DK DISCOVERIES ALEXANDER THE GREAT

DISCOVERIES

LEXANDER

af.

the GREAT* \

the legend of a warrior kinc)

WITNESS ... ..>

the mi ClmY advance

fthe^tici^ent

Boston Public Library

9





I

19J

ALEXANDER

i * THE GREAT

THE LEGEND of aWARRIOR KING



ALEXANDER

^THE GREAT

rHE LEGEND OF AWARRIOR KING

Written by

Peter Chrisp

Illustrated by

Peter Dennis

Macedonian soldiers

Alexanders &
personal
historian and 13{
secretary
'&s

A Dorling Kindersley Book

LONDON, NEW YORK, SYDNEY, DELHI, PARIS, Contents
MUNICH, AND JOHANNESBERG
The long feud
Project Editor Carey Scott
Art Editor Joanne Connor 8

OSenior Editor Scarlett Hara THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

Deputy Managing Art Editor Vicky Wharton 10
Managing Editor Sue Grabham
THE MACEDONIANS
Senior Managing Art Editor Julia Harris
12
DTP Designers Andrew O'Brien, Georgia Bryer
Prince Alexander
Picture Researcher Deborah Pownall
Jacket Designer Dean Price 14

Production Kate Oliver and Chris Avgherinos The first challenge

US Editor Chuck Wills 16

hirst American Edition, 2000 The great expedition
00 01 02 03 04 05 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I
18
Published in the United States by Dorling Kmdersley Publishing, Inc
"Lord of all asia"
95 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10016

©Copyright 2000 Dorling Kmdersley Limited

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions

No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner Published in Creat Britain
by Dorling Kindersley Limited

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Chrisp, Peter

Alexander the Creat by Peter Chrisp

p. cm. -- (Dorling Kindersley discoveries

Summary: Follows the history of Alexander the Creat and his campaign to conquer

the known world including information on his traveling companions, armies of his

time, ships, and food

ISBN 0-7894-6109-9

C — —I. Alexander, the Creat, 356-323 B
Military leadership Juvenile literature 2
— — —BCGreece History Macedonian Expansion, 359-323
— — —CIndia History--To 324 B Juvenile literature 3

Juvenile literature 4 India Discovery and

— Cexploration-Creek Juvenile literature [I. Alexander, the Creat, 356-323 B 2
— —Kings queens rulers etc 3 Generals 4 Greece History Macedonian Expansion,

359-323 B.C.] I. Title II Series

DF234 2 C48 2000
934—dc2l

Reproduced by Colourscan Singapore
Printed and bound by L.E.C.O., Italy

Additional illustrations by David Ashby

see our complete catalogue at

www.dk.com

BR BR

J

DF234.2
.C48
2000

- 36
IIP
Victory in india
20
38
The battle of issus
Into an unknown land
22
The siege of tyre 40

24 The journey home

The city of Alexandria 42

26 Death in babylon

Clash of two kings i

28-31 t T V!. • "

The battle of >;
gaugamela
^'flp
32
44
A NEW GREAT KING
Empire builders
34
Plots and quarrels 46

Discovering

king philip's tomb

48

Index

Long Feud

ABOUT 500 BC, A SERIES OF WARS BEGAN BETWEEN TWO ANCIENT
IN

civilizations. Their dispute was to continue for almost 200

years. The conflict was started by the Persians, who were trying

to expand their empire. Facing them in battle were their western

neighbors, the Greeks, who were fighting to keep their freedom.

This Greek vase, painted in the

4th century BC, shows King Darius I
of Persia making plans for campaigns
of war against Greece. In 492 and
490 BC, Darius made two unsuccessful

attempts to concjuer Greece

The Greeks thought that
naked men looked heroic,

so in art soldiers were often

shown fighting naked. In

reality, Greek warriors

wore body armor.

A 4th-century BC carving
showing Greeks and

Persians in battle

THE LONG FEUD

The ^WtMrlirr GREEK UNITY

PERSIAN EMPIRE In 380 BC, an Athenian

The ancient Persians and politician called Isocrates

Greeks were very different from called on the Greek cities
to unite and invade Persia.
each other. The vast Persian Greece was a poor land, he
empire included many different said, which was why the

people with various religions and Greeks were always
fighting each other.
languages. They were united in a But Persia was rich.
All Greece s problems
single state, which was ruled by a king. would be solved by
conquering the Persian
In contrast, the Greeks all spoke the same empire, and seizing its
magnificent wealth.
language and worshiped the same gods,
. The Parthenon in Athens was a temple
but were not ruled by one king. Greece was not to the goddess Athena It replaced an
an empire but a collection of city-states, which earlier shrine burned by the Persians

were like different countries with their own •

governments and laws. Some of the city-states, such as Asia MINOR

Athens and Sparta, were often at war with one another. 1

Priest holding barsom tit

THE MAKING OF AN EK4PIRE Crete

The Persians were the ancient people of
southern Iran. Between 549 and 522 BC,
two Persian kings, Cyrus the Great and his
son Cambyses, won a huge empire It

stretched from Egypt in the west to the
borders of India in the east, and included
some Greek settlements on the edge of Asia
Minor. Later kings, such as King Darius 1 and
his son Xerxes, hoped to expand the empire
even further by conquering all of Greece.

Egyptian Ancient m< >numents
dwarf
god Bes The great pyramid tombs and the statue of
the sphinx were already over 2,000 years
old tobtn the Persians conquered Egypt.

MAGI PERSIAN FINERY Fact file

The ancient Persians worshiped The wealth, and the diversity, of the • For almost 200 years from about
a supreme god called Ahura 522-334 BC, the Persian empire stretched
Mazda (wise lord), as well as Persian empire was displayed in richly
furnished palaces. Craftworkers of 2,500 miles (4 000 km from west to east
other, lesser gods. Priests, called many nationalities made elaborate • More than a dozen languages were
items, such as this silver bowl spoken in Asia Minor alone.
magi (from which our wo id • The great hall of King Darius's palace

"magic" comes), performed rituals at Persepolis was big enough to hold
to honor these gods. As he 10,000 people.
prayed, a priest held up a holy
bundle of twigs called a barsom.

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE

"It is much more XERXES

glorious to fight against In 480 BC, the Persian king, Xerxes,
came close to conquering Greece.
the Persian king for his
empire than to fight He led a vast invasion force, which

Weeach other... succeeded in capturing Athens and
burning the city's temples. But the
Greeks will never have
Athenians fought back and won a
asting peace unless we
great victory. Xerxes had to flee
join together." back to Persia. The Greeks
never forgave the Persians for
ates, from his speech burning their holy temples.
iven in Athens,
380 BC Sacred fire Illustration of King Xerxes of Persia,
son of Darius I
Persian priests, or magi, burned
holy fires on large, open-air altars

Pers EMP *& Bactrian (two-
bumpeti) camels
'Ecbatana Darius I was the first carried treasure
Persian king to use the across the empire.
• Sus title t/jf "Great King"
War elephants
The Ishtar gate was Persia
Indian elephants
the entrance to the >Ptrxl>0i,i
ancient city oj Babylon were trained for war
and used by the
Arabian desert Persian army in

their battles.

Assyrian citizen
bringing a gift
offine cloth.

BRINGING TRIBUTE

Each New Years Day, a great ceremony

was held at the palace of Persepolis in
Persia. People from all over the empire

brought tribute i gifts to the king as a
I

^msign of their loyalty. These carvings

from Persepolis show Indians and rW

an Assyrian bringing their gifts

The palace walls were covered
with such carvings They were
intended to show the wealth
of the empire and its many

different peoples all united

under their Great King.

THE LONG FEUD

Thf

macedonians

North of Greece lies the

land of Macedonia. The ancient

Macedonians spoke a form of

Greek and worshiped the Greek

gods. Despite this, other Greeks

looked down on them as

"barbarians," or backward foreigners.

They thought that the Macedonians

had rough, crude ways. Unlike the

Greek city-states, which were mostly

governed by the citizens themselves,

Macedonia was ruled by kings. Between

359 and 336 BC, the king was a brilliant,

ambitious man called Philip. Macedonian womet
made bread at home
When he came to the throne, his

kingdom was small, weak, and Sheep were raised for wool and /<
surrounded by enemies. milk, which was made into cheese
HETAIRA!
Philip created a powerful PARTY AT PELLA Some women became trained
army, which he used to companions called hetairai They
conquer the neighboring When he was not away at war, Philip were taught to be witty speakers and
countries of Thessaly and skilled musicians. Hetairai often
Thrace, and to dominate relaxed in his palace at Pella, where entertained the men at parties
the whole of Greece.
he often held drinking parties. This
gave the Greeks another excuse to

look down on the Macedonians - as
drunkards Greeks always mixed their
wine with water, but the Macedonians

were said to drink theirs undiluted.

Healthy living

LIKE THEIR CREEK neighbors, the
Macedonians ate a simple diet based
on wine pressed from grapes,
bread made from barley
or wheat, and olives -
some eaten fresh, and

others pressed for oil.

Rich and poor Bread '
The wealthy enjoyed seafood
such as squid, and they hunted These guests are playing
wild boar and deer for meat.
The poor, however, rarely "cottabos, " a game in which

ate fish or meat. wine was flicked at a target -

here, a bowl on the floor.

10

I

THE MACEDONIANS

HILLS AND PLAINS

Macedonia was a divided land. The plains of

Lower Macedonia, where the king's rule was

strongest, were occupied by

people who spoke Creek. Upper

Macedonia was hill country and

home to tribes who spoke

various languages. Philip's first

achievement as king was to

bring together all these PLOWING AND HOEING

different people into These farmers are preparing the ground for

one kingdom. *> planting. One man steers a wooden plow
pulled by oxen, while another man breaks
Much of the land was ^",_
clods of earth with a hoe. Most Macedonians
wooded, and timber was
were poor farmers, but under Philip's rule
sold to the southern
Greeks jor shipbuilding many of them became skilled soldiers, too.

The palace PHILIP'S GOLD "Philip is no
floors were
decorated with In 357 BC Philip conquered Amphipolis, east Greek... He is
mosaics made of Macedonia. The region was famous for its
from pebbles gold mines, and Philip became the richest a filthy wretch
from Macedonia,
ruler in Greece. He used the gold to hire a place where it

more soldiers, buy off his enemies, and to was never yet
win over influential Creeks with bribes. possible to buy a

decent slave."

Demosthenes the Athenian,
from his speech

A hetaira playing Philip's many slaves waited Heating was provided Macedonia today
on him and his guests. For most of its history Macedonia
the aulos, or double pipes. by braziers - metal has been ruled by foreigners -
Romans, Greeks, Bulgarians and
. dishes containing
burning charcoal. Turks Following the breakup of

11 Yugoslavia in l ( ) l )i Macedonia,

became an independent state
It is much smaller than Philips

n and its inhabitants

Mrelated to the ancient

THE LONG FEUD

OLYMPIAS Prince
ALEXANDER
Prince Alexander was closer to
his mother, Olympias, than to IN 356 BC, KING PHILIP OF MACEDON'S WIFE,

his father, who was often away Olympias, gave birth to a son, Alexander.

fighting. Olympias was just The young prince soon learned that he
one of the kings wives, and she
bitterly resented her rivals. After came from an extraordinary family. Philip
Philips death, she murdered
his most recent wife and baby claimed descent from Heracles, the legendary
daughter. Alexander, like his
mother, also had a ruthless streak. strongman and son of the god Zeus. Olympias

traced her bloodline back to the famous warrior
Achilles. Tales of his heroic ancestors and news

of his father's conquests filled Alexander with
ambition. Whenever Philip won a victory, Alexander

would complain to his friends, "Boys, my father will leave

no great achievement for me to show the world."

Each string was
tightened or
loosened to produce

A musical life Ready for actk i The lion would adopt
a defensive position as
Like even.- wealthy Creek boy Alexander rushed to Craterus raised his sword
Alexander studied music as part ot Crateru-
ready to atta^ •
his education He learned to sing the lion with

and play the lyre an instalment with wclin.
a soundbox made from the shell of a
tortoise. The strings were plucked ROYAL SPORTS \\"\R \\T V
with a disk called a plectrum Music
was played at almost even' Greek Alexander and his friends are shown hunting a lion. Alexander's friend Crateru
social event, from religious Hunting was the favorite sport of the Macedonian is shown wielding a kopi^
royal family, and Alexander would have hunted almost a curved sword used for
festivals to private parties daily He stalked the wild animals, such as bears, lions,
and stags, that still roamed the Macedonian hills r.4 The kopis and
javelin were also used in
warfare, so hunting was
seen as a useful part of

military training.

\2

PRINCE ALEXANDER

Education for girls

ALEXANDER'S SISTERS had a very different upbringing. They were taught
to spin and weave wool into cloth. All Creek women, even princesses,
were expected to spend their days at home, spinning and weaving.

ARISTOTLE IThe first stage in 2 Next, the wool 3 Then the thread The ancient
was wrapped was woven into Greeks wore
When Alexander was 1 3, the making cloth was around a stick, cloth on an upright
to roll out the rough loom - a timber loose, simple
famous Greek philosopher called a distaff clothes such
Aristotle became his tutor. fibers into twisted frame resting against as this dress,
Aristotle was an expert in strands. This was and spun into
thread on a spindle. a wall. Even Queen called a chiton
all the sciences as well as done on an epinetron, Olympias would
a pottery sheath A spindle was a have had her
politics. Alexander came to that fitted over own loom.
weighted rod of
share his tutor's curiosity the V nees.
about the natural world. wood or bone.

A hilltop village Taming Bucephalus

Alexander's servant Alexander noticed that Bucephalus
ran to help.
shied away from its own
Achilles shadow. He tamed the
horse by turning it
Alexander's hero
is shown killing toward the sun,
the queen oj the *- so it couldn't
Amazons, a
legendary tribe oj ) see its shade
fighting women-

The iliad THE FIRST FEAT

Alexander's ancestor, Achilles, is the By his teens, Alexander was an expert
horseman. His first recorded deed,
hero of an epic poem called the Iliad. at the age of about 1 2, was to tame a wild
Composed by Homer some 400 years before horse, Bucephalus, which nobody else had
Alexander's birth, the poem tells of a Greek been able to mount. Over the years to
come Bucephalus would carry Alexander
war against Troy in Asia. When Alexander set into the thick ol many battles.

off on his own Asian campaign, he took the 13

Iliad with him, keeping it under his pillow.

;:::g:,i„ : ',?',:;: -,^j THE LONG FEUD

Heracles Thf
Alexander traced his family back to
first challenge
the legendary hero Heracles. The
engraving above shows Heracles IN 336 BC, KING PHILIP OF MACEDON
capturing Cerberus, the dog who was at the height of his power. He had

guarded the underworld. Heracles forced most of the Greek cities to join
was born in Thebes, one of the
oldest and most famous of the Greek a military alliance, or league, headed by
cities. Despite his link with Thebes,
Alexander came to hate the city. himself. The king planned to lead the Greeks

Hailing the new king in a war against the Persian empire. However,
this plan came to nothing, because Philip was
The soldiers proclaimed Alexander
king by beating their spears murdered. He was immediately succeeded by
acjamst their shields his son, Alexander, who was just 20 years old.

When the news spread, there was a widespread

rebellion against Macedonian rule. Alexander had to

act quickly to save the situation. He had to prove that

he was just as strong a king as his father had been.

KING ALEXANDER i&, -

e Macedonian throne did

not automatically pass to
the king's eldest son. First,
Alexander had to be
accepted by the army.

On the very day that

Philip was murdered,
the soldiers hailed
Alexander as their
king. Alexander told
them, "Nothing has
changed except the
name of the king!"

Alexander's soldiers 1H<
poured into the city

\ The soldiers' shields were decorated
with a star - the emblem of the
Macedonian royal famdy

TRAINING FOR WAR

The Thebans, who had joined Philip's league, did not

take Alexander seriously. In 335 BC, they withdrew from
the alliance and surrounded the Macedonian garrison

(supply of soldiers) that Philip had left in the city. The
young men of Thebes began to train for a war with

Macedonia, which they thought they would easily win.

14

THE FIRST CHALLENGE -~ ~r -

^ft-2' NO SANCTUARY IN THEBES

T& When Alexander's soldiers stormed the

city, frightened people fled to the temples,
hoping they would be safe in such holy

places. But the soldiers showed no
mercy. They dragged people
from the temples and murdered

I

them. About 6,000 Thebans
were killed during the battle.

f$ . $. As well as men. women
and children ir

sold into slavery .

HARSH PUNISHMENT

Alexander had the whole city burned
to the ground as an example to the rest

of Greece. A few noble Thebans who

had opposed the revolt, plus the city's
priests and priestesses, were spared.
The remaining inhabitants, some
20,000 people, were sold as slaves.

u

In hiding
Some Tbeban soldiers hid

from their attackers.

JTbe terrified

citizens tried
to flee.

V >.u B V Escape!
Mounted Thehan
The city of Thebes * \ ^\-
under attack troops fled to the
countryside.

ATTACK ON THEBES soldiers burst into ^'
bouses, killing the occupants I %, \_
Alexander was away fighting in
Thrace, to the north, when he MERCY GESTURE
heard that Thebes had risen in
A Theban woman called Timocleia
revolt. He raced south, covering
killed one of Alexander's soldiers in
240 miles (386 km) in just 1 3 days.
The Thebans were shocked to see self-defence. When she was arrested
Alexanders army so soon, but still
and brought to the king, he pardoned
they refused to surrender. A her. Alexander wanted to be seen as a
merciful conqueror, so he made sure that
fierce battle followed, and the everyone knew he had been generous.
city was eventually taken by
the Macedonian army.

15

THE LONG FEUD

The Wax tablet

GREAT EXPEDITION for taking notes

Alexander had crushed all opposition in Greece

Now he planned a new war of conquest against the

vast Persian empire. He said that it would be a war

on behalf of all Greeks, to punish the Persians WRITERS
for invading their homeland 150 years earlier.
Alexander's secretaries wrote
He also intended to free the eastern Greek cities letters for the king and kept a
diary of the campaign. For a more
from Persian rule. By the spring of 334 BC, lasting record, Alexander had his
Alexander had gathered a huge army. It included
not only Macedonians, but troops drawn own historian, called Callisthenes.

'Alexanders fame," he boasted,

depends on me and my history."

from all over Greece and from the .

Balkan lands to the north. As well p oe ts, painters, sculptors,

as soldiers, Alexander's expedition and musicians were among the
artists who traveled with the
incilud< edj scientists, i. . king Their role was to make

architects, writers, statues and paintings of

artists, philosophers, and Seers.

Alexander, and to celebrate
his actions in poems and

songs. These were all ways

ETERNAL FAME of bringing Alexander
lastmg fame

Alexander's personal

motive for the campaign
was to win everlasting

fame, and prove himself

an even greater FIGHTING TROOPS
conqueror than
Alexander had two main cavalry
his father. units - the Macedonian companion
cavalry and the horsemen of Thessaly
Most of the Macedonian infantry
were foot companions. They fought
alongside the Macedonian shield

bearers, the fittest and toughest

soldiers in the whole army. The

expedition also included heavily
armed Creek infantrymen called

hoplites, archers from Crete,

Balkan javelin-throwers,

slingers, and Thracian scouts

Shield bearers Foot companion

12,500 Greek I 2,000 Macedonian

infantry infantry

16

THE GREAT EXPEDITION

MIND AND BODY

Alexander's personal

physician was among a team

of doctors. Philosophers gave

the king advice and entertained THE SEER
him with tfneir conversation.
Before making any

BUILDERS Architect Surveyor important decision,
Alexander consulted the
Surveyors, architects, and
engineers were needed to lay gods. He believed that

out the army's camps and to his seer, Aristander,
build siege equipment, bridges could foretell the future

and, later, whole cities. and interpret the gods'
wishes. These were
SCIENTISTS shown through omens
(signs), such as the
The expedition was also a journey of appearance of eagles
exploration. Astronomers, map makers
and other scientists were on hand to Fact file

record any discoveries.

Geologists looked

for valuable • More Creeks fought against
metals, such Alexander than served with him. The
Persian king had a force of 50,000
as gold. Greek mercenaries (hired soldiers)

Geologist Map maker Astronomer • Alexander left a second Macedonian
army at home to prevent any further
Pages WOMEN AND Greek uprisings

SERVANTS CHILDREN • Callisthenes was one of several men
on the expedition who wrote books
Among the servants were grooms who Some Creek women followed
cared for the horses and mules. The about the campaign. Their accounts
the army, and later on they formed the basis of all future histories
pages were noble Macedonian youths of Alexander.
were joined by many more
who served Alexander's meals, slept in Asian women. More than

his tent, and went hunting with him. 10,000 babies were born

during the campaign.

Greek hoplites ' rumpeter Foot companion officer

2,400 Greek 1,800 Macedonian 900 Balkan A well-kept army
cavalry
cavalry cavalry There were more than 37,000 fighting men in
Alexander's army and one of his biggest problems
was making sure that every man received wages
and food. The campaign began with enough

j

to last just 30 days so Alexander had to find

sources of food in Asia He also needed to

Persian treasure in order to pay his troops

17

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BU( —~:~^= LORD OF ALL ASIA

3f

Thf

battle of issus

IN APRIL 334 BC, ALEXANDER LED HIS

army into Asia Minor (present-day

Conquering Asia Minor Turkey). In May, he fought a

Alexanders victory at the Cranicus gave battle against the satraps, or local
him the freedom to lead his army through Persian governors, at the Granicus.
Asia Minor from one Greek city to
another Most of the cities welcomed him, Meanwhile, Darius III was far
though two surrendered only after sieges.

away in Babylon, collecting troops. It was not until late

333 BC that he marched north to Issus, and the two kings

finally met in battle. The Macedonians were outnumbered
by Persian troops, but Darius made a fatal mistake. He chose to

fight on a narrow plain, where there was

not enough room for his

army, and thousands

of soldiers had to wait

behind the battlefront

BATTLE WINNERS

Alexander was a better
general than Darius, and
his soldiers were very

brave. The awesome
Macedonian phalanx -

a solid formation of
infantry armed with

pikes — mowed
down the Persian

troops. Meanwhile,
Alexander himself

led the cavalry charge

Swordmaking

ALL THE SHIELDS, helmets, and IThe iron was 2 For several hours 3 The sword was
weapons used by Alexander's the hot iron was
soldiers were hand-made by heated in a repeatedly beaten and plunged into cold
skilled smiths. Armor was reheated until it was w ater to harden it
beaten into shape from sheets charcoal tire until the shape o\ a sword and then sharpened
of bronze. For spearheads and on a grindstone
swords, iron was preferred it was hot enough
because it is a much harder metal. to be shaped.
Iron must be heated to a very
high temperature - about 2,192°F
( 1 ,200°C ) - before it can be worked.

THE BATTLE OF ISSUS

Bronze helmet The length of the pi, • 100,000 Persian soldiers, but only
with cheek guards or sarissa, allowed the 450 Macedonians, were killed at Issus.
phalanx to spear enemy
soldiers from a safe distance • During his campaigns Alexander
was wounded at least ten times, by
every kind of weapon, including
swords, daggers, clubs, and stones.

Shield protected the Alexander is shown greeting his royal Alexander's friend
soldier's left side prisoners in a painting by Italian Hephaestion

artist Sebastiano Ricci, 1708-10.

anx infantry Jewel of asia
were known as
Darius's wife,
companions.
Stateira, was said to
reaves he the most heautifu
(shin guards) woman in Asia. _

AFTER THE BATTLE

Darius fled from Issus in such a hurry that he left his

mother, wife, and children behind. The women were

terrified of Alexander at first, but he treated them
with such kindness that they soon became fond of

him. He would later marry one of Darius's daughters.

—

Battle ot : LORD OF ALL ASIA"
.
The
rdssus arte
SIEGE OF TYRE
,-3»HciraciA — ".
Alexander had beaten darius's army,
CONQUESTS
but the Persians still had a powerful
Just one year after defeating Darius fleet of warships. While this fleet sailed
at the battle of Issus, Alexander
captured the major Phoenician the Mediterranean, Alexander would not be
port cities of Sidon and Byblos.
They surrendered in 332 BC. safe. He did not have enough warships to

fight a sea battle, but he found another way

to beat Darius's fleet. He planned to capture

the ports that supplied the ships with food and
water. Without supplies, the fleet would soon
surrender. The first two ports gave up without a fight,
but the people of Tyre resisted. They were sure that

Alexander could be defeated, because their city
was built on a well -defended island. Alexander's siege ^jfetf
of Tyre lasted for seven months. It was his most

difficult military operation, but he finally
succeeded in capturing the city.

Screens and sbtds wen
set up to protect the

soldiers while they
built the causeway

Sea snail
Tyre was one of the richest cities ot
the Mediterranean, thanks to a sea
snail called the murex. These were
crushed to make a prized purple
dye, used to color robes and other
garments It took 60,000 sea snails to
make one pound (half a kilo) of dye.

Carthage BUILDING The finished mole,
The Phoenicians were an ancient or causeway
seafaring people. They sailed all A MOLE
around the Mediterranean, founding Reaching the walls
trading cities. The most famous was Alexander ordered his men to build a mole - a
Carthage, in today's Tunisia, which land bridge - from the mainland to the island of The finished mole was about
was founded by settlers from Tyre. Tyre. The soldiers drove wooden stakes into the 200 jt (60 m] wide atid half a
mile (800 m) long. Unfortunately
seabed to act as a frame, and then piled rocks and for Alexander. \bt wall faciiu) the
logs on top. As they neared the city walls, the work moli was too strong to be battered
down It would take an assault
grew more difficult and dangerous. The water was from the sea to do this
deep, and Alexander's men were bombarded with
stones and fire from Tyrian catapults.

22

THE EGE OF TYRE

Hot sand BREAKING IN CATAPULTS

The Tynans tipped Again and again, Alexanders ships, armed with battering Both attackers and defenders
red-hot sand on top oj rams, smashed against the city walls. Eventually, they used deadly catapults, which
Macedonian soldiers managed to bring down part of the wall. Alexander then fired stones, red-hot lumps of
sent in troop-carrying ships with drawbridges attached. metal, or bolts (big arrows).
trying to climb ffoe wall. From these ships, the Macedonian shield bearers and foot
companions fought their way into the city. The catapults were fired by
springs made from tightly

twisted animal sinews or hair.

A soldier aims

j the catapult

Cunning trick

Some Tyrians threw spears attached

to ropes at their attackers shields.

They pulled on the ropes to force the
Macedonians to

drop their shields.

The Tyrians piled rocks into the \ Tactical towers
water to prevent Alexander's ships
from getting close to (foe island The Tyrians built wooden towers
on top oj their walls. These made it
VICTORY AT LAST harder for the Macedonian catapult
missiles to reach them, and gave
After months trying to capture Tyre, most of the Persian their own artillery greater range.
fleet surrendered in 332 BC. With these new warships,
Alexander was able to attack Tyre from all sides. After ibijn were
the Macedonian victory, the adult men of Tyre were lashed togi
nailed to wooden crosses as a warning to other cities. provide a
platform
23
|

LORD OF ALL ASIA

A GOOD OMEN Thf

Alexander scattered barley city of alexandria
on the ground to mark out
a plan of the city's streets, From tyre, Alexander traveled

but was alarmed when southwest to Egypt, the richest province
most of it was eaten
by birds. However, of the Persian empire. The Egyptians hated

Aristander, his seer, said Persian rule, and they gave their new conqueror

that this was a good sign, a warm welcome. On November 14, 332 BC, the
because it meant the city
would attract many settlers 24-year-old Macedonian was crowned pharaoh,
who would be well-fed. or king, of Egypt. Alexander spent six months
in his new kingdom. While he was there he made
The library contained
plans to build a great port on the Mediterranean.
the world's largest
collection of scrolls He chose the site and named the city Alexandria.

This was the first of 17 cities that

Alexander named after himself.

Books were
written by hand
on papyrus scrolls

THE GREAT LIBRARY The palact AN ALPHABETICAL CITY
planned by
After Alexander's death, the city became Alexander By the early third century BC, Alexandria was a flourishing and, for
the capital of his friend Ptolemy's and enlarged
kingdom. Ptolemy founded a great library by later its time, modern city. It was settled by Creeks, Jews, and Egyptians,
in Alexandria, and gave orders for copies each living in their own neighborhoods, named after letters of the
to be made of all the world's books. The kings.
library became famous, attracting scholars Dalphabet. The Jews, for example, lived in Delta (the Greek letter
and scientists from manv lands.

24

THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA

"Many consider it to Son of Ammon

be the first city of ONCE HE WAS CROWNED PHARAOH, Egyptian priests greeted
Alexander as the son of Ammon, their most important god.
the civilized world, This made a deep impression on Alexander, who had always
felt that he was no ordinary human being.
and it is certainly far
ahead of all the rest King of the gods
Alexander believed that
in elegance, size,
Ammon was Zeus, king of the
riches, and luxury."
gods, under a different name.
Diodorus of Sicily, /
from his book The He was shown wearing a
Library of History,
crown decorated with two
1st century BC goose feathers, or sometimes
with a horned ram's head.

The agora, or Grid system Horns of Ammon This Egyptian
oh holds
marketplace Alexandria had a network of After Alexander's death,
coin portraits were a crook and
straight streets at right angles
made, showing him flail to
to each other, like many wearing the ram represent
kingship.
cities oj today horns of Ammon.

Living god
As a pharaoh, Alexander was worshiped by
the Egyptians as a living god. Nobody knows
if Alexander really believed that he was a god,

but he certainly enjoyed being treated as one.

The Pharos lighthouse WONDER OF Alexandria today
THE WORLD Anstander's prediction proved correct,
The eastern, or Great because today Alexandria supports a
harbor. The western In 279 BC, a lighthouse thriving population of around three
harbor was called the million people. It is the second largest
Harbor oj the Happy was built on the island of city in Egypt, and is still the country s
Return Pharos. It was 400 ft (122 m) chief port. For more than 2,300 v
merchant ships have sailed to and
high, and so solidly built from the city's harbors.
that it stood for more than
1,000 years. The lighthouse was
proclaimed as one of the seven

wonders of the ancient world.

25

.

Clash 1/

of two Rings

ALEXANDER HAD MET DARIUS IN BATTLE ONCE BEFORE, AT

Issus, when the Persian king fled in terror. Determined not

to be beaten a second time, Darius spent two years gathering a

new army before he was ready to fight again.

This time, the prize for victory

would be the whole Persian em

Alexan

a Persian

Darius, surrounded Darius's charioteer ' Everything you possess^"^
whipped his horses
by Macedonian furiously to speed is now mine. ..If you wish
his master's escape
pikes, wasjrozen to dispute your throne,
stand and fight for it and
in horror as
Alexander charged do not run away.
toward him.
Wherever you may hide

yourself, be sure I shall

seek you out."

Alexander, in a
tfcletter to Darius,

331 BC

IF H—I Issus NA/N CLASH OF TWO KINGS.
\»
k apascu The battle
??BKK
wit i~ OF GAUGAMELA
' r*
Darius had two years to figure
%
out why he had lost at Issus and to
_ ill" lk*T!£'^»^_
plan for a second battle. Alexander
Journey to Gaugamela
had won the first time with a cavalry
Alexander left Egypt in the spring charge, so Darius strengthened his own
of 331 BC and traveled back to Tyre
cavalry with his empire's best horsemen
to gather his troops, now around
47,000 men. In the summer, they
marched northeast, reaching
Gaugamela in late September

APPEAL TO FEAR BaTTI.i OMI NS

For the first and only time The seer Arislandei hell
in his life, Alexander a ram's liver He toii
sacrificed an animal to the Alexandti th<it the omens
god Phobos (Fear). In his indicated a victory for
prayers, he asked Fear to the Macedonians
fill the Persians with terror
Offerings to the gods during the coming battle.
Before battles, animals were Alexander knew he needed
sacrificed to the gods in order to all the help he could get
win their help. Sometimes special to defeat the massive
hooks such as those above were Persian army.
used to pull the flesh back and
reach the inner organs. Marks on The Macedonian camp
the organs were believed to be
omens (signs) from the

gods, showing how

the battle would

turn out.

A STIRRING SPEECH Macedonian troops marched to the battlefield.

Before the battle, Alexander made Soldiers for hire
a rousing speech to his men. He
reminded them of their previous Alexander claimed to be fighting for all of
Greece, though many Greek, mercenaries
victories, and told them not to
worry that they were outnumbered. (hired soldiers) fought in Darius's army.
"There may be more men standing
on their side," he said, "but there Fighting for Persia
will be more fighting on ours." By Alexander's time, Greek mercenaries had fought
for Persia for more than a century. Greece was a
poor land, and it was hard to make a decent .
living at home. Persia was a rich empire, and
the king always .ieeded soldiers.

28

He had new weapons of war, too. There were The Persian camp

15 elephants from India to terrify Alexander's horses, and
200 chariots with razor-sharp blades sticking out from their
wheel axles. This time, the Persians would outnumber Alexander's
men by five to one, and Darius would not repeat the mistake of
fighting on a narrow, crowded battlefield. Instead, he looked for an

open space, where he could use all his forces. In September 331 BC, he
found what seemed the perfect place for the battle - a wide open
plain near a village called Gaugamela (in modern-day

Iraq). He led his huge army from Babylon to

Gaugamela, and waited
for Alexander.

The vast Persian
army streamed down
on to the battlefield

CAVALRY BATTLE CHARIOT
CHARGE
The battle began with hard fighting
The 200 Persian war
between Alexanders cavalry and
Darius's Scythian horsemen. Heavily chariots charged across
outnumbered, the Macedonians lost the plain. Alexander's archers
and javelin throwers attacked them,
many men. But they managed to
bringing down the drivers and horses.
hold off the Scythians until
When the chariots reached the Macedonian lines, the
reinforcements arrived.
soldiers opened their ranks, letting them pass through.

GROUNDWORK

Darius had prepared the battleground carefully. In some
areas, his soldiers had scattered metal spikes called

caltrops to cripple the Macedonian horses. Other
areas had been cleared of obstacles and the ground
eveled to give the Persian chariots a smooth ride.

^ Tk .

THE IMMORTALS BATTLh TROI'HIHS

Darius had a personal bodyguard of 10,000 specially I
chosen soldiers called Immortals. They received this
After the bottle, the Macedonians
name because when one of them was killed, he was
immediately replaced by a new recruit, so that it |
seemed that the soldiers defied death. This frieze
'flat sculpturej of Immortal soldiers, armed with marked their great victory with

spears and bows, comes from Darius's palace at Susa. trophies — these included Persian

The village of Gaugamela arms and armor,
stripped from
* the dead and
displayed on poles.
:
Nineveh, an
ancient Assyria
city already
in ruins by
Alexander s da>

Alexander thrust his
spear at Darius's driver

Hephaestion's gashed arm
was cleaned and bandaged

HEPHAESTION wounded THE TURNING POINT

Doctors were stationed behind the lines ready Darius's fatal mistake was to leave a gap
in the Persian line of defense. Alexander at
to tend to the injured. Alexander's closest once led his companion cavalry through the opening, and galloped
towards Darius himself. The two kings faced one another. Alexander
friend, Hephaestion, was wounded when his was able to kill Darius's chariot driver before the Persian king le
arm was slashed by a spear. Hephaestion from the chariot and fled the battlefield in a cloud of dust
was probably treated by Alexanders

personal physician, Philip of Acarnania.

30

THE BATTLE OF CAUGAMELA

TOO LATE Alexander gazed in THE KINGS TREASURE
wonder at the Persian
Alexander rode through the night to In Arbela Darius had abandoned his treasure.
reach Darius, but was too late to catch king's treasures. Thanks to these riches, Alexander was able to
the king. Although Alexander was K reward his soldiers with vast amounts of loot.

disappointed, he knew that Darius was Meanwhile, Darius had escaped by fleeing east
now a broken man. Alexander had through the mountains to the land of
beaten the best army the Persians Media, where he gathered the
could raise, and on a battlefield chosen
survivors of the battle.
by Darius. Now nothing could stop

him from becoming ruler of the

Persian empire.

Arbela

Darius's base was
the town of Arbela,
60 miles (96 km)
from the battlefield.

I1 A uI

w ', Alexander's cavalry
traveled more than
Darius was carried o 400 mi,
in a covered wagon in just eleven days.

Betrayed IN PURSUIT

Darius hoped to fight The following spring

Alexander again, but hi Alexander gathered an
satraps, or governors, had
army of 9,000 men and set
lost faith in his leadership. off once more in pursuit of

Led by Bessus, satrap the king who was now
of Bactria, they plotted
heading northeast
to overthrow their king. '( It was a long
In July 330 BC, Darius was
exhausting chase.
taken prisoner by his own men.
He was tied up, flung into the IGNOBLE END

back of a wagon, and taken into VC'hen they realized Alexander
the desert by Bessus and his friends was close behind them Darn, s s
captors decided to kill the king

Two of them dragged Darius

from the cart and stabbed him
repeatedly By the time-
Alexander reached them
Darius was dead

^£ wjt^ Alexander gave

his enemy a royal

funeral at the Persian
capital Persepolis.

31

CLASH OF TWO KINGS

Anew

GREAT KING I

THE PERSIAN ARMY HAD BEEN UTTERLY

defeated on the plain at Gaugamela. Now

Alexander was free to take the prizes of

his victory. These included Babylon and Susa,

two rich and ancient cities that had been

Babylonian welcome conquered by the Persians. Their inhabitants
Alexander made a triumphant entry
surrendered at once to Alexander, and they
into Babylon, riding his chariot.
welcomed their new ruler. After several weeks
To welcome their new king, the
resting in Babylon, Alexander traveled southeast,
Babylonians scattered flowers on
the road in front of him. Alexander into the land of Persia and towards Persepolis. There
promised to rebuild the city's temple
to the chief Babylonian god Bel was no welcome here. Any Persians who did not flee
Marduk, which had been destroyed
by the Persians. This made him fought to defend their homeland, but they were soon
very popular with the Babylonians.
overwhelmed. At the age of 25, Alexander had
Stone lions stood guard become ruler of the Persian empire - the new Great King.
tit either side oj the hall.
The chief Persian god, Ahura Mazda, Frieze oj royal
The hall columns were shown as a pair oj outstretched wings. guards, called
59Jt(i8m)tall Darius s Immortals

NEW GREAT KING

Fact file

• Alexander captured five of Darius's
royal palaces, at Babylon, Susa, Persepolis,
Pasargadae, and Ecbatana.
• Darius's treasure was enough for Alexander
to pay his army for 25 years

• The treasure weighed around 7,290 tons.

A I 4th-century

ON THE THRONE THE EMPIRE'S WEALTH

When Alexander first sat on the For years, each district of the Persian
empire had paid taxes to King Darius
Persian throne, Demaratus, an old Gold and silver were brought by camel to
Greek soldier, wept with emotion.
his palaces. When Alexander became the
He said that any Greek who had
Persian king, there were so many valuables
died before that day had missed one in the palaces that 20,000 mules and
of the greatest pleasures of life - seeing
5,000 camels were needed to carry them
Alexander on the throne of Darius. to the new king's treasury at Ecbatana.

Gold and silver Silver ornaments
were melted
Alexander found the Persian palaces full of
gold and silver. He was not interested in the down into

PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS treasure for its own sake,
and much of it was
In January 330 BC, Alexander entered melted down to make
the great palace of the Persian kings
at Persepolis. It was an awe-inspiring coins to pay his troops
building At its center was a vast
"apadana," or audience hall, Royal goat
where the Persian king This silver goat may have
sat on his throne been an ornament in one
and received visitors
from all over of Darius's palaces.

Armlet
This solid gold armlet, or bracelet,
was once worn by a Persian noble,

perhaps the king himself.

PALACE IN RUINS

After staying in Persepolis
for four months, Alexander

burned the palace down. He

claimed that this was done
to punish the Persians for
burning Athens in 480 BC.
However, some said that
Alexander was drunk at the
time of the fire and later
regretted destroying his
palace. Persepolis was
abandoned. All that remained
were the stone doorways,
carvings, and palace columns.

33

CLASH OF TWO KINGS

"We have lost Plots
Alexander, we have
AND QUARRELS
lost our king! Have
we spilled our blood From 330 until 327 bc, Alexander I

to make a god who campaigned along the northeastern

despises us?" frontiers of the Persian empire, fighting

Hegelochus, a Macedonian against a series of local rulers. It was here
officer, quoted in Quintus
that he began to fall out with his Macedonian
Curtius Rufus s followers. Hoping to be accepted as king by
The History of
the Persians, Alexander had
% Alexander,
c. AD 40 begun to wear Persian dress
and to welcome Persian
nobles into his court. He

expected the Macedonians

to treat his Persian friends

as equals and to bow as the
Persians did when they greeted
him. The Macedonians hated

the new Persian courtiers,

and they refused to bow.

They felt that Alexander
had become arrogant. Now,

he was even claiming to be

a son of the god Zeus. The

Greeks saw their king changing for
the worse, and they did not like it.

LlSTEMM IN PAYING RESPECT

From behind a curiam, Alexander's Persian nobles were used to bowing in front of
their king while blowing him kisses, an act of respect known
Alexander listened to
as proskynesis. To Macedonians, such |
Philotas being tortured gestures were made only to statues
of gods. When Alexander
PHILOTAS'S PLOT
demanded proskynesis

-^ for himself, they
felt he wanted

to be treated

like a god.

As relations with his Macedonian

followers grew worse, Alexander began The Persian
kin0 Diirms /
to suspect plots against him. In on bis throne,

330 BC, he was told that Philotas, who receiving
commanded the companion cavalry, was

planning to murder him. Philotas was proskynesis.

arrested, tortured until he confessed, and

executed. Historians still argue about

whether or not Philotas was guilty.

34

Murderous intent PLOTS AND QUARRELS A cup called a kylix,
A nearby guest tried to hold commonly used at
HEAVY DRINKER
Alexander back when he drinking parties.
realized the king was about Alexander was a heavy drinker, like his
Fateful friendship
to murder his friend father Philip. He would often spend Cleitus was the brother oj

several hours drinking wine with his friends Alexander's childhood
and then stay in bed for the whole of the next day, nursemaid and bad once
recovering from his hangover. Alexander had always saved the king's life. Bui this
did not prevent Alexander
had a bad temper, but it was made much worse by wine from killing him

THE KILLING OF CLEITUS

During a drinking party, one of the

older Macedonians, Cleitus, began

Heto criticize the king. said that

Alexander's father Philip was a better

man than he would ever be. Alexander,
who was drunk, lost his temper, and

ran Cleitus through with a spear.

Hero or devil?

Alexander has always been seen in Alexander's head is
different ways by different people. Some surrounded by a halo.
have seen him as a brutal killer, while to

others he is a noble hero.

Two horns

Coins showing Alexander wearing the

ram's horns of the god Ammon led to a

ater belief that he really had horns, like
a devil. In the Muslim holy book, the

Koran, he is called "Dhul Quarnein" -
the two-horned one

A 16th-century Persian miniature showing Indian king JL
Alexander as the "two-horned one." This 15th-century painting
from India shows Alexander leading
luxurious life of an Indian emperor ot th

Victoryr in* .

t326 BC, ALEXANDER LED HIS 1 | ^Jk

IN
I| |

X^^^JL^^^army into India to begin a JL JL

new campaign of conquest. His

first battle was against the Indian king

Porus, whose huge army included more King Poms, said to be
over 7 jt (2 m) tall, rode
than 100 elephants, specially trained an elephant. From its
back he hurled javelins
for battle. Although Alexander's at the Macedonians.
army was outnumbered, his tactics,

and the discipline of his men,

eventually won the battle.

r

1

\*M

art

Alexander riding into /'Porus, gathering
battle on his faithful forty beasts
horse Bucephalus.
around him, drove
Shortly after the battle,
Bucephalus died from at the enemy with

either wounds or old age. the whole mass of
his elephants and
Shield bearers
hacked at the inflicted grevious
elephant's legs
with axes to losses.
cripple them
The Defeat of Porus by Dead and dying Diordorus of Sicily
Alexander by French from his book The i
artist Louis Watteau elephants littered
was painted in the the battlefield. ibrary of History,
1st century BC
mid-1 8th century.

1' \a

/'

JP2?

VICTORY IN INDIA

Into an
UNKNOWN LAND
I

When Alexander led his army into

Victory coin India in 326 BC, he was setting off on a
Alexander marked his victory over
the Indian king Porus with this journey into the unknown. The Greeks
silver coin. It shows Alexander on
Bucephalus attacking Porus mounted had only vague ideas about the size, the
on an elephant. After the battle, Porus
became a useful friend to Alexander. climate, and the people of India. Alexander

believed it was a small country that would be

ti "' VYcou are always easy to conquer. However, the Indian ruler

busy and up to no Porus told him that large powerful kingdoms lay

good, traveling so ahead, defended by huge armies including

many miles from thousands of elephants. This alarming news spread
through the Macedonian army. His soldiers began to
home, a nuisance wonder whether they would ever see their homes again.
to yourself and
V*"'
to others."

Indian wise man, quoted in ':'
Arrian s The Campaigns of
^y% ^^
ad 150 Jy

J*

WORDS OF Unfamiliar June I RAINY SEASON
fruits looked
fyf. tempting, but 326 J Alexander invaded India at
often led to
bc j WISDOM sickness —• ?5_J the start of the summer rainy
Soon, the soldiers' wet
Alexander had a famous meeting clothes started to rot season - the worst possible time of
from the constant ram year. For two months, it rained
with some Indian wise men who continuously. The rivers burst their
38 banks, flooding the surrounding plains.
spent their time thinking about
A NEW TOWN
the world. They told him that his
life of conquest was senseless. On the site of his victory over
They stamped their feet to make
Poms, Alexander founded two
the point that a person can only cities called Nicaea (Victory) and
possess the earth that he or she Bucephala. The latter was named

stands on. in honor of his faithful horse who

died following the battle.

Medieval French painting showing
the building of Bucephala.

Indian treasures •Jfeii iraS

Alexander told his men that If .jjgjHPp

they would find rare treasures 3 fcjj
in India, a land rumored to
be rich in precious stones. *r^

Strange birds L Ki* --3
The soldiers saw animals and
birds they had never seen 4 = 1—^HSSri #^
before, including peacocks
Ancient skill
Alexander ordered his men Alexander's men built floating bridges
across some of the Indian rivers by
not to kill the beautiful birds lashing together boats and fixing
and peacock feathers were planks of wood over them. Supplies
sent back to Greece. and horses could then be brought
across. This ancient method of building
Makeshift boats jui y ' CROSSING RIVERS bridges is still used in the Punjab today.

The soldiers stuffed 326 ] Alexander led his army through the July NO MORE HARDSHIP
their tents with straw j
to make rafts, so they BC J region called the Punjab, which means
could float themselves 326 i When the soldiers reached the fifth
and their belongings "land of five rivers." The soldiers crossed four of
across the river. J!£ J Punjab river, the Hyphasis, they
the rivers, which were swollen and fast-flowing refused to cross it. Their spokesman, Coenus,
because of the heavy rains. Some of the men
told Alexander that the men wanted to go
were swept away by the strong currents. home. "The one thing a successful man should
know," he told Alexander, "is when to stop!"

June MISERABLE LIFE <fc* The soldiers Aug I DEFEATED
\
gathered outside 326 J Alexander was furious
326 ] The rains were a continua Alexander's
tent, begging B< J with his soldiers, and
~—3 source of misery. All him to give up announced that he would go
the campaign.
the metal equipment had to be on alone if necessary When
scoured daily to keep it free from Crocoddes added to the danger
rust. Deadly snakes came out of of crossing the Indian i this failed to change their
their holes in the ground looking
minds, he sulked in his tent,
for higher, dry land. Many men refusing to speak to anyone for

died painfully of snakebites. three days. At last, Alexander

gave in, and told his men" that

he would take them home

39

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40

THE JOURNEY HOME

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VICTORY IN INDIA

-

Death

IN BABYLON

IN BABYLON, ALEXANDER MADE

plans to conquer yet more

territory. He intended to invade The carriage had a roof oj
overlapping gold scales
Alexander s funeral carriage Arabia and then conquer the whole
Statue oj Nike,
coast of North Africa. However, at the end goddesss oj
victory
Mayof 323 BC, the king fell ill with a raging fever.
Bells warned
From his sickbed he continued to give orders about onlookers oj the

the coming campaigns, but his fever grew worse. It soon procession's
approach
became clear that Alexander was dying. His friends
Net ojjine
asked him, "To whom do you leave the kingdom?" The king gold thread

replied, "To the strongest," but he could not know who this Panels painted
with scenes oj
would be. Alexander knew only that his generals would soon Alexander's wars

be fighting each other for power. His last words were, "I foresee a great Columns
decorated with
Onfuneral contest over me." 10 June, Alexander died. He was just 32 years acanthus plants

old, but he had conquered the greatest empire the world had ever seen.

. The gates Funeral procession
of Babylon
Alexander's soldiers marched
behind the carriage.

ROYAL CARRIAGE TWO KINGS \The BABY KING

The Macedonians spent an After Alexander had died, his Alexander's son, King Alexander IV,
wife Roxane gave birth to a was murdered, with his mother,
entire year preparing a boy. Alexander also had a when he was twelve years old.
magnificent funeral carriage to
half-brother, Arrhidaeus, who [333 BC
carry Alexander's body home
was mentally handicapped. ALEXANDER DEFEATS
As it traveled westward, the These two were proclaimed DARIUS AT THE
fame of the carriage spread. In as joint kings, though they
every city, vast crowds gathered never had the chance to rule. BATTLE OF ISSUS.
to watch the dead king's All Alexanders relatives were
procession pass. But Alexander's murdered in the power struggle
body never reached Macedonia. that followed his death.
The carriage was seized by
Ptolemy, the new ruler of
Egypt, and taken to Alexandria.

A life at war 356 BC 334 BC

Alexander spent almost all of his ALEXANDER ALEXANDER
BORN IN PELLA, INVADES THE
I 3 -year reign at war. He was one PERSIAN EMPIRE
MACEDONIA.
of the greatest generals in history

and won dozens of battles and more

than 20 sieges, yet he also found
time to build around 20 cities

42

Banner decorated with DEATH N BABYLON
a golden olive wreath
THE CONQUEROR

After Alexander's death, rival

Macedonian warlords fought one
another for a share of the empire. The
largest territory was seized by Seleucus,

who was nicknamed "the conqueror."

His Seleucid empire, which included
Persia and Syria, lasted for 241 years.

olemy The Hellenistic world
The period after Alexander's death is
The king's LAST DYNASTY
armor voai called the Hellenistic age (from the
placed on a Ptolemy was the most word Hellene, which means Greek)
purple robe. fortunate of Alexander's For 300 years, Greek language, art,
successors. Unlike Seleucus, and culture flourished throughout the
Jars of sweet-
smellhiii spices who was assassinated, he Middle East A typical Hellenistic
surrounded
Alexander's lived into old age. Ptolemy city was Ephesus (above) in Turkey.
founded the last dynasty
Legacy of Alexander
(family of rulers) of The Kalash people of Pakistan
Egyptian pharaohs, the believe that they are descended from
soldiers in Alexander's army who
Ptolemies, who ruled married local women. The customs,
language, and religion of the Kalash
Egypt from 305 to 30 BC. are unlike anything else found in
Pakistan, so this story may be true.

43

FACT-FINDER

Empire Atlantic Map showing the
ocean roman empire in ad 117

BUILDERS The Roman world

THROUGHOUT HISTORY, At its largest extent, the

new empires have been Roman empire stretched

conquered by military might. from Britain to Asia
Troops were kept busy
guarding the frontiers of
conquered lands The heart
of the empire was the
Mediterranean, which the
Romans called "our sea."

Some, such as the Roman

empire, were well-organized

and long-lasting. Others had

only a brief lifetime before

breaking up into separate states

or kingdoms. In successful

empires, the conquered

people have been united by

a shared religion,

language, or Julius
Caesar
way of life.

The roman Trajan s Column
Under the Emperor Trajan (AD 98-1 17), the empire reached its largest size. His
EMPIRE
The Romans campaigns in Dacia (present-day Romania) are recorded in a series of carvings on
allowed many a pillar, known as Trajan's Column still standing in Rome Above Roman standard-
hearers soldiers carrying emblems) lead other troops across a bridge made of boats
of the people they
conquered to Roman roads
The Romans built an extensive
become Roman
network of roads all over their
citizens and to share empire in order to move soldiers
in the benefits of quickly around conquered lands
their empire. This Roads were built in straight
made the Romans lines to keep the distance
popular rulers. between places as short as

Maker of the empire possible. The first Roman road

Julius Caesar (c 100-44 B( was the Via Appui i left I built
was one ol a series ol in 312 BC and later extended to
become Rome's main link with
generals who created the its expanding empire in the East
Roman empire. Caesar
300 200 1 00 BC AD AD 100 200 300
conquered Gaul France) THE ROMAN EMPIRE
and he dreamed of | J I\\i >
equaling the achievements
ol Alexander the Great R< )ME 197-14o in I I iNQUESl AD 43: i \l> 117: R( IMAN
'IS ALL i i PNQUES1
Gift of the empires OF ITALY. Ol MAC l MPIRI REAC Ills
The Roman and Islamic empires each left a Il Ol BRITAIN
lasting legacy. Most ol the countries conquered
by the Arabs are still Muslim The Romans left AND GREECE. \RUMlis SIZI
behind the Latin language and calendar. Some 1
European cities such as Pans and London,
were Founded by the Romans. The Mongols
left no long-term legacy.

44

EMPIRE BUILDERS

The islamic empire The moncol empire

In the 7th century AD, a new religion, called In the 13th century, the fierce Mongols from
Asia conquered the largest land empire in
Islam, appeared in Arabia. Its founder, the history. For almost a century, Mongol armies
seemed unstoppable. Yet, although they were
prophet Muhammad, united the tribes of brilliant warriors, the Mongols did not have
the Roman or Arab skill for ruling people.
Arabia, and inspired them to fight a holy
war against their neighbors.

United by Genghis Khan
The founder of the
religion Mongol empire was
Temujin who took
Most of the the title Genghis Khan
conquered peoples
converted to Islam. prince of all that lies
They were called between the oceans
Muslims, and they
followed a strict He claimed that his
code for everyday
life Muslims pray god, Tengri, had
given him a mission
five times a day, to conquer the world
often in mosques
I prayer buildings

M\l' SHOWING THE MONGOL EMPIRE IN AD I 259

MONGOL WARRIOR'S The Mongol world
Genghis Khan united the
QUIVER ' \M Mongol tribes and led
FOR ARROWS)
them in an invasion of
China and Persia. His
successors conquered
southern Russia At
its peak the Mongol
empire stretched from
eastern Europe to the
Pacific Ocean

Map showing the islamic empire in ad 850 Mongol weapons
The Mongols' success was
The Muslim world due to their military tactics. They were
expert horsemen and skillful with bows
By AD 850 Muslim armies had conquered territory and arrows Always ready to learn new
from Spain to the edge of India The capital of the skills the Mongols may have been the
Islamic empire was Baghdad, which was a great first people to use gunpowder in war.
trading center and the world's largest city.

Holy decoration Mongol decline The MONGOL fleet sails
Another unifying force was Arabic, the language of the In 1259, Genghis Khans TOWARD THE SHORES OF JAPAN
Muslim holy book, the Koran Texts from the Koran
were often used as decoration in Muslim buildings. grandson Kublai was the new
This inscription comes from Cordoba in Spain Great Khan, but his power
never reached far beyond

China. In the 1270s Kublai made
two attempts to conquer Japan, but
each time his fleets were destroyed
by typhoons The Mongols no
longer seemed invincible.

500 600 700 800 900 1000 001 1 1200 1300

400-450: WESTERN THE ISLAMIC EMPIRE 909: EMPIRE IS SPLIT THE MONCOL EMPIRE
EMPIRE FALLS TO
NORTHERN BARBARIANS. 634-650: CONQUEST OF BY A RIVAL GROUP 1237-1242: MONGOL ARMIES
OF MUSLIMS.
SYRIA, PALESTINE, IRAQ. THROUGH RUSS

EGYPT, AND PERSIA O WD HUNGARY.

45

FACT N D E R

Discovering king Unnatural bumps and hollows
in the (/round can give an
PHILIP'S TOMB indication that buildings once
stood on the site.

LITTLE REMAINS FROM THE Site plan

lifetime of Alexander the 1 Making a site plan
Great. Even our statues of the
Archaeologists look for features on the ground, such as tumuli
king were made long after he
(earth mounds), which are often the sites of ancient burials. Philip's
died, copied from earlier statues
tomb was found under just such a mound. Once a suitable site has
that have now been lost. So it
was exciting news when Greek been identified, a plan is made of the area before digging begins.

archaeologists announced, in
1977, that they had discovered

a rich tomb in Macedonia. The
tomb held the bones of a man,

along with symbols of royalty.
This was evidence that the

man was a king. Objects found
within the tomb date from the

fourth century BC. It was almost

certain that the tomb was that
of Alexander's father, King
Philip of Macedon.

2 Special tools

Archaeology is painstaking
work, requiring delicate

tools. To reach

Philip's tomb, the
archaeologists had

to carefully move tons
of soil, which they

then sifted for finds.
Small fragments of
pottery in the soil were
used to date the burial
of the tomb.

Plumb line to
show vertical
rows when
marking out

THE SITE