along with artworks, tapestries, and other priceless cultural artifacts. Alexander Garms-Rizzi has been sentenced to 12 months in a military detention centre after abandoning his unit and crossing the Estonian border to serve as a rifleman in the Ukrainain forces. But the great royal palace, famed throughout the inhabited world, had been condemned to the indignity of total destruction. The following are the best-known ancient accounts of the burning of Persepolis, all of them written centuries after the event, but based on earlier works now lost. Cassander (c. 355-297 BCE, r. 305-297 BCE) was self-proclaimed On June 10, 323 BCE Alexander the Great died in Babylon. Plutarch and Arrian, however, claim he passed his reign to Perdiccas, the friend of Hephaistion with whom Alexander had carried their friend's body to his funeral in Babylon. Reddit, Inc. 2023. As the drunken whore gave her opinion on a matter of extreme importance, one or two who were themselves the worse for drink agreed with her. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Our mission is to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. As the others followed their example the whole area of the royal palace was quickly engulfed in flames. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University. The Hellenistic World (from the Greek word Hellas for Greece) is the known world after the conquests of Alexander the Great and corresponds roughly with the Hellenistic Period of ancient Greece, from 323 BCE (Alexander's death) to the annexation of Greece by Rome in 146 BCE. At Halicarnassus, Alexander met his most-serious resistance so far from a defended city, in mid-334; Miletus had not delayed him long (nor was it punished very severelyit had after all been the leader of the Ionian revolt). For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. Alexander tried to persuade his men to press on but, failing to win them over, finally assented to their wishes. Although the vulgate tends toward the sensational, the greater reliability of Arrian can never be lightly assumed. (2013, November 14). World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. He founded as many as 70 cities. General. Alexanders victory was achieved in part by his own conspicuous example; he led the right wing with a battle cry to the god of battles. Alexander invades India, defeating several local rulers. Thus, Alexander was not the only culprit; there were more-intangible demographic forces at work. All rights reserved. How did Alexander found so many cities? Where did all the - Reddit Other stories. Map of the Successor Kingdoms, c. 303 BCE. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. We want people all over the world to learn about history. This causeway, in time, collected silt and earth and is the reason why Tyre is a part of the mainland in Lebanon today. Though capable of great diplomacy and skill in dealing with conquered peoples and their rulers, Alexander was not known for tolerating personal opinions which conflicted with his own, and this intolerance was exacerbated by drinking. He would study with Aristotle until the age of 16, and the two are said to have remained in correspondence throughout Alexander's later campaigns, although evidence of this is anecdotal. 04 Jul 2023. Political and legal sources of resentment, Athenian aggression outside the Peloponnese, The effect of the Persian Wars on philosophy, The conquest of Bactria and the Indus valley. Mark, Joshua J.. "Alexander the Great & the Burning of Persepolis." The Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus (l.41-54 CE) in his History of Alexander the Great, also cites Thais as the instigator of the fire which consumed Persepolis: Thais had drunk as much as the others when she declared that if Alexander gave the order to burn the Persian palace, he would earn the deepest gratitude among all the Greeks. World History Encyclopedia, 14 Nov 2013. Alexander did not immediately follow Darius eastward; instead he continued southward in the direction of Phoenicia and eventually Egypt.