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[[File:1200px-Alexander_the_Great_mosaic.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Alexander the Great]]In the public's mind, few well -known conquerors in history match the exploits of Alexander the Great. In just a few years, from 334-330 BC, Alexander would go on to conquer the largest empire the world had known and establish his own empire that eventually stretched from Greece to India. Furthermore, Alexander began a process where Greek culture began to intermix with ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, Central Asian, and Indian cultures that influenced much of the Old World for many centuries. The exchange of ideas and trade brought about an era of unprecedented prosperity and knowledge that advanced the ancient world's sciences and . It led to many discoveries that would not be replicated until the Renaissance in the 15 or 16th century AD. What is remarkable is he achieved all of this by the age of 32 at the time of his death in Babylon. However, the root of all the social change that would eventually influence Europe, the Near East, Egypt, and much of Asia rested in his ability to conquer a lot of territory many territories and doing do it quickly. The question is , how did he do this?
====Initial Conquests====[[File:Alexandermosaic.jpg|thumbnail|left|275px|Figure 1. A mosaic showing Alexander attacking Darius III and his centerline at the battle of Issus.]]Alexander took power after the death of his father, Philip II of Macedon, who had already planned to invade the Persian, Achaemenid Empire.<ref>For more on Alexander's father and his plans of conquests, see: Carney, Elizabeth Donnelly, and Daniel Ogden, eds. 2010. [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199738157/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199738157&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=40e1c4808c9befad6d185d849b70849b Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son, Lives and Afterlives]. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> His first battles were Greece and the Balkans, where he consolidated his power while suppressing several revolts.
====The Levant, Syria, and Egypt====After the battle of Issus, Alexander took the Levant and the coastal Mediterranean cities, which were important trading cities and allowed the Achaemenids to derive much of their wealth, establish their navy, and proceed into Egypt. In Syria and the Levant, his only major encounters were the sieges of Tyre and Gaza in 332 BC.<ref> For more on Alexander's campaigns in the Levant and Syria, see: Freeman, Philip. 2011. <i>[[Filehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1416592814/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1416592814&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=f5c583c6ae9445145f4140977f336b3f Alexander the Great]</i>. New York:AlexandermosaicSimon & Schuster, pg.jpg|thumbnail|Figure 126. A mosaic showing </ref> In Egypt, he was quickly accepted by the local population, as the Egyptians had revolted against the Achaemenids not long before Alexander attacking Darius III and his center line at the battle of Issus, therefore, saw this as an opportunity for new leadership.]]
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====References====
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[[Category:Wikis]]
[[Category:Ancient History]] [[Category:Greek History]]
[[Category:Near East History]][[Category:Ancient Greek History]]
[[Category: Hellenistic Period]][[Category:Alexander the Great]]
Updated January 18, 2019
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