The Persian Empire eventually met its match in one of history’s most brilliant military tacticians of all time in the name of Alexander. Even the Ancient Romans admired Alexander which may be one of the reasons he earned the epithet “The Great” thus, he is known many today as Alexander the Great. While the Greek city of Athens may have helped in shaping Greek thought, it was Alexander who carried Greek influences along with him during much of his time in his conquests particularly in the Middle East and going as far as northern India.

Alexander’s father Philip II of Macedon had an ambition of overthrowing the Persian empire by a united Greece after he successfully conquered divided city-states sometime around 338 B.C. Philip is said to have developed the phalanx. A phalanx is a tight cluster of hoplites or foot soldiers that moved into battle close together wielding their spears. By the time Philip moved into Greece, Alexander was 18 years old. Despite his young age, he gained fame by defeating an alliance of city-states led by Athens and Tebes along with his father. Alexander would become king of Macedon by the age of 20 after his father was assassinated two years prior.

Sometime in 334 B.C., Alexander left Pella, the capital of Macedon on an expedition that lasted more than a decade. Alexander left with a strong force of 30,000 foot soldierd and 5,000 cavalry. The Greeks still sought vengeance despite a century and a half has passed when Persia burned Athens. Alexandwr needed Persia’s wealth to maintain the army that his father had left him. However, Alexander seemed to have less motivation during his campaign as he was looking forward into something bigger for personal glory ; his ambitions pushed him thousands of miles into the east.

Alexander the Great defeated Darius III and would claim all Persian lands for himself and his troops. Despite the fact that Alexander was seeking to enrich his homeland, he also wanted to maintain unity throughout the realm he conquered. After his major victory in Asia at the Battle of Granicus, he spread the word that he is no conqueror, but a liberator. Many cities that were founded centuries earlier by Greek colonists welcomed Alexander. As Alexander conquered Egypt and Babylonia and further pushed his forces deeper into three continents, he sought respect and loyalty from the people by worshipping at their local shrines.

Alexander the Great had championed Greek ways and founded cities on the Greek model such as Alexandria in Ancient Egypt. Hellenistic culture would begin to spread throughout the Mediterranean and western Asia through Greek merchants that went to the areas to seek their fortune.

Alexander the Great pushed deeper into India and would have gone farther if his tropps never rebelled. He died of an unknown illness at the age of 32.

Picture credit : Ruthven (world history encyclopedia)

Sources:
Alexander the Great ; 336 to 323 B.C. Pages 94-95 Alamanac of World History Third Edition by Patricia Daniels and Stephen Hyslop

https://www.britannica.com/topic/phalanx-military-formation

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-the-Great

https://www.history.com/news/alexander-the-great-defeat-persian-empire