Page 193 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol I - Abraham to Coal

78 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

There is no such thing as an inevitable war.
If war comes it will be from failure of human
wisdom. • Andrew B. Law (1858–1923)

and secured his appointment as hegemon (“leader”) of the
Corinthian League and commander in the war against
Persia. With his power base secure, Alexander crossed
into Asia in spring 334 BCE at the head of an army of
approximately 35,000 men.
During the next decade Alexander campaigned as far
as western India before being compelled by a mutiny of
his army to return to the west, where he died in Babylon
in June 323 BCE.This remarkable campaign divides into
three distinct phases. The first phase, which lasted from
334 BCE to 330 BCE, is known as the “Greek Crusade”
and was marked by the great set battles of Granicus,
Issus, and Gaugamela and climaxed with the destruction
of the Persian capital of Perepolis and the assassination
of the Persian king Darius III by his own officers.The sec-
ond phase, which lasted from 330 BCE to 327 BCE,saw
Alexander adopt various aspects of Persian royal cere-
monial and practice despite Macedonian and Greek
opposition in order to attract Iranian support in the face
of fierce guerrilla resistance in central Asia.The third and
final phase of the campaign began with the two years
that Alexander spent in India and ended with his disas-
trous return to the west through Baluchistan and his
death in Babylon, while planning further campaigns,
beginning with an invasion of Arabia.
Alexander the Great in a bust from 1724.
Historians’ interpretations of Alexander’s spectacular
reign vary widely for understandable reasons. There are
eventually linked together the civilizations from Europe few primary sources for the period. Of the many accounts
to China. written by his contemporaries and the numerous docu-
Alexander was born in 356 BCE, the first child of Philip ments issued by his government such as existed, only
II (360–336 BCE) of Macedon and his principal wife, fragments and a few inscriptions survive. Therefore, his-
Olympias. He was raised in keeping with his status as torians depend on five Greek and Latin biographies of
Philip’s heir, being educated by the philosopher Aristotle Alexander written between the mid-first century BCE and
and trained by his father for his role as king and the com- the second century CE for their information.Also lacking
mander of the Macedonian army.When he succeeded his are sources that reflect the perspectives of the Persians
father as king in 336 BCE, Alexander was ready to con- and the other peoples Alexander encountered. As a
tinue the invasion of the Persian empire, which had been result, while the outline of his career is clear, widely diver-
begun by Philip.Alexander devoted the first two years of gent theories have been proposed concerning Alexander’s
his reign to consolidating his hold on power. Rapid cam- ultimate goals, ranging from the popular pre–World
paigns in the northern Balkans and Greece headed off War II belief that he wished to realize the philosophical
rebellions by Macedon’s Greek and non-Greek subjects dream of the unity of all mankind to the contemporary