Alexander The Great
After his father died in 336 B.C.
Alexander became King Alexander III. He has several rival climants to the
throne executed. Cousin Amyntas whose throne Philip had took the power
wrongfully. He spared the life of his slow in mental development half-brother.
Philip’s last bride has given birth to her second daughter, and Olimpias is
said to have had the child killed.
Alexander became a King when he
was 20 years old. He was an exceptionally handsome man, although he was a heavy
drinker. His health was excellent and he was very athletic. He enjoyed reading,
music, and the theater. He was loyal to his friends and the men led, and he was
a brilliant general too. In a few years he conquered most of Asia Minor. He was
called “Lord of Asia,” a title he has chosen for himself.
Alexander tried to treat
Persians fairly, because he wanted to be excepted as their leader. According to
one account Alexander decided to destroy the Persian City Persepolis. The city
and its placed were reduced to rubble The king of Persia, Darius III, escaped
from Persepolis and Alexander pursued him. Alexander brought Darius’s body back
to the ruins of Persepolis and gave him a grand funeral. Then Alexander tried
effort to appease the Persians, antagonized some of the men around him. The son
of one of the most trusted generals became involved in a plot to assassinate
him. Although the general had no part in the conspiracy, he was executed along
with his son.
In 327 B.C. Alexander captured a
group of rebels and fell in love with the chief’s daughter, Roxane. They were
married and soon she became pregnant, but the child was stillborn. After
marriying Roxane, Alexander invaded India and conquered much territory there.
Following the bloody battle(which his forces won)his man refuse to go any
further. Unkillingly Alexander agreed to turn back. In the winter of 325-324 he
returned to Persia to promote harmony with his people and the Persians
commanded eighty of his most important men to marry highborn Persian women in
traditional Persian wedding ceremonies. He married King Darius’s daughter, who
was named either Barsine or Stateira (He was still married to Roxane).
Alexander also begun promoting Persians to high ranking positions on his army.
He efforts to create unity failed; even his marriages between his men and the
Persians mostly broke up after Alexander’s death. In the fall of 324
Alexander’s beloved friend Hephaestion died the following summer Alexander too
became ill, and June 13 he died in Babylon when he was 32.
By Irenne 6A2 Group Four
Words 447