Which alexander was alexander the great

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.

A career politician, he served in both houses of the Georgia legislature before winning a seat in the U. House of Representatives in Alexander Graham Bell, best known for his invention of the telephone, revolutionized communication as we know it.

His interest in sound technology was deep-rooted and personal, as both his wife and mother were deaf. The amazing works of art and architecture known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World serve as a testament to the ingenuity, imagination and sheer hard work of which human beings are capable.

They are also, however, reminders of the human capacity for disagreement, The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes and was proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from to B.

Hammurabi expanded the city-state of Babylon along the Euphrates River to unite all of southern The term Ancient, or Archaic, Greece refers to the years B. Archaic Greece saw advances in art, poetry and technology, but is known as the age in which the polis, or city-state, was Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Where Was Alexander the Great From? Bucephalus At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demeanor.

Alexander Becomes King In B. Gordian Knot From Halicarnassus, Alexander headed north to Gordium, home of the fabled Gordian knot , a group of tightly-entwined knots yoked to an ancient wagon. Battle of Issus In B. Recommended for you. Philip decided to leave his year-old son in charge of Macedonia while he was away on campaign, Cartledge wrote in his book " Alexander the Great " Overlook Press, Alexander took advantage of the opportunity by defeating a Thracian people called the Maedi and founding "Alexandroupolis," a city he named after himself.

Ancient records, such as Plutarch's " Lives ," indicate that Alexander and Philip became estranged later in Alexander's teenage years.

At one point his mother Olympia was exiled to Epirus in western Greece. Philip was assassinated in B. The person who stabbed him was said to have been one of Philip's former male lovers, named Pausanias.

While the ancient Greek historian Cleitarchus pointed to jealousy and betrayal as the motive, as outlined by Diodorus Siculus in " Library of History ," other ancient sources like Justin in " Epitome of the Philippic History Of Pompeius Trogus " suspected that Pausanias may have been part of a larger plot to kill the king — one that may have included Alexander and his mother.

At the time of his death, Philip was contemplating invading the Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, which at its peak stretched from the Balkan peninsula to modern-day Pakistan and had repeatedly attempted to conquer the Greek world. Upon his father's death, Alexander moved quickly to consolidate power.

He gained the support of the Macedonian army and intimidated the Greek city states that Philip had conquered into accepting his rule. After campaigns in the Balkans and Thrace, Alexander moved against Thebes, a city in Greece that had risen up in rebellion.

He conquered it in B. With Greece and the Balkans pacified, he was ready to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire. While Alexander may have had his own reasons for expanding eastward, "his official reason for wanting to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire… was to lead the allied Greeks in a war of liberation: to free forever from Persian control the Greek cities along the Anatolian coast and on the island of Cyprus, and in so doing also to exact revenge for the Persians' invasion of Greece under Great King Xerxes in BCE," Cartledge wrote.

Nevertheless, Alexander was hugely successful against Persia. The first major battle he won against the Perisans was in B. The ancient Greek historian Arrian wrote that Alexander defeated a force of 20, Persian horsemen and an equal number of foot soldiers. He then advanced down the coast of west Turkey, taking cities and depriving the Persian navy of bases. The second key battle he won — and perhaps the most important — was the Battle of Issus, fought in B.

Arrian estimated that Darius had a force of , troops probably wildly exaggerated and initially positioned himself on a great plain where he could mass his force effectively against Alexander, who hesitated to give battle. Darius is said to have thought this as a sign of timidity. So, Darius gave up his position and chased Alexander. In his haste, Darius left much of his family behind, including his mother, wife, infant son and two daughters.

Alexander ordered that they be "honored, and addressed as royalty," Arrian wrote. After the battle, Darius offered Alexander a ransom for his family and alliance, through marriage. Arrian wrote that Alexander rebuked Darius in writing, saying "in the future whenever you send word to me, address yourself to me as King of Asia and not as an equal, and let me know, as the master of all that belonged to you, if you have need of anything.

Alexander then moved south along the eastern Mediterranean, continuing a strategy designed to deprive the Persians of their naval bases. Epic floods leave South Sudanese to face disease and starvation. Travel 5 pandemic tech innovations that will change travel forever These digital innovations will make your next trip safer and more efficient. But will they invade your privacy?

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