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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used 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 ...
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"Alexander's Empire." Essayworld.com. October 17, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/72855.
"Alexander's Empire." Essayworld.com. October 17, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Alexanders-Empire/72855.
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