HISTORY ESSAY. 1. Born in 356 B.C.in Pella, Macedonia,

HISTORY ESSAY

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Born in 356 B.C.in Pella, Macedonia, Alexander was the son of Philip II and his
fourth wife Olympias. Alexander ascended to the throne at the age of 20 after the
controversial assassination of his father. Alexander earned the title of “Great” for conquering
much of the known world with his superior military and leadership skills. The Macedonian
king started his conquest with a dream of conquering the whole world and made his empire
stretch over 5,200,000 sq, km., spread across three continents. During his reign he
successfully captured the empires that existed from centuries. Although, Alexander the Great
possessed extraordinary strategic capability but still he failed to establish long term
governance in Persia after capturing it. He is also credited with plundering the resources of
Persia and damaging its culture and heritage.
Conquering the Persian soil was itself deemed as a heroic act as Persian empire was
said to be in a stable state without any widespread crisis1. {ATG piere briant} this victory
came after winning three battles namely, the battle of Gaugamela, Battle of Issus and Battle
of Granicus. Alexander depended largely on the Greek mercenaries as his own army was less
than half of the total2 .[ian worth 70]. Alexander’s army at the time of invasion was under the
financial stress, on the other hand Persia was one of the most prosperous places on earth, it
was a rich decentralised empire with abundant resources of gold and silver had a stabilized
administration3 (rostovtzef) but still the leadership of Alexander took toll on the Persian
forces and took control of the empire. Alexander had long term plans for establishing his
1Briant, Pierre, and Amélie Kuhrt. Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010
2 Worthington, Ian. Alexander the Great: Man and God. Great Britain: Pearson Education Limited, 2004.
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league in Persia. He forbade his soldiers to plunder the city and they were given clear
instructions to regard the victorious land as their own4 .ian worth 182. Alexander had
intentions of creating a unified Persian empire under Macedonian rule so he drew a line
between the Persian citizens and Persian soldiers because he wanted a bloodless conquest and
as little resistance and hatred as possible after winning it5. Ian worth 182. Alexander was of
the opinion to destroy the standing army of Persia, make the Persian empire act as a resource
centre for his empire and expeditions and rule the empire by taking Persian citizens into
confidence. The king did exceed in conquering Persian dynasty and making use of its
resources to expand his empire but he failed to make Persian people accept him as their ruler.
Alexander’s powerful standing army required a lot of resources for maintenance.
As the Macedonian army had limited supplies and food reserves, they chose to fill
Macedonian pockets with Persian resources. Persepolis, the capital of Persia was a rich centre
of art and architecture but the invasion by Alexander in 330 B.C. created ruins of it. The ruins
of Persepolis speaks three major stories i.e. it was built by Darius the Great, inflated by his
son Xerxes and destroyed by Alexander6[website resource}. Alexander gave an inflammatory
speech, laying stress on the misdeeds of Persia against the Greece, this motivated the army
enough to loot the palace of Persepolis7. {peter 315}. Alexander now wanted to rule by fear
so he gave army a free hand to kill any adult male they encountered8. {Peter 316}. The army
4
Worthington, Ian. Alexander the Great: A Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003.
5 Worthington, Ian. Alexander the Great: A Reader. New York: Routledge, 2003.
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Website source
7
Green, Peter. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1991.
8 Green, Peter. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1991.
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