Alexander's Empire

    Today in class we found out that we would be having our test on Wednesday. We still needed to talk about Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Egypt and went all the way from Macedonia to the Indus River. His conquered area extended across a nation with many cultures. King Philip first ruled over Macedonia in 359 B.C.. Philip built a Macedonian empire. Macedonia is north of Greece and has a rough terrain and cold climate. King Philip became king at age 23. He was a brilliant general and politician. King Philip transformed peasants into a well-trained army and organized the phalanx and fast moving cavalry. He invaded Greece and won. He was going to conquer Persia but he was murdered at his daughter’s wedding. His son Alexander claimed himself king and was tutored by Aristotle. He relied on the Iliad for his learning. Alexander had a military background and defeated the Thebian rebellion which stopped ideas of rebellion by others. In Granicus, Alexander was outnumbered by Darius' army. He won anyway I was crowned pharaoh in 332 BC and told the Egyptians he was a God. Darius offered a peace treaty but Alexander rejected. Egyptians saw Alexander as a liberator. Alexandra moved east of Mesopotamia where he saw Darius again and was outnumbered once again. At the battle at Gaugamela, Alexander won with his phalanx. This victory ended Persian power. Alexander reigned as an unchallenged ruler of Southwest Asia. In 326 B.C.E. at the Hydapses river he defeated India. For 11 years Alexander and his army marched 11,000 miles. In  323 BC the army reached Babylon and settled there. Alexander died at 32 and never carried out his full plans. Alexander never lost a battle and Darius was killed by his own government. Alexander’s empire broke up in the three areas and was never unified.