In the year 356 B.C a prince was born in the city of Pella, Macedon, Greece. His father’s Philip the second, king of Macedon at the time, and his mother’s Queen Olympias. This boy was brave, courageous and fearless. He was tutored by the famous philosopher Aristotle. At the age of 18 he became a wing commander in the Macedonian royal army. At one point in 338 B.C at the battle of Chaeronea this fearless young boy led a decisive cavalry charge and won the battle for the Macedonian army. After the death of his father in 336 B.C he was crowned as the King of Macedon at the age of 20. Now he is ready to continue his father’s plan of conquering the mighty Persian Empire. It was the largest empire at the time alongside having the largest field army.
In the year 334 B.C this young king landed in northern Turkey to begin his military campaign. The Persians underestimated the young king and sent a small army of cavalry to stop him but they were defeated at the battle of river Granicus in the year 334 B.C. Persian Emperor King Darius took this personally and confronted the Macedonian army with his one hundred thousand strong royal army. In the year 333 B.C at the battle of Issus the mighty Persian king Darius and his strong army were defeated by the numerically small Macedonian army but the Persian king ran away from them. Then the Macedonians went on to conquer most of the Persian Empire but King Darius of Persia gathered more troops and waited for the Macedonians near the small village of Gaugamela, modern-day Mosul. When the young Macedonian King heard the news instead of returning back to the home he went straight to them. At this time the Persian army was about one hundred thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand strong and there were about only forty seven thousand Macedonian troops remaining. But the size of the army couldn’t stop the Macedonians from winning the battle. In the year 331 B.C at the battle of Gaugamela the mighty Persian army was tactically defeated and routed by the Macedonian army led by a 25 year old young king. That was the end of the Achaemenid dynasty’s rule over Persia yet he did not stop there and went on conquering up to Himalayan mountains, Indian border. With the impact of the Greek invasion, Hellenization began, which meant the spreading of Greek cultural aspects in the Asian society and it greatly contributed to social progress.
Now who is this young king? His name was Alexander. He 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.
At last the positive part of the character. I must say that I don’t like war but love peace and harmony. I just like the personality of Alexander. His bravery, fearless leadership and tactics make me admire him. There are two famous quotes by Alexander we can get motivation for our lives.
“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.”
&
“Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer it are made free and those who are conquered by it are made to suffer until they have the courage to defeat it, or death takes them.“
Some ancient people recognized him as a son of God but I see him as a young hero who fought for the freedom of people persecuted by the Persian rule. If you’re interested to learn about Alexander, you can watch the following documentaries on YouTube.
- Alexander the Great by Epic History T.V.- https://bit.ly/3vWoiOy
- Alexander The Great – ‘The Path to Power’ and ‘Until the End of the World’ Two Part Documentary – https://bit.ly/35SIYfE
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