“Macedonia is too small for you.” In this simple sentence seems to be contained everything that can be said about Alexander the Great. He who was one of the greatest kings of antiquity heard it from her father while he managed to ride Bucephalus, a horse that no one could tame. And, in view of the empire he left behind at his death, it was a prophecy come true.
He rose to the throne of Macedonia, in the north of present-day Greece, at the age of 20 following the assassination of his father, Philip II, at the hands of one of the captains of his guard. The one who would later be called “Great”, the Great, received a kingdom that had dedicated all his forces to a single idea: the conquest of the Persian Empire, the largest in the world at that time.
It seemed crazy, but Macedonia was not just any kingdom. His military power had already subjected Greece to the designs of Philip. A whole series of innovations (introduction of the sarisa, or pike; a phalanx, a larger tactical combat formation; a decisive use of heavy cavalry…) led the Greek polis to fall one after the other into the hands of the one who considered a semi-barbarian from the north.
The “semi-barbarian” made his way through the cities that dared to resist him, as happened in Chaeronea, against a coalition of Thebes and Athens. It was the first step towards his great ambition: the conquest of the Persian Empire. Knowing that he would need all the allies he could find, Philip did not humiliate the vanquished, but freed the prisoners and contented himself with letting the polis become his vassals.
Upon Philip’s death, Alexander’s ascension leads the Greeks to believe that their youth will amount to weakness, and they decide to rebel against Macedonia. Mistake. The new king passes through Thessaly, already subjugated by his father, and razes Thebes to its foundations, crushing the rebellion and forcing Athens to renew its vow of allegiance. Now everything is ready for the great leap, the conquest of Persia.
That leap occurs two years later, when Alexander crosses the Hellespont and first faces the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus. The Greco-Macedonian forces, of about 42,000 men, face a Persian army equivalent in number, which also includes an important contingent of Greek mercenaries under the command of Memnon of Rhodes.
But in this first battle the Macedonian military pre-eminence is evident. His heavy infantry is far superior to the Persian infantry, made up mostly of light troops. In addition, faced with the rigid tactics of the enemy, Alejandro masterfully manipulates his forces, using the “hammer and anvil” tactic. The infantry holds (anvil) and the cavalry strikes (hammer), a heavy cavalry in which the hetairoi, or companions, the elite of the Macedonian aristocracy, stand out. And in command of this unit, always on the front line, Alejandro.
After this first confrontation, in which all the Greek mercenaries that were part of the rival army are put to the sword, Alexander decides to remain in Gordión during the winter, where he prepares for the first clash with the Persian king Darius III in which he will be the battle of Issus
Darius had assembled an army of about 200,000 men, which again included a large contingent of Greek hoplites, as well as the 10,000 Immortals, his personal guard. But the site of the battle, a plain flanked by mountains and the sea, prevented her from taking advantage of his numerical advantage. Realizing this, Alexander launched his companion cavalry on the Persian left flank. Meanwhile, his center held back the enemy infantry charge, and his left wing, composed of Thessalian cavalry, repulsed the Persians.
The Macedonian center complied with what was planned, since the enemy infantry could not do anything other than launch frontal attacks against the phalanx, given the narrowness of the terrain, and collide with that authentic forest of spears that formed the sarisas.
Meanwhile, the Thessalian cavalry was hard-pressed to contain the Persian attack. The decisive action was carried out by Alexander himself, who was on the right wing in command of the heavy cavalry. His charge at the head of his companions broke the Persian left wing, and the gap was taken advantage of by the Macedonian phalanx, which devastated the enemy and made Darius flee.
Alexander owned Syria and headed for Egypt without undue resistance. He alone stopped his steps to besiege and conquer Tyre, one of the few cities of ancient Phoenicia that refused to accept him as a conqueror. After a long seven-month siege, the city fell, and Alexander showed no mercy: Tire was devastated, 8,000 of its 40,000 inhabitants died (including 2,000 crucified as an example), and the rest were sold into slavery.
This bloody victory earned Alexander the peace of mind that no Persian fleet would threaten Greece again, since the entire Mediterranean coast was left in his power.
Feeling safe, Alexander headed towards Egypt instead of hunting down Darius’ defeated troops, and once in the Nile delta he founded the city that bears his name: Alexandria. Although he gave his name to more than 50 cities in the ancient Persian Empire, this is the one that has been most identified with him in the collective imagination. Fascinated by the ancient Egyptian culture, Alexander had himself proclaimed the son of Amun, that is, Pharaoh.
But now, his enormous territorial gains consolidated, he sets off again in search of Darius, who has assembled another army with troops drawn from all corners of his dwindling, yet still powerful, empire: Persians, Indians, Bactrians, Armenians. , Cappadocians… More than 90,000 men supported by chariots and elephants against which Alexander opposes some 45,000 soldiers. The two armies will meet face to face at Gaugamela.
It was the decisive battle, and Alexander won it, despite the fact that Darius had chosen the battlefield and had prepared it to make the most of his numerical superiority in cavalry (about 35,000 horsemen against the little more than 7,000 Macedonians). Once again the pike front of the Macedonian phalanx proved insurmountable, and, as at Issos, the Persian troops crashed into the sarissas. The hammer worked again: the companions overwhelmed DarÃo’s personal guard and launched themselves against the Great King, who fled for the second time. After him the whole army fled from him.
The Persian Empire was dying and Alexander was its virtual conqueror. He only had to catch DarÃo, but this would be denied him: the sovereign was assassinated by members of his own personal guard. Now the Persian and Macedonian empires were one, and Alexander the greatest king ever known.
To the astonishment of many of his subjects, Alexander did not become a bloodthirsty Persian despot and revenge against the old enemy. As already happened in Egypt, the Macedonian was fascinated by what he saw in Persia, its culture, its flourishing commercial cities (despite his performance in the palace of Xerxes in Persepolis, which he razed, some say, as revenge for the destruction of the Athenian Acropolis a century before), its constructions…
In an act of great symbolism, he takes the Bactrian princess Roxana as his wife and performs the so-called “wedding of East and West”, in which thousands of Macedonians marry Persian women at the same time. Determined to convert his immense territories into a single state, he decreed a monetary union, dictated that Greek become the reference and unit language, adopted Persian uses and customs… In fact, during his stay in the ancient Persian capital, it is easier to see him dressed in local clothing than Macedonian. He also did not hesitate to associate with the Persian aristocracy, and took the opportunity to found cities in his new domains.
But some of these measures are not well received by your generals. Among them, the one that keeps most of the Persian governors in their posts. Or the adoption of proskynesis, an old Persian custom of prostration before a person of superior social rank. For the Greeks, prostrating before a mortal was a barbarian practice: they only knelt before the gods. There was such a stir among his men that the Great ended up giving up and withdrew the measure.
Alexander, in a drunken night, killed his friend Clito, who, also drunk, reproached him for praising himself by saying he was better than his father Philip. Although the conquistador would later bitterly regret the death of his collaborator, the incident worsened the situation in his ranks. There were even various conspiracies.
The Macedonian decided to continue his march to the east. He crossed the Indus River with his men and defeated the Indian king Poros at the Battle of Hydaspes, where he lost his beloved horse Bucephalus. However, this victory represents the end of his expansion company: in his troops he has integrated a large fresh Persian contingent, but the Macedonians refuse to advance, they are tired and want to return home to enjoy the enormous wealth accumulated in The bells.
Unable to win this battle, Alexander begins the retreat. Unfortunately for him, he contracted typhoid fever along the way and died at the age of 33, leaving behind the greatest empire mankind had ever known.
The relatives and descendants of the Great soon lost their options over his incredible inheritance. After bitter struggles for power, their territories were divided between three of the conqueror’s generals, who founded their own dynasties there. The Macedonian Empire had disappeared, but not the Macedonian influence over huge domains spread over three continents. Alexander’s personal legend, of course, was to remain forever.
This text is part of an article published in number 482 of the Historia y Vida magazine. Do you have something to contribute? Write to us at redaccionhyv@historiayvida.com.
