Μέγας Ἀλέξανδροςiii

Alexander The Great

When Alex is sixteen, his father put him in charge, not of the house, but of the whole country.

By sixteen, he was a general.By twenty, he ruled all of ancient Greece.By twenty-five he ruled all of the ancient

Persia.By thirty-two, he was the king of the world, or

the entire known world that time.

1.356 B.C. July - Alexander is born at Pella, Macedonia, to King Philip II and Olympias. 2.340 - Alexander serves as regent and puts down a revolt of the Maedi. 3.338 - Alexander helps his father win the Battle of Chaeronea. 4.336 - Alexander becomes ruler of Macedonia. 5.334 - Wins Battle of the Granicus River against Darius III of Persia. 6.333 - Wins Battle of Issus against Darius. 7.332 - Wins siege of Tyre; attacks Gaza, which falls. 8.331 - Founds Alexandria. Wins Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela) against Darius. "In the year 331 B.C. one of the greatest intellects whose influence the world has ever felt,

saw, with his eagle glance, the unrivalled advantage of the spot which is now Alexandria; and conceived the mighty project of making it the point of union of two, or rather of three worlds. In a new city, named after himself, Europe, Asia, and Africa were to meet and to hold communion."

Charles Kingsley on the founding of the city of Alexandria

9.328 - Kills Black Cleitus for an insult at Samarkand 10.327 - Marries Roxane; Begins march to India 11.326 - Wins Battle of River Hydaspes against Porus; Bucephalus dies 12.324 - Troops mutiny at Opis 13.323 June 10 - Dies at Babylon in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II

The Timeline of Alexander

1. A Wild, Crazy Family

Alexander did not get his good look from Philip, it is safe to say.

To be kind, he looked like a Neanderthal. He had battle scars covering his body, lost one eye in the

battle, and limped from a leg injury. BUT he was actually a brilliant military leader who turned

his drunken ragtag crew into a powerful and professional army.

And he turned that power onto conquering his neighbors, the Greek city-states.

Philip II of Macedonia

Philip also invented the Phalanx and had the first determined professional army in the ancient world.

Alexander always wanted to outdo his father. (If his dad had a big army, he would have a bigger one.)

He was jealous of Philip’s victory.He complained to his friends, “Boys, my dad

will forestall me in everything!” and “There will be nothing great or spectacular for you and me to show the world.”

Not quite. Philip just wanted to take over ancient Turkey, Alexander was going to take over the entire known world.

Whatever you can do, I can do better!

Alexander’s mother She worshiped Dionysus, was deep into her religion, handled

snakes in the festival The Mysteries, where people drink wine and dance under full moon.

Snakes frightened Philip, her husband, which give her evil ideas. She hid coiled reptiles in her shirt and jump out and hiss at Philip when he least expect it.

“Ssssssssssuprise!”

Olympias

Between his mom and dad’s warpath, it is no surprise that Alexander grew up to be such a brilliant warrior. From his dad, he knew how to fight, and from his mom, he know how to fight dirty.

With parents like that…

2. Greek Boy Wonder

Even as a kid, Alexander showed the talent of tricking his enemies-not with as sword, but even more powerful, with his sheer charm.

He could talk a gorilla out of its last banana.Once he talked Persian ambassadors

(drunken) to tell him all the military secrets of Persian.

Of course, Alexander like all boys in Macedonia, loved horses. (He could probably ride one before he could walk.)

Once he joined his dad to examine some war horses

One caught his eye . . . a shining black stallion, but nobody could get near the snorting, angry beast. It bucked every rider who tried to mount him and fought the groom tried to hold it.

Hold your Horses !

Alexander blurted out that he could handle the horse better. Philip agreed to let him do it and would let him pay the price of the horse if he failed as punishment. (The horse cost 70000o dollar in today’s equivalent.)

Alexander found out the horse was not angry but scared of its own shadow. He turned the horse to face the sun, so it would not see the shadow. First the horse struggled, but after Alexander continued to hold the bridle and whispered in the horse’s ears. The horse clam down, and Alexander jumped on it.

The horse’s hand groaned. Having the wildest horse taken off with the king’s son was not good for their sale-or heads. If something happened to the boy . . . they didn’t want to imagine.

Just before Philip wanted to call the royal mount to chase the horse down, Alexander came back into view with a huge grin on his face. He had done it!

Philip almost wept and was so glad about it. He said the horse was his and he needed a bigger kingdom than Macedon. (He predicted that right.)

Greek horses are smaller than today’s standards. The “Beast-like” Bucephalus is probably just size of a pony.

How do we knew this?Once Alexander’s troop crosses a river in the battle, it is

described the water reaches the man’s chest but the horses struggle to keep its head above water.

Another advantage is the troops ride without stirrups (they have not been invented yet) the man could also easily slip off the horse during battle.

A Warrior…Pony?!

Alexander’s horse, Bucephalus, meant “Oxhead” because of its stubbornness.

But Alexander loved that horse and rode it in every major battle. According to legend, Bucephalus never let anyone else ride it. He also kneeled when Alexander wanted to jump on.

Once on a march on foreign land, Bucephalus was stolen by horse thieves. Bad idea! Alexander flew into range. He declared if no one returned the horse, he was going to destroy all villages within miles.

Yo, Oxhead!

The terrified thieves returned the horse, and they thought Alexander was either going to jail them, kill them, or enslave them.

But Alexander was so delighted that he PAID the horse thieves for the horse’s safe return.

In 326 B.C. Bucephalus died because of the old age of 30. Alexander was crushed. He named a city after his horse as Bucephalia, which is in ancient India is today’s Pakistan.

3. School of hard knocks

Poor Alexander. His father also wanted him to be the smartest kid in the country.

Philip send Alexander to Sparta. (And you know the Spartans were harsh.)

Alexander’s teacher was Leonidas, a true blue Spartan. At Sparta, Alexander’s day started with a 7 mile hike. Then military arts: spear throwing, wrestling, swords play ,and

archery. The teacher also drilled him in military technique and

strategies, and made sure he kept up with reading and writing. Alexander complained to his friend, “Breakfast is a long hike

and dinner a light breakfast.

Starve the prince!

By the time Alexander was thirteen, he was ready for the warrior’s part as the warrior-king. But what about the king? He needed to know how to make the best decisions, so Philip went to shopping for new teachers. He set his sights on one of the greatest minds of the ancient world, Aristotle.

Philip asked him to come to the palace to tutor Alexander. Aristotle was uncertain. Philip entice d him with a lot of gold. Aristotle still hesitated. Philip then said he would rebuild his hometown. (Never mind that Philip’s own troop had destroyed it.)

In the end, Aristotle agreed, figuring he could not stop Alexander from being the king. At least he could teach him to respect democracy.

“Honey…Aristotle is at the door!”

Aristotle and Alexander spent tree years in a villa called Garden Of Midas, a peaceful place with lush vineyards and walkways. Aristotle taught many of his lessons, including biology, outside.

Aristotle also shared his extensive experience of medicine in there.

In The Garden Of Midas

Once in the battle in India, Alexander cures a man injured by a poison headed arrow by finding a plant in the wild which Alexander rubbed on the injured man’s body and let him drink the drink made from it. The man completely recovered.

Alexander ordered the entire army to cure other injured men with the poisoned arrow in this way.

(Aristotle should have been proud.)

As much as Alexander appreciated Science, he treasured stories more (the bloodier, the better). And the bloodiest is probably Homer’s The Iliad. He especially like the tale of The Trojan Horse.

Aristotle made a copy of the Iliad with his personal notes, and Alexander carried it in a jewel-encrusted box throughout Persia and India.

Alexander The …Bookworm?

Alexander loved Aristotle as much as his own father.

He said his father “Give him his own life,” but Aristotle “Taught him how to live well.”

Like a father

The real Test…

By sixteen, Alexander thought he was ready. Philip threw him into the battlefield as a real test against barbarians trying to conquer Macedonia.

Then Alexander a was raised as a general. (You are lucky if you are promoted to general when you are 50 now.) Alexander was eighteen.

Twenty year old Philip was assassinated, and Alexander became king of Macedonia.

This was not the end. It is the dawn of the Hellenistic period. Alexander’s tale had just began . . . The great challenge was about to start . . .

Please listen to Ethan and Justin for rest of the exciting story about Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic period.

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great

Book: Alexander The great Rocks The World

Bibliography-Special Thanks