Conquests of Alexander the Great

Alexander was the nineteenth ruler of the kingdom of Macedonia.  At only the youthful age of twenty he is considered to have begun a conquest deemed to be among the greatest in the history of the human race. During his reign as king, Alexander had many successes under his belt which then caused people to not just refer to him by his name but rather by the moniker ‘The Great Alexander’. He lead his cavalry and infantry to achieve his foremost triumph over the Persian Empire in the year 334 B.C, which then instigated the formation of the culture known as Hellenism. This paper is aimed at enlightening you about his colossal accomplishments as well as his extraordinary legacy.

Alexander was a man that was very famous for how he hard pressed his army to near breaking point. This was driven by the burning desire to conquer the world around him. These conquests in turn brought him into contact with diverse cultures of those areas. Before his sovereignty, the people of India had little to nix trade with the natives of Mesopotamia; however trade began to pick up when he came into power.

Alexander continued his conquests of Asia and in the year 333 B.C. He found his way into North of Syria where a second battle later ensued. This was known as the war of Issus in which his army defeated the Persian army, which had troops that were over seven times that of his army. However his greatest victory was yet to come in his third battle against the Persian Empire, which took place in the Iraqi town of Gaugamela. This saw him gain power over all the Persia’s capitals. All in all Alexander the great had a total of three battles with the then King of Persia Darius the third. In all three occasions he was victorious.

From here he then moved his army to Egypt where he was chosen became the Pharaoh, as he was considered a knight in shining armor by the Egyptians. It is here that he decided to form the city that was known as Alexandria. This city as acted as the linkage between Greece, Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean. It was also a hub for learning. After a final battle with Darius in Mesopotamia, he managed to conquer the city of Susa. He went on to Persepolis where he secured the regions wealth and burned to the ground the regal castles that were there. He later became the King of Asia after the demise of King Darius. In the year 327 B.C, he continued his take-over going more than a hundred miles further than the river valley known as Indus. He was forced to return home after his army conceded defeat to fatigue and refused to proceed with the battles.

It is difficult to determine whether Alexander had any intentions of creating a global realm for himself. However, much admiration is bestowed to him, as he was the first to have accomplished these great conquests and is and will be remembered to have been among the most powerful, as well as the greatest general’s that has ever subsisted. With a remarkable empire that lasted only twelve years, he had done more and conquered much more than any other leader had the opportunity of not only accomplishing, but also of dreaming to accomplish. He had managed to conquer at least two thirds of the entire recognized world.

He fought a grand total of twenty major wars most of them being with the King of Persia whom he considered his nemesis. He was an ambitious, passionate, determined and a model leader who served as an inspiration to his troops and made all those who heard of him and his successions to be frightened of him. Just like any man, he did have his faults. He was considered to have been quite ruthless and it is suspected that he might have been responsible for his father’s death.

Even in his death, the legacy of Alexander the third also known as Alexander the great shall forever live on and his anecdote passed down from generation to generation.