BC) –
Persian Gate (330 BC) –
Sogdian Rock (327 BC) –
Aornos (327 BC) –
Hydaspes (325 BC) –
Malli (325 BC)
Alexander the Great (
Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας or Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος,
[1] Mégas Aléxandros;
356 BC – 323 BC),
[2] also known as Alexander III of Macedon (Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' ὁ Μακεδών) was an ancient
Greek[3] King (
basileus) of
Macedon (336–323 BC). He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered (see
Wars of Alexander the Great) the
Achaemenid Persian Empire, adding it to Macedon's European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the
world as known to the
ancient Greeks.
[4][5][n 1]Alexander assumed the kingship of Macedon following the death of his father
Philip II, who had unified
[6] most of the
city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian
hegemony in a federation called the
League of Corinth.
[7] After reconfirming Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion of southern Greek city-states and staging a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbours, Alexander set out east against the Persian Empire, which he defeated and overthrew. His conquests included
Anatolia, the
Levant,
Egypt,
Bactria and
Mesopotamia, and he extended the boundaries of his own
empire as far as
Punjab,
India.
Alexander had already made plans prior to his death for military and mercantile expansions into the
Arabian peninsula, after which he was to turn his armies to the west (
Carthage,
Rome and the
Iberian Peninsula). His original vision, however, had been to the east, to the ends of the world and the
Great Outer Sea, as described by his boyhood tutor and mentor
Aristotle.
Alexander integrated many foreigners into his army, leading some scholars to credit him with a "policy of fusion". He also encouraged
marriages between his soldiers and foreigners, and he himself went on to marry two foreign princesses.
Alexander died after twelve years of constant military campaigning, possibly a result of
malaria,
poisoning,
typhoid fever, viral
encephalitis or the consequences of alcoholism.
[8][9] His legacy and conquests lived on long after him and ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence over distant areas. This period is known as the
Hellenistic period, which featured a combination of
Greek,
Middle Eastern, Egyptian and
Indian culture. Alexander himself featured prominently in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appeared as a legendary
hero in the tradition of Achille
Early life
"The night before the consummation of their marriage, she dreamed that a thunderbolt fell upon her body, which kindled a great fire, whose divided flames dispersed themselves all about, and then were extinguished. And Philip, some time after he was married, dreamt that he sealed up his wife's body with a seal, whose impression, as be fancied, was the figure of a lion. Some of the diviners interpreted this as a warning to Philip to look narrowly to his wife; but
Aristander of Telmessus, considering how unusual it was to seal up anything that was empty, assured him the meaning of his dream was that the queen was with child of a boy, who would one day prove as stout and courageous as a lion."
Plutarch describing Olympias and Philip's dreams.
[11]Alexander was born in July 356 BC, in
Pella, the capital of the
Kingdom of Macedon. He was the son of
King Philip II, the
King of Macedon. His mother was
Olympias, the daughter of
Neoptolemus I, the king of the north Greek state of
Epirus. According to Plutarch, Alexander's father claimed descent from
Heracles through
Caranus of Macedon and his mother from
Aeacus through
Neoptolemus and
Achilles.
[12]According to the ancient Greek
historian Plutarch, Olympias, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunder bolt, causing a flame which spread "far and wide" before dying away. Some time after the marriage Philip was said to have seen himself, in a dream, sealing up his wife's womb with a seal upon which was engraved the image of a lion.
[13] Plutarch offers a variety of interpretations of these dreams; that Olympia was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus. Ancient commentators were divided as to whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, some claiming she told Alexander, others claiming she dismissed the suggestion as impious.
On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing himself for his siege on the
Greek colony of
Potidea, which bordered Macedon. On the day that Alexander was born, Philip also received news that his general
Parmenion had defeated the combined
Illyrian and
Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the
Olympic Games. It was also said that on this day, the
Temple of Artemis in
Ephesus -one the
Seven Wonders of the World- was burnt leading
Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it burnt because
Artemis was attending the birth of Alexander.
[14]In his early years, Alexander was raised by his nurse,
Lanike (Lanike was the sister of Alexander's future general,
Cleitus the Black). Later on in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict
Leonidas, a relative of his mother's uncle and by
Lysimachus.
[15]When Alexander was ten years old, a horse trader from
Thessaly (a region of Greece to the south of Macedon famed for their horsemanship), brought Philip a horse which he offered to sell for thirteen
talents. The horse refused to be mounted by anyone and Philip ordered it to be taken away. Alexander, however, asked for a turn to tame the horse and eventually managed to mount the horse and Philip bought it for him. Alexander would name the horse
Bucephalus, meaning ox-head, and take him all the way to
India.
[16]A bust depicting Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father
When Alexander was thirteen years old, Philip decided that Alexander needed a higher education and he began to search for a
tutor. Many people were passed over including
Isocrates and
Speusippus,
Plato's successor at the
Academy of Athens, who offered to resign to take up the post. Philip offered the job to
Aristotle, a former pupil of Plato's, who had left
Athens to live at
Lesbos. Aristotle accepted and Philip gave them as their classroom the Temple of the Nymphs at
Mieza. In return for teaching Alexander, Aristole's payment was that Philip rebuild Aristotle's hometown of
Stageira, which Philip had razed, and that he repopulate it by buying and freeing the citizens who were slaves or pardoning those who were in exile.
[17]Mieza acted like a boarding school for Alexander and the other noble children, like
Ptolemy and
Cassander that joined him there. Most of the children that were with Alexander there would be his future friends and generals. At Mieza, Artistotle taught and discussed with Alexander and his companions about
healing,
biology,
philosophy,
happiness,
religion,
classification,
logic and
art. It was also from Aristotle that Alexander got his undying love for the works of
Homer and in particular the
Iliad, with Aristotle giving him an annotated copy which he would take with him on campaign.
[17]Regent
When Alexander became sixteen years old his lessons with Aristotle stopped. When Philip departed to attack the city of
Byzantium, the sixteen year old Alexander was left as
regent of the kingdom. During Philip's absence, the
Thracian Maedi tribe revolted against Macedon. Alexander responded quickly and crushed the Maedi insurgence and drove them from their region and colonised it with Greeks and founded a city call
Alexandroupolis.
[18]Following Philip's return from Byzantium, he was sent with a small force to subdue some revolts in southern
Thrace. He was also said to have saved his father's life during the siege of the Greek city of
Perinthus. Meanwhile, the city of
Amphissa began to plough the lands that were sacred to the God
Apollo near
Delphi. Still occupied in Thrace, Philip ordered Alexander to muster a force but to stop intervention from other Greek states make it look like he was attacking Illyria. When the Illyrians heard of his they attacked Macedon but once again Alexander repelled the invaders.
[19]Battle of Chaeronea
Main article:
Battle of ChaeroneaPhilip joined Alexander with his army in 338 BC and they marched down through
Thermopylae, which they took with a struggle from its Theban garrison and went on to occupy the city of
Elatia, a few days march from both Athens and Thebes. Meanwhile, the Athenians led by
Demosthenes voted for an alliance with Thebes in opposition to Macedon. Both Athens and Macedon sent embassies to Thebes in order to win Thebes' favour with Athens eventually gaining the
alliance.
[20]Philip carried out the mission appointed to him by the Sacred League and marched on Amphissa, captured the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepted the city's surrender. Philip retreated back to Elatea and sent a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes which was rejected.
[21]Battle plan of the Battle of Chaeronea
The Macedonian army of 30,000 infantry and 3,000 cavalry met the united Greek army of 30,000 men at
Chaeronea in
Boeotia. Philip commanded the Macedonian right and he gave Alexander command of the elite,
Companion Cavalry on the left flank to counter the elite
Theban Sacred Band on the Greek left flank, while Philip faced the Athenians lead by the inexperienced Demosthenes.
[21]Philip managed to draw the Athenian left flank out of its defense position on a slope by
feigning retreat. This also drew the Athenian centre from their position and they advanced to attack Philip. Alexander exploited this opportunity and charged the gap between the Thebans and the Athenian centre. Following some strong resistance, Alexander managed to route the Theban and slaughter the Sacred Band to the last man before attacking the Athenian centre. Philip's men broke the Athenian right and they attacked Athenian centre at the same time as Alexander making it break a flee.
[21]Philip sold the captured Theban soldiers as slaves before establishing a garrison in Thebes and executing or banishing some of the city's anti-Macedonian leaders. From Thebes, he went to Athens were he gave them their captured soldiers back without a ransom. Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese and at
Corinth, Philip was named 'Supreme Commander' of the Greek forces by the
League of Corinth, a federation of all the Greek states except for
Sparta, in the his planned war against the
Persia Empire.
[22]Exile and return
"At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander, that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor. At which Alexander reproachfully insulted over him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another."
Plutarch describing the feud at Philip's wedding.
[23]After returning to Pella, Philip fell in love with a young Macedonian noblewoman by the name of
Cleopatra Eurydice, the niece of one of his generals,
Attalus. This marriage made Alexander position as heir to the throne less secure as if Cleopatra Eurydice bore a son by Philip, the son would be full Macedonian while Alexander was only half Macedonian.
[24]During the banquet after Philip's wedding to Cleopatra Eurydice, a drunken Attalus made a speech praying to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir to the Macedonian throne. Alexander shouted to Attalus, "What, am I then a bastard?"
[13] and he threw his goblet at him. Philip who was also drunk drew his sword and advanced towards Alexander before collapsing leading Alexander to say, "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another."
[13][25]Alexander fled from Macedon taking his mother with him. He dropped off his mother at her brother's capital,
Dodona, in Epirus before he went to Illyria where he sought refuge with the Illyrian King and was treated like a guest by the Illyrians despite having defeated them in battle a few years before. Alexander returned to Macedon after six months in exile due to the efforts of a family friend,
Demaratus the Corinthian, who mediated between the two parties.
[26]The following year, the Persian
satrap (governor) of
Caria in
Asia Minor,
Pixodarus, offered the hand of his eldest daughter to Philip's mentally and physically disabled son,
Philip Arrhidaeus. Olympias and several of Alexander's friends had it seem that this move showed that Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus, his heir. Alexander reacted by sending an actor,
Thessalus from Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of Carian. Philip had four of Alexander's friends,
Harpalus,
Nearchus, Ptolemy and
Erygius exiled and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains.
[27]Accession
The Kingdom of Macedon in 336 BC
In 336 BC, while attending the wedding of his daughter by Olympias,
Cleopatra and Olympias' brother,
Alexander I of Epirus at
Aegae, Philip was assassinated by the
captain of his bodyguard,
Pausanias, who reportedly had a grudge against Philip, who was his former lover.
i[›] As Pausanias tried to escape he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's friends
Perdiccas and
Leonnatus. Alexander was proclaimed King by the Macedonian army and by the Macedonian noblemen at the age of 20.
[28]Alexander began his reign by having his potential rivals to the throne murdered. He had his cousin, the former
Amyntas IV, executed, as well as having two Macedonian princes from the region of
Lyncestis killed, while a third,
Alexander Lyncestes, was spared. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice and her daughter by Philip, Europa, burned alive. When Alexander found out about this, he was furious with his mother. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor. Attalus was at the time in correspondence with Demosthenes with intentions of defection to Athens. Alexander also spared the life of his half brother Arridaeus.
[28]News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly and the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedon. When news of the revolt reached Alexander he responded quickly. Though his advisor's advised him to use
diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 men and rode south towards Thessaly, Macedon's immediate neighbor to the south. When he found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between
Mount Olympus and
Mount Ossa, he had the men ride through Mount Ossa and, when the Thessalians awoke, they found Alexander at their rear. The Thessalians surrendered and added their cavalry to Alexander's force as he rode down towards the Peloponnese.
[29]Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognised as the leader of the
Sacred League before heading south to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander received the envoy and pardoned anyone involved with the uprising. At Corinth, he was given the title '
Hegemon' of the Greek forces against the Persians. While at Corinth, he heard the news of the Thracian rising to the north.
[30]Balkan Campaign
Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders and, in the spring of 335 BC, he advanced into Thrace to deal with the revolt, which was led by the Illyrians and
Triballi. He was reinforced along the way by the
Agriani, a Thracian tribe under the command of Alexander's friend,
Langarus. The Macedonian army marched up to
Mount Haemus, where they met a Thracian garrison manning the heights. The Thracians had constructed a
palisade of carts, which they intended to throw upon the approaching Macedonians. Alexander ordered his
heavy infantry to march in loose formation and, when the carts were thrown, to either open the ranks or lay flat on the ground with their shields over them. The Macedonian archers opened fire and when the Macedonian infantry reached the top of the mountain they routed the Thracians.
[31]Meanwhile, a large Triballian army led by their king, Syrmus, advanced upon the Macedonian rear. The Triballians retreated to a gorge, where they were drawn out by Alexander's
light infantry. On the open ground, they were crushed by Alexander's infantry and cavalry, leaving behind 3,000 dead. The Macedonians marched to the
Danube River where they encountered the
Getae tribe on the opposite shore. As Alexander's ships failed to enter the river, Alexander's army made rafts out of their leather tents. A force of 4,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry crossed the river, to the amazement of the Getae army of 14,000 men. The Getae army retreated after the first cavalry
skirmish, leaving their town to the Macedonian army.
[32]News reached Alexander that
Cleitus, King of Illyria, and
King Glaukias of the
Taulanti were in open revolt against Macedonian authority. Alexander and his men started to besiege the Illyrians in a
hill fort,
Pelium. The following day, Glaukias arrived with his army to relieve the town.
Philotas, one of Alexander's friends and generals, was trapped by the Taulanti while foraging. When Alexander heard of his friend's predicament he rushed in with his army and managed to frighten Glaukias off attacking Philotas.
[33]Alexander and his army were trapped between the Illyrians and the Taulanti, who each held high ground. When Alexander's army moved towards the Taulanti threat, yelling their war cries, the Taulanti fled from the heights and went into the town. After noticing Pelium's lack of defenses, Alexander feigned a retreat, and, in the night, stormed the town, forcing Cleitus and Glaukias to flee with their armies, leaving Alexander's northern
frontier secure.
[34]While he was triumphantly campaigning north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once more. Alexander reacted immediately, but, while the other cities once again hesitated, Thebes decided to resist with the utmost vigor. This resistance was useless, however, as the city was razed to the ground amid great bloodshed and its territory divided between the other Boeotian cities. Moreover, the Thebans themselves were sold into
slavery.
[35] Alexander spared only priests, leaders of the pro-Macedonian party and descendants of
Pindar, whose house was the only one left standing. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission. According to Plutarch, a special Athenian embassy, led by
Phocion, an opponent of the anti-Macedonian faction, was able to persuade Alexander to give up his demand for the exile of leaders of the anti-Macedonian party, most particularly
Demosthenes.
[36]Period of conquests
Main article:
Wars of Alexander the GreatBy the time of his death, Alexander had conquered most of the
Ecumene, the extension of the "known world" at the time of
ancient Greeks,
[4] concretely he conquered the extensions lying to the south and east of Greece, including places not explored until then.
[5][n 1]Fall of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Map of Alexander's empire and the paths he took
Alexander's army crossed the
Hellespont with approximately 42,000 soldiers from Macedon, various Greek city-states, mercenaries and tribute soldiers from
Thrace,
Paionia, and
Illyria. After an initial victory against Persian forces at the
Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of
Sardis and proceeded down the
Ionian coast. At
Halicarnassus, Alexander successfully waged the first of many
sieges, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain
Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian
satrap of
Caria,
Orontobates, to withdraw by sea. Alexander left Caria in the hands of
Ada, who was ruler of Caria before being deposed by her brother
Pixodarus. From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous
Lycia and the
Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities and denying them to his enemy. From Pamphylia onward, the coast held no major ports and so Alexander moved inland. At
Termessos, Alexander humbled but did not storm the
Pisidian city. At the ancient Phrygian capital of
Gordium, Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable
Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of
Asia." According to the most vivid story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and he hacked it apart with his sword.
[37] Another version claims that he did not use the sword, but realized that the simplest way to undo the knot was to simply remove a central peg from the chariot—around which the knot was tied.
Alexander Mosaic, showing
Battle of Issus, from the
House of the Faun,
PompeiiAlexander's army crossed the
Cilician Gates, met and defeated the main Persian army under the command of
Darius III at the
Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Darius was forced to flee the battle after his army broke, and in doing so left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother
Sisygambis, and a fabulous amount of treasure. He afterwards offered a peace treaty to Alexander, the concession of the lands he had already conquered, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Proceeding down the
Mediterranean coast, he took
Tyre and
Gaza after famous sieges (see
Siege of Tyre) suffered the most brutal attacks during Alexander's war in Asia.
[38][39] It was after his capture of Tyre that Alexander crucified all the men of military age, and sold the women and children into slavery.
[40]During 332–331 BC, Alexander was welcomed as a liberator
[41] in
an Egypt ruled by Persians and was pronounced the new Master of the Universe
[42] and son of Zeus[
citation needed] by Egyptian priests of the deity
Amun[42] at the
Oracle of
Siwa Oasis in the
Libyan desert. Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent currency depicted him, adorned with ram horns as a symbol of his divinity.
[43] He founded
Alexandria in Egypt, which would become the prosperous capital of the
Ptolemaic dynasty after his death. Leaving Egypt, Alexander marched eastward into
Assyria (now northern
Iraq) and defeated Darius once more at the
Battle of Gaugamela. Once again, Darius was forced to leave the field, and Alexander chased him as far as
Arbela. While Darius fled over the mountains to
Ecbatana (modern
Hamedan), Alexander marched to
Babylon.
From Babylon, Alexander went to
Susa, one of the
Achaemenid capitals, and captured its legendary treasury. Sending the bulk of his army to the Persian capital of
Persepolis via the
Royal Road, Alexander stormed and captured the
Persian Gates (in the modern
Zagros Mountains), then sprinted for Persepolis before its treasury could be looted. It was here that Alexander was said to have stared at the crumbled statue of Xerxes and decided to leave it on the ground—a symbolic gesture of vengeance. During their stay at the capital, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of
Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city. Theories abound as to whether this was the result of a drunken accident, or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the
Acropolis of Athens during the
Second Persian War. The Book of Arda Wiraz, a Zoroastrian work composed in the 3rd or 4th century AD, also speaks of archives containing "all the
Avesta and Zand, written upon prepared cow-skins, and with gold ink" that were destroyed; but it must be said that this statement is often treated by scholars with a certain measure of skepticism, because it is generally thought that for many centuries the Avesta was transmitted mainly orally by the
Magi.
Statuette of a Greek soldier, from a 4th–3rd century BC burial site north of the
Tian Shan, at the maximum extent of Alexander's advance in the East (
Ürümqi,
Xinjiang Museum,
China) (drawing)
Alexander then set off in pursuit of Darius anew. The Persian king was no longer in control of his destiny, having been taken prisoner by
Bessus, his
Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius' successor as Artaxerxes V before retreating into
Central Asia to launch a
guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Darius was found by one of Alexander's scouts, dying, in a baggage train being pulled by an ox. Before he died, Darius remarked that he was glad that he would not die alone. His remains were buried by Alexander next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a full military funeral.
[44] Alexander claimed that, while dying, Darius had named Alexander as his successor to the Achaemenid throne, a striking irony since it was Alexander who had pursued him to his death. Alexander, viewing himself as the legitimate Achaemenid successor to Darius, viewed Bessus as a usurper to the Achaemenid throne, and eventually found and executed this 'usurper'. The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and be allowed to keep their positions. Alexander, now the Persian "King of Kings", adopted Persian dress and mannerisms, which, in time, the Greeks began to view as decadent and autocratic. They began to fear that Alexander was turning into an eastern despot. Ultimately, however, the Achaemenid Persian Empire is considered to have fallen with the death of Darius. With the death of Darius, Alexander declared the war of vengeance over, and released his Greek and other allies from service in the League campaign (although he allowed those that wished to re-enlist as
mercenaries in his army).
His three-year campaign, first against Bessus and then against
Spitamenes, the satrap of
Sogdiana, took Alexander through
Media,
Parthia,
Aria (West Afghanistan),
Drangiana,
Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan),
Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and
Scythia. In the process of doing so, he captured and refounded
Herat and
Maracanda. Moreover, he founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern
Kandahar in
Afghanistan, and
Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern
Tajikistan. In the end, both of his opponents were defeated after having been betrayed by their men—Bessus in 329 BC, and Spitamenes the year after.
Hostility
During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of
proskynesis, a symbolic kissing of the hand that Persians paid to their social superiors, but a practice that the Greeks disapproved. The Greeks regarded the gesture as the province of
deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him much in the sympathies of many of his countrymen. Here, too, a plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers,
Philotas, was executed for failing to bring the plot to his attention. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus
Parmenion, who had been charged with guarding the treasury at
Ecbatana, was assassinated by command of Alexander, so he might not make attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally slew the man who had saved his life at Granicus,
Cleitus the Black, during a drunken argument at
Maracanda.
[45] Later in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed, this one instigated by his own royal
pages. His official historian,
Callisthenes of
Olynthus (who had fallen out of favor with the king by leading the opposition to his attempt to introduce proskynesis), was implicated in the plot, however, there never has been consensus among historians regarding his involvement in the conspiracy.
The Persians referred to Alexander’s castle in Persia as the "Kelah-i-Dive-Sefid" meaning Castle of the White Demon
[46] with Alexander representing the
Div-e Sepid of the
Shahnameh epic.
Invasion of India
See also:
Alexander's Conflict with the Kambojas and
Battle of the HydaspesCampaigns and landmarks of Alexander's invasion of Southern Asia.
After the death of
Spitamenes and his marriage to
Roxana (Roshanak in
Bactrian) to cement his relations with his new Central Asian satrapies, in 326 BC Alexander was finally free to turn his attention to the
Indian subcontinent. Alexander invited all the
chieftains of the former satrapy of
Gandhara, in the north of what is now
Pakistan, to come to him and submit to his authority.
Ambhi (Greek: Omphis), ruler of
Taxila, whose kingdom extended from the
Indus to the
Jhelum (Greek:Hydaspes), complied. But the chieftains of some hill clans including the
Aspasioi and
Assakenoi sections of the
Kambojas (classical names), known in Indian texts as
Ashvayanas and
Ashvakayanas (names referring to the
equestrian nature of their society from the
Sanskrit root word Ashva meaning horse), refused to submit.
Alexander personally took command of the shield-bearing guards, foot-companions, archers, Agrianians and horse-javelin-men and led them against the
clans—the
Aspasioi of
Kunar/
Alishang valleys, the Guraeans of the Guraeus (
Panjkora) valley, and the Assakenoi of the
Swat and
Buner valleys. Writes one modern historian: "They were brave people and it was hard work for Alexander to take their strongholds, of which
Massaga and
Aornus need special mention."
[47][48] A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart but eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight; 40,000 of them were enslaved. The Assakenoi faced Alexander with an army of 30,000 cavalry, 38,000 infantry and 30
elephants.
[49] They had fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to the invader in many of their strongholds like cities of
Ora,
Bazira and Massaga. The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle. When the
Chieftain of Massaga fell in the battle, the supreme command of the army went to his old mother
Cleophis (q.v.) who also stood determined to defend her motherland to the last extremity. The example of Cleophis assuming the supreme command of the military also brought the entire women of the locality into the fighting.
[50][51] Alexander could only reduce Massaga by resorting to political strategem and actions of betrayal. According to
Curtius: "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles." A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi.
A painting by
Charles Le Brun depicting Alexander and Porus (Puru) during the
Battle of the HydaspesIn the aftermath of general
slaughter and
arson committed by Alexander at Massaga and Ora, numerous
Assakenians people fled to a high fortress called
Aornos. Alexander followed them close behind their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort but only after the fourth day of a bloody fight. The story of Massaga was repeated at Aornos and a similar carnage of the tribal-people followed here too.
Writing on Alexander's campaign against the Assakenoi,
Victor Hanson comments: "After promising the surrounded Assacenis their lives upon capitulation, he executed all their soldiers who had surrendered. Their strongholds at Ora and Aornus were also similarly stormed. Garrisons were probably all slaughtered.”
[52]Sisikottos, or
Sashigupta who had helped Alexander in this campaign, was made the governor of Aornos. According to H. C. Seth and Ranajit Pal, he was the same as
Chandragupta Maurya. After reducing Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against a local ruler
Porus (original Indian name Raja Puru), who ruled a region in the
Punjab, in the
Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC.
Silver coin of Alexander (336-323 BCE).
British Museum.
After the battle, Alexander was greatly impressed by Porus for his bravery in battle, and therefore made an alliance with him and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom, even adding some land he did not own before. Alexander then named one of the two new cities that he founded,
Bucephala, in honor of the horse who had brought him to India, who had died during the
Battle of Hydaspes.
[53] Alexander continued on to conquer all the headwaters of the Indus River.
East of Porus' kingdom, near the
Ganges River (original Indian name Ganga), was the powerful
Nanda Empire of
Magadha and
Gangaridai Empire of
Bengal. Fearing the prospects of facing other powerful Indian armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, his army mutinied at the
Hyphasis River (the modern
Beas River) refusing to march further east. This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests:
As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants.
—
Plutarch , Vita Alexandri, 62
[54]Gangaridai, a nation which possesses a vast force of the largest-sized elephants. Owing to this, their country has never been conquered by any foreign king: for all other nations dread the overwhelming number and strength of these animals. [Thus Alexander the Macedonian, after conquering all Asia, did not make war upon the Gangaridai, as he did on all others; for when he had arrived with all his troops at the river Ganges, and had subdued all the other Indians, he abandoned as hopeless an invasion of the Gangaridai when he learned that they possessed four thousand elephants well trained and equipped for war. ]"---Megasthenes (c.
350 BC-
290 BC). Quoted from the Epitome of
Megasthenes,
Indika. (Diod. II. 35-42. ), Ancient India as Described by Megasthenes and Arrian. Translated and edited by J. W. McCrindle.
Ptolemy coin with Alexander wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquests in India.
Alexander spoke to his army and tried to persuade them to march further into India but
Coenus pleaded with him to change his opinion and return, the men, he said, "longed to again see their parents, their wives and children, their homeland". Alexander, seeing the unwillingness of his men agreed and turned south. Along the way his army conquered the
Malli clans (in modern day
Multan), reputed to be among the bravest and most warlike peoples in South Asia. During a siege, Alexander jumped into the fortified city alone with only two of his bodyguards and was wounded seriously by a Mallian arrow.
[55] His forces, believing their king dead, took the citadel and unleashed their fury on the Malli who had taken refuge within it, perpetrating a massacre, sparing no man, woman or child.
[56] However, due to the efforts of his surgeon, Kritodemos of Kos, Alexander survived the injury.
[57] Following this, the surviving Malli surrendered to Alexander's forces, and his beleaguered army moved on, conquering more Indian tribes along the way. He sent much of his army to
Carmania (modern southern
Iran) with his general
Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the
Persian Gulf shore under his admiral
Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia by the southern route through the
Gedrosian Desert (now part of southern
Iran and
Makran now part of
Pakistan).
In the territory of the Indus, he nominated his officer
Peithon as a
satrap, a position he would hold for the next ten years until 316 BC, and in the
Punjab he left
Eudemus in charge of the army, at the side of the satrap
Porus and
Taxiles. Eudemus became ruler of a part of the Punjab after their death. Both rulers returned to the West in 316 BC with their armies. In 321 BCE,
Chandragupta Maurya founded the
Maurya Empire in India and overthrew the Greek satraps.
After India
Statuette of the young Alexander astride a horse,
Begram,
Afghanistan.
Discovering that many of his
satraps and
military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed a number of them as examples on his way to
Susa. As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send those over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedonia under Craterus, but his troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at the town of
Opis, refusing to be sent away and bitterly criticizing his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units. Alexander executed the ringleaders of the mutiny, but forgave the rank and file. In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, he held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year. Meanwhile, upon his return, Alexander learned some men had desecrated the tomb of
Cyrus the Great, and swiftly executed them. For they were put in charge of guarding the tomb Alexander held in honor.
His attempts to merge Persian culture with his Greek soldiers also included training a regiment of Persian boys in the ways of Macedonians. Most historians believe that Alexander adopted the Persian royal title of
Shahanshah (meaning: "The King of Kings").
It is claimed that Alexander wanted to overrun or integrate the
Arabian peninsula, but this theory is widely disputed. It was assumed that Alexander would turn westwards and attack
Carthage and
Italy, had he conquered Arabia.
After traveling to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possibly lover
[58] Hephaestion died of an illness, or possibly of poisoning. Alexander, distraught over the death of his longtime companion, sacked a nearby town, and put all of its inhabitants to the sword, as a 'sacrifice' to Hephaestion's ghost. Alexander mourned Hephaestion for six months.
Death
Alexander's Empire at his death in 323 BC.
On the afternoon of June 11, 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of
Nebuchadnezzar II of
Babylon. He was one month short of 33 years of age. Various theories have been proposed for the cause of his death which include
poisoning by the sons of
Antipater or others, sickness that followed a drinking party, or a relapse of the
malaria he had contracted in 336 BC.
[59]It is known that on May 29, Alexander participated in a banquet organized by his friend
Medius of
Larissa. After some heavy drinking, immediately before or after a bath, he was forced into bed due to severe illness. The rumors of his illness circulated with the troops causing them to be more and more anxious. On June 9, the generals decided to let the soldiers see their king alive one last time. They were admitted to his presence one at a time. Because the king was too ill to speak, he confined himself to moving his hand. The day after, Alexander was dead.
[59]Cause
The poisoning theory derives from the story held in antiquity by Justin and Curtius. The original story stated that
Cassander, son of Antipater, viceroy of Greece, brought the poison to Alexander in Babylon in a mule's hoof, and that Alexander's royal cupbearer,
Iollas, brother of Cassander and
eromenos of
Medius of Larissa, administered it.
[60] Many had powerful motivations for seeing Alexander gone, and were none the worse for it after his death. Deadly agents that could have killed Alexander in one or more doses include
hellebore and
strychnine. In R. Lane Fox's opinion, the strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days had passed between the start of his illness and his death and in the ancient world, such long-acting poisons were probably not available. However, according to Unearthing Ancient Secrets, it might still have been possible if Alexander was poisoned first with hellebore during his drink, then later have been poisoned a second or third time, perhaps with poison on the feather used to encourage vomiting.
[61]Coin of Alexander the Great, depicting
Athena in profile, and a standing
Nike.
The warrior culture of Macedon favoured the sword over strychnine, and many ancient historians, like Plutarch and
Arrian, maintained that Alexander was not poisoned, but died of natural causes;
malaria or
typhoid fever, which were rampant in ancient Babylon. A 1998 article in the
New England Journal of Medicine attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by
bowel perforation and ascending paralysis,
[62] whereas a recent analysis has identified pyogenic spondylitis or meningitis.
[63] Other illnesses could have also been the culprit, including
acute pancreatitis or the
West Nile virus.
[9] The West Nile virus theory holds sway because the symptoms match up, Alexander had been trekking through swamps prior to getting ill, and an ancient account of birds pecking each other in the air seen on Alexander's approach into Babylon, which was at the time seen as a bad omen, but could have also been the result of infected birds.
[61] Recently, theories have been advanced stating that Alexander may have died from the treatment not the disease. Hellebore, believed to have been widely used as a medicine at the time but deadly in large doses, may have been overused by the impatient king to speed his recovery, with deadly results. Disease-related theories often cite the fact that Alexander's health had fallen to dangerously low levels after years of heavy drinking and suffering several appalling wounds (including one in India that nearly claimed his life), and that it was only a matter of time before one sickness or another finally killed him.
[61]Physical deformity and the cause of death
More recently Alexander’s physical characteristics have been combined with the information of his final days to arrive at the cause of his death. Many descriptions and statues typically portray Alexander with a cervical neck deformity, typically with a gaze looking upward and outward (an image still used in modern day heroic photography). Both his father Philip II and his brother Philip Arridaeus also suffered from physical deformities, leading some to suggest a
congenital scoliotic disorder (familial neck and spinal deformity).
[63] A familial scoliotic deformity has therefore been ascribed as the cause of his death by means of an ascending spinal infection (pyogenic spondylitis or meningitis),
[63] which would also explain the ascending spinal paralysis in his final days. Furthermore, such a condition has also been proposed as a potential cause for Alexander’s depictions with horns by way of a scoliosis associated neurocutaneous Epidermal Nevus Syndrome.[
citation needed]
No story is conclusive. Alexander's death has been reinterpreted many times over the centuries. What is certain is that Alexander died of a
high fever on June 11, 323 BC.
[64]Successor
An
Astronomical diary from the year 323–322 BC that records the death of Alexander. Located at the
British Museum,
LondonOn his death bed, his marshals asked him to whom he bequeathed his kingdom. Since Alexander had no obvious and legitimate heir (his son
Alexander IV would be born after his death, and his other son was by a concubine, not a wife), it was a question of vital importance. There is some debate to what Alexander replied. Some believe that Alexander said, "Kratisto" (that is, "To the strongest!") or "Krat'eroi" (to the stronger).
Alexander may have said, "Krater'oi" (to
Craterus). This is possible because the Greek pronunciation of "the stronger" and "Craterus" differ only by the position of the accented syllable. Most scholars believe that if Alexander did intend to choose one of his generals, his obvious choice would have been Craterus because he was the commander of the largest part of the army (infantry), had proven himself to be an excellent strategist, and because he displayed traits of the "ideal" Macedonian. But Craterus was not around, and the others may have chosen to hear "Krat'eroi" — the stronger. Regardless of his reply, Craterus does not appear to have pressed the issue. The empire then split amongst his successors (the
Diadochi).
Before long, accusations of foul play were being thrown about by his generals at one another, and no contemporaneous source can be fully trusted.
Body
Alexander's body was placed in a gold anthropoid
sarcophagus, which was in turn placed in a second gold casket and covered with a
purple robe. Alexander's coffin was placed, together with his armour, in a gold carriage that had a vaulted roof supported by an
Ionic peristyle. The decoration of the carriage was very lavish and is described in great detail by Diodoros.
A rare coin of
Ptolemy I, showing himself on the obverse at the beginning of his reign, and on the reverse Alexander the Great triumphantly riding a chariot drawn by elephants, a reminder of his successful campaigns with Alexander in India.
According to one legend, Alexander was preserved in a clay vessel full of
honey (which can act as a preservative) and interred in a glass
coffin. According to Aelian (Varia Historia 12.64),
Ptolemy stole the body and brought it to Alexandria, where it was on display until
Late Antiquity. It was here that
Ptolemy IX, one of the last successors of Ptolemy I, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one, and melted the original down in order to strike emergency gold issues of his coinage. The citizens of Alexandria were outraged at this and soon after, Ptolemy IX was killed.
The Roman emperor
Caligula was said to have looted the tomb, stealing Alexander's breastplate, and wearing it. Around 200 AD, Emperor
Septimius Severus closed Alexander's tomb to the public. His son and successor,
Caracalla, was a great admirer of Alexander, and visited the tomb in his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are sketchy.
The so-called "
Alexander Sarcophagus," discovered near
Sidon and now in the
Istanbul Archaeology Museum, is so named, not because it was ever thought to have contained Alexander's remains but because its bas-reliefs depict Alexander and his companions hunting and in battle with the Persians. Originally thought
[65] to have been the sarcophagus of
Abdalonymus (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon appointed by Alexander immediately following the
battle of Issus, 331,
[66] some recent opinion makes it earlier than Abdalonymus' death.
[67]Testament
Some classical authors, such as
Diodorus, relate that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to
Craterus some time before his death. Although Craterus had already started to implement Alexander's orders, such as the building of a fleet in
Cilicia for expedition against
Carthage, Alexander's successors chose not to further implement them, on the grounds that they were impractical and extravagant.
[68] The testament, described in Diodorus XVIII, called for military expansion into the Southern and Western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. Its most remarkable items were:
The completion of a pyre to
HephaestionThe building of "a thousand warships, larger than triremes, in Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus for the campaign against the Carthaginians and the other who live along the coast of
Libya and
Iberia and the adjoining coastal regions as far as
Sicily"
The building of a road in northern Africa as far as the
Pillars of Heracles, with ports and shipyards along it.
The erection of great temples in
Delos,
Delphi,
Dodona,
Dium,
Amphipolis,
Cyrnus and
Ilium.
The construction of a monumental tomb for his father
Philip, "to match the greatest of the
pyramids of Egypt"
The establishment of cities and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties." (
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historia, XVIII)
Personal life
Main article:
Alexander the Great's personal relationshipsAlexander's lifelong companion was
Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble. Hephaestion also held the position of second-in-command of Alexander's forces until his death, which devastated Alexander. The full extent of his relationship with Hephaestion is the subject of much historical speculation.
Alexander married two women:
Roxana, daughter of a
Bactrian nobleman,
Oxyartes; and
Stateira, a Persian princess and daughter of
Darius III of Persia. There is also an accepted tradition of a third wife – Parysatis – whom he is supposed to have married in Persia, though nothing else is known about her. Another personage from the court of Darius III with whom he was intimate was the male eunuch
Bagoas. His son by Roxana,
Alexander IV of Macedon, was killed after the death of his father, before he reached adulthood.
Alexander was admired during his lifetime for treating all his lovers humanely.
[69][70]Legacy and division of the empire
Main article:
DiadochiCoin of Alexander bearing an
Aramaic language inscription.
The Hellenistic world view after Alexander:
ancient world map of
Eratosthenes (276-194 BC), incorporating information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors.
[71]After Alexander's death, in 323 BC, the rule of his Empire was given to Alexander's half-brother
Philip Arridaeus and Alexander's son Alexander IV. However, since Philip was apparently feeble-minded and the son of Alexander still a baby, two regents were named in
Perdiccas (who had received Alexander's ring at his death) and
Craterus (who may have been the one mentioned as successor by Alexander), although Perdiccas quickly managed to take sole power.
Perdiccas soon eliminated several of his opponents, killing about 30 (Diodorus Siculus), and at the
Partition of Babylon named former generals of Alexander as
satraps of the various regions of his Empire. In 321 BC Perdiccas was assassinated by his own troops during his conflict with
Ptolemy, leading to the
Partition of Triparadisus, in which
Antipater was named as the new regent, and the satrapies again shared between the various generals. From that time, Alexander's officers were focused on the explicit formation of rival monarchies and territorial states.
Ultimately, the conflict was settled after the
Battle of Ipsus in
Phrygia in 301 BC. Alexander's empire was divided at first into four major portions:
Cassander ruled in
Macedon,
Lysimachus in
Thrace,
Seleucus in
Mesopotamia and Persia, and
Ptolemy I Soter in the
Levant and
Egypt.
Antigonus ruled for a while in
Anatolia and
Syria but was eventually defeated by the other generals at Ipsus (301 BC).
Control over Indian territory passed to
Chandragupta Maurya, the first
Maurya emperor, who further expanded his dominions after a settlement with Seleucus.
By 270 BC, the
Hellenistic states were consolidated, with
The
Antigonid Empire in Greece;
The
Seleucid Empire in Mesopotamia and Persia;
The
Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, Palestine and
CyrenaicaThe
Greco-Bactrian king
Demetrius (reigned c. 200–180 BCE), wearing an elephant scalp, took over Alexander's legacy in the east by again invading
India in 180 BCE, and establishing the
Indo-Greek kingdom (180 BC–10 AD).
By the 1st century BC though, most of the Hellenistic territories in the West had been absorbed by the
Roman Republic. In the East, they had been dramatically reduced by the expansion of the
Parthian Empire. The territories further east seceded to form the
Greco-Bactrian kingdom (250–140 BC), which further expanded into India to form the
Indo-Greek kingdom (180 BC–10 AD).
The Ptolemy dynasty persisted in
Egypt until the epoch of the queen
Cleopatra, best known for her alliances with
Julius Caesar and
Mark Antony, just before the Roman republic officially became the
Roman Empire.
Alexander's conquests also had long term
cultural effects, with the flourishing of
Hellenistic civilization throughout the
Middle East and
Central Asia, and the development of
Greco-Buddhist art in the
Indian subcontinent. Alexander and his successors were tolerant of non-Greek religious practices, and interesting syncretisms developed in the new Greek towns he founded in
Central Asia. The first realistic portrayals of the
Buddha appeared at this time; they are reminiscent of Greek statues of
Apollo. Several
Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ancient Greek religion; the concept of
Boddhisatvas is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes,
[72] and some
Mahayana ceremonial practices (burning incense, gifts of flowers and food placed on altars) are similar to those practiced by the ancient Greeks.
Zen Buddhism draws in part on the ideas of Greek
stoics, such as
Zeno.
[73]Among other effects, the
Hellenistic, or
koine dialect of
Greek became the
lingua franca throughout the so-called civilized world. For instance the standard version of the
Hebrew Scriptures used among the Jews of the
diaspora, especially in Egypt, during the life of
Jesus was the
Greek Septuagint translation, which was compiled ca 200 BC by seventy-odd scholars under the patronage of the Macedonian ruler
Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Thus many Jews from Egypt or Rome would have trouble understanding the teachings of the scholars in the Temple in
Jerusalem who were using the Hebrew original text and an
Aramaic translation, being themselves only acquainted with the Greek version. There has been much speculation on the issue whether Jesus spoke Koine Greek as the Gospel-writers, themselves writing in Greek, do not say anything decisive about the matter.
Spread of Greek ideas
Alexander had been educated by
Aristotle. An important part of this education was the knowledge of
Homer's
Iliad, the common root for Greek identity, and of the Athenian heroes.
[74] Alexander took especial favour with the Homeric hero
Achilles, the mythical founder of his mother's tribe, and the statesman
Pericles, who enabled the
Golden Age of Athens.
[74] His imperial ambitions did contain an agenda for the conquered barbarians, according to Aristotle's definition, to learn Greek and study Greek ideas. The military success spread the concept over a large part of the world. This Greek heritage was in large parts Athenian merit and thus was ensured the survival of the historical and cultural legacy of the
Delian League.
[74] During Alexander's campaign, he visited Achilles' tomb. Achilles was Alexander's role model and hero. For good luck, Alexander took Achilles' shield into his battle with the Persians. Unlike most leaders, Alexander actually fought shoulder to shoulder with his men. Each time Alexander conquered new lands, he built a city named Alexandria after himself. The Alexandrias were all built in Greek style. The most famous Alexandria was the one in Egypt. There was a library and a lighthouse (lighthouse of Alexandria) which was one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world. It also housed the temple of the Muses. Mueseums are named after the Muses.
Concept of civilized world versus barbarian world
At the time of Alexander there existed the concept of oikouménē (
Ecumene), meaning literally "the inhabitated world".
[75] Alexander, with his conquers, changed it to mean "the civilized world", the group of civilizated nations which has common interests, as opposed to the barbarian nations.
[75][76] The concept would also include now not only the geography, but also its social, cultural and political dimensions.
[75] Alexander put it into practice by unifying Greece, the Near East, the Indus Valley, Central Asia and Egypt and then appointing himself as the guardian who would guard its frontiers so barbarians nations would not be able to attack the civilized nations inside.
[76]Influence on Ancient Rome
A mural in
Pompeii, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC. The couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite.
In the late
Republic and early
Empire, educated Roman citizens used Latin only for legal, political, and ceremonial purposes, and used Greek to discuss philosophy or any other intellectual topic. No Roman wanted to hear it said that his mastery of the Greek language was weak. Throughout the Roman world, the one language spoken everywhere was Alexander's Greek.[
citation needed]
Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements, although very little is known about Roman-Macedonian diplomatic relations of that time.
Polybius started his
Histories by reminding Romans of his role, and since then subsequent Roman leaders saw him as his inspirational role leader.
[75] Julius Caesar wept in Spain at the mere sight of Alexander's statue; when asked to see other great military leaders Caesar said Alexander was the only great one.
Pompey the Great rummaged through the closets of conquered nations for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which the Roman general then wore as the costume of greatness.
Augustus' empire was seen as the more perfect successor of Alexander's.
[75] However, in his zeal to honor Alexander, Augustus accidentally broke the nose off the Macedonian's mummified corpse while laying a wreath at the hero's shrine in Alexandria, Egypt. The unbalanced emperor
Caligula later took the dead king's armor from that tomb and donned it for luck. The Macriani, a Roman family that rose to the imperial throne in the 3rd century A.D., always kept images of Alexander on their persons, either stamped into their bracelets and rings or stitched into their garments. Even their dinnerware bore Alexander's face, with the story of the king's life displayed around the rims of special bowls.
[77]In the summer of 1995, a statue of Alexander was recovered in an excavation of a Roman house in Alexandria, which was richly decorated with mosaic and marble pavements and probably was constructed in the 1st century AD and occupied until the 3rd century.
[78]Character
This section has multiple issues. Please help
improve the article or discuss these issues on the
talk page.
It does not cite any
references or sources. Please help improve it by citing
reliable sources. Tagged since October 2008.It may contain an
unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not
verifiable with the given sources. Please help add
reliable sources about this topic. Tagged since October 2008.
Modern opinion on Alexander has run the gamut, from the notion that he believed that he was on a divinely inspired mission to unite the
human race to the view that he was a
megalomaniac bent on
world domination.[
citation needed] Such views tend to be
anachronistic, and sources allow for a variety of interpretations. Much about Alexander's personality and aims remains enigmatic: there were no disinterested commentators in his own time or soon afterwards, so all accounts ought to be read with
scepticism.[
citation needed]
Alexander is remembered as a legendary hero in
Europe and much of both
Southwest and
Central Asia, where he is known as Al-Iskander or Al-Iskandar Zulkarnain ("Alexander of the two horns" in Arabic). To
Zoroastrians, however, he is the conqueror of their first great empire and as the destroyer of
Persepolis. Ancient sources are generally written with the agenda either of glorifying or of denigrating the man, making it difficult to evaluate his actual character. Most refer to a growing instability and megalomania in the years following Gaugamela, but it has been suggested that this simply reflects the Greek
stereotype of an orientalising king.
At any rate, it is difficult to see much in the claim of Plutarch that, despite his drive and passion, Alexander was a man of admirable self-restraint. The murder of his friend Cleitus, which he deeply and immediately regretted,
[45] is often cited as a sign of his paranoia, as is his execution of Philotas and his general Parmenion for failure to pass along details of a plot against him. There is also the view, of course, that this was more prudence than paranoia.
Modern Alexandrists, such as George Cawkwell, E. Badian and A. B. Bosworth, continue to debate these issues and others. One unresolved polemic involves whether Alexander was actually attempting to better the world by his conquests or if his purpose was primarily to rule the world.
Partially in response to the ubiquity of positive portrayals of Alexander, an alternate character is sometimes presented[
by whom?] which emphasises some of Alexander's negative aspects. Some proponents[
who?] of this view cite the destructions of
Thebes,
Tyre,
Persepolis and
Gaza as atrocities, arguing that Alexander preferred fighting to negotiating. It is further claimed[
by whom?], in response to the view that he was generally tolerant of the cultures of the people whom he conquered, that his attempts at cultural fusion were strictly practical and that he never genuinely admired
Persian art or culture.[
citation needed] To this school of thought, Alexander was more a general than a statesman.[
citation needed]
Alexander's character also suffers the interpretation of historians who themselves are subject to the biases and ideals of their times.
William Woodthorpe Tarn, of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, saw Alexander in an extremely positive light, while
Peter Green, who wrote after
World War II, saw little in him and his deeds that was not inherently selfish or expedient. Tarn wrote in an age during which world conquest and warrior-heroes were acceptable, even encouraged; Green wrote against the backdrop of
World War II with its 70 million dead and
nuclear weaponry.
Greek and Latin sources
There are numerous Greek and Latin texts about Alexander, as well as some non-Greek texts. The primary sources, texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander, are all lost, apart from a few inscriptions and some letter-fragments of dubious authenticity. Contemporaries who wrote full accounts of his life include the historian
Callisthenes, Alexander's general
Ptolemy,
Aristobulus,
Nearchus, and
Onesicritus. Another influential account is by
Cleitarchus who, while not a direct witness of Alexander's expedition, used sources which had just been published. His work was to be the backbone of that of
Timagenes, who heavily influenced many historians whose work still survives. None of these works survives, but we do have later works based on these primary sources.
The five main surviving accounts are by Arrian, Curtius, Plutarch, Diodorus, and Justin.
Anabasis Alexandri (The Campaigns of Alexander in Greek) by the Greek historian
Arrian of
Nicomedia, writing in the 2nd century AD, and based largely on Ptolemy and, to a lesser extent, Aristobulus and Nearchus. It is considered generally the most trustworthy source.
Historiae Alexandri Magni, a biography of Alexander in ten books, of which the last eight survive, by the Roman historian
Quintus Curtius Rufus, written in the 1st century AD, and based largely on Cleitarchus through the mediation of Timagenes, with some material probably from Ptolemy;
Life of Alexander (see
Parallel Lives) and two orations On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great (see
Moralia), by the Greek historian and biographer
Plutarch of
Chaeronea in the second century, based largely on Aristobulus and especially Cleitarchus.
Bibliotheca historia (Library of world history), written in Greek by the
Sicilian historian
Diodorus Siculus, from which Book 17 relates the conquests of Alexander, based almost entirely on Timagenes's work. The books immediately before and after, on Philip and Alexander's "Successors," throw light on Alexander's reign.
The Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus by
Justin, which contains factual errors and is highly compressed. It is difficult in this case to understand the source, since we only have an epitome, but it is thought that also
Pompeius Trogus may have limited himself to use Timagenes for his Latin history.
To these five main sources some scholars add the
Metz Epitome, an anonymous late Latin work that narrates Alexander's campaigns from
Hyrcania to India. Much is also recounted incidentally in other authors, including
Strabo,
Athenaeus,
Polyaenus,
Aelian, and others.
The "problem of the sources" is the main concern (and chief delight) of Alexander-historians. In effect, each presents a different "Alexander", with details to suit. Arrian is mostly interested in the military aspects, while Curtius veers to a more private and darker Alexander. Plutarch can't resist a good story, light or dark. All, with the possible exception of Arrian, include a considerable level of fantasy, prompting Strabo to remark, "All who wrote about Alexander preferred the marvelous to the true." Nevertheless, the sources tell us much, and leave much to our interpretation and imagination. Perhaps Arrian's words are most appropriate:
One account says that Hephaestion laid a wreath on the tomb of Patroclus; another that Alexander laid one on the tomb of Achilles, calling him a lucky man, in that he had Homer to proclaim his deeds and preserve his memory. And well might Alexander envy Achilles this piece of good fortune; for in his own case there was no equivalent: his one failure, the single break, as it were, in the long chain of his successes, was that he had no worthy chronicler to tell the world of his exploits.
Legend
Detail of Alexander on the
Alexander SarcophagusAlexander was a legend in his own time. His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in
Cilicia as drawing back from him in
proskynesis. Writing after Alexander's death, another participant,
Onesicritus, went so far as to invent a
tryst between Alexander and
Thalestris, queen of the mythical
Amazons. When Onesicritus read this passage to his patron, Alexander's general and later King
Lysimachus reportedly quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time." (Plutarch, Alexander' 46.2)
In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the more legendary material coalesced into a text known as the
Alexander Romance, later falsely ascribed to the historian Callisthenes and therefore known as Pseudo-Callisthenes. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the
Middle Ages, exhibiting a plasticity unseen in "higher" literary forms. Latin and
Syriac translations were made in Late Antiquity. From these, versions were developed in all the major languages of
Europe and the
Middle East, including
Armenian,
Georgian,
Persian,
Arabic,
Turkish,
Hebrew,
Serbian,
Slavonic,
Romanian,
Hungarian,
German,
English,
Italian, and
French. The "Romance" is regarded by many Western scholars as the source of the
account of Alexander given in the Qur'an (
Sura The Cave). It is the source of many incidents in
Ferdowsi's "
Shahnama". A
Mongolian version is also extant. Some believe that, excepting certain religious texts, it is the most widely read work of pre-modern times.
Alexander is also a character of Greek folklore (and other regions), as the protagonist of 'apocryphal' tales of bravery. A maritime legend says that his sister is a
mermaid and asks the sailors if her brother is still alive. The unsuspecting sailor who answers truthfully arouses the mermaid's wrath and his boat perishes in the waves; a sailor mindful of the circumstances will answer "He lives and reigns, and conquers the world", and the sea about his boat will immediately calm. Alexander is also a character of a standard play in the
Karagiozis repertory, "Alexander the Great and the Accursed Serpent". The ancient Greek poet
Adrianus composed an epic poem on the history of Alexander the Great, called the Alexandriad, which was probably still extant in the 10th century, but which is now lost to us.
In the Bible
Alexander and
Augustus depicted in a
Byzantine style painting from 1568. Written on the left is 'Alexander, King of the Hellenes' and 'Augustus, Emperor of the Romans' on the right. From the Katholikon of Docheiariou Monastery,
Mt. Athos, Greece.
Daniel 8:5–8 and 21–22 states that a King of Greece will conquer the Medes and Persians but then die at the height of his power and have his kingdom broken into four kingdoms. This is sometimes taken as a reference to Alexander.[
citation needed]
Alexander was briefly mentioned in the
first Book of the Maccabees. All of Chapter 1, verses 1–7 was about Alexander and this serves as an introduction of the book. This explains how the Hellenistic influence reached the
Land of Israel at that time.
In the Qur'an
Main article:
Alexander in the Qur'anAlexander the Great sometimes is identified in Persian and Arabic traditions as
Dhul-Qarnayn, Arabic for the "Two-Horned One", possibly a reference to the appearance of a horn-headed figure that appears on coins minted during his rule and later imitated in ancient Middle Eastern coinage.[
citation needed] Accounts of
Dhul-Qarnayn appear in the
Qur'an, and so may refer to Alexander.
References to Alexander may also be found in the Persian tradition. The same traditions from the Pseudo-Callisthenes were combined in Persia with
Sassanid Persian ideas about Alexander in the
Iskandarnamah. In this tradition, Alexander built a wall of iron and melted copper in which
Gog and Magog are confined.
Some Muslim scholars[
who?] disagree that Alexander was
Dhul-Qarnayn. There are actually some theories that
Dhul-Qarnayn was a Persian King with a vast Empire as well, possibly King
Cyrus the Great.[
citation needed] The reason being is Dhul-Qarnayn is described in the Quran as a monotheist believer who worshipped Allah (God). This would remove Alexander as a candidate for
Dhul-Qarnayn as Alexander was a polytheist. Yet contemporaneous Persian nobles would have practiced
Zurvanism, thus disqualifying them on the same basis.
In the Shahnameh
15th cent. Persian miniature painting from
Herat depicting
Iskander, the Persian name for Alexander the Great
The
Shahnameh of
Ferdowsi, one of the oldest books written in
modern Persian, has a chapter about Alexander. It is a book of
epic poetry written around 1000 AD, and is believed to have played an important role in the survival of the Persian language in the face of
Arabic influence. It starts with a mythical history of Iran and then gives a story of Alexander, followed by a brief mention of the
Arsacids. The accounts after that, still in epic poetry, portray historical figures. Alexander is described as a child of a Persian king, Daraaye Darab (the last in the list of kings in the book whose names do not match historical kings), and a daughter of Philip, a Roman king. However, due to problems in the relationship between the Persian king and Philip's daughter, she is sent back to Rome. Alexander is born to her afterwards, but Philip claims him as his own son and keeps the true identity of the child secret.
Names
Alexander is also known in the
Zoroastrian Middle Persian work
Arda Wiraz Nāmag as "Alexander the accursed",
[79][80] in the
Persian language Guzastag,
[81] due to his conquest of the
Persian Empire and the destruction of its capital
Persepolis. He is also known as Eskandar-e Maqduni[
citation needed](Alexander of Macedonia") in Persian, al-Iskandar al-Makduni al-
Yunani[82] ("Alexander the Macedonian, of Greece") in
Arabic, אלכסנדר מוקדון, Alexander Mokdon in
Hebrew, and Tre-Qarnayia in
Aramaic (the two-horned one, apparently due to an image on coins minted during his rule that seemingly depicted him with the two ram's horns of the Egyptian god
Ammon), الاسكندر الاكبر, al-Iskandar al-Akbar ("Alexander the Great") in
Arabic, سکندر اعظم, Sikandar-e-azam in
Urdu and Skandar in
Pashto. Sikandar, his name in
Urdu and
Hindi, is also a term used as a synonym for "expert" or "extremely skilled".
In ancient and modern culture
Main article:
Cultural depictions of Alexander the GreatAround seventy towns or outposts are claimed to have been founded by Alexander.
[83] Diodorus Siculus credits Alexander with planning cities on a
grid plan.
[84]Alexander has figured in works of both "high" and popular culture from his own era to the modern day.
Alexander was depicted on the
reverse of the Greek 100
drachmas coin of 1990-2001.
[85]Notes
^
a b See
map of conquers and compare with
Hecataeus of Miletus's map, see
an attempt to reconstruct what his map looked like at 6th century BC ^ i: There suspicisions that Paunsanias was actually hired to murder Philip. Suspicion has falled upon Alexander, Olympias and even the newly crowned Persian Emperor, Darius III. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered.
[86]References
^ "Alexander".
Online Etymology Dictionary.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ "The birth of Alexander". Livius.
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-20. - Leo Depuydt, 'The Time of Death of Alexander the Great: 11 June 323 BC, ca. 4:00-5:00 PM' in: Die Welt des Orients 28 (
1997) 117-135.
^ Pomeroy, S.; Burstein, S.; Dolan, W.; Roberts, J. (1998). Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History.
Oxford University Press.
ISBN 0-19-509742-4. -Hammond, N. G. L. (1989). The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History. Oxford University Press, 12–13.
ISBN 0-19-814883-6; -Perseus By Daniel Ogden; -Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians By Bob Brier, A. Hoyt Hobbs; -A Survey of Historic Costume By Phyllis G. Tortora, Keith Eubank ; -Jesus of History, Christ of Faith, By Thomas Zanzig; -Territory By David Storey; -The Man in the Garden By Bronwyn Johnson ; -Why the Nativity? By David Jeremiah; -Zinc By Leon Gray; -A Historical Atlas of India By Aisha Khan ; -Real Things in Nature By Edward Singleton Holden; -Women's Roots By June Stephenson; -The Great White Lies By Howard Randal Cox; -Writing in Ancient Egypt By Jil Fine; -Encountering Ancient Voices By Corrine L. Carvalho; -漫遊世界文明學英語 (20k+2cd) Published by 寂天文化
ISBN 9861840575, 9789861840574 ; -Shema is for Real By Joel Lurie Grishaver, Deena Bloomstone; -The Candlestick By E. Paul Braxton; moreover the
Argead Dynasty, to which Alexander belonged claimed direct descend from
Argos.
^
a b Loring M. Danforth (1997).
Princeton University Press. ed.
The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World. Princeton: Princeton Univ Press. pp.
38,
49,
167.
ISBN 0691043566.
http://books.google.es/books?id=ZmesOn_HhfEC.
^
a b Richard Stoneman (2004).
Routledge. ed.
Alexander the Great. London: Routledge. p. 2.
ISBN 0415319323.
http://books.google.es/books?id=WflsLSi77icC&pg=PA2-IA5&vq=known+world&dq=%22alexander+the+great%22+%22known+world%22&lr=&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0.
^ Bowra, C. M., [1957] (1994), The Greek Experience,
London:
Phoenix,
Orion Books Ltd,
ISBN 1-85799-122-2, p. 9.
^ Sacks, David, (
1995), Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, London: Constable and Co. Ltd,
ISBN 0-09-475270-2, p. 16.
^ "Alexander's death riddle is 'solved'". BBC. 1998-06-11.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/latest_news/110852.stm. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^
a b "Alexander the Great and West Nile Virus Encephalitis".
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol9no12/03-0288.htm. Retrieved on 2008-05-20.
^ Alexander probably had greater affection for Achilles than for any other historical figure.
Lysimachus, one of his boyhood tutors, indulged this fancy by some shamelessly ingratiating nomenclature: Alexander he called Achilles, Philip
Peleus and himself
Phoenix. Certainly, it seems true that Alexander modelled himself to a degree on the central figure of
Homer's
Iliad: both of them were prone to stewing sulks, and both held their horses in lofty regard. Macedonian society in general, it seems, was self-consciously Homeric, especially in the art of war.
^ quoted from Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 253
^ McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 10.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 252* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 28* Durant, Life of Greece, p. 538
^
a b c Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 253.
^ Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 21.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 254-55* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 28
^ Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 33-34.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 257
^ Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 64.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 257-58* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 39* Durant, Life of Greece, p. 538
^
a b Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 65.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 258-59* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 44* MCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 15
^ Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 68.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 260* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 47* Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 43
^ Renault, The Age of Alexander, p. 47-49.
^ Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 50-51.* Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 44-45* McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 23
^
a b c Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 51.* Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 47* McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 24
^ Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 54.* McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 26
^ quoted from Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 253
^ McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 27.
^ Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 73-75.*Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 55
^ Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 75.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 261* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 56
^ McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 27.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 262* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 59* Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 71
^
a b McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 30-31.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 262-263* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 61-62* Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 72
^ McCarty, Alexander the Great, p. 31.* Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 263* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 72* Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 104* Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 95
^ Bose, Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, p. 96.* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 72
^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 44.* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 73
^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 45-48.* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 73-74
^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 50-51.* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 77
^ Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 52-54.* Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 77
^ Alexander the Great. Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ Plutarch. Phocion. p. 17.
^ Greene, Robert (2000).
The 48 Laws of Power.
Penguin Books. pp. 351.
ISBN 0140280197.
^ Yash Nandan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, "British Death March Under Asiatic Impulse: Epic of Anglo-Indian Tragedy in Afghanistan", Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2003,
ISBN 8172763018, page 43: "Tyre and Gaza suffered the most brutal attacks during Alexander's war in Asia."
^ John Gunther, Alexander the great, Sterling, 2007,
ISBN 1402745192. page 84.
^ Philip Sabin, Hans van Wees, Michael Whitby, "The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare: Greece, the Hellenistic World and the Rise of Rome", Cambridge University Press, 2007,
ISBN 0521782732, page 396.
^ 1.Alexander the Great
Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, K. A. Berney, Paul E. Schellinger (1994).
Taylor & Francis. ed.
International dictionary of historic places. pp.
49,
320.
ISBN 978-1884964036.
http://books.google.es/books?id=2aOpeBnbxvsC.
By David J. Lonsdale 2.International dictionary of historic places
By Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, K. A. Berney 3. Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus
By Russell E. Gmirkin 4. Ancient Egypt
By Barry J. Kemp 5.A History of the Jewish People
By Margolis, Max Leopold, 1866-1932, Max Leopold Margolis, Alexander Marx 6. Egypt
By Virginia Maxwell, Mary Fitzpatrick, Siona Jenkins, Anthony Sattin 7. History of Ancient Civilization
By Albert Augustus Trever
^
a b Nicolas Grimal (1992). Blackwell Publishing. ed.
A History of Ancient Egypt (reprint ed.). p. 382.
ISBN 978-0631193960.
http://books.google.es/books?id=GzTiXt49I0YC&pg=PA382&vq=alexander&dq=persian+egypt+%22Alexander+the+Great+%22&hl=ca&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0.
^ Although his boost of percepts about his divinity was sometimes coolly received in Greece, it was all but necessary for his Pharaonic rule of Egypt.
^ Arrian (2004). Tania Gergel. ed. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History's Greatest Conqueror as Told By His Original Biographers.
Penguin Books. p. 81.
ISBN 0142001406.
^
a b Plutarch (2004). Tania Gergel. ed. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History's Greatest Conqueror as Told By His Original Biographers.
Penguin Books. p. 99.
ISBN 0142001406.
^ Connop Thirlwall (1860). Harper & brothers. ed.
The History of Greec. p. 506.
http://books.google.com/books?id=3fgLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA506&vq=kelah-i-sefid+castle+white+demon&dq=The+History+of+Greece+By+Connop+Thirlwall&client=opera&hl=es&source=gbs_search_s. (look under "III. The Persian Gates")
^ Worthington 2003, p. 162
^ Narain, A. K. (1965). Alexander the Great: Greece and Rome – 12. pp. 155–165.
^ "Quintus Curtius Rufus: Life of Alexander the Great".
University of Chicago.
http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Curtius/home.html. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
^ Majumdar, R. C. (1971). Ancient India. p. 99.
^ Mukerjee, R. K.. History and Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Unity, Foreign Invasion. p. 46.
^ Hanson, Victor (2002). Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power. p. 86.
^ Arrian (2004). Tania Gergel. ed. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History's Greatest Conqueror as Told By His Original Biographers.
Penguin Books. p. 120.
ISBN 0142001406.
^ "Plutarch, Plutarch, Alexander (English).: Alexander (ed. Bernadotte Perrin)".
Tufts University.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
^ Plutarch, Alexander.
"Plutarch, Plutarch, Alexander (English).: Alexander (ed. Bernadotte Perrin)".
Tufts University.
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243;query=chapter%3D%2363;layout=;. Retrieved on 2008-05-30. See also:
"Alexander is wounded". Main Lesson.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=macgregor&book=greece&story=wounded. Retrieved on 2008-05-30.
^ Tripathi, Rama Shankar.
History of Ancient India.
http://books.google.com/books?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC&pg=PA134&dq=Malloi++Alexander&sig=Xvc-CeaQxzHb6-MqkbsZ_EhAeHM#PPA138,M1.
^ "Ancient Surgery:Alexander the Great".
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/a-b/ancientsurgery4.html. Retrieved on 2008-7-15.
^ Aelian, Varia Historia; 12.7
^
a b Arrian (2004). Tania Gergel. ed. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History's Greatest Conqueror as Told By His Original Biographers.
Penguin Books. p. 143.
ISBN 0142001406.
^ Waldemar Heckel (Ed.) Who's who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire p.143
^
a b c "Alexander the Great: A Case For Murder?". Unearthing Ancient Secrets (
Science Channel). 2009-02-02.
^ Oldach DW, Richard RE, Borza EN, Benitez RM (June 1998). "
A mysterious death". N. Engl. J. Med. 338 (24): 1764–9.
doi:
10.1056/NEJM199806113382411.
PMID 9625631.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=short&pmid=9625631&promo=ONFLNS19.
^
a b c Ashrafian H. The death of Alexander the Great--a spinal twist of fate. J Hist Neurosci. 2004 Jun;13(2):138-42.
^ Leo Depuydt, 'The Time of Death of Alexander the Great: 11 June 323 BC, ca. 4:00-5:00 PM' in: Die Welt des Orients 28 (1997) 117-135.
^ originally by Studniniczka Achäologische Jahrbook 9 (1894), pp 226ff; F. Winter, 1912.
^ J.D. Beazley and Bernard Ashmole, (Greek Sculpture and Painting 1932, p. 59, fig. 134), Margarete Bieber ("The Portraits of Alexander" Greece & Rome, Second Series, 12.2, Alexander the Great [October 1965], pp. 183-188) and Karl Schefold (Der Alexander-Sarkophag [Frankfort/Berlin] 1968) maintain this opinion; Schefold's is the modern monograph from which more recent opinion departs; its many photographs are by Max Seidel.
^ See
Alexander Sarcophagus.
^ "At the same time he [Craterus] had received written instructions which the king had given him for execution; nevertheless, after the death of Alexander, it seemed best to the successors not to carry out these plans." Diodorus XVIII,4
^ Plutarch, Alexander, 21
^ Plutarc's Moralia II "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander", 6
^ "Source". Henry-davis.com.
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/112.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.
^ Luniya, Bhanwarlal Nathuram. Life and Culture in Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to 1000 A.D., "India Civilization To 1200–1978", page 312.
^ Pratt, James Bissett. Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage. [S.l.]: South Asia Books, 1996, page 237.
ISBN 8120611969.
^
a b c James Jerome Murphy; Richard A. Katula, Forbes I. Hill, Donovan J. Ochs (2003).
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ed.
A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric. Mahwah, N.J.: Hermagoras Press. p. 17.
ISBN 1880393352.
http://books.google.es/books?id=PqM4VQL9qKEC&pg=PA17&dq=%2B%22alexander+the+great%22+%2B%22known+world%22&lr=.
^
a b c d e Karl Galinsky (2005).
Cambridge University Press. ed.
The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 341.
ISBN 0521807964.
http://books.google.es/books?id=ftcx-5j7rjwC&pg=PA341&dq=%2B%22oikumene%22+%2B%22alexander+the+great%22&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES.
^
a b Albert James Arnold (1996).
University of Virginia Press. ed.
Monsters, Tricksters, and Sacred Cows: Animal Tales and American Identities. Charlottesville, Va. ;London: Univ. Pr. of Virginia. pp. 29–31.
ISBN 0813916461.
http://books.google.es/books?id=nSPKC_Ba12EC&pg=PA29&vq=alexander+the+great&dq=%22alexander+the+great%22+%22known+world%22&lr=&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0.
^ Frank L. Holt, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions, University of California Press.
^ "Salima Ikram. Nile Currents". Egyptology.com.
http://www.egyptology.com/kmt/fall96/nile.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.
^ Worthington (2004), p. 298
^ Religious persecution under Alexander the Great
Livius.org^ Alexander the Great by Nigel Cawthorne
[1]^ Alexander Historiatus a Supplement by D. J. A. Ross
[2]^ Jona Lendering.
"Alexander the Great: his towns". Livius.org.
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-22.
^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historia, vol. 8
^ Bank of Greece. Drachma Banknotes & Coins:
100 drachmas. – Retrieved on 27 March 2009.
^ Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 72-73.
Arrian (1976) [140s AD].
The Campaigns of Alexander. trans.
Aubrey de Sélincourt.
Penguin Books.
ISBN 0140442537.
Green, Peter (1992). Alexander of Macedon: 356–323 B.C. A Historical Biography. University of California Press.
ISBN 0520071662.
Lane Fox, Robin (1973). Alexander the Great. Allen Lane.
ISBN 0860077071.
Lane Fox, Robin (1980). The Search for Alexander. Little Brown & Co. Boston.
ISBN 0316291080.
Plutarch (2004). Life of Alexander. Modern Library.
ISBN 0812971337.
Renault, Mary (1979). The Nature of Alexander.
Pantheon Books.
ISBN 039473825X.
Wilcken, Ulrich (1997) [1932]. Alexander the Great. W. W. Norton & Company.
ISBN 0393003817.
Worthington, Ian (2003). Alexander the Great.
Routledge.
ISBN 0415291879.
Worthington, Ian (2004). Alexander the Great: Man And God. Pearson.
ISBN 9781405801621.
Sources
Primary Source
Arrian, translated by Aubrey De Selincourt, (1987). The Campiagns of Alexander. Penguin Classics.
ISBN 0-14-044253-7.
Plutarch, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert, (1988). The Age of Alexander. Penguin Classics.
ISBN 0-14-044286-3.
Secondary Sources
Partha Bose, (2003). Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy. Allen & Unwin.
ISBN 1-74114-113-3.
Will Durant, (1966). The Story of Civilization: The Life of Greece. Simon & Schuster.
ISBN 0-671-41800-9.
Edited by
Bill Fawcett, (2006). How To Loose A Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders.
ISBN 0-06-076024-9Robin Lane Fox (1980). The Search For Alexander. Little, Brown and Company.
ISBN 0-316-29108-0.
Nick McCarty (2004). Alexander the Great. Penguin Group.
ISBN 0-670-04268-4.
Mary Renault, (2001). The Nature of Alexander the Great.
ISBN 0-141-39076-X.
External links
Find more about Alexander the Great on Wikipedia's
sister projects:
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity
Primary Sources
Plutarch, Of the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great (English)
Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus (English)
Alexander the Great: An annotated list of primary sources from Livius.org
Wiki Classical Dictionary,
extant sources and
fragmentary and lost sourcesOther
A Bibliography of Alexander the Great by Waldemar Heckel
Pothos.org: Alexander's Home on the WebAlexander III the Great, entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
Alexander the Great on the Web, a comprehensive directory of some 1,000 sites
Alexander The Great in the French museum Le LouvreAlexander, The Great Mystery by T. Peter Limber in "Saudi Aramco Magazine"Trace Alexander's conquests on an animated mapAlexander the Great of Macedon, a project by John J. Popovic
Alexander in the Punjab. A Photo Essay, photos of all sites Alexander visited
Alexander the Great Coins, a site depicting Alexander's coins and later coins featuring Alexander's image
Alexander the Great
Argead dynastyBorn: 356 BC Died: 323 BC
Preceded by
Philip IIKing of Macedon336–323 BC
Succeeded by
Philip III &
Alexander IVPreceded by
Darius IIIGreat King (Shah) of Persia330–323 BC
Pharaoh of Egypt332–323 BC
Preceded byNew Title
King of Asia331–323 BC
[
show]
v •
d •
eKings of MacedonArgeadsKaranus ·
Koenus ·
Tyrimmas ·
Perdiccas I ·
Argaeus I ·
Philip I ·
Aeropus I ·
Alcetas I ·
Amyntas I ·
Alexander I ·
Alcetas II ·
Perdiccas II ·
Archelaus I ·
Craterus ·
Orestes and
Aeropus II ·
Archelaus II ·
Amyntas II ·
Pausanias ·
Argaeus II ·
Amyntas III ·
Alexander II ·
Perdiccas III ·
Amyntas IV ·
Philip II · Alexander the Great ·
Philip III ·
Alexander IVRegents
Ptolemy of Aloros ·
Antipater ·
Polyperchon ·
CassanderAntipatridsCassander ·
Philip IV ·
Alexander V ·
Antipater II ·
Antipater Etesias ·
SosthenesAntigonidsDemetrius I ·
Antigonus II ·
Demetrius II ·
Antigonus III ·
Philip V ·
PerseusNon-Dynastic
Lysimachus ·
Pyrrhus ·
Ptolemy Keraunos ·
Meleager[
show]
v •
d •
eHellenistic rulersArgeadsAlexander III the Great ·
Philip III Arrhidaeus ·
Alexander IV AegusAntigonidsAntigonus I Monophthalmus ·
Demetrius I Poliorcetes ·
Antigonus II Gonatas ·
Demetrius II Aetolicus ·
Antigonus III Doson ·
Philip V ·
PerseusLagids (Ptolemies)Ptolemy I Soter ·
Ptolemy II Philadelphus ·
Ptolemy Keraunos ·
Meleager ·
Ptolemy III Euergetes ·
Ptolemy IV Philopator ·
Ptolemy V Epiphanes ·
Ptolemy VI Philometor ·
Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator ·
Ptolemy VIII Physcon ·
Ptolemy IX Lathyros ·
Ptolemy X Alexander ·
Berenice III ·
Ptolemy XI Alexander ·
Ptolemy XII ·
Cleopatra V ·
Berenice IV ·
Ptolemy XIII ·
Ptolemy XIV ·
Cleopatra VII Philopator ·
Ptolemy XV CaesarionSeleucidsSeleucus I Nicator ·
Antiochus I Soter ·
Antiochus II Theos ·
Seleucus II Callinicus ·
Seleucus III Soter ·
Antiochus III the Great ·
Seleucus IV Philopator ·
Antiochus IV Epiphanes ·
Antiochus V Eupator ·
Demetrius I Soter ·
Alexander I Balas ·
Demetrius II Nicator ·
Antiochus VI Dionysus ·
Diodotus Tryphon ·
Antiochus VII Sidetes ·
Alexander II Zabinas ·
Antiochus VIII Grypus ·
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus ·
Seleucus VI Epiphanes ·
Antiochus X Eusebes ·
Antiochus XI Epiphanes ·
Demetrius III Eucaerus ·
Philip I Philadelphus ·
Antiochus XII Dionysus ·
Seleucus VII Philometor ·
Antiochus XIII Asiaticus ·
Philip II PhiloromaeusLysimachidsLysimachusAntipatridsCassander ·
Philip IV ·
Alexander V ·
Antipater II ·
Antipater Etesias ·
SosthenesAttalidsPhiletaerus ·
Eumenes I ·
Attalus I ·
Eumenes II ·
Attalus II ·
Attalus III ·
Eumenes IIIGreco-BactriansDiodotus I ·
Diodotus II ·
Euthydemus I ·
Demetrius I ·
Euthydemus II ·
Antimachus I ·
Pantaleon ·
Agathocles ·
Demetrius II ·
Eucratides I ·
Plato ·
Eucratides II ·
Heliocles IIndo-GreeksDemetrius I ·
Antimachus I ·
Pantaleon ·
Agathocles ·
Apollodotus I ·
Demetrius II ·
Antimachus II ·
Menander I ·
Zoilos I ·
Agathokleia ·
Lysias ·
Strato I ·
Antialcidas ·
Heliokles II ·
Polyxenios ·
Demetrius III ·
Philoxenus ·
Diomedes ·
Amyntas ·
Epander ·
Theophilos ·
Peukolaos ·
Thraso ·
Nicias ·
Menander II ·
Artemidoros ·
Hermaeus ·
Archebios ·
Telephos ·
Apollodotus II ·
Hippostratos ·
Dionysios ·
Zoilos II ·
Apollophanes ·
Strato IIRulers of BithyniaZipoites I ·
Nicomedes I ·
Zipoites II ·
Etazeta (regent) ·
Ziaelas ·
Prusias I ·
Prusias II ·
Nicomedes II ·
Nicomedes III ·
Nicomedes IVKings of PontusMithridates I Ctistes ·
Ariobarzanes ·
Mithridates II ·
Mithridates III ·
Pharnaces I ·
Mithridates IV Philopator Philadephos ·
Mithridates V Euergetes ·
Mithridates VI Eupator ·
Pharnaces II · Darius of Pontus ·
Polemon I ·
Pythodorida ·
Polemon IIKings of CappadociaAriarathes I ·
Ariarathes II ·
Ariarathes III ·
Ariarathes IV ·
Ariarathes V ·
Ariarathes VI ·
Ariarathes VII ·
Ariarathes VIII ·
Ariarathes IX ·
Ariarathes X[
show]
v •
d •
eAncient Greece topics
TimelineCycladic civilization ·
Minoan civilization ·
Mycenaean civilization ·
Greek Dark Ages ·
Archaic period ·
Classical Greece ·
Hellenistic Greece ·
Roman GreeceGeography
Aegean Sea ·
Hellespont ·
Macedon ·
Sparta ·
Athens ·
Corinth ·
Thebes ·
Thermopylae ·
Antioch ·
Alexandria ·
Pergamon ·
Miletus ·
Ephesus ·
Delphi ·
Delos ·
Olympia ·
Troy ·
Rhodes ·
Crete ·
Peloponnesus ·
CyprusLife
Agriculture ·
Cuisine ·
Democracy ·
Economy ·
Education ·
Law ·
Medicine ·
Pederasty ·
Prostitution ·
Religion ·
Slavery ·
Technology ·
Olympic Games ·
Warfare ·
WinePeoplePhilosophersAnaxagoras ·
Anaximander ·
Anaximenes ·
Antisthenes ·
Aristotle ·
Democritus ·
Diogenes of Sinope ·
Epicurus ·
Empedocles ·
Heraclitus ·
Leucippus ·
Gorgias ·
Parmenides ·
Plato ·
Protagoras ·
Pythagoras ·
Socrates ·
Thales ·
ZenoAuthorsAeschylus ·
Aesop ·
Aristophanes ·
Euripides ·
Herodotus ·
Hesiod ·
Homer ·
Lucian ·
Menander ·
Pindar ·
Plutarch ·
Polybius ·
Sappho ·
Sophocles ·
Theognis of Megara ·
Thucydides ·
XenophonOthers
Alexander the Great ·
Lycurgus ·
Leonidas ·
Alcibiades ·
Demosthenes ·
Pericles ·
Solon ·
Themistocles ·
Archimedes ·
Hippocrates ·
Aspasia ·
Milo of CrotonBuildingsParthenon ·
Temple of Artemis ·
Acropolis ·
Ancient Agora ·
Temple of Zeus at Olympia ·
Temple of Hephaestus ·
Samothrace temple complexArtsArchitecture ·
Coinage ·
Literature ·
Music ·
Pottery ·
Sculpture ·
TheatreLanguageProto-Greek ·
Mycenaean ·
Homeric ·
Dialects (
Aeolic •
Arcadocypriot •
Attic •
Doric •
Ionic •
Locrian •
Macedonian) ·
Koine[
show]
v •
d •
eThe Works of
PlutarchWorks
Parallel Lives ·
Moralia ·
Pseudo-PlutarchLives
Alcibiades and
Coriolanus1 · Alexander the Great and
Julius Caesar ·
Aratus of Sicyon &
Artaxerxes and
Galba &
Otho2 ·
Aristides and
Cato the Elder1 ·
Crassus and
Nicias1 ·
Demetrius and
Antony1 ·
Demosthenes and
Cicero1 ·
Dion and
Brutus1 ·
Fabius and
Pericles1 ·
Lucullus and
Cimon1 ·
Lysander and
Sulla1 ·
Numa and
Lycurgus1 ·
Pelopidas and
Marcellus1 ·
Philopoemen and
Flamininus1 ·
Phocion and
Cato the Younger ·
Pompey and
Agesilaus1 ·
Poplicola and
Solon1 ·
Pyrrhus and
Gaius Marius ·
Romulus and
Theseus1 ·
Sertorius and
Eumenes1 ·
Tiberius Gracchus &
Gaius Gracchus and
Agis &
Cleomenes1 ·
Timoleon and
Aemilius Paulus1 ·
Themistocles and
CamillusTranslators
John Dryden ·
Thomas North ·
Jacques Amyot ·
Philemon Holland ·
Arthur Hugh Clough1 Comparison extant · 2 Four unpaired Lives
[
show]
v •
d •
eAncient Greek and Roman Wars
Wars of ancient GreeceTrojan War ·
Persian Wars ·
Peloponnesian War ·
Wars of Alexander the Great (
Conquest of Persia,
Wars in India) ·
Wars over Alexander's empire ·
Wars with the Roman RepublicWars of the Roman RepublicWar with the Latin League ·
Samnite Wars ·
Latin War ·
Pyrrhic War ·
Punic Wars (
First,
Second,
Third) ·
Wars with Greece (
Illyrian,
First Macedonian,
Second Macedonian,
Seleucid,
Third Macedonian,
Fourth Macedonian) ·
Jugurthine War ·
Cimbrian War ·
Roman Servile Wars (
First,
Second,
Third) ·
Social War ·
Civil wars of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (
First,
Second) ·
Mithridatic Wars (
First,
Second,
Third,
Fourth) ·
Gallic Wars ·
Julius Caesar's civil war ·
Final civil war of the Republic (
Post-Caesarian,
Liberators',
Sicilian,
Fulvia's,
Final)
Wars of the Roman EmpireGermanic Wars (
Marcomannic,
Alamannic,
Gothic,
Visigothic) ·
Wars in Britain ·
Wars of Boudica ·
Armenian War ·
Civil War of 69 ·
Jewish Wars ·
Dacian Wars ·
Parthian Wars ·
Persian Wars ·
Civil Wars of the Third Century ·
Wars of the Fall of the Western Roman EmpireMilitary History[
show]
v •
d •
eA
History of
EmpiresAncient empires
Akkadian ·
New Kingdom of Egypt ·
Neo-Assyrian ·
Hittite ·
Medes ·
Achaemenid Persian ·
Macedonian (
Ptolemaic ·
Seleucid) ·
Maurya ·
Kushan ·
Gupta ·
Qin ·
Han ·
Parthian ·
Roman (
Western Roman ·
Eastern Roman) ·
SassanidMedieval empires
Byzantine ·
Hunnic ·
Arab (
Rashidun ·
Umayyad ·
Abbasid ·
Fatimid ·
Almohad) ·
Ghaznavid ·
Benin ·
Great Seljuq ·
Oyo ·
Bornu ·
Khwarezmian ·
Timurid ·
Chola ·
Mongol (
Yuan ·
Jochid ·
Chagatayid ·
Ilkhanid) ·
Kanem ·
Serbian ·
Songhai ·
Bulgarian ·
Carolingian ·
Holy Roman ·
Angevin ·
Mali ·
Tang ·
Song ·
Ghana ·
Aztec ·
Inca ·
SrivijayaModern empires
Maratha ·
Mughal ·
Ming ·
Qing ·
Ottoman ·
Safavid ·
Afsharid ·
Zand ·
Qajar ·
Ethiopian ·
Portuguese ·
Spanish ·
Iberian ·
Dutch ·
British ·
French Napoleonic ·
French colonial ·
German ·
German colonial ·
Russian ·
Swedish ·
Austro-Hungarian ·
Brazil ·
Italian Colonial ·
JapanPersondataNAME
Alexander the Great
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
Alexander III, Μέγας Aλέξανδρος (Greek)
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Greek military commander
DATE OF BIRTH
July 20, 356 BC
PLACE OF BIRTH
Pella,
MacedonDATE OF DEATH
June 10, 323 BC
PLACE OF DEATH
BabylonRetrieved from "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great"
Categories:
Macedonian monarchs 356 BC births 323 BC deaths 4th-century BC Greek people 4th-century BC rulers Alexander the Great Ancient Macedonian generals Ancient Pellaeans Bisexual people Cause of death disputed City founders Hellenistic individuals LGBT royalty Monarchs of Persia Mummies Pharaohs of the Argead dynastyHidden categories:
Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Articles containing Ancient Greek language text Articles containing Greek language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from April 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from September 2007 Articles lacking sources from October 2008 All articles lacking sources Articles that may contain original research from October 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from October 2008 All pages needing cleanup Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from March 2009 Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from October 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from February 2009 Articles with unsourced statements from December 2008Views
ArticleDiscussionView sourceHistoryPersonal tools
Log in / create accountif (window.isMSIE55) fixalpha();
Navigation
Main pageContentsFeatured contentCurrent eventsRandom articleSearch
Interaction
About WikipediaCommunity portalRecent changesContact WikipediaDonate to WikipediaHelpToolbox
What links hereRelated changesUpload fileSpecial pagesPrintable versionPermanent linkCite this pageLanguages
РусскийAfrikaansAlemannischالعربيةAragonésAsturianuAzərbaycanবাংলাBân-lâm-gúБашҡортБеларускаяБеларуская (тарашкевіца)BosanskiBrezhonegБългарскиCatalàCebuanoČeskyCorsuCymraegDanskDeutschEestiΕλληνικάEspañolEsperantoEstremeñuEuskaraفارسیFøroysktFrançaisFryskGaeilge贛語GàidhligGalegoગુજરાતીHak-kâ-fa한국어Հայերենहिन्दीHrvatskiIdoBahasa IndonesiaInterlinguaÍslenskaItalianoעבריתBasa JawaქართულიҚазақшаKiswahiliKurdî / كوردیLatinaLatviešuLietuviųLimburgsMagyarМакедонскиമലയാളംMaltiमराठीمصرىBahasa MelayuМокшеньМонголNederlands日本語Norsk (bokmål)Norsk (nynorsk)OccitanPolskiPortuguêsQaraqalpaqshaRomânăРусскийСаха тылаसंस्कृतScotsShqipSicilianuSimple EnglishSlovenčinaСловѣ́ньскъ / ⰔⰎⰑⰂⰡⰐⰠⰔⰍⰟSlovenščinaСрпски / SrpskiSrpskohrvatski / СрпскохрватскиSuomiSvenskaTagalogதமிழ்Tatarça/ТатарчаతెలుగుไทยТоҷикӣTürkçeУкраїнськаاردوTiếng Việtייִדיש粵語Žemaitėška中文This page was last modified on 28 May 2009, at 18:13 (UTC).
All text is available under the terms of the
GNU Free Documentation License. (See
Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered
501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersif (window.runOnloadHook) runOnloadHook();
.JPG){kind=link}
