Famous People in History | Alexander the Great (Documentary)

From Sargon the Great to Alexander the Great, a man that became king after his father's death, he is known for conquering the known world of his time. Alexander earned the title, The Great, for being one of the greatest military tacticians of all time. Alexander the Great was an inspiration to other great conquerors later down the road, such as Caesar and Napoleon. In this video, I will be covering Alexander's upbringing, his military triumphs, and his demise. Before we talk about Alexander III of Macedon, we first need to talk about the rise of Macedonia through the victories of Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father. In 357 BC, Philip battled with Athens over the control of the city of Amphipolis, which was strategically located. For the next 20 or so years, Philip would succeed in a number of victories in the region, with only a major defeat in 353 BC. Through his diplomatic tactics and military strength, he was able to defeat Macedonia's neighbors, the Illyrians, the Thracians, and the Greeks, making Macedonia the most powerful empire in the Balkans. Philip was particularly harsh to the Greek cities near the borders of Macedonia. He brought the cities crashing to the ground, such as the major Greek center of Olympus and Sagira, which happened to be the birthplace of the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle. The rest of the terrified inhabitants were sold into slavery. Of course, the Greeks were not very pleased with this outcome, and in 338 BC, they settled their differences to unify against a common foe. The Greeks needed to prevent Philip the Great from breaking through to southern Greece, but at the Battle of Chaeronea, the Greeks were defeated. Philip became the dominant authority over the Greeks. He created a peace agreement that the Greeks had no other option but to agree to his terms. They had to obey the conditions of the agreement and had to promise not to revolt against Philip, as well as his successors. Over the years, with many battles, Philip II of Macedon walked with a limp and was blind in one eye, due to being shot with an arrow. Philip imagined of reaching Persia, but while preparations were being made, he was assassinated. I'll talk more about his assassination later in the video. Philip was around the age of 46 when he died. Here is a map of Macedonia under the control of Philip II in 359 BC. Here is a map of Macedonia at the time of Philip's death in 336 BC. So now you guys have a bit of background information of Macedonia. It was brought back from the brink of collapse, thanks to the leadership of Philip II of Macedon, and turned it into a vast empire. Now let's get back to Alexander the Great. Starting with his early life, Alexander III of Macedon was born in 356 BC, in the ancient capital of Macedonia, known as Pella. He was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia and Olympus, the princess of the neighboring Epirus, a coastal region of northwestern Greece and southern Albania. As a child, Alexander watched his father change Macedonia into a powerful military entity, winning battles one after the other, and as a result, never got to see his father. Alexander's mother Olympias became an important role model for him. At the age of 12, Alexander displayed his talent of horse riding in front of his father and others by taming the horse named Bucyphalus, an uncontrollable horse that consumed the flesh of anyone who tried to ride it. Alexander would ride Bucyphalus in all of his major battles. When Alexander was 13 years old, his father hired the famous Greek philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander in literature, science, medicine, and philosophy. When Alexander was 16 years old, his father Philip organized a large military and invaded Thrace, leaving his son behind to rule Macedonia as a substitute. That is to say that Alexander was seen as capable from an early age. When the Macedonian army marched deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Madi, which bordered northeastern Macedonia, revolted, posing a threat to the region. Alexander acted quickly and amassed an army to fight the rebels. He was successful and defeated Madi, taking control of their stronghold and renamed it to Alexanderpolis. Two years passed and in 338 BC, Alexander's father gave him a commanding post amongst the senior generals. As the Macedonian military invaded Greece, at the Battle of Chaeronea, which I mentioned earlier in the video, the Greeks were crushed and Alexander ended the elite Greek force, the Theban secret band. There were some records from ancient historians that claim that the battle was won thanks to Alexander and his courage. Not long after the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip married Cleopatra, an upper-class Macedonian woman. With this decision, Philip split the family apart. At the wedding banquet, Cleopatra's uncle, General Attalus, made comments about Philip raising a genuine heir to the throne, one that was pure Macedonian. Alexander was said to have thrown his cup at the man, as he was basically calling Alexander a bastard child. Philip, who was drunk, supposedly stood up and charged Alexander with his sword drawn, only to trip and fall on his face. It is then that Alexander was said to have shouted, Here is a man who is making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and cannot even cross from one table to another without losing his balance. Alexander then left with his mother to flee to Epirus. Alexander was allowed to return in time, but he would keep to himself, anxious at the Macedonian court. In 336 BC, the preparations for the Persian conquest commenced, but King Philip was assassinated. Records show that it was the young Macedonian noble Picenius, during the wedding ceremony in Aege, known as the Old Capital of Macedonia. A possible motive could have been that Picenius resorted to murder because he was denied justice by Philip, when he wanted support in punishing Cleopatra's uncle, Attalus, for earlier abuse. There are also some records that claim Alexander and his mother, Olympus, plotted the assassination by urging Picenius to the point he committed the crime. This might also explain why Picenius was put to death by Alexander's close friends, when he tried to flee the scene of the crime. The lawful answer would have been to capture him alive and bring him to the Macedonian Congress. If I were to play devil's advocate, I would argue that Alexander's friends were quick to take justice into their own hands. What would Alexander have against his father in the first place, to have him assassinated? Well, Alexander rarely seen his father, as he was conquering for Macedonia. We also have the situation where Philip married another woman, Cleopatra, him being called a bastard child, as well as the drunken attempted attack of his father in public. You could even argue that Alexander was in the shadow of his father. That isn't to say that Alexander was a co-conspirator, it just shows that he had reason to kill his father. But regardless, the king was dead. Philip's dream of conquering Persia is now left to his son, King Alexander. After his father's death, Alexander, then 19, wanted to take the throne. So he gathered support from the Macedonian army, and they declared him king. As soon as Alexander became king, he quickly acted on ordering the executions of his internal enemies. Alexander's mother Olympus, proving to be loyal, murdered Philip II's daughter, and pressed Cleopatra to commit suicide, getting rid of the competition. But Philip's death caused a number of revolts from the conquered nations, such as the Illyrians, the Thracians, and the Greeks, seeing an opening for independence. Alexander was forced to act, so he made his way to Greece, by force, even through the roads to Greece, which were blocked by the Thessalians. Alexander restored his rule in northern Greece, and marched to southern Greece. Alexander made it there in such speed that the Greeks were stunned, and by the end of the summer, in 336 BC, they yielded. Alexander believed that the Greeks were now under his control, so he made his way back to Macedonia, and then traveled east into Thrace, going as far as the Danubi River. He defeated the Thracians and the Tribolians in a chain of battles, forcing the rebels back beyond the river. On his way back to Macedonia, he destroyed the Illyrians in one week, before they could receive more troops. In Greece, rumors came up of Alexander's death, and a massive revolt consumed the nation. Alexander Furius marched his large army south, traveling 386 kilometers in just two weeks, appearing at the walls of Thebes. He told the Greeks that it wasn't too late for them to reconsider their options. The Thebans already made their decision, and called for the Greeks to join them in the fight for their independence. Unfortunately, the Thebans were not aware that the Athenians and the Peloponnesians, shocked of Alexander's speed, decided to wait the battle out. Alexander ordered his general Perdiccas to attack the gates, and broke through into the city, while Alexander and the rest of his army followed from behind to prevent the Thebans from ambushing them. In the city, the Macedonians killed anyone they came across, including women and children. Around 6,000 Theban citizens died, and 30,000 more were to be sold as slaves. The city was looted and burned to the ground. The only structures left spared were temples and the house of the poet Pindar. Alexander needed to set an example to the rest of Greece. This made the Greek cities hold off on their independence. The conquered lands were in Macedonian control, so Alexander prepared for his conquest of Asia. Once the preparations were complete, Alexander, then 22 years old, selected one of his father's most skilled generals, Antipater, to act as a substitute to watch Macedonia and Greece. Alexander gave the general a mighty force of 13,500 Macedonian soldiers to keep the conquered territories at bay. Then he shipped out to Hellespont in 334 BC. Alexander's ship neared the shore, and with the symbolic act of throwing his spear onto the shore, he then declared that Asia would be won by the Macedonian spear. Alexander's army consisted of 25,000 Macedonians, 7,600 Greeks, and 7,000 Illyrians and Thracians. But only the chief officers were Macedonians, and only the Macedonians would command the foreign troops. The second in command was General Parmenio, and his son Philotis was one of many important commanders. Alexander's army eventually made contact with King Darius III's army, near the Granicus River. Darius was the king of Persia, the last king of the Achaemenid dynasty. His Persian army consisted of 40,000 troops, half of which were Greek. The Persian army was waiting for Alexander and his men at the river's crossing, which happened to be near the ancient city of Troy. It is important to mention that the Greeks in Alexander's army were basically held as hostages. They were trained by the Macedonians, and ensured that the Greeks back home were on good behavior. As for the Greeks in the Persian army, more of them joined the Persians. Leaving aside their differences, especially the history of the Persian invasion of Greece, around 150 years before, it proves that the rivalry between the Macedonians and the Greeks was far greater. The Macedonians were victorious at the Battle of Granicus, forcing the remaining Persians to flee the scene. The Greeks on the Persian side held their ground and fought to the bitter end, but they were obliterated. 18,000 of the 20,000 Greeks were killed, and the remaining men were made into Macedonian laborers. According to legend, the Macedonians only lost 120 men. Alexander then led his troops across the Asia Minor, also known as Anatolia. Funny enough, the Greek coastal cities and not the Persians proved to be the biggest threat against the Macedonians. The Greek commander Memnon and his troops significantly slowed down Alexander's advances, killing many Macedonians in the process. But through the challenging sieges of the Greek cities, they were successful in conquering the coastal cities of the Asia Minor. Alexander then traveled northward to Central Asia Minor, to the city of Gordium. The city of Gordium was famous for the Gordian knot. The legend claims that the man that could unravel the ancient knot was fated to rule the world. Alexander knew of this legend. He pulled out his sword and sliced straight through. In the fall of 333 B.C., the Macedonian army again faced the Persian army. But this time, King Darius showed up at a mountain pass at Essos in northwestern Syria, bringing with him a massive army. Just like last time, the Persian army consisted mostly of Greeks. Darius's elite force of around 30,000 Greeks. Alexander and his army prepared for battle by forming the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander and his men were outnumbered by the Persians. But the battle ended in the king being victorious. As a result of the Battle of Issus, over 10,000 Persians, Greeks, and others were killed. In a panic, King Darius fled, leaving his wife, mother, and children behind. Luckily for him, Alexander was kind to them out of respect, as they were still royalty. With the victory of Issus, it opened up the road for Syria and Phoenicia. In early 332 B.C., Alexander sent his general Parmenio to conquer the Syrian cities. While Alexander took over the surrendering major cities of the Phoenician coast, except one, the island city of Tyre. The city refused to allow Alexander to perform a sacrifice at the local Phoenician temple of the god Melkart. The siege of Tyre would last a challenging seven months. To get to the island, a great deal of effort was made to make a mole, which is basically a massive structure that can be built like a bridge, filling in the ocean gap with materials. Here is a modern photograph of the island of Tyre to get an idea. Of course, the causeway was not originally this big and was strengthened over the course of history. The attacks cost Alexander the lives of many of his toughest Macedonians. Alexander was tempted to recede and move on to the next point of interest, Egypt. But he decided to continue the attack. The city was fenced in by Macedonian ships and catapults destroyed the city walls. The Macedonians rushed the city with rage as they had been fighting this battle for a great amount of time. As well as many skilled Macedonians were lost. It is said they killed around 7,000 people and 30,000 more were sold as slaves. As to prove a point, Alexander did get his sacrifice in the temple of Melkart. Let's step back a bit. During the siege of Tyre, Alexander was given a letter from the Persian king Darius. He was offering a truce, gifting Alexander a couple western provinces of the Persian Empire. Alexander did not accept the truce as he wanted to have it all. After the siege, Alexander travelled south towards Egypt. But he was met with resistance at Gaza. The siege of Gaza lasted around two months, repeating the same situation of Tyre. Alexander took Gaza and with that, took the entire eastern Mediterranean coast. In the beginning of 331 BC, Alexander arrived in Egypt. The Persian satrap surrendered. For those that don't know, a satrap is a provincial governor appointed by the king. The Macedonians were welcomed with open arms by the Egyptians as they were seen as liberators. The Egyptians were fed up living under a Persian rule that lasted around 200 years. Alexander gave orders to build a city created in his name at the mouth of the river Nile. It was called Alexandria. Alexander would never get to see the city, but Alexandria would be an important center in the Mediterranean and his Macedonian rule of Egypt. And hundreds of years later, Alexander returned to the island of Tyre where he received reinforcements from Europe. He and his army were now re-energized and left for Babylon. Alexander conquered the domains between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Alexander and his Macedonians had the advantage and spotted the Persian army at the plains of Gagamela in Iraq. According to ancient records, the Persian army was said to be around a million men. Take what you will from that. At night time, the Persian campfires could be spotted. This is when the Macedonians advised Alexander to take the Persians by surprise. But Alexander refused as he wanted to fight King Darius on an equal playing field to prove to Darius that no army could beat him. The next following morning, on October 1st, 332 B.C., the two opposing armies met on the battlefield. The Persian army was made up of Asian-Tic nations such as the Bactrians, Indians, Medians, Sognians, and Albanians. There were also 50,000 Greek survivors from the beginning of the war. The battle commenced. At the very beginning, the Persian forces split and broke up the Macedonians. Led by two wings, General Parmenio seemed to be falling back. But Alexander and his cavalry went straight after King Darius. Just like the Battle of Issus, Darius fled to Iqbaqtana in Media. It is said around 100 of Alexander's men were killed with around 1,000 of his horses. As for his opposition, 300,000 were said to have been killed with more men taken as prisoners than killed. This is my opinion. The Persian forces were as big as they are claimed. How were they defeated? The records show that there were more prisoners taken than killed. Why might that be? Sure, the Persians had the numbers, but a huge portion of the Persian army isn't even Persian. If you were to strategically attack the Persians, the foreign soldiers have nothing to fight for. Most are basically slaves and would rather surrender for a possible chance of freedom. A combination of Alexander's genius military tactics and the makeup of the Persian army could have given the Macedonians the advantage. Alexander then took control of Babylon, the imperial capital Susa and Persepolis, the Persian capital. Alexander declared himself King of Persia. Around four months later, the Macedonians burned down the royal palace in the Persian capital, signifying the defeat of the Persian Empire. Now let's set our eyes back at Greece. Under the leadership of Sparta, the Greeks again rebelled against the Macedonian rule. At the time, Alexander's substitute Antipater was in Thrace, giving the Greeks an opening to successfully push back the Macedonians. But not much time after, Antipater came back, bringing with him a massive army. Let's just say the Greek rebellion was put to an end and Greece was once again under Macedonian control. As a result of the fighting, around 5,300 Greeks, along with the Spartan king Agis, were killed. On the other hand, around 3,500 Macedonians were lost. Here is Alexander's perspective of the Greek rebellion. In Asia, Alexander heard of the beginnings of the rebellion and sent funds to help Antipater. Once he was given news of Greece's defeat, declared the end of the Herlandic Crusade and discharged all of his Greek forces. He no longer needed them as hostages and possible agitators. Before we talk about any more battles, an important thing to bring up is Alexander's obsession with Persia. In order to win the support of the Persian nobles, he selected many Persians as provincial governors. Alexander embraced the Persian royal garb for ceremonies. He gave orders to allow the Persians to join the army and encouraged the Macedonians to have Persian wives. This infuriated the Macedonians as they saw this as an act on their Persian traditions, language and values. In 330 BC, a number of accusations were looked into regarding some of Alexander's officers plotting to kill him. The person accused of the conspiracy was Philotas, General Parnino's son, the commander of the horse regiment. The trial of Philotas happened in Asia. The trial concluded that Philotas was guilty and then was executed. After his execution, Alexander ordered Philotas' father, General Parnino, to be executed as well. This was a mistake. The Macedonian army saw the general as a veteran, a soldier that proved his worth. He was an important figure in leading the Macedonian armies. Philip II often said he was proud to have Parnino on his side and fulfilling these actions, Alexander lost some support from the Macedonians. Next we have the murder of Calliatus the Black, the man that saved Alexander's life at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC. Most historians claim that Calliatus was criticizing Alexander in front of his officers. Alexander was shown to be a very different person when he was drunk. He snapped and grabbed a spear from one of the bodyguards and impaled his friend. Once Alexander realized what he had done, it is said that he nearly committed suicide. The end result proved to be yet another blow to Alexander as his fatherers are now fearful of his temper and his paranoia. The execution of Callisthenes, Aristotle's nephew, is yet another example of questioning Alexander's sanity. Alexander demanded the Persian tradition of prostrating, which is to lay face down on the ground in submission. You can see why many would be opposed to this. One such man was Callisthenes who joined Alexander on the expedition. He was soon tried for conspiracy and executed. Alexander may be a great conqueror, but it seems once he started adopting Persian methods, he changed as a person. Now that we have established some of the problems that arose of Alexander, we can continue with the pursuit of King Darius. Alexander tracked Darius for hundreds of kilometers, but Darius was assassinated by Besas, the satrap of Bactria. In 330 BC, Besas proclaimed himself king of Persia. Of course, this was a huge mistake on Besas' part as Alexander saw himself as the true king of Persia. With two solid years of fighting in Bactria, Besas was defeated, but Alexander took it one step further. He had Besas disfigured. His nose and ears were cut off. This was outrageous even for the Greeks and the Macedonians. Around 200 years earlier, Darius the Great ordered the same method to a rival king. Alexander then gave the wounded Besas to Darius' brother and was told to crucify him, making sure the birds would not eat his dead body. This was basically the Persian equivalent of denying burial. Now Bactria and Sognia were under the Macedonian control. It is at this time that Alexander meets his first wife, Roxanne, a Sognian princess. In 327 BC, in springtime, Alexander and his military traveled to India, invading Pajab. A well-known battle was against King Porus, one of the most powerful rulers in India. The battle took place at the river Hydapspes in the summer of 326 BC. Alexander and his army fought their way through the well-defended river. It was a tough battle, but it was also the first time the Macedonians had seen elephants. Eventually, Porus was captured, but because Porus was a worthy foe, Alexander restored Porus as king and earned his loyalty. Sadly, in this very battle, Alexander lost his noble steed, Bucephalus. Alexander rode Bucephalus in every one of his battles, in Europe and Asia. This was devastating. In the honor of Bucephalus, Alexander founded a city in his name called Buscephalia. Alexander and his army continued, getting as far as the river Hydapspes, but it was at this point his Macedonian soldiers refused to go any further as there were reports coming in of more dangerous armies ahead, equipped with lots of elephants and chariots. Alexander hesitantly agreed that they would travel down south the rivers Hydapspes and Indus, reaching the ocean and set sail for Persia. To achieve this, they constructed 1,000 ships for the navy to sail down the river, while the army stopped to attack Indian villages as they went. One such village they stopped at was inhabited by the Mali, a fierce war-driven tribe. In this battle, Alexander was hit with an arrow that went through his breastplate and his ribcage, severely wounding him. Alexander was rescued and barely escaped the village. Alexander did recover. Once he did, they continued down the river, and in the summer of 325 BC, they made it to the mouth of the Indus. Then they made their way to Persia. The return back was a massive failure. They marched through the Gordesian desert during the hot summer. When Alexander made it to the ancient city of Susa, thousands of his men had died from the heat. To make things worse, the satraps that Alexander had entrusted with ruling abused their power, so he had them executed, especially the ones that damaged the tomb of Cyrus the Great in the capital of Basargadi. Alexander ordered the ancient capital and the tomb to be restored. In the spring of 324 BC, Alexander hosted a victory celebration at Susa, where he tried yet again to merge the culture of Persia and Macedonia together. Alexander and around 80 of his close followers married Persian noblewomen. Alexander married Satyra and Perisassas. Alexander also encouraged marriages between soldiers and native women, giving them expensive wedding gifts as motivation. Many Macedonian soldiers condemned this merge of cultures. They also disliked Alexander granting Persians high positions in the army and giving Macedonian titles to them. The soldiers finally succumbed to Alexander's rule, and as a sign of goodwill, he returned the titles to the Macedonians. He also got rid of the Persian tradition of prostrating. Alexander also hosted a great feast, where he dined with his army, but with his Persian dress, he resembled more like a Persian than a Macedonian king. It is somewhere around this time that his second-in-command and his childhood friend, Hephaistion, dies from a fever, but there are also accounts that propose he might have been poisoned. Ancient historians have said Alexander's grief was immense. It is claimed that Alexander slaughtered the Kossians of a neighboring town as a sacrifice. It is even said that Alexander executed his best friend's doctor for not being able to treat him. Alexander denied anyone from being promoted to Hephaistion's position as commander of the cavalry. Alexander declared a period of mourning throughout his empire, a measure typically held for a king. Alexander had a dream to create unity between the Macedonians and the Persians by forming a new army of mixed blood for him to rule over. But soon after the planning of an Arabian campaign, Alexander developed a high fever. The fever appeared when he was at his friend's private party, Medias of Larissa. As soon as Alexander drank from his cup, he screamed in agony. With each day, Alexander's sickness got worse, to the point he was unable to speak. Alexander died around 10th of June at the age of 33. He died without naming the next heir to the throne. After Alexander's death, almost all the Susa marriages were disbanded. That just shows how much the Macedonians detested his idea. The unity that Alexander envisioned between the Persians and Macedonians never happened. Once news of Alexander's death reached Greece, they rebelled. Starting the Laman War, the Macedonians were defeated, pushing them out of Greece. But near the end of the war, the Macedonians made a comeback, taking Greece back. Greece would be under Macedonian rule for the next 150 years. The lack of a true successor split the Macedonian Empire into four kingdoms. Casander, Antipater's son, held Macedonia and Greece. Seleucus controlled Asia. Ptolemy seized Egypt. And Lysimachus took Thrace. But the rise of Rome ended the Macedonian kingdoms. Alexander III of Macedon would be remembered as Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king that conquered Persia. What do you guys think of Alexander the Great? My question to you guys, does Alexander deserve the title, The Great? Let me know what you think in the comments below. If you enjoyed the video, leave a like and share the video. Subscribe for more history content. And I'll see you guys in the next video.