There is much debate as to the motives of Alexander

There is much debate as to the motives of Alexander and Darius preceding Issus. A strong and convincing modern perspective, based on Curtius, is that Darius was forced to move camp to terrain that favored Alexander because Alexander was fighting defensively due to a recommendation by his war council and Parmenion. Sony VAIO VPCF12AGJ battery Darius' large army could not be supported in the field during winter and his cities in Phoenicia were already in unrest at the arrival of Alexander. Darius was forced to move his large army to a small battlefield, greatly to the advantage of Alexander's smaller force. Alexander was waiting for Darius to come south around the Amanus Mountain range because the pass Darius would have used, Sony VAIO VPCF12AHJ battery theBelen Pass, was much closer to Sochi and offered the quickest access to the area Alexander defended. Alexander was waiting 15 km (9.3 mi) to the west of the Belen Pass at Myriandrus to spring a trap on Darius as he crossed through the Belen Pass or through the Pillar of Jonah if he moved north, where Darius' army would be disorganized and disjointed in the narrow crossing. Sony VAIO VPCF135FG battery Darius instead moved north from Sochi and around the mountains, emerging behind Alexander's position and on his supply and communication lines. Thus Alexander was forced to march to Darius, who had caught him off guard in a large flanking maneuver. This gives the illusion that Darius was the one acting defensively, since Alexander was forced to march to him. Sony VAIO VPCF138FC/BI battery Modern historians find Arrian's count of six hundred thousand men highly unlikely, and estimate Persian numbers under Darius III from 25,000^[3] to 100,000, including 11,000 cavalry,^[2] 10,000 Persian Immortals, and 10,000 Greek mercenaries.^[5][6] In ancient sources (Arrian and Plutarch), that based their accounts on earlier Greek sources, estimated 600,000^[2] Sony VAIO VPCF138FJ/B battery Persian soldiers in total, while Diodorus andJustin estimated 400,000, and Curtius Rufus estimated 250,000. The size of the Macedonian army may not have exceeded 40,000 men, including their other allies, led by Alexander. Alexander's army may have consisted of about 22,000 phalangites and hoplites, 13,000 peltasts, and 5,850 cavalry. Sony VAIO VPCF139FJ/BI battery The Persian cavalry first charged Parmenion and the allied cavalry, crossing the river to open battle. Alexander's left wing once again became the crux of the battle, as at Gaugamela two years later, where Parmenion held the wing long enough against superior Persian numbers for Alexander to make his calculated cavalry strike against Darius and break the Persian army. Sony VAIO VPCF13AFJ battery TheHypaspists led by Alexander, on foot, delivered an assault during this time across the riverbed on the Cardaces and managed to punch a hole through the Persian line. Alexander then mounted a horse at the head of his Companion cavalry and led a direct assault against Darius who fled from the battlefield. Sony VAIO VPCF13AGJ battery Alexander then saw his left flank and center in trouble, let Darius flee, and crashed into the rear of the Greek mercenaries. The Greek mercenaries broke up. The Persians saw that their Great King had gone and that the battle was being lost, and they abandoned their positions and fled in full rout. The Macedonian cavalry pursued the fleeing Persians for as long as there was light. Sony VAIO VPCF13AHJ battery As with most ancient battles, significant carnage occurred after the battle as pursuing Macedonians slaughtered their crowded, disorganized foe. Arrian notes Ptolemy I mentions that, while pursuing Darius, Alexander and his bodyguards came upon a gap which they effortlessly crossed on the bodies of dead Persians. It was a decisive victory for Alexander. Sony VAIO VPCF13M8E/B battery The Macedonians advanced through the Pillar of Jonah. Alexander led his Companion cavalry on the right flank and he set his Thessalian allied cavalry on the left of the phalanx with Parmenion in command. Darius formed his line with his heavy cavalry concentrated next to the coast on his right, followed by the Greek mercenary phalanx (historian A.M Devine places them at a strength of 12,000, comparable to the Macedonian phalanx). Sony VAIO VPCF13Z0E/B battery Next to the Greek phalanx Darius spread his Persian infantry, the Cardaces, along the river and into the foothills, where they wrapped around to the other bank and threatened Alexander's right flank (the formation resembled gamma, Γ). Arrian gives an inflated figure of 20,000 to these troops. Darius positioned himself in the centre with his best infantry, the Greek mercenaries, Sony VAIO VPCF13ZHJ battery and his royal cavalry guard. According to some historians, like P. Stratikis, he was trying to replicate the Hellenic battle formation of the Battle of the Granicus. The Persian cavalry first charged Parmenion and the allied cavalry, crossing the river to open battle. Alexander's left wing once again became the crux of the battle, as at Gaugamela two years later, Sony VAIO VPCF148FJ/B battery where Parmenion held the wing long enough against superior Persian numbers for Alexander to make his calculated cavalry strike against Darius and break the Persian army. TheHypaspists led by Alexander, on foot, delivered an assault during this time across the riverbed on the Cardaces and managed to punch a hole through the Persian line. Sony VAIO VPCF149FJ/BI battery Alexander then mounted a horse at the head of his Companion cavalry and led a direct assault against Darius who fled from the battlefield. Alexander then saw his left flank and center in trouble, let Darius flee, and crashed into the rear of the Greek mercenaries. The Greek mercenaries broke up. Sony VAIO VPCF14AFJ battery The Persians saw that their Great King had gone and that the battle was being lost, and they abandoned their positions and fled in full rout. The Macedonian cavalry pursued the fleeing Persians for as long as there was light. As with most ancient battles, significant carnage occurred after the battle as pursuing Macedonians slaughtered their crowded, disorganized foe. Sony VAIO VPCF14AGJ battery Arrian notes Ptolemy I mentions that, while pursuing Darius, Alexander and his bodyguards came upon a gap which they effortlessly crossed on the bodies of dead Persians. It was a decisive victory for Alexander. Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek:Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας, Aléxandros ho Mégas^iii[›] Sony VAIO VPCF14AHJ battery from the Greek ἀλέξω alexo "to defend, help" + ἀνήρ aner "man"), was a king of Macedon, a state in northern ancient Greece. Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from theIonian Sea to the Himalayas.^[1] Sony VAIO VPCF14ZHJ battery He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of history's most successful commanders.^[2] Alexander succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedon, to the throne in 336 BC after Philip was assassinated. Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Sony VAIO VPCF217HG battery He was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC, he invaded Persian-ruled Asia Minorand began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela. Sony VAIO VPCF217HG/BI battery He subsequently overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire.^i[›] At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Sony VAIO VPCF217FG battery Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander's surviving generals and heirs. Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. Sony VAIO VPCF217FG/BI battery He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Sony VAIO VPCF219FJ/BI battery Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics. Sony VAIO VPCF21AFJ battery Alexander was born on the 6th day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion, which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC, although the exact date is not known,^[4] in Pella, the capital of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon.^[5] He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of Epirus. Sony VAIO VPCF21AGJ battery Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely a result of giving birth to Alexander.^[9] Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood.^[10] According to the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch, Olympias, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunder bolt, causing a flame that spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sony VAIO VPCF21AHJ battery Some time after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image.^[11] Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father wasZeus. Sony VAIO VPCF21Z1E/BI battery Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.^[11] On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. Sony VAIO VPCF21ZHJ battery That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games. It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of theSeven Wonders of the World, burnt down. Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B battery This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander.^[7][12] Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception. In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike, sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black. Sony VAIO VPCF116FG/BI battery Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas, a relative of his mother, and by Philip's general Lysimachus.^[13] Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre, ride, fight, and hunt.^[14] When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents. Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI battery The horse refused to be mounted and Philip ordered it away. Alexander however, detecting the horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed.^[10] Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC battery Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him.^[15]Alexander named it Bucephalas, meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far asPakistan. When the animal died (due to old age, according to Plutarch, at age thirty), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala.The primary (actually secondary) accounts are two: Plutarch's Life of Alexander, Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI battery 6, and Arrian's Anabasis Alexandri V.19., state that Bucephalus died after the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC, in what is now modern Pakistan, and is buried in Jalalpur Sharif outside of Jhelum, Pakistan. Another account states that Bucephalus is buried in Phalia, a town in Pakistan's Mandi Bahauddin District, which is named after him. Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ battery When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor, and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus, the latter offering to resign to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B battery Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira, which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile.^[18][19][20] Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy, Hephaistion, and Cassander. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E battery Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer, and in particular the Iliad; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H battery At age 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip waged war against Byzantion, leaving Alexander in charge asregent and heir apparent.^[10] During Philip's absence, the Thracian Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly, driving them from their territory. He colonized it with Greeks, and founded a city named Alexandropolis. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E battery Upon Philip's return, he dispatched Alexander with a small force to subdue revolts in southern Thrace. Campaigning against the Greek city of Perinthus, Alexander is reported to have saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred to Apollo near Delphi, a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E battery Still occupied in Thrace, he ordered Alexander to muster an army for a campaign in Greece. Concerned that other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians invaded Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander.^[27] Sony VAIO VPCF127HG/BI battery Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae, taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of Elatea, only a few days' march from both Athens and Thebes. The Athenians, led by Demosthenes, voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Sony VAIO VPCF135FG/B battery Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes' favor, but Athens won the contest.^[28][29][30] Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the request of theAmphictyonic League), capturing the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it. Sony VAIO VPCF136FG/BI battery As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea, Boeotia. During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea, Philip commanded the right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for some time. Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI battery Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having damaged the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. Sony VAIO VPCF135Z1E/B battery With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated.^[34] After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese, welcomed by all cities; however, when they reached Sparta, they were refused, but did not resort to war.^[35] Sony VAIO VPCM125AGP battery At Corinth, Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modeled on the old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth), and announced his plans to attack the Persian Empire. Sony VAIO VPCM128JC/L battery When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice, the niece of his general Attalus.^[38] The marriage made Alexander's position as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian.^[39] Sony VAIO VPCM128JC/P battery During the wedding banquet, a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir. At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. Sony VAIO VPCM129AJ/L battery This so irritated Alexander, that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor. Sony VAIO VPCM129AJ/P battery At which Alexander reproachfully insulted over him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another." Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona, capital of the Molossians.^[41] Sony VAIO VPCM129AJ/W battery He continued to Illyria,^[41] where he sought refuge with the Illyrian King and was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before. However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son.^[41] Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, Demaratus, who mediated between the two parties. Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/L battery In the following year, the Persian satrap (governor) of Caria, Pixodarus, offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus.^[41]Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir.^[41] Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/P battery Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped the negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him.^[41]Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/W battery Harpalus, Nearchus, Ptolemy and Erigyius, and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains. In 336 BC, while at Aegae attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus, Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards, Pausanias.^vi[›] Sony VAIO VPCM125AG/L battery As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas andLeonnatus. Alexander was proclaimed king by the nobles and army at the age of 20. Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. Sony VAIO VPCM125AG/P battery He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV, executed.^[49] He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed, but spared a third,Alexander Lyncestes. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus,^[49] Sony VAIO VPCM125AG/W battery who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle.^[50] Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to leave alive.^[50] Sony VAIO VPCM125JC/W battery Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias. News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Sony VAIO VPCM126AA/L battery Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa, and ordered his men to ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. He then continued south towards thePeloponnese. Sony VAIO VPCM126AA/P battery Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander pardoned the rebels. The famous encounter between Alexander and Diogenes the Cynic occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. Sony VAIO VPCM126AA/W battery When Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight.^[56] This reply apparently delighted Alexander, who is reported to have said "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes."^[57] Sony VAIO VPCM126AG/L battery At Corinth Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader"), and like Philip, was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising. Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting fromAmphipolis, Sony VAIO VPCM126AG/P battery he traveled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians"; and at Mount Haemus, the Macedonian army attacked and defeated the Thracian forces manning the heights.^[59] The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi, and defeated their army near the Lyginus river^[60] (a tributary of the Danube). Sony VAIO VPCM126AG/W battery Alexander then marched for three days to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry skirmish.^[61][62] News then reached Alexander that Cleitus, King of Illyria, and King Glaukias of the Taulanti were in open revolt against his authority. Sony VAIO VPCM126AH/L battery Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier.^[63][64] While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south.^[65] While the other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. Sony VAIO VPCM126AH/P battery The Theban resistance was ineffective, and Alexander razed the city and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace.^[65] Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving Antipater as regent. Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000,^[65] Sony VAIO VPCM126AH/W battery drawn from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace, Paionia, and Illyria.^[67] He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods.^[65]This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy.^[65] Sony VPCCA15FA/B battery The Battle of Granicus was one of the first battles he fought on his conquest to rule Asia. His naivety could be seen through his actions as he was ‘closest to failure and death’ in this battle. It was here that he was learning how to implement the strategies Aristotle had taught him during childhood. Sony VPCCA15FA/G battery Alexander was a wise leader who could see the flaws in military strategy better than even his own military generals, ‘Alexander…rejected Parmenion’s advice… to capitalize on the Persians’ error in tactical deployment’. Alexander the Great demonstrated extreme hubris in this battle, though he was not experienced, Sony VPCCA15FA/L battery which causes speculation that he, due to his royal nature, believed he was superior to others. After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast. Sony VPCCA15FA/P battery Though Alexander believed in his divine right to expend the lives of men in battle, he did experience sorrow, as those who died were rewarded generously: ‘To the relatives of his fallen, Alexander granted immunity from taxation and public service’. Whether it was his own warriors or the Persian forces opposing him, Alexander chose to respect those who died. Sony VPCCA15FA/W battery He even went so far to set up statues to honor and respect these people. Though this did not directly influence the culture of the Persians they did not feel the need to begin a rebellion as their men and rulers were treated with proper respect.^[68] At Halicarnassus, in Caria, Alexander successfully waged the first of many sieges, eventually forcing his opponents,Sony VPCCA15FF/B battery the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates, to withdraw by sea.^[69] Alexander left the government of Caria to Ada, who adopted Alexander.^[70] From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. Sony VPCCA15FF/G battery From Pamphylia onwards the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At Termessos, Alexander humbled but did not storm the Pisidian city.^[71]At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium, Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of Asia".^[72] Sony VPCCA15FF/L battery According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone and hacked it apart with his sword. Alexander journeyed south but was met by Darius’ significantly larger army which he easily defeated, causing Darius to panic. Although he was chased by some troops ‘Alexander treated them (his family) Sony VPCCA15FF/P battery with the respect out of consideration’ which demonstrated his continued generosity and kindness towards those he conquered.^[74] Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his motherSisygambis, and a fabulous treasure.^[75] He offered a peace treaty that included the lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Sony VPCCA15FF/W battery Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Alexander the Great, although a generous man in victory, eventually recognized the power that he was capable of when he would defeat an enemy in war. Following the siege of Tyre in 332, the enemy he defeated, Darius, attempted to present terms of unconditional surrender but Alexander became ruthless. Sony VPCCA15FG battery He realized that he had control and could receive much more. Darius was thus forced to come back, ‘This time the offer was impressive. Darius offered all territory as a far the Euphrates… a colossal ransom of 30,000 talents for his family…invited to marry his eldest daughter’. This new change in diplomatic relations induced panic among the leaders of the surrounding nations, as they feared a similar defeat. Sony VPCCA15FG/B battery This led to some barbarian cultures choosing to merely abdicate power to Alexander, to avoid certain death.”^[76] Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria, and most of the coast of the Levant.^[70] In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre, which he captured after a long and difficult siege.^[ Sony VPCCA15FG/D battery Alexander massacred the men of military age and sold the women and children into slavery. When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated, with the exception of Gaza. The stronghold at Gaza was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. Alexander came upon the city only to be met with a surprising resistance and fortification. Sony VPCCA15FG/G battery When ‘his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible… this encouraged Alexander all the more to make the attempt’ . The divine right that Alexander believed he had gave him confidence of a miracle occurring.^[80] After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. Sony VPCCA15FG/P battery As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword and the women and children sold into slavery.^[81] Jerusalem instead opened its gates in surrender, and according to Josephus, Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel's prophecy, presumably chapter 8, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. He spared Jerusalem and pushed south into Egypt.^[82] Sony VPCCA15FG/R battery Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC, where he was regarded as a liberator.^[83] He was pronounced the new "master of the Universe" and son of the deity of Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert.^[84] Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent currency depicted him adorned with rams horn as a symbol of his divinity.^[85] Sony VPCCA15FG/W battery During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria-by-Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq) and again defeated Darius, at the Battle of Gaugamela.^[87] Sony VPCCA15FH/B battery Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela. Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamedan), while Alexander captured Babylon. From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa, one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its legendary treasury. Sony VPCCA15FH/G battery He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Royal Road. Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He had to storm the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains) which had been blocked by a Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury. Sony VPCCA15FH/L battery On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days.^[90] Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months.^[91] During his stay a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athensduring the Second Persian War. Sony VPCCA15FH/P battery Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia.^[93] The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman.^[94] As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius' successor as Artaxerxes V, Sony VPCCA15FH/W battery before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander.^[95] Alexander buried Darius' remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral.^[96] He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne.^[97] The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius.^[98] Sony VPCCA15FW/B battery Alexander viewed Bessus as a usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandaharin Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan. Sony VPCCA15FW/D battery The campaign took Alexander through Media,Parthia, Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana, Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and Scythia.^[99] Spitamenes, who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana, in 329 BC betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy, one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed. Sony VPCCA15FW/P battery However, when, at some point later, Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in the Battle of Gabai. Sony VPCCA15FW/W battery After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace.^[101] The empire began falling as military leaders and eventually Alexander died. During this time, Alexander took the Persian title "King of Kings" (Shahanshah) and adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of proskynesis, either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors. Sony VPCCA15FX/W battery The Greeks regarded the gesture as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it.^[103] A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, Philotas, was executed for failing to alert Alexander. Sony VPCCA16EC battery The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus Parmenion, who had been charged with guarding the treasury atEcbatana, was assassinated at Alexander's command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, Sony VPCCA16EC/P battery Cleitus the Black, during a violent drunken altercation at Maracanda(modern day Samarkand in Uzbekistan), in which Cleitus accused Alexander of several judgemental mistakes and most especially, of having forgot the Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle.^[104] Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed, this one instigated by his own royalpages. Sony VPCCA16FG/B battery His official historian, Callisthenes of Olynthus, was implicated in the plot; however, historians have yet to reach consensus regarding this involvement. Callisthenes had fallen out of favor by leading the opposition to the attempt to introduce proskynesis. When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general Antipater, an experienced military and political leader and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon.^[66] Sony VPCCA16FG/W battery Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his absence.^[66] The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in battle at Megalopolis the following year.^[66] Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them. Sony VPCCA16FH/B battery There was also considerable friction between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the other.^[107] In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during Alexander's campaign in Asia.^[108] Sony VPCCA16FW/W battery Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire.^[109] However, Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians throughout his empire depleted Macedon's manpower, greatly weakening it in the years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome. Sony VPCCA17EC battery,Sony VPCCA17EC/W battery,Sony VPCCA17FX/D battery