Tell about Alexander The Great ?

Alexander the Great was known by a number of other nicknames in his lifetime. He was often called the Accursed, the Conqueror of the World, the Philosopher-King, and the Madman of Macedonia among others.

Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used his authority to launch his father’s pan-Hellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia.

Once he finished taking care of his housekeeping at home, Alexander left the General Antipater in charge as regent and set out for Persia. He easily won the first battles at the Granicus River and Sardes, but met with challenges in the cities of Miletus, Mylasa and Halicarnassus. In 333 BC, Alexander’s army met the Persian King’s massive army near Issus in Turkey.

In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years.

When Alexander and his forces took over the Phoenician cities of Marathus and Aradus (The coastline of modern day Lebanon, Northern Israel, Syria and Southwest Turkey), Darius begged Alexander for peace, but he refused. He attacked the island of Tyre, but having no Navy, he needed to find another way to get in. He had his men build a causeway to reach Tyre, but they repeatedly foiled his attempts to break their defences.

Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela.

Alexander realized that he would need his own navy, and gathered a large fleet. In 332 BC, he broke through the city walls, and had those who defied him either executed or sold as slaves.

Alexander overthrew the Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.

Alexander’s Persian conquests eventually led to the spread of Greek culture into the Persian nations (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India), and to the establishment of Greco-Buddhism, which is the blending of Buddhism with Greek culture.

He endeavored to reach the, “ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea,” and invaded India in 326 BC, winning an important victory over the Pauravas at the Battle of the Hydaspes.

Alexander the Great had a great love for philosophy. He apparently loved it so much, that he briefly paused his military campaign in India to have philosophical discussions with the gymnosophists, or “naked philosophers.” (So called because of their rejection of human vanity and clothing).

Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia.

Alexander the Great used to wash his hair with saffron to keep it gleaming and orange. Dying their hair, eyebrows and facial hair was a common practice for the Ancient Greeks, but at the time, saffron was extremely rare and more expensive than gold.

. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander’s surviving generals and heirs.

His legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism, which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism.

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 AD and the presence of Greek speakers in central and far eastern Anatolia until the 19202.

Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both 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.

Alexander the Great is often ranked among the most influential people in history.

His name comes from the Greek alexo, meaning “defend,” and andr, meaning “man,” therefore his name means “protector of men.”

Alexander’s mother, Olympias, was the daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of the Molossians, an ancient Greek tribe in Epirus.

While there is some controversy over Alexander’s sexuality, he did have three wives: Roxane, Statiera and Parysatis.

It’s believed that Alexander had two children: Herakles, a son with his mistress Barsine, and Alexander IV, his son by Roxane. Unfortunately, after his death, both of his children were murdered before they could reach adulthood

He was one of the most admired historical figures in Rome, even many years after his death. This is why rulers like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Augustus made pilgrimages to Alexander’s tomb in Alexandria.