Alexander's Empire
The ancient Kingdom of Macedonia, situated in the north of modern Greece,
was established by Perdiccas I about 640 B.C. Perdiccas was a Dorian, although
the Macedonian tribes included Thracian and Illyrian elements. Originally a
semibarbarous and fragmented power, Macedon became tributary to Persia under the
Persian kings Darius I and Xerxes I and thereafter struggled to maintain itself
against Thracians and other barbarians and against the Greek cities of the
Chalcidice as well as Sparta and Athens.
A new stage began with Archelaus (d.399 B.C.), who centralized the kingdom
with a system of roads and forts; he also fostered the Hellenization of his
people by inviting famous Greek ...
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fell in 359
B.C. while fighting the Illyrians the seaboard of his state was largely under
Athenian control or in the hands of the Chalcidian league, grouped about
Olynthus.
Philip (382-36), brother of the dead king, was made regent for the infant
heir, soon set aside his nephew, and became outright king.
Once power was his, the young monarch swiftly brought order to his domain
by armed force when necessary, by diplomatic guile whenever he could, Philip set
out to make Macedon the greatest power in the Greek world.
Alexander was born in 356 to the first wife of Philip. As a teenager
Alexander was educated by Athenian philosopher Aristotle. By the year 337 all of
the Greek city-states had been conquered or forced into an alliance by Philip.
He was planning to lead their joint forces for an invasion of the Persian empire
when he was assassinated in 336. Thus at the age of 20, Alexander became king of
the Macedonians.
After Philip's death, some Greek cities under ...
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such weapons as battering
rams, catapults, and mobile towers in their attack. The Tyrians on the island
surrendered in 332 B.C, after seven months of fighting. Alexander's use of huge
siege machines at Tyre introduced a new age of warfare.
Alexander next entered Egypt. The Egyptians welcomed him as a liberator
from Persian rule, and they crowned him pharaoh. On the western edge of the Nile
Delta, Alexander founded a city in 331 B.C. and named it Alexandria after
himself.
From Alexandria, the Macedonian king made a long difficult trek through the
Libyan Desert, a part of the Sahara, to the oasis of Siwah. He consulted the
oracle of the god Zeus-Ammon, and, according to legend, ...
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Alexander's Empire. (2006, September 6). Retrieved November 30, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/51927
"Alexander's Empire." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 6 Sep. 2006. Web. 30 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/51927>
"Alexander's Empire." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2006. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/51927.
"Alexander's Empire." Essayworld.com. September 6, 2006. Accessed November 30, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/51927.
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