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ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Alexander in Egypt
Alexander was welcomed in
Egypt as a liberator. There, in the coast of Mediterranean
he order the building of Alexandria. Then he crossed the
desert to find the oracle of Ammon-Ra. When he arrived,
the priest recognized him as the son of Ammon-Ra and the
oracle predicted that he would conquer the world. He stayed
in Egypt for a while to give his army a chance to rest.
Egyptians proclaimed him "Pharaoh" of Egypt.
The Battle at Gaugamila
Alexander and his army met
Darius and the Persian army at Gaugamila, between the rivers
Tiger and Euphrates. Alexander had a good opportunity to
surprise the Persians but he decided to wait until the next
morning to attack (October 1st, 331 BC). Alexander's army
destroyed the Persians but Darius managed to escape.
Alexander then captured Babylon, Susa and finally the capital
of the Persian Empire, Persepolis.
Darius finally met his end
at the hands of his own people.Vissos, a relative of Darius,
killed him believing that he would win Alexander's favor.
Alexander only found Darius after he had died. He ordered
to bury Darius giving him royal honors and handed Vissos
to Darius family to punish him.
He then pushed on towards
India via Afghanistan. One of his more brilliant acts was
the capture of the Sogdian Rock. At the top of the said
rock was Oxyartes, who felt safe because of the sheer cliffs
on each side. He taunted Alexander to send up men with wings
to capture the fortress. Alexander duly obliged. He sent
up 300 experienced climbers during the night with the promise
of fabulous wealth if they made it. The climb - a "very
severe" mountaineering parlance was completed by 90%
of the soldiers. In the morning, Oxyartes was appalled to
see these men "with wings" waving down at him.
He surrendered. Alexander and he then became good friends
- Alexander married his sister Roxanne.
Alexander pushed on towards
India and in another brilliant move defeated King Porus.
Porus had 200 elephants, and was lined up on the opposite
bank of the Hydaspes which was beginning to rise. Alexander
played an elaborate hoax on Porus. Every night, he got a
third of his army to pretend to cross the river and attack.
This went on for weeks until one dark, rainy night Alexander
did attack. He crossed the river way upstream and hit Porus'
troops from two sides. Strangely Alexander became good friends
with Porus too.
In the end, Alexander's troops
turned back from India because they were homesick. In a
terrible march across the desert in southern Iran, he lost
thousands of men to the heat and lack of water. Eventually,
he found his way back to Babylon, but was very badly injured
by an arrow on the way.
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ORIGIN OF
THE MACEDONIANS
THESSALONIKI
HISTORY OFTHESSALONIKI
ALEXANDER THE THIRD
("THE GREAT")
Copyright©
hellenic cyprus
2002
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