The Life and Legacy of Alexander the Great

             At the young age of twenty years old, Alexander the Great became king of Macedonia. In several ways, he was prepared to rule by his father, who took his son with him on several military campaigns and gave him control of the cavalry at the significant battle of Chaeronea. "After his father's assassination, Alexander moved quickly to assert his authority securing the Macedonian frontiers and smothering a rebellion in Greece. He then turned to his father's dream, the invasion of the Persian Empire" (109).
             Alexander was taking a very huge risk in attacking the Persian Empire because it was such a strong state. Alexander entered Asia Minor with a massive army of 37,000 men during the spring of 334 B.C.E.; an estimated half of these men were Macedonians, with the rest of them being Greeks and other allies. About 5,000 of them, the cavalry, would play a key role becoming a striking force. "Alexander's first confrontation with the Persians, at a battle at the Granicus River in 334 B.C.E., almost cost him his life but resulted in a major victory" (109). That following spring, Alexander had the entire western half of Asia Minor well in hand. At this same time, Persian King Darius III organized and mobilized his army to stop Alexander's. The Persian troops outnumbered those of Alexander's in the battle of Issus, but the Persian advantage was canceled because of the location of the battle. The battle was fought on a narrow field and the battle resulted in another Macedonian success. "After his victory at Issus in 333 B.C.E., Alexander turned south, and by the winter of 332, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt were under his domination. Alexander later took the traditional title of pharaoh of Egypt. He also founded the first of a series of cities named after him, namely Alexandria as the Greek administrative capital of Egypt. Alexandria became and still is today one of Egypt's as well as the Mediterranean world's most important cities.
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The Life and Legacy of Alexander the Great. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 06:21, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/27777.html