ALEXANDER III OF MACEDON COMMONLY KNOWN AS ALEXANDER













- Slides: 13
ALEXANDER III OF MACEDON COMMONLY KNOWN AS ALEXANDER “THE GREAT” 356 -323 BCE
What did he do? � Became ruler of Macedon in 336 BCE � Crossed into Asia in 334 BCE to attack Persia � Remember � Persia from the Battle of Marathon? Conquered The Persian Empire in a series of battles between 334 BCE and 329 BCE
Map of Alexander’s Conquests
Important Battles � Battle of Granicus 334 BCE � First big battle between Alexander and the Persians � Took place in modern Turkey � Alexander’s victory convinced the Persians that he was a serious threat (Walbank, 2014)
Important Battles � Battle of Issus 333 BCE � Second big battle between Alexander and the Persians � Took place in southern Turkey � Decisive � Cleared victory for Alexander the way for Syrian invasion (Walbank, 2014)
Important Battles � Siege of Tyre 332 BCE � Last Persian port city in Lebanon � Necessary to take because Persians controlled the sea � Lasted for 7 months (Walbank, 2014) � Famous for causeway (artificial land bridge) built to storm the island city. (Green, 2013)
Important Battles � Battle of Gaugamela 331 BCE � Took place east of Mosul in Iraq � Complete � Effective � Persian victory for Alexander (Walbank, 2014) end of Persian Empire King Darius escaped. Alexander spent the next two years chasing him across modern day Iran
Alexander’s Army � � Used 18 foot spear called a sarissa and wore heavy armor (Kimball, 2013) Persians only had light armor and preferred bows and chariots (Kimball, 2013)
Final Years � 327 -325 BCE campaigning in India � After Indian campaign the army mutinied � Returned to his new capital of Babylon � Died in 323 BCE under mysterious circumstances (probably poisoned) (Kimball, 2013)
Post Alexander � � � Alexander’s generals founded kingdoms. Known as the Diadochi (Green, 2013) They would dominate Asia for the next 200 years (until the Roman conquests)
Most Important Facts to Know � � � King of Macedon Was a military genius which allowed him to conquer Persia Named himself “King of Kings” Forced Macedonians to marry Persians to encourage cultural unity After his death, his conquests were divided into several powerful kingdoms
Image Credits � 1: bladams. tripod. com � 2: www. mrsaustin. net � 3: www. mlahanas. de � 4: www. 1 stmuse. com
Sources � Green, Peter. (2013). Alexander of Macedon, 356 -323 B. C: A Historical Biography. Oakland, California: University of California Press. � Walbank, Frank. (2014). Alexander the Great. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http: //www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/14224/Alexander-the. Great � Kimball, George. (2013). Historic Figures: Alexander the Great. BBC History. Retrieved from http: //www. bbc. co. uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great. shtml