Alexander the Great

by Lewis V. Cummings

The facts of Alexander's life are extraordinary, and it's no surprise that two major Hollywood films on his life are in production. Born Alexander III, king of Macedonia, and the first king to be called "the Great," he was born in 356 BC and brought up as crown prince. Taught for a time by Aristotle, he acquired a love for Homer and an infatuation with the heroic age. When his father Philip divorced Olympias to marry a younger princess, Alexander fled. Although allowed to return, he remained isolated and insecure untilP hilip's mysterious assassination about June 336.

Alexander was at once presented to the army as king. Winning its support, he eliminated all potential rivals. No sooner had Alexander ascended the throne, than the Illyeians and other Northern tribes, which had been subdued by his father Philip, erupted into Macedonia, but they were quickly dispatched by the armies of Alexander. Some Grecian states, with Athens and Thebes at their head, thinking this a favorable oppurtunity, attempted to shake off the macedonia yoke; but the sudden appearance of the youthful Alexander in their midst soon put an end to all resistance. Thebes was taken by strom and razed to the ground, only the house of the poet Pindar and several other dwellings being spared; and the inhabitants were sold into slavery. Athens and the other Greek states immeaditly submitted, and were generously pardoned by Alexander. Then he took up Philip's war of aggression against Persia, adopting his slogan of a Hellenic Crusadeagainst the barbarian. He defeated the small force defending Anatolia, proclaimed freedom for the Greek cities there while keeping them under tight control, and, after a campaign through the Anatolian highlands (to impress the tribesmen), met and defeated the Persian army under Darius III at Issus (near modern Iskenderun, Turkey).

He occupied Syria and--after a long siege ofTyreE--Phoenicia, then entered Egypt, where he was accepted as Pharaoh. From there he visited the famous Libyan oracle of Amon (or Ammon,identified by the Greeks with Zeus). The oracle hailed him as Amon's son (two Greek oracles confirmed him as son of Zeus) and promised him that he would become a god. His faith in Amon kept increasing, and after his death he was portrayed with the god's horns. After organizing Egypt and founding Alexandria, Alexander crossed the Eastern Desert and the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and in the autumn of331 defeated Darius's grand army at Gaugamela (near modern Irbil, Iraq).

Darius fled to the mountain residence of Ecbatana, while Alexander occupied Babylon, the imperial capital Susa, and Persepolis. Alexander acted as legitimate king of Persia, and to win the support ofthe Iranian aristocracy he appointed mainly Iranians as provincial governors. Yet a major uprising in Greece delayed him at Persepolis until May 330 and then, before leaving, he destroyed the great palace complex as a gesture to the Greeks. At Ecbatana, after hearing that the rebellion had failed, he proclaimed the end of the Hellenic Crusade and discharged the Greek forces. He then pursued Darius, who had turned eastward. Darius was assassinated by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, who distrusted his will to keep fighting and proclaimed himself king. As a result, Alexander faced years of guerrilla war in northeastern Iran and central Asia, which ended only when he married (327) Rozana, the daughter of a localchieftain. The whole area was fortified by a network of military settlements, some of which later developed into major cities.

During these years, Alexander's increasing preoccupation outside of Greece led to trouble with Macedonian nobles and some Greeks. Parmenion, Philip II's senior general, and his family originally had a stranglehold on the army, but Alexander gradually weakened its grip. Late in 330, Parmenion's oldestson, Philotas, commander of the cavalry and chief opponent of the king's new policies, was eliminated in a carefully staged coup d'etat, and Parmenion was assassinated. Another noble, Cleitus, was killed by Alexander himself in a drunken brawl. (Heavy drinking was acherished tradition at the Macedonian court.) Alexander next demanded that Europeans follow the Oriental etiquette of prostrating themselves before the king--which he knew was regarded as an act of worship by Greeks. But resistance by Macedonian officers and by the Greek Callisthenes (a nephew of Aristotle who had joined the expedition as the official historian of the crusade) defeated the attempt. Callisthenes was then executed on a charge of conspiracy.

With discipline restored, Alexander invaded (327) the Punjab. After conquering most of it, he was stopped from pressing on to the distant Ganges by a mutiny of the soldiers. Turning south, he marched down to the mouth of the Indus, engaging in some of the heaviest fighting and bloodiest massacres of the war. He was nearly killed while assaulting a town. On reaching the Indian Ocean, he sent the Greek ooooooffic...

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography

480 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2004

Reviews

[Windsor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best book on Alexander. Rather a plain summary in my opinion.

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the book claims to be a biography, it is not, but rather a military history of alexander and his father. It is well written, but if you were hoping for a biography of Alexander himself you will be disappointed. This book traces every step he takes in his military campaigns and also includes in agonizing detail every little town on his travels as well as exactly how many miles, details of terrain and all you would ever wish to know about unit formations and battle arrangements. Despite the unexpected minutae,and frequent insertions of original Greek the book is pretty good- particularly in the later parts.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I found this book very dense and not so enjoyable. But, once I got used to it I ended up enjoying it. There are lots of names and places to follow with relatively little guidance, but it does give you an appreciation for who Alexander the Great was, where he came from, and what he accomplished. It would have been great if the maps made reference to the current-day names of the cities but the many maps sprinkled throughout the text were very useful regardless. It is amazing that one early-twenties man could be such a megalomaniac and have so many cities/states fall at his feet. At the end of the book, I found myself wanting to know more about exactly how it all fell apart after his death.

This book was first copyrighted in 1940. There may be more recent books on Alexander the Great with newer findings or insights. This one just happened to be on my bookshelf, so this is the one I read.

[W.A. McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another example of one man with ambition and drive change the world around him. This is an old book, but it seemed well researched. If you like history’s of empires this is a good read.

Spoiler, America didn’t invent slavery. This book is rife with it.

[Joey P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in many parts, but it gets bogged down in geographical references that makes the narrative hard to follow.

[Samantha Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy cow

I know this took me a LONG time to get through. Personally I'm not that big into biographies, but Alexander the Great is one of my all time past-time heroes!

Great book for research...
Of course I would know...
I had to write a 10 page paper on Alexander the Great...
My brain hurt afterward...

I skimmed most of this book for ideas and facts that I could use in my paper, and ended up, some four months later, actually finishing the book.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read excerpts in college and skimmed through again later to pick up more. However, it's a lot more really than I want to read about battles and military strategy. Lacking on the bio side. Well researched.

[Rob Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a textbook, but very interesting nonetheless.

[2bnallegory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still on the lead up to Alexander, a lot of names and places. Not bad thus far.

[UnAnimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is "detailed" -- too detailed you'll get lost and start all over again.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but reads very much like a textbook. Given its publication date it is understandable, but still not exactly a page turner