In 334 BC, Alexander, King of Macedonia, began one of the greatest military campaigns in
history – against the superpower of the age - the Persian Empire.
Just 20 years-old, his brilliant and fearless leadership won him battle after battle.
And in an astonishing 10 year campaign that took him to the edge of the known world, he
carved out one of the largest empires ever known.
Few men have had such a massive impact on the course of history.
To the Persians, he was Alexander the Accursed, but to the west, he was immortalised... as
Alexander the Great.
Ancient Greece.
From around 500 BC, this rugged land was the scene of remarkable developments in art, philosophy,
and warfare.
Its two greatest city-states were Athens, a naval power, where democracy, art, drama
and philosophy flourished; and Sparta, an austere, militaristic society, famed for its
formidable army.
In 480 BC, these two city-states had joined forces to fight an invasion by the mighty
Persian Empire.
At the narrow pass of Thermopylae, a small Greek force, led by 300 Spartans, held up
the enormous Persian army for three days, before they were finally encircled and killed.
Then, in the straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian navy ...
But they couldn't prevent the Persians burning the sacred temples of the Athenian acropolis.
The next year, at Plataea, the Greeks won a decisive land battle against the Persians,
and forced them to abandon their invasion.
The next fifty years were the golden age of classical Greece.
But rising tension between Athens and Sparta, and their allies, eventually led to war, dragging
the Greek world into decades of destructive fighting.
Wars between the Greek city-states continued for almost a century, leaving them exhausted...
and vulnerable to a new, rising power to the north...
For centuries, sophisticated Greeks had viewed the mountainous kingdom of Macedonia as a
backwater, hicksville - barely Greek at all.
But under King Philip II, Macedonia emerged as a formidable military force.
His most famous reform: the introduction of the sarissa, an 18 foot pike, twice the length
of a normal Greek spear, and wielded by trained infantry fighting in close formation, known
as a phalanx.
In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip's army crushed the joint forces of Thebes and
Athens.
Through alliance and conquest, Philip had already gained control over most of his neighbours.
Now, following this victory, he united all Greece in an alliance known as the Hellenic
League, or League of Corinth, with Philip as hegemon – or supreme commander.
Only Sparta stood aside.
Philip began to plan a great campaign - a Panhellenic, or all-Greek, war against the
Persian Empire. Their old foe was now an ailing superpower, its great riches ripe for the
taking...
But on the eve of launching his war, Philip was assassinated by his own bodyguard – victim
of Macedonia's brutal court rivalries.
He was succeeded by his 20 year-old son Alexander: brilliant, restless, tutored by the great
philosopher Aristotle, and already an experienced military commander.
Alexander inherited his father's grand plan to invade Persia, but first he had to secure
his own position as king:
At home, he had potential rivals executed, then crushed rebellions in Illyria, Thessaly,
and central Greece.
He made a special example of Thebes – completely destroying the ancient city, and selling its
people into slavery.
In the spring of 334 BC, now ready to launch his war against the Persian Empire, Alexander
led his army across the Hellespont into Asia Minor.
It was the start of one of the greatest military campaigns in history.
Alexander's army was about 40,000 strong, drawn from all parts of Greece.
The infantry were commanded by the veteran Macedonian general Parmenion.
In the front rank, 9,000 Macedonian phalangites, armed with the 18-foot sarissa.
These were professional soldiers, well-trained and drilled, who formed up for battle in the
phalanx, 16 ranks deep.
This packed formation presented a solid wall of iron spear-tips, and was virtually unstoppable.
But it was also difficult to manoeuvre, and highly vulnerable to attacks on its flanks
or rear.
So 3,000 elite infantry, the hypaspists, or 'shield-bearers', armed with shorter spears,
guarded its flanks. They were commanded by Parmenion's son, Nikanor.
The second line of Alexander's army was made up of 7,000 Greek allies and 5,000 mercenaries,
armed as hoplites. They took their name from the hoplon, their large round shield, and
carried, shorter, 8 foot spears.
A hoplite phalanx was not as effective as the Macedonian phalangites, but still well-armed
and heavily armoured for the time.
The Agrianes were the army's elite skirmishers, expert javelin-throwers from what's now southern
Bulgaria.
Other skirmishers from Thrace, and Illyria, were armed with javelins, slings and bows.
The shock troops of Alexander's army were the Companion Cavalry, 1,800 elite horsemen
armed with spear and sword, commanded by Philotas, another son of Parmenion.
Alexander led the royal squadron in person.
There were also 1,800 cavalry from Thessaly, commanded by Kallas, 600 from other parts
of Greece, led by Erigyius, and 900 mounted scouts from Thrace and Paeonia, under Kassander.
The great Persian Empire was divided into provinces, called satrapies.
Each satrapy was ruled by a governor, or satrap.
Those in Asia Minor now threatened by Alexander's invasion met to discuss strategy.
Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, urged them to avoid battle
with Alexander. Instead, he advised them to use a 'scorched earth' strategy – to burn
villages and crops, and withdraw to the interior - Alexander's army, he promised, would quickly
starve.
It was good advice. But the satraps were unwilling to lay waste to their own provinces without
a fight.
So they decided to face Alexander's army at the River Granicus.
The Persian army formed up behind the river, which was shallow, but 60 feet wide with steep
banks.
Their front line was a wall of cavalry, about 10,000 horsemen from across the empire – Medes
and Hyrcanians from modern Iran, Bactrians from Afghanistan, and Paphlagonians from Turkey's
Black Sea coast.
Behind, in reserve, were the infantry – several thousand Greek mercenaries, a common sight
in Persian armies at this time. These men fought for Persian gold, and were armed with
the round shield and short spear of hoplites.
The Persians may have been unsure if they could trust these men in combat against fellow
Greeks, and so placed them at the rear.
Alexander, determined to attack and destroy this Persian force before it could retreat,
raced to the Granicus with his best troops.
On his left wing, he posted Thessalian, Greek and Thracian cavalry, under Parmenion's command.
In the centre, were the massed spears of the phalanx, its six divisions commanded by Perdikkas,
Koinos, Amyntas, Philip, Meleager, and Krateros.
On the right, Alexander himself, with the Companion Cavalry under Philotas, as well
as the elite hypaspists, the Agrianes javelin-throwers, and the archers.
Alexander, with 13,000 infantry, and 5,000 cavalry in all, was probably slightly outnumbered.
But ignoring advice to wait until dawn to cross the river, he ordered an immediate assault.
He sent a squadron of Companion cavalry to ford the river, followed by a regiment of
hypaspists and the Paeonian light cavalry.
Alexander, calling on his men to show their courage, then led his right wing across the
river.
As they reached the middle of the river, the Greeks came under a hail of javelins, darts
and arrows from the Persian line. Those that made it to the far bank were immediately charged
by the Persian cavalry.
Alexander was in the thick of the fighting.
“he attacked where the whole mass of their cavalry and leaders were stationed. Around
him a desperate conflict raged... horses were jammed against horses and men against men,
the Macedonians striving to drive the Persians away from the river bank, the Persians determined
to prevent them crossing and to push them back into the river.”
Alexander's attack seemed reckless, but he was buying time for the rest of his army to
cross the river, including the irresistible Macedonian phalanx.
Then suddenly Alexander was fighting for his life, charged by two Persian nobles.
“Rhoesaces rode up to Alexander and struck him on the head with his sword, breaking off
a piece of his helmet. But the helmet broke the force of the blow, and Alexander struck
him down with his lance. Then, from behind, Spithridates raised his sword against the
king, but Black Cleitus, son of Dropidas, anticipated his blow, struck his arm, and
cut it off, sword and all.”
Now the Greek army was across the river, and the Persian cavalry faced a wall of Macedonian
spears. Most turned and fled.
The speed and shock of Alexander's attack meant Persia's Greek mercenaries hadn't even
had time to join the battle.
Alexander, in a blood-rage, or possibly regarding these Greeks as traitors, ignored their appeals
for mercy. The mercenaries were surrounded on all sides, and massacred.
Alexander had won a great victory.
Asia Minor now lay at his mercy.
But the Persian Empire was still a land of immense wealth and power. Already it was mobilising
its vast resources to face him.
If Alexander was to conquer this empire and take his place in history, he'd next have
to face Darius, King of Kings, himself...
In 334 BC, Alexander, the 21 year old king of Macedonia, led a coalition of Greek forces
against the greatest power of the age - the Persian Empire.
He led an army of skilled veterans – at its heart, men of the Macedonian phalanx,
armed with the 18 foot sarissa pike, and the elite horsemen of his Companion Cavalry.
Together, at the Battle of the River Granicus, they'd won a first decisive victory over the
Persian army.
Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, capital of the Persian province of Lydia, its commander
surrendered without a fight.
But before Alexander could advance further, he needed to neutralise Persian naval power
–
Persia had a powerful fleet, with major naval bases around the eastern Mediterranean - that
could potentially cut his lines of communication back to Greece.
Rather than challenge the Persians at sea, Alexander decided to attack their nearest
bases: the Greek coastal cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus.
Both put up determined resistance, but were taken by winter.
The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander continued his advance into Lycia... and Phrygia.
At Gordium, he was shown the legendary 'Gordian Knot' – a prophesy said that whoever could
unpick it would rule all Asia.
Alexander simply took his sword, and sliced it in half.
Meanwhile Memnon of Rhodes, a skilled Greek general in Persian service, led Persian warships
into the Aegean, and captured the islands of Chios and Lesbos.
But after Memnon's sudden death from illness, the offensive was abandoned.
18 months had passed since Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian
Empire.
Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia... and was soon poised to cross the Nur Mountains
into Syria.
But then the main Persian army, led by King Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek
army, to the north.
Darius was determined to trap and destroy Alexander's army, which he outnumbered almost
2 to 1.
So he blocked Alexander's only escape route, by moving his army to the coastal plain near
Issus, just 6 miles wide from mountains to sea.
The narrow battlefield would force Alexander to fight, but it also prevented Darius exploiting
his huge numerical advantage.
His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000 strong, and contained some of the finest soldiers
in his vast empire - including 10,000 of his own household troops, known as the Immortals.
His best cavalry were massed on his right, towards the sea, where the ground was better
for horses. His best infantry, his Greek mercenary hoplites, formed the centre.
Persian infantry formed his left wing.
Alexander deployed his own army for battle, once again entrusting his left wing, nearest
the sea, to Parmenion, with the Greek cavalry and infantry.
In the centre, as always, was the Macedonian phalanx.
Alexander positioned himself and his best troops on the right wing, toward the mountain
slopes – his elite Agriane javelin-throwers, his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists
and the Companion cavalry.
When Alexander saw the strength of the Persian cavalry facing Parmenion on the left, he moved
across his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce him.
Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held his position behind a small river, the Pinarus,
and waited for Alexander to attack.
He didn't have to wait long.
Alexander called out to his men, urging them to fight bravely, picking out some by name.
Then, at the head of his army's right wing, he charged.
Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian advance sent the enemy reeling back.
But in the centre of the battlefield, the Macedonian phalanx was in trouble. In its
effort to keep up with Alexander, its formation had become disordered.
Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius's Greek mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly being
driven back.
Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped, and led the Companions in a headlong charge straight
at the Persian centre. The Greek mercenaries, threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray,
and the Macedonian phalanx was able to resume its advance.
Alexander fought his way towards the Great King, Darius himself.
Rather than face this apparently mad and fearless Macedonian king, Darius fled the battlefield
in his royal chariot.
Meanwhile the Macedonian left wing, under Parmenion, was in a desperate fight against
the best of the Persian cavalry. If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop
Alexander's army, and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
But Parmenion and his troops fought doggedly, and continued to hold the Persians at bay.
As the news that Darius had fled spread among his troops, they abandoned the fight, and
tried to save themselves.
The battle turned into a massacre.
Ptolemy, one of the Macedonian commanders, told Alexander there were so many Persian
dead, his men had used them to fill a deep ravine, so they could cross over it.
The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory for Alexander.
And amongst the spoils of victory, were Darius's wife, mother, and three children, all taken
alive, and well treated by Alexander.
With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander now turned to subduing the western territories
of the Persian empire. The next year, 332, the coastal cities of Phoenicia submitted
to Alexander – ending Persian naval power in the Mediterranean.
But the island-city of Tyre resisted.
Tyre's defenders fought bravely and skilfully – even when Alexander began building a causeway
to the island, protected by two giant siege towers... which they counter-attacked with
fire ships.
But after seven months, the city walls were breached, and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens
were killed or enslaved.
Gaza too was taken by siege.
Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile Delta, where the Persian governor of Egypt
surrendered the entire province to Alexander, along with the royal treasury.
At Memphis, priests of this ancient land welcomed Alexander as their liberator from Persian
rule, and crowned him Pharaoh.
At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new city, Alexandria... then travelled to the
desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed him as
son of Amun, king of the gods.
Alexander returned east to Tyre... where in 331 BC, he received news of trouble back home.
Despite his great victories over the Persians, many Greeks regarded Alexander as a tyrant.
King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support, now launched a revolt against Macedonia.
Antipater, Alexander's commander in Greece, was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace.
But he quickly marched south... and met Agis in battle near the city of Megalopolis.
Even the legendary Spartans were now no match for Macedonian military power.
The Spartan army was crushed.
King Agis himself was among the fallen.
With his base in Greece secure once more, Alexander advanced towards the Persian heartlands,
seeking a final showdown with Darius.
He received a letter from the Persian king, offering him a fortune in gold, his daughter
in marriage, and half his empire in exchange for peace.
But Alexander's stunning victories, all the oracles and acclamations, had now convinced
him that his destiny was to rule the world...
He rejected the Persian king's offer. He didn't want half the empire - he was coming to take
it all...
In 334 BC, Alexander, 21 year-old ruler of the small Greek kingdom of Macedonia, led
an invasion of the vast Persian Empire.
It seemed impossible odds, but thanks to Greek military dominance, and Alexander's fearless
leadership, he won two great battles against the Persians… at the River Granicus, and
at Issus.
Having subdued Persian lands west of the Euphrates River, he now headed east into the empire's
heartlands, seeking a final showdown with the Persian King, Darius III.
Receiving news that a great Persian army, led by Darius, had assembled at Gaugemela,
near modern Mosul in Iraq – he made straight for it.
This was Darius's last chance to stop Alexander – and Alexander's chance to smash Persian
power once and for all.
Darius had chosen to fight on open ground, where his advantage in numbers would be more
telling.
His soldiers had also worked hard to clear and flatten the terrain, to make it suitable
for Persian war chariots.
By modern estimates, the Persian Army was between 50 and 80,000 strong, and made up
of contingents from across the empire:
infantry from Syria and Babylonia...
cavalry from Armenia, India and Central Asia...
up to 200 scythed chariots... even a handful of war elephants.
Alexander's army was smaller, and may have been outnumbered by as much as two to one.
He deployed his units in their usual formation:
On the left flank, Thracian and Thessalian cavalry, commanded by Parmenion.
In the centre, the Macedonian veterans of the phalanx – each armed with their 18 foot
sarissa pike.
On the right flank, Alexander with his elite cavalry, the Companions; and his best infantry,
the hypaspists. These were the units with which Alexander planned to launch his main
attack.
Greek hoplites formed a second line, and supported both wings – which were angled back, to
guard against encirclement by the Persians.
The battle began when Alexander led his wing out to the right – a move that took the
Persians by surprise.
Could Alexander really be trying to encircle their huge army?
The Persians mirrored his movement, taking troops away from their centre, to outflank
Alexander, and prevent him leaving the area they'd cleared for the Persian chariots.
But Alexander's unusual manoeuvre was a trap - to entice the Persians to weaken their centre.
When he saw that it had worked, he ordered his Greek cavalry to charge, to keep the Persians
fixed in position.
A giant cavalry battle developed on the right wing.
Darius, meanwhile, judging this to be the decisive moment, unleashed his chariots. But
expert Agrianes javelin-throwers took out horses and crews – while the Greek infantry
opened lanes, allowing the chariots to pass harmlessly through.
Now Alexander led his Companion cavalry, and parts of the Macedonian phalanx, in a headlong
charge straight at the weakened Persian centre, fighting his way towards Darius himself.
The sudden ferocity of Alexander's assault threw the Persians into panic – the centre
of the army broke and ran - King Darius himself leading the rout.
But Alexander's left wing was in serious trouble – Parmenion, facing a huge onslaught by
Persian cavalry, was virtually surrounded - Indian and Scythian horsemen had even ridden
through a gap in the Greek line – but rather than wheeling and attacking the Greeks from
behind, they'd carried straight on to loot their camp.
Parmenion sent a desperate appeal to Alexander for help.
The King abandoned his pursuit of Darius, regrouped, and charged the Persian right wing.
It was the hardest and bloodiest fighting of the battle – claiming the lives of sixty
of Alexander's Companions.
Finally, as news of Darius's flight spread across the battlefield, the last Persian horsemen
turned and fled.
The Battle of Gaugamela was a stunning and complete victory for Alexander.
According to ancient sources, he lost just a few hundred men, while the Persians lost
thousands.
Alexander had routed Darius's great army, and now the road to Babylon – the empire's
main capital - lay open.
The Macedonian king entered the great city in triumph, recognised by Persian officials
as its new rightful ruler.
So too at the city of Susa, where Alexander ceremonially took his seat upon the royal
throne of Persia.
In the Zagros mountains, at a pass known as the Persian Gates, a courageous Persian force
held up Alexander's army for a month.
The Greeks eventually found a mountain path that bypassed their position, allowing them
to encircle and wipe out the defenders.
In early 330 BC, Alexander reached Persepolis, the empire's ceremonial capital.
Alexander wanted to appear as a liberator to the Persians – as a legitimate successor
to King Darius - but now, he ordered Persepolis to be pillaged and burnt – retribution for
the Persian invasion of Greece, and the burning of Athens' sacred temples in 480 BC.
Alexander now headed north into Media, where Darius had taken refuge in the royal city
of Ecbatana. Alexander was determined to capture Darius – but the fugitive king fled east
in the hope of raising a new army in the provinces of Parthia, Bactria, and Sogdia.
It was not to be. As Alexander closed in, the Persian king was murdered by one of his
own governors, Bessus, who then proclaimed himself the empire’s new ruler.
Alexander gave orders for Darius to be buried in the royal tombs of Persepolis, alongside
his ancestors.
Then he paused to organise his vast new empire.
Alexander appointed viceroys to rule the provinces on his behalf, keeping several Persians - who
had sworn loyalty - in their posts. He also allowed Greek troops, who wished, to return
home.
Then he resumed his march east.
His goal: to find and kill the usurper Bessus...
subjugate the empire's eastern provinces...
and reach the far edge of the world...
In 330 BC, Alexander continued his march east.
His goal: to find and kill Bessus - a Persian usurper, claiming to be the rightful king
– and to subjugate the empire's eastern provinces...
Alexander headed first for Aria, today part of Afghanistan, where the Persian governor
Satibarzanes had launched a revolt – after initially pretending to submit to Alexander.
The rebellion was crushed, and Satibarzanes killed in single combat by a Greek cavalry
officer.
Nearby, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Ariana, modern Herat – one of around a dozen
cities that Alexander would eventually found, almost all bearing his name.
Alexander marched on to Phrada.
The Macedonian court had a long tradition of plots and assassination. Six years before,
Alexander's own father, King Philip, had been murdered by his bodyguard.
He was now informed that Philotas, commander of his Companion Cavalry, had uncovered a
plot to assassinate Alexander, but kept it secret.
Philotas, and his father Parmenion, were among the most respected of Alexander's commanders,
and had played crucial roles in all his great victories.
But when Philotas confessed under torture, Alexander had him executed... then sent assassins
back to Ecbatana, where Parmenion was governor, to kill him before he even heard of his son's
death, and had a chance to turn against Alexander.
In 329, Alexander resumed his pursuit of Bessus.
En route, he founded the city of Alexandria Arachosia – modern Kandahar, in southern
Afghanistan.
As he reached Kunduz, Bessus was betrayed by his own men, and handed over in chains.
Alexander sent him back to Persia for execution, as a king-slayer.
Alexander pushed on into modern Tajikistan, where the Sogdians rose up against him. He
had to fight off attacks by local tribes, and take several towns by assault.
On the banks of the Jaxartes River, he founded the city of Alexandria-Eschate, meaning Alexandria
'the Furthest' – so-named because he had, at last, reached the limit of the Persian
Empire.
This frontier was frequently raided by nomads, known to the Greeks as Scythians.
Alexander lured them into a decisive battle near the Jaxartes. The result was a crushing
victory for the Macedonian king, that put an end to the raids.
But fighting against Bactrian and Sogdian tribes continued, frustrating Alexander, and
tying him down in a difficult guerilla war.
By now, many of the Macedonian troops were unhappy with Alexander. Most had not seen
their homes in years, but their king seemed bent on conquest without end. What was worse,
he'd begun to adopt the rituals and dress of their defeated Persian enemy – customs
they viewed as effeminate, and decadent.
At Maracanda, modern Samarkand, after a furious, drunken argument, Alexander killed Cleitus
the Black.
Cleitus had been one of Alexander's best generals, and the man who'd saved his life at the Battle
of the Granicus.
Alexander was full of remorse, but his growing arrogance was alienating more and more old
comrades.
When he tried to make his countrymen perform the traditional Persian ritual of proskynesis
– prostrating themselves before the king - he crossed a line.
To Greeks this was blasphemy – only a god was worthy of such respect - and Alexander
was forced to back down.
In Bactria, another plot to assassinate Alexander was uncovered. This time the ringleader was
a royal page – one of the sons of Macedonian nobility who attended the king. Hermolaus
had become murderously bitter towards Alexander over a perceived injustice. He and his accomplices
were tortured, and then stoned to death.
Callisthenes, Alexander's official historian, was also implicated in the conspiracy. He
was thrown in prison, where he later died.
That summer, in 327 - according to legend - Alexander became captivated by the beauty
of Roxana, daughter of a Bactrian lord.
Their marriage was also a sound political move, helping to end local revolt against
his rule – and allowing him to continue his advance... into modern Pakistan, and India.
Alexander now prepared to subdue the Persian Empire's most eastern provinces, which had
yet to recognise his kingship.
To do so he would first have to cross the Hindu Kush mountains and reach the Indus river
valley.
Advancing in two columns, his army won a series of skirmishes against the Aspasii and Assaceni,
as they fought their way into what's now the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan.
After a fierce siege, Alexander took the Assacenian capital of Massaga.
According to legend it was ruled by a beautiful queen, Cleophis, who bore Alexander a son,
and was allowed to keep her throne.
The ruler of Taxila, near modern Islamabad, had formed an alliance with Alexander.
Together they marched to face Porus, king of Pauravas, at the Battle of the Hydaspes.
It was Alexander's costliest battle, as Porus's war elephants inflicted terrible casualties
amongst the Greeks.
But despite Porus's fearless leadership, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Alexander,
winning him control of the Punjab.
Alexander wanted to push on into India, to reach the great river which ancient Greek
geographers said formed the edge of the world.
But at the River Hyphasis, known today as the Beas, his army mutinied.
His men had marched thousands of miles, fought countless battles, and not seen their homes
in 8 years. They'd heard rumours of gigantic armies waiting for them in India.
They refused to go any further.
Alexander was furious, but had to turn the army around.
He followed the rivers of the Punjab to the sea – a journey that took 10 months. On
the way, he defeated the Mahlians, but while leading the assault on their capital, was
wounded in the chest and nearly killed.
On reaching the coast, part of the army, under Nearchus, boarded ships, and returned to Persia
by sea.... sailing through the Straits of Hormuz.... and entering the Persian Gulf.
It was one of the great ancient voyages of exploration, as these waters had been previously
unknown to Greeks.
Meanwhile Alexander led the rest of the army back by land through the Gedrosian desert,
today in southern Pakistan. But extreme heat and shortages of food and water led to terrible
suffering, and many deaths among his army.
On his return to Persia, Alexander executed several of his viceroys and governors - men
accused of ruling unjustly, and robbing temples and tombs, during his long absence in the
east.
At Susa, he arranged a magnificent mass-marriage of Macedonian officers to 80 Persian noblewomen,
to strengthen bonds between his two kingdoms.
Alexander himself married two Persian princesses.
He also paid all his soldiers debts, and ordered 30,000 youths from across the empire to be
trained in the Macedonian art of war.
But at Opis, his Macedonian troops mutinied. They were offended by Alexander's apparent
preference for Persian advisors and Persian ways. Alexander had the ringleaders executed,
and made a speech to the men, reminding them of the glories they'd won together, and leading
eventually to an emotional reconciliation.
At Ecbatana, Alexander's closest and most trusted friend, Hephaestion, died of fever.
The king was grief stricken, went days without eating, and ordered a period of public mourning
across the empire.
Alexander waged a successful campaign against the mountain raiders of Cossaea, who not even
the Persian kings had been able to subdue.
Returning to Babylon, he was met by embassies from distant peoples, come to recognise his
greatness – Aethiopians, Libyans, European Scythians, Lucanians, Etruscans, Gauls and
Iberians.
Alexander's Bactrian wife Roxana was now pregnant...
But as he planned his next campaign, to Arabia and beyond, he developed a sudden fever, and
died days later, aged just 32.
The cause of Alexander's death has never been established. It may have been malaria, cholera,
typhus... or poison.
Alexander died undefeated in battle. His reputation as a brilliant, fearless and daring military
commander remains undimmed.
His decade long campaign created one of the largest empires ever known, stretching from
Greece to Pakistan.
But it was vast and unstable, held together only by his own brilliance and name.
Alexander left no plans for his succession, and his generals soon began fighting among
themselves to carve out their own empires.
In the Wars of the Successors, Alexander's widow Roxana and his young son were murdered.
His own gold sarcophagus, en route to Macedonia for burial was hijacked, and ended up in Alexandria,
in Egypt.
Today, it's location remains one of the world's great unsolved mysteries.
Few men have ever had such an impact on the course of history as Alexander the Great.
The breath-taking achievements of his short life ushered in the Hellenistic Age, as Greek
ideas spread across the territory of his former empire, fusing with local traditions to trigger
new developments in art, science, government and language.
Some of the successor kingdoms to his great empire were short-lived – others endured
for centuries.. but all, in turn, would fall to new forces... and in the west, to the rising
power of Rome.
Research and artwork for this video comes from Osprey Publishing's extensive range of
books on ancient history. Every Osprey book examines a particular battle,
campaign or combat unit in authoritative, meticulous detail.
And with more than 3,000 titles, they cover everything from ancient warfare to modern
conflict. Visit their website to see their online catalogue.
Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who made this video possible, and to the channel
‘Invicta’ – find out more about key moments from the past in their ‘Moments
in History’ series.