ALEXANDER III the GREAT 260BC NGC Certified Silver TETRADRACHM Greek Coin i54522

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Item: i54522   Authentic Ancient

Alexander III the Great - King of  Macedonia: 336-323 B.C. Silver Tetradrachm 27mm (16.74 grams) Kalchedon in Bithynia mint, circa 260-220 B.C. Reference: Price 929 var. (Kallatis; monogram below throne); SNG München –; SNG  Alpha Bank –; SNG Saroglos – Certification:   NGC Ancients XF Strike: 5/5 Surface: 4/5 Fine Style  4277580-002 Head of Alexander the Great as  Hercules right, wearing the lion-skin headdress. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ AΛEΞANΔΡOY, Zeus Aetophoros seated left, holding  eagle and scepter; KA monogram in field to left; ΔX monogram below throne. See U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some Comments on a New Hoard from the Balkan  Sea” in Travaux Le Rider, pp. 402–5, for the reattribution of this, and many of  the other issues Price assigned to Kallatis, to Kalchedon.

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Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek divine hero Heracles , who was the son of Zeus (Roman equivalent Jupiter ) and the mortal Alcmene . In classical mythology , Hercules is famous for his  strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.

The Romans adapted the Greek hero's iconography and myths for their  literature and art under the name Hercules . In later Western art and literature and in popular culture , Hercules is more  commonly used than Heracles as the name of the hero. Hercules was a  multifaceted figure with contradictory characteristics, which enabled later  artists and writers to pick and choose how to represent him. This article  provides an introduction to representations of Hercules in the later tradition .

Labours

Hercules is known for his many adventures, which took him to the far reaches  of the Greco-Roman world . One cycle of these  adventures became canonical as the "Twelve Labours," but the list  has variations. One traditional order of the labours is found in the Bibliotheca as follows:

  1. Slay the Nemean Lion .
  2. Slay the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra .
  3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis .
  4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar .
  5. Clean the Augean stables in a single day.
  6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds .
  7. Capture the Cretan Bull .
  8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes .
  9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta , Queen of the Amazons .
  10. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon .
  11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides .
  12. Capture and bring back Cerberus .

The Latin name Hercules was borrowed  through Etruscan , where it is represented variously  as Heracle , Hercle, and other forms. Hercules  was a favorite subject for Etruscan art , and appears often on bronze mirrors . The Etruscan form Herceler derives from the Greek  Heracles via syncope . A mild oath invoking Hercules (Hercule!   or Mehercle! ) was a common interjection in Classical Latin .

Baby Hercules strangling a snake sent to kill him in his cradle (Roman marble, 2nd  century CE)

Hercules had a number of myths that were distinctly Roman. One of  these is Hercules' defeat of Cacus , who was terrorizing the countryside  of Rome. The hero was associated with the Aventine Hill through his son Aventinus . Mark Antony considered him a personal  patron god, as did the emperor Commodus . Hercules received various forms  of religious veneration , including as a deity concerned with children and childbirth ,  in part because of myths about his precocious infancy, and in part because  he fathered countless children. Roman brides wore a special belt tied with  the "knot  of Hercules", which was supposed to be hard to untie.[4]  The comic playwright Plautus presents the myth of Hercules'  conception as a sex comedy in his play Amphitryon ; Seneca wrote the tragedy Hercules Furens   about his bout with madness. During the Roman Imperial era , Hercules was worshipped  locally from Hispania through Gaul .

Medieval mythography

After the Roman Empire became Christianized , mythological narratives were  often reinterpreted as allegory , influenced by the philosophy of late antiquity . In the 4th century, Servius had described Hercules' return from the  underworld as representing his ability to overcome earthly desires and vices, or  the earth itself as a consumer of bodies.  In medieval mythography, Hercules was one of the heroes seen as a strong role  model who demonstrated both valor and wisdom, with the monsters he battles as  moral obstacles. One glossator noted that when Hercules became a constellation , he showed that  strength was necessary to gain entrance to Heaven.

Medieval mythography was written almost entirely in Latin, and original Greek  texts were little used as sources for Hercules' myths.

Renaissance  mythography

The Renaissance and the invention of the printing press brought a renewed interest in  and publication of Greek literature. Renaissance mythography drew more  extensively on the Greek tradition of Heracles, typically under the Romanized  name Hercules, or the alternate name Alcides . In a chapter of his book Mythologiae (1567), the influential mythographer Natale Conti collected and summarized an  extensive range of myths concerning the birth, adventures, and death of the hero  under his Roman name Hercules. Conti begins his lengthy chapter on Hercules with  an overview description that continues the moralizing impulse of the Middle  Ages:

Hercules, who subdued and destroyed monsters, bandits, and criminals, was  justly famous and renowned for his great courage. His great and glorious  reputation was worldwide, and so firmly entrenched that he'll always be  remembered. In fact the ancients honored him with his own temples, altars,  ceremonies, and priests. But it was his wisdom and great soul that earned  those honors; noble blood, physical strength, and political power just  aren't good enough.


In the ancient Greek   religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" (πατὴρ  ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε ) who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus   as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky   and thunder   in Greek mythology .  His Roman   counterpart is Jupiter   and Etruscan   counterpart is Tinia .

Zeus was the child of Cronus   and Rhea ,  and the youngest of his siblings. In most traditions he was married to Hera , although, at the  oracle of Dodona ,  his consort was Dione :  according to the Iliad ,  he is the father of Aphrodite   by Dione. He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and  heroic offspring, including Athena , Apollo   and Artemis , Hermes , Persephone   (by Demeter ), Dionysus , Perseus , Heracles , Helen of Troy , Minos ,  and the Muses   (by Mnemosyne );  by Hera, he is usually said to have fathered Ares , Hebe   and Hephaestus .

As Walter Burkert   points out in his book, Greek Religion , "Even the gods who are not his  natural children address him as Father, and all the gods rise in his presence."  For the Greeks, he was the King of the Gods ,  who oversaw the universe. As Pausanias   observed, "That Zeus is king in heaven is a saying common to all men". In  Hesiod's Theogony   Zeus assigns the various gods their roles. In the Homeric Hymns   he is referred to as the chieftain of the gods.

His symbols are the thunderbolt , eagle , bull ,  and oak .  In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical "cloud-gatherer"  also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the Ancient Near East ,  such as the scepter .  Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek artists in one of two poses: standing,  striding forward, with a thunderbolt leveled in his raised right hand, or seated  in majesty.


Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC),  commonly known as Alexander the Great from the Greek  alexo "to  defend, help" +  aner "man"), was a king of Macedon , a state in northern ancient Greece . Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16. By the age of  thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world , stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas .He was undefeated in battle and is  considered one of history's most successful commanders.

Alexander  succeeded his father, Philip II of Macedon , to the throne in 336 BC  after Philip was assassinated. Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong  kingdom and an experienced army. He was awarded the generalship of Greece and  used this authority to launch his father's military expansion plans. In 334 BC,  he invaded Persian -ruled Asia Minor and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years.  Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most  notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela . He subsequently overthrew the  Persian King Darius III and conquered the entirety of the Persian Empire . At that point, his empire  stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River .

Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually  forced to turn back at the demand of his troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, without executing a series  of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia . In the years following his death, a  series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in several states ruled by  the Diadochi , Alexander's surviving generals and  heirs.

Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. He  founded some twenty cities that bore his name , most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of  Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted  in a new Hellenistic civilization , aspects of which were  still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century.  Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles , and he features prominently in the  history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against  which military leaders compared themselves, and military academies throughout the world still  teach his tactics.

Early life

Lineage and childhood

Alexander was born on the 6th day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion ,  in Pella , the capital of the Ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon .He was the son of the king  of Macedon, Philip II , and his fourth wife, Olympias , the daughter of Neoptolemus I , king of Epirus . Although Philip had seven or eight  wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely a result of giving  birth to Alexander.

  Philip II  of Macedon , Alexander's father.

On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice . That same day, Philip received news  that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and that his horses had won at  the Olympic Games . It was also said that on this  day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus , one of the Seven Wonders of the World , burnt down. This  led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt  down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of  Alexander.

Bust of a young Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic era, British  Museum

In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike , sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black . Later in his childhood,  Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas , a relative of his mother, and by  Philip's general Lysimachus . Alexander was raised in the manner  of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre, ride, fight, and hunt.

When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he  offered to sell for thirteen talents . The horse refused to be mounted and  Philip ordered it away. Alexander however, detecting the horse's fear of its own  shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed. Philip, overjoyed  at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring:  "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too  small for you", and bought the horse for him.Alexander named it Bucephalas , meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas  carried Alexander as far as Pakistan . When the animal died at age thirty,  Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala .

When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor , chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs  at Mieza as a classroom. In return for teaching  Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira , which Philip had razed, and to  repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or  pardoning those who were in exile.

Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian  nobles, such as Ptolemy , Hephaistion , and Cassander . Many of these students would become  his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'.  Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy,  morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander  developed a passion for the works of Homer , and in particular the Iliad ; Aristotle gave him an annotated  copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns.

At age 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip waged war  against Byzantion , leaving Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent . During Philip's absence, the Thracian Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander  responded quickly, driving them from their territory. He colonized it with  Greeks, and founded a city named Alexandropolis .

Upon Philip's return, he dispatched Alexander with a small force to subdue  revolts in southern Thrace . Campaigning against the Greek city of Perinthus , Alexander is reported to have saved  his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred  to Apollo near Delphi , a sacrilege that gave Philip the  opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. Still occupied in Thrace, he  ordered Alexander to muster an army for a campaign in Greece. Concerned that  other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he was  preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians invaded  Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander.

Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae , taking it after stubborn  resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of Elatea , only a few days' march from both Athens  and Thebes. The Athenians, led by Demosthenes , voted to seek alliance with Thebes  against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes' favor,  but Athens won the contest.Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the  request of the Amphictyonic League ), capturing the mercenaries  sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender.  Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and  Thebes, who both rejected it.

As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea , Boeotia . During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea , Philip commanded the right  wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted  generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for  some time. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the  untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line.  Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's  generals. Having damaged the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to  press forward and quickly routed them. With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were  surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated.

After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into  the Peloponnese, welcomed by all cities; however, when they reached Sparta , they were refused, but did not resort  to war.At Corinth , Philip established a "Hellenic  Alliance" (modeled on the old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars ), which included most Greek  city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme  Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth ), and announced his plans to  attack the Persian Empire .

When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice , the niece of his general Attalus . The marriage made Alexander's position  as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully  Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian.

Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother,  King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona , capital of the Molossians .He continued to Illyria, where he  sought refuge with the Illyrian King and was treated as a guest, despite having  defeated them in battle a few years before. However, it appears Philip never  intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son. Accordingly,  Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family  friend, Demaratus , who mediated between the two  parties.

In 336 BC, while at Aegae attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus , Philip was assassinated  by the captain of his bodyguards , Pausanias . As Pausanias tried to escape, he  tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's  companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus . Alexander was proclaimed king by the  nobles and army at the age of 20.

Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. He  had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV , executed. He also had two  Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed, but spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes . Olympias had Cleopatra  Eurydice and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander  learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of  Attalus, who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and  Cleopatra's uncle.

News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes,  Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the  revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though advised to use  diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 and rode south  towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa , and ordered his men to ride over  Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in  their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force.  He then continued south towards the Peloponnese .

Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of  the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth . Athens sued for peace and Alexander  pardoned the rebels. The famous encounter between Alexander and Diogenes the Cynic   occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what  he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a  little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight. This reply apparently  delighted Alexander, who is reported to have said "But verily, if I were not  Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes." At Corinth Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader"), and like Philip, was appointed commander for the  coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising.

Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100  soldiers, 6,100 cavalry and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering  38,000,drawn from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and  feudally raised soldiers from Thrace , Paionia , and Illyria . He showed his intent to conquer the  entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he  accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to  fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy.

After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus , Alexander accepted the  surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis ; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast. Though Alexander believed in his  divine right to expend the lives of men in battle, he did experience sorrow, as  those who died were rewarded generously. He did not directly influence the  culture of the Persians they did not feel the need to begin a rebellion as their  men and rulers were treated with proper respect.

The Levant and Syria

Alexander journeyed south but was met by Darius’ significantly larger army  which he easily defeated, causing Darius to panic. Although he was chased by  some troops ‘Alexander treated them (his family) with the respect out of  consideration’ which demonstrated his continued generosity and kindness towards  those he conquered.Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and  left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis , and a fabulous treasure.He offered  a peace treaty that included the lands he had  already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that  since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial  divisions.

Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria , and most of the coast of the Levant . In the following year, 332 BC, he was  forced to attack Tyre , which he captured after a long and  difficult siege .Alexander massacred the men of military  age and sold the women and children into slavery .

Egypt

When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt  quickly capitulated, with the exception of Gaza. The stronghold at Gaza was heavily fortified and built on a  hill, requiring a siege. Alexander came upon the city only to be met with a  surprising resistance and fortification. When ‘his engineers pointed out to him  that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible… this encouraged  Alexander all the more to make the attempt’ . The divine right that Alexander  believed he had gave him confidence of a miracle occurring. After three  unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had  received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to  the sword and the women and children sold into slavery.

Jerusalem instead opened its gates in surrender, and according to Josephus , Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel 's prophecy, presumably chapter  8, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. He  spared Jerusalem and pushed south into Egypt.

Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC, where he was regarded as a  liberator. He was pronounced the new "master of the Universe" and son of the  deity of Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert.Henceforth, Alexander often  referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent  currency depicted him adorned with rams horn as a symbol of his divinity. During  his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria-by-Egypt , which would become the  prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death.

Bust of Alexander  the Great as Helios (Musei  Capitolini )

Assyria and Babylonia

Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq) and again defeated Darius, at the Battle of Gaugamela . Darius once more fled the  field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela . Gaugamela would be the final and  decisive encounter between the two. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamedan ), while Alexander captured Babylon .

Persia

From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa, one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its legendary  treasury. He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Royal Road . Alexander himself took selected  troops on the direct route to the city. He had to storm the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains ) which had been blocked by a  Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis  before its garrison could loot the treasury.

Alexander fighting the Persian king Darius III .  From Alexander Mosaic , Naples National  Archaeological Museum

On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for  several days.Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. During his stay a  fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes and spread to the rest of the city.  Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning  of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War .

Fall of the  Empire and the East

Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia.The Persian  king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman.As Alexander  approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared  himself Darius' successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia  to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Alexander  buried Darius' remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral.He  claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the  Achaemenid throne. The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen  with Darius. Alexander viewed Bessus as a usurper and set out to defeat him.  This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central  Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including  modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan . The campaign took Alexander through Media , Parthia , Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana , Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and Scythia .

Spitamenes , who held an undefined position in  the satrapy of Sogdiana, in 329 BC betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy , one of Alexander's trusted companions,  and Bessus was executed. However, when, at some point later, Alexander was on  the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse  nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated  the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a  campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in the Battle of Gabai. After the  defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace.The empire  began falling as military leaders and eventually Alexander died.

Problems and plots

During this time, Alexander took the Persian title "King of Kings" (Shahanshah )  and adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the  custom of proskynesis , either a symbolic kissing of  the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social  superiors. The Greeks regarded the gesture as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to  deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his  countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it.

A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, Philotas , was executed for failing to alert  Alexander. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus Parmenion , who had been charged with guarding  the treasury at Ecbatana , was assassinated at Alexander's  command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally  killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, Cleitus the Black , during a violent drunken  altercation at Maracanda (modern day Samarkand in Uzbekistan ), in which Cleitus accused Alexander  of several judgemental mistakes and most especially, of having forgot the  Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle.

Macedon in  Alexander's absence

When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general Antipater , an experienced military and  political leader and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon.  Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his  absence. The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and  killed in battle at Megalopolis the following year. Antipater  referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred  to Alexander, who chose to pardon them. There was also considerable friction  between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the  other.

In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during  Alexander's campaign in Asia. Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest,  which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire.However,  Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians  throughout his empire depleted Macedon's manpower, greatly weakening it in the  years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome.

Indian campaign

After the death of Spitamenes and his marriage to Roxana (Roshanak  in Bactrian ) to cement relations with his new  satrapies, Alexander turned to the Indian subcontinent . He invited the chieftains of the former satrapy of Gandhara , in the north of what is now Pakistan , to come to him and submit to his  authority. Omphis , ruler of Taxila , whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Hydaspes , complied, but the chieftains of some  hill clans, including the Aspasioi and Assakenoi sections of the Kambojas (known in Indian texts also as  Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas), refused to submit.In the winter of 327/326 BC,  Alexander personally led a campaign against these clans; the Aspasioi of Kunar valleys , the Guraeans of the Guraeus valley, and the Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner valleys.A fierce contest ensued with the  Aspasioi in which Alexander was wounded in the shoulder by a dart, but  eventually the Aspasioi lost. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi, who fought in  the strongholds of Massaga, Ora and Aornos .The fort of Massaga was reduced only  after days of bloody fighting, in which Alexander was wounded seriously in the  ankle.

After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle  against King Porus , who ruled a region in the Punjab , in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. Alexander was  impressed by Porus's bravery, and made him an ally. He appointed Porus as  satrap, and added to Porus' territory land that he did not previously own.  Choosing a local helped him control these lands so distant from Greece.Alexander  founded two cities on opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, naming one Bucephala , in honor of his horse, who died  around this time.The other was Nicaea (Victory) located at the site of modern  day Mong, Punjab .

Revolt of the army

East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River , were the Nanda Empire of Magadha and further east the Gangaridai Empire of Bengal . Fearing the prospect of facing other  large armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexander's army mutinied at  the Hyphasis River , refusing to march farther east.  This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests. Alexander  tried to persuade his soldiers to march farther, but his general Coenus pleaded with him to change his opinion  and return; the men, he said, "longed to again see their parents, their wives  and children, their homeland". Alexander eventually agreed and turned south,  marching along the Indus . Along the way his army conquered the Malli clans (in modern day Multan ) and other Indian tribes. Alexander sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with general Craterus , and commissioned a fleet to explore  the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus , while he led the rest back to Persia  through the more difficult southern route along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran (now part of southern Iran and  Pakistan).Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing many men to  the harsh desert.

Last years in Persia

Discovering that many of his satraps and military governors had misbehaved  in his absence, Alexander executed several of them as examples on his way to Susa. As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers,  and announced that he would send over-aged and disabled veterans back to  Macedon, led by Craterus. His troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at  the town of Opis . They refused to be sent away and  criticized his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of  Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units.

Death and succession

On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II , in Babylon , at age 32. Details of the death differ  slightly – Plutarch 's account is that roughly 14 days  before his death, Alexander entertained admiral Nearchus , and spent the night and next day  drinking with Medius of Larissa .He developed a fever, which  worsened until he was unable to speak.  Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and Justin  all mentioned the theory that Alexander was poisoned.

The strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days  passed between the start of his illness and his death; such long-acting poisons  were probably not available. In 2010, however, a new theory proposed that the  circumstances of his death were compatible with poisoning by water of the river  Styx (Mavroneri)  that contained calicheamicin , a dangerous compound produced by bacteria . Several natural causes (diseases) have been suggested,  including malaria and typhoid fever .

After death

Alexander's body was laid in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus that was filled with honey, which  was in turn placed in a gold casket. While Alexander's funeral cortege was on  its way to Macedon, Ptolemy stole it and took it to Memphis. His successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus , transferred the  sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it remained until at least late Antiquity . Ptolemy IX Lathyros , one of Ptolemy's final  successors, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one so he could  convert the original to coinage.

Pompey , Julius Caesar and Augustus all visited the tomb in Alexandria.  Caligula was said to have taken Alexander's  breastplate from the tomb for his own use. In c. AD 200, Emperor Septimius Severus closed Alexander's tomb to  the public. His son and successor, Caracalla , a great admirer, visited the tomb  during his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are hazy.

Division of the empire

Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached  Greece, they were not immediately believed.Alexander had no obvious or  legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's  death.According to Diodorus, Alexander's companions asked him on his deathbed to  whom he bequeathed his kingdom; his laconic reply was "tôi kratistôi"—"to the  strongest".

In 321 BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war between "The  Successors" (Diadochi ) ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into  four stable power blocks: the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon. In the  process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.

Character

Alexander earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a  military commander. He never lost a battle, despite typically being  outnumbered.This was due to use of terrain, phalanx and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and  the fierce loyalty of his troops.The Macedonian phalanx , armed with the sarissa , a spear 6 metres (20 ft) long, had  been developed and perfected by Philip II through rigorous training, and  Alexander used its speed and maneuverability to great effect against larger but  more disparate Persian forces.Alexander also recognized the potential for  disunity among his diverse army, which employed various languages and weapons.  He overcame this by being personally involved in battle,in the manner of a  Macedonian king.

When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting techniques, such as in  Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his forces to his opponents' style.  Thus, in Bactria and Sogdiana , Alexander successfully used his  javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his  cavalry at the center. In India, confronted by Porus' elephant corps, the  Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants and used their sarissas  to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers.

Physical appearance:

Greek historian Arrian   described Alexander as:

The strong, handsome commander with one eye dark as the night and one  blue as the sky.

Alexander suffered from heterochromia iridum : that one eye was dark and  the other light.

Personality

Some of Alexander's strongest personality traits formed in response to his  parents.His mother had huge ambitions, and encouraged him to believe it was his  destiny to conquer the Persian Empire. Olympias' influence instilled a sense of  destiny in him, and Plutarch tells us that his ambition "kept his spirit serious  and lofty in advance of his years". However, his father Philip was Alexander's  most immediate and influential role model, as the young Alexander watched him  campaign practically every year, winning victory after victory while ignoring  severe wounds.Alexander's relationship with his father forged the competitive  side of his personality; he had a need to out-do his father, illustrated by his  reckless behavior in battle. While Alexander worried that his father would leave  him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world", he also  downplayed his father's achievements to his companions.

According to Plutarch, among Alexander's traits were a violent temper and  rash, impulsive nature, which undoubtedly contributed to some of his decisions.  Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his  father, he was open to reasoned debate. He had a calmer side—perceptive,  logical, and calculating. He had a great desire for knowledge, a love for  philosophy, and was an avid reader.This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's  tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn. His intelligent and  rational side was amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general.

Alexander was erudite and patronized both arts and sciences.However, he had  little interest in sports or the Olympic games (unlike his father), seeking only  the Homeric ideals of honor (timê ) and glory  (kudos ). He had great charisma and force of personality,  characteristics which made him a great leader. His unique abilities were further  demonstrated by the inability of any of his generals to unite Macedonia and  retain the Empire after his death – only Alexander had the ability to do so.

During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion,  Alexander began to exhibit signs of megalomania and paranoia .His extraordinary achievements,  coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his  companions, may have combined to produce this effect.

He appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify  himself. Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,a theory  apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at Siwa . He began to identify himself as the son  of Zeus-Ammon.Alexander adopted elements of Persian dress and customs at court,  notably proskynesis , a practice that Macedonians  disapproved, and were loath to perform. This behavior cost him the sympathies of  many of his countrymen.However, Alexander also was a pragmatic ruler who  understood the difficulties of ruling culturally disparate peoples, many of whom  lived in kingdoms where the king was divine.Thus, rather than megalomania, his  behavior may simply have been a practical attempt at strengthening his rule and  keeping his empire together.

Personal relationships

Alexander, left, and Hephaestion , right

The central personal relationship of Alexander's life was with his friend,  general, and bodyguard Hephaestion , the son of a Macedonian  noble.Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander.This event may have contributed  to Alexander's failing health and detached mental state during his final months.

Alexander married twice: Roxana , daughter of the Bactrian nobleman Oxyartes , out of love; and Stateira II , a Persian princess and daughter of Darius III of Persia, for political reasons. He  apparently had two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon of Roxana and, possibly, Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine.  He lost another child when Roxana miscarried at Babylon.

Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy. No  ancient sources stated that Alexander had homosexual relationships, or that Alexander's  relationship with Hephaestion was sexual. Aelian, however, writes of Alexander's  visit to Troy where "Alexander garlanded the tomb of  Achilles and Hephaestion that of Patroclus , the latter riddling that he was a  beloved of Alexander, in just the same way as Patroclus was of Achilles". Noting  that the word eromenos (ancient Greek for beloved) does  not necessarily bear sexual meaning, Alexander may have been bisexual, which in  his time was not controversial.

Influence on Rome

Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals,  who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. Pompey the Great adopted the epithet "Magnus"  and even Alexander's anatole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of  the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of  greatness. Julius Caesar dedicated a Lysippean equestrian bronze statue but replaced Alexander's head  with his own, while Octavian visited Alexander's tomb in Alexandria  and temporarily changed his seal from a sphinx to Alexander's profile. The emperor Trajan also admired Alexander, as did Nero and Caracalla .The Macriani, a Roman family that in  the person of Macrinus briefly ascended to the imperial  throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewelry, or  embroidered into their clothes.

Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many  cultures. Alexander has figured in both high and popular culture beginning in  his own era to the present day. The Alexander Romance , in particular, has  had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from  Persian to medieval European to modern Greek.


        

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  • Certification: NGC
  • Certification Number: 4277580-002
  • Grade: XF
  • Composition: Silver

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