Alexander the Great lived between 356-323 BC. King of Macedonia II, located in the north of Greece. He is Philip’s son. From an early age, he received very harsh training, was starved, and was beaten. The person who gave him his teacher and worldview is the famous philosopher Aristotle. Alexander the Great walked 33 thousand km with his soldiers in a short period of 13 years, won countless wars and became the first great conqueror of history.
Alexander the Great not only conquered land, he changed the cultural future of humanity forever. He established the Hellenistic understanding and laid the foundation of the Roman Empire and the world of the future. There are many articles and books written on the world after Alexander.
Muslims described him as a hero of Islam in the book Iskendername. According to some, Zülkarneyn, the ruler who went to the end of the world in the Qur’an, is Alexander the Great. According to some theologians, Dhul-Qarnayn means two horns. The helmet of Alexander the Great has double horn-like ornaments. It is even depicted mixed with an ox with horns on some coins minted in the name of Alexander. It is known to be called double horned among some peoples.
For the Indians, he has turned into a mythological hero. For Central Asians, Genghis KhanHe is an exemplary leader whose name even . He was worshiped for centuries as a pagan deity for the Egyptians. At the time of his life; From the southernmost part of Africa to the northernmost part of Asia, no one has heard of him. In the mythologies of almost all societies, he has taken place in some way as the hero who achieves the impossible. In fact, the mother of the Persian emperor Darius, whom he defeated, died due to the sadness of Alexander’s death.
Alexander the Great’s Struggle with the Persians
Alexander, who was 20 when his father died, became king of Macedonia. The first thing he did was to eliminate his half-brother, who was still in the cradle, and everyone who could be considered heir to the throne, according to the traditions of the period. His first military action was to restore unity in the rebellious Greek city-states.
Later, he crossed the Dardanelles with his army and entered Persian territory. He defeated the Persian army with his army of 40 thousand people. It was quite surprising that he defeated the Persians, one of the greatest powers of the ancient world. In fact, the Persian emperor Darius wrote a letter to Alexander, saying that he was a child, and sent toys made of gold.
Alexander advanced by winning victories; He included cities such as Ephesus, Milet, Halicarnassus and Side one by one. He entered the city of Gordion in the center of Anatolia, today known as Ankara. While advancing by capturing the Anatolian cities, news comes that a huge Persian army is approaching near Antakya. Emperor Darius came with his family to show his victory. There are only 45,000 Greek soldiers against the Persian army, which consists of approximately 120,000 men. The most important units in the Greek army are light infantry, carrying 6-metre spears. After the two armies meet, the Persian army is shattered, thanks to Alexander’s successful tactics. Emperor Darius fled the battlefield, leaving his family behind. Alexander was furious at this, because a king should never be a coward and flee the battlefield. Although Alexander the Great was injured many times, he was always at the forefront of battles. Darius’ mother and wife passed into the hands of Alexander. But he ordered them to be treated very well. In fact, Darius’ mother loved Alexander very much and was responsible for his meals.
Proclaiming Alexander the Great Pharaoh of Egypt
Alexander the Great and the Greek army, overcoming the desert heat Ancient City Petra they reached the city. A statue of Alexander still stands here today. Later, Egypt was captured. Alexander was greeted with great love by the Egyptian people. At that time, the cultures of Egypt and Greece were very close to each other. Since the Egyptians regarded the Persians as invaders, they welcomed Alexander as their savior.
They even declared him the Egyptian Pharaoh, the famous commanders of Egypt. The hieroglyphs are also depicted with the pharaoh’s clothes and beard. He founded the city of Alexandria, which will be named after him, in one of the most beautiful places in Egypt, and built a huge library and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which is considered one of the 7 wonders of the world. For centuries after his death, he was considered a god to Egyptian pagans.
Alexander, who was in Egypt for a short time, followed Darius again with his army. Darius formed a huge army of 300,000 soldiers. Alexander, on the other hand, has about 50 thousand soldiers and the Persians are also advantageous in terms of land. But Alexander, by applying different tactics, destroyed the Persian army in a short time. Darius again fled from the battlefield and Alexander entered the Persian capital, Babylon. Babylonian city It is a place of great wealth and luxury. After this victory, huge amounts of gold were seized and Alexander distributed a large part of the treasure to his soldiers.
The Campaigns and Death of Alexander the Great
Central Asia, which is a very cold region, is recorded as one of the most difficult expeditions of Alexander in the records. Alexander, who won victories in Central Asia, also captured many large cities, including Samarkand. 10 cities of Alexandria were established in and around this geography.
Alexander’s army is not just an army of soldiers destined to destroy. It contains engineers, artists, actors, thinkers, architects, slaves and thousands of craftsmen. He took his own culture and philosophy wherever he went. Instead of replacing the leader of the countries he conquered, he made them the rulers of their own lands as governors. Alexander never interfered with the governments, religions and cultures of the countries.
Alexander also won the Indian war with the Kingdoms in a short time. But during the war, Alexander’s legendary war horse Bucephalos died. Alexander the Great, who was very sad about his death, founded a city called Bukefalya where he buried the horse. Iskender; He saw Indian tribes, Persian soldiers and Greeks as equals and gave them the same rights. He even allowed them to greet him according to their own culture and did not hesitate to dress like them among them.
Realizing that the soldiers did not want to go any further due to the monsoon rains that lasted for months, Alexander returned to Babylon to plan the conquest of Africa. Meanwhile, his lover and close friend died. Alexander was so upset that he declared mourning for 2 years. Upon the incident, Alexander caught malaria and died at the age of 33. It is told that he said to the strongest of his friends when he was dying, to whom do you leave the empire, and that he breathed his last before completing his promise.
Since Alexander was also the Pharaoh of Egypt when he died in Babylon, his body was mummified and brought to the city of Alexandria in Egypt, where he was placed in a special sarcophagus. Kings have come to visit him for centuries. In fact, when the great Roman Emperor Augustus came to Egypt and wanted to see the body of Alexander, he was told that he could see the graves of other kings. He said that I came to see the king, not a handful of dead. Alexander left behind the philosophy of wanting the greatest. His biggest dream is to gather the whole world under one roof.
