Editing Alexander the Great

{{Short description|Military commander, King of Macedon from 336 to 323 BC}}
{{About|the ancient king of Macedon}}
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{{Good article}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Alexander the Great
| title        = [[Basileus]]
| image        = Alexander the Great mosaic (cropped).jpg
| caption      = Detail from ''[[Alexander Mosaic]]''
| succession   = [[King of Macedon]]
| reign        = October 336 – June 323 BC
| predecessor  = [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]]
| successor    = [[Philip III of Macedon|Philip III]]
| succession2  = [[Hegemony#8th–1st centuries BC|Hegemon]] of the [[League of Corinth|Hellenic League]], [[Strategos]]  [[Autokrator]] of [[Hellenistic Greece|Greece]]{{Sfn|Cawkwell|1978|page=170}}
| reign2       = 336–323 BC
| predecessor2 = Philip II
| successor2   = [[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius I]]
| succession3  = [[List of pharaohs|Pharaoh of Egypt]]
| reign3       = 332–323 BC
| predecessor3 = [[Darius III]]
| successor3   = Philip III
| reg-type3    = '' ''
| regent3      = {{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary case |nomen={{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|ꜣrwksjndrs}}|{{transliteration|egy|Aluksindres}}|Alexandros}} |nomen_hiero=<hiero>A-rw:k:z-i-n:d:r:z</hiero> |horus={{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|mk-kmt}}|{{transliteration|egy|Mekemet}}|Protector of Egypt}} {{Infobox pharaoh/Serekh |Horus=<hiero>S-HqA-q:n:nw-D40</hiero>}}{{pb}}Second Horus name:{{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|ḥḳꜣ-ḳnj tkn-ḫꜣswt}}|{{transliteration|egy|Heqaqeni tekenkhasut}}|The brave ruler who has attacked foreign lands}} {{Infobox pharaoh/Serekh |Horus=<hiero>HqA-q:n:nw:D40-t:k:n:D54-N25:N25:N25</hiero>}}{{pb}}Third Horus name:{{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|ḥḳꜣ ḥḳꜣw nw tꜣ (r) ḏr-f}}|{{transliteration|egy|Heqa heqau nu ta (er) djeref}}|The ruler of the rulers of the entire land}} {{Infobox pharaoh/Serekh |Horus=<hiero>HqA-q-HqA-HqA-q-N33-nw-N33-N17:N34-r:f</hiero>}}Fourth Horus name:{{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|ṯmꜣ-ꜥ}}|{{transliteration|egy|Tjema'a}}|The sturdy-armed one}} {{Infobox pharaoh/Serekh |Horus=<hiero>T:mA-a</hiero>}} |nebty={{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|mꜣj wr-pḥty jṯ ḏww tꜣw ḫꜣswt}}|{{transliteration|egy|Mai werpehty itj dju tau khasut}}|The lion, great of might, who takes possession of mountains, lands, and deserts}} |nebty_hiero=<hiero>E23-wr:r-F9:F9-V15-N25:N25:N33-N17:N17:N33-N25:N25:N33</hiero> |golden={{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|kꜣ (nḫt) ḫwj bꜣḳ(t) ḥḳꜣ wꜣḏ(-wr) šnw n jtn}}|{{transliteration|egy|Ka (nakht) khui baq(et) heqa wadj(wer) shenu en Aten}}|The (strong) bull who protects Egypt, the ruler of the sea and of what the sun encircles}} |golden_hiero=<hiero>E1:n-i-w*x-D40-q:t-b-</hiero>{{pb}}<hiero>D10-HqA-M14-N35A-V9:Z1-i-t:n:HASH</hiero> |prenomen={{ubl|{{transliteration|egy|stp.n-rꜥ mrj-jmn}}|{{transliteration|egy|Setepenre meryamun}}|Chosen by Ra, beloved by Amun{{pb}}{{Infobox pharaoh/Prenomen |Prenomen=<hiero>C2\-C12-stp:n:N36</hiero>}}{{pb}}{{Infobox pharaoh/Prenomen |Prenomen=<hiero>mr\-C12\-C2-stp:n</hiero>}}}}}}
| succession4  = [[King of Persia]]
| reign4       = 330–323 BC
| predecessor4 = Darius III
| successor4   = Philip III
| full name    = 
| spouse       = {{hlist|[[Roxana]]|[[Stateira (wife of Alexander the Great)|Stateira]]|[[Parysatis II|Parysatis]]
}}
| issue        = 3, including {{plainlist|
* [[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]]
* [[Heracles of Macedon|Heracles]]{{Cref2|a}} 
}}
| native_lang1 = [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]
| native_lang1_name1 = {{lang|grc|Ἀλέξανδρος}}{{Cref2|b}}
| house        = [[Argead]]
| house-type   = Dynasty
| father       = [[Philip II of Macedon]]
| mother       = [[Olympias|Olympias of Epirus]]
| birth_date   = 20 or 21 July 356 BC
| birth_place  = [[Pella]], [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]]
| death_date   = 10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32)<!-- 32 years, 10 months and 20 days (approx.) -->
| death_place  = [[Babylon]], Macedon
| religion     = [[Ancient Greek religion]]
}}
'''Alexander III of Macedon''' ({{langx|grc|[[wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος#Ancient Greek|Ἀλέξανδρος]]|Aléxandros}}; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''',{{Cref2|c}} was a king of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] kingdom of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]].{{Cref2|d}} He succeeded his father [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting [[Wars of Alexander the Great|a lengthy military campaign]] throughout [[West Asia|Western Asia]], [[Central Asia]], parts of [[South Asia]], and [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. By the age of 30, he had created one of the [[List of largest empires|largest empires]] in history, stretching from [[History of Greece|Greece]] to northwestern [[India (Herodotus)|India]].<ref>Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009), ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: Mosul to Zirid, Volume 3''. (Oxford University Press Incorporated, 2009), 385; "[Khojand, Tajikistan]; As the easternmost outpost of the empire of Alexander the Great, the city was renamed Alexandria Eschate ("furthest Alexandria") in 329 BCE."{{pb}}Golden, Peter B. ''Central Asia in World History'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), 25;"[...] his campaigns in Central Asia brought Khwarazm, Sogdia, and Bactria under Graeco-Macedonian rule. As elsewhere, Alexander founded or renamed a number of cities, such as Alexandria Eschate ("Outernmost Alexandria," near modern Khojent in Tajikistan)."</ref> He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = 159}}<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=R.G. |url=https://archive.org/details/epdf.pub_commanders-rg-grant-dk/page/n19 |title=Commanders: History's Greatest Military Leaders |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4053-3696-3 |pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beaton |first=Roderick |author-link=Roderick Beaton |title=The Greeks: A Global History |publisher=Basic Books |year=2021 |isbn=9781541618299 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=163}}</ref>

Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by [[Aristotle]]. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he [[Alexander's Balkan campaign|campaigned in the Balkans]] and reasserted control over [[Thrace]] and parts of [[Illyria]] before marching on the city of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], which was [[Battle of Thebes|subsequently destroyed in battle]]. Alexander then led the [[League of Corinth]], and used his authority to launch the [[Greek nationalism#History|pan-Hellenic project]] envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all [[Greeks]] in their conquest of [[Greater Iran|Persia]].{{sfn|Heckel|Tritle|2009|p=99}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burger |first1=Michael |title=The Shaping of Western Civilization: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment |date=2008 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-55111-432-3 |page=76}}</ref>

In 334 BC, he invaded the [[Achaemenid Persian Empire]] and began [[Wars of Alexander the Great#Persia|a series of campaigns]] that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of [[Asia Minor]], Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] and [[Gaugamela]]; he subsequently overthrew [[Darius III]] and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety.{{Cref2|e}} After the fall of Persia, the [[Macedonian Empire]] held a vast swath of territory between the [[Adriatic Sea]] and the [[Indus River]]. Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|invaded India]] in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over [[Porus]], an ancient Indian king of present-day [[Punjab]], at the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]. Due to the mutiny of his homesick troops, he eventually turned back at the [[Beas River]] and later died in 323 BC in [[Babylon]], the city of [[Mesopotamia]] that he had planned to establish as his empire's capital. [[Death of Alexander the Great|Alexander's death]] left unexecuted an additional series of planned military and mercantile campaigns that would have begun with a Greek invasion of [[Arabia]]. In the years following his death, [[Wars of the Diadochi|a series of civil wars]] broke out across the Macedonian Empire, eventually leading to its disintegration at the hands of the [[Diadochi]].

With his death marking the start of the [[Hellenistic period]], Alexander's legacy includes the [[cultural diffusion]] and [[syncretism]] that his conquests engendered, such as [[Greco-Buddhism]] and [[Hellenistic Judaism]]. [[List of cities founded by Alexander the Great|He founded more than twenty cities]], with the most prominent being the city of [[Alexandria]] in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of [[Greek colonisation|Greek colonists]] and the resulting spread of [[Greek culture]] led to the overwhelming dominance of [[Hellenistic civilization]] and influence as far east as the [[Indian subcontinent]]. The Hellenistic period developed through the [[Roman Empire]] into modern [[Western culture]]; the [[Greek language]] became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of the region and was the predominant language of the [[Byzantine Empire]] until its collapse in the mid-15th century AD.

Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of [[Achilles]], featuring prominently in the historical and mythical traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves,{{cref2|f}} and his tactics remain a significant subject of study in [[military academies]] worldwide.{{Sfn|Yenne|2010|page=viii}} Legends of Alexander's exploits coalesced into the third-century ''[[Alexander Romance]]'' which, in the premodern period, went through over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations and was translated into almost every European vernacular and every language of the Islamic world.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Doufikar-Aerts |first=Faustina |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0072 |title=A Companion to World Literature |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-99318-7 |editor-last=Seigneurie |editor-first=Ken |pages=1–11|chapter=The Arabic ''Alexander Romance'': Mirror of a Bold, Clever, and Devout Prince |doi=10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0072}}</ref> After the [[Bible]], it was the most popular form of European literature.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Mínguez Cornelles |first1=Víctor |title=The visual legacy of Alexander the Great from the Renaissance to the age of revolution |last2=Rodríguez Moya |first2=Inmaculada |date=2024 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-032-54990-3 |series=Routledge research in art history |location=New York London |pages=22}}</ref>

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==Early life==

===Lineage and childhood===

[[File:Archaeological Site of Pella by Joy of Museums.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Archaeological site of [[Pella]], Greece, Alexander's birthplace]]
Alexander III was born in [[Pella]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Macedon]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |title=Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C.: a historical biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6Wl4AKGQkIC&pg=PA559 |page=xxxiii |year=1970 |series=Hellenistic culture and society |edition=illustrated, revised reprint |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07165-0 |quote=356 – Alexander born in Pella. The exact date is not known, but probably either 20 or 26 July. |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> on the sixth day of the [[Ancient Greek calendars|ancient Greek month]] of [[Hekatombaion]], which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain).<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Alexander'' 3.5: {{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html#7 |title=The birth of Alexander the Great |work=Livius|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320180439/https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html|archive-date=20 March 2015|url-status = dead |access-date=16 December 2011 |quote=Alexander was born the sixth of [[Hekatombaion]].}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=David George Hogarth |date=1897 |title=Philip and Alexander of Macedon : two essays in biography |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028251217/page/n321/mode/2up?view=theater |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |pages=286–287 |access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref> He was the son of the king of Macedon, [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], and his fourth wife, [[Olympias]] (daughter of [[Neoptolemus I of Epirus|Neoptolemus I]], king of [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]]).<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=10}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}</ref>{{Cref2|g}} Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=171}}[[File:Coin olympias mus theski.JPG|left|thumb|155px|Roman medallion depicting [[Olympias]], Alexander's mother]]Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} According to the [[Ancient Greeks|ancient Greek]] biographer [[Plutarch]], on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] engraved with a lion's image.<ref name="PA2" /> Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was [[Zeus]]. Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.<ref name="PA2" />

On the day 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 [[Illyria]]n and [[Paeonian]] armies and that his horses had won at the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]]. It was also said that on this day, the [[Temple of Artemis]] in [[Ephesus]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|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.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=21}}</ref> Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}}

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 of Epirus|Leonidas]], a relative of his mother, and by [[Lysimachus of Acarnania]].{{sfn|Renault|2001|pp=33–34}} Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the [[lyre]], ride, fight, and hunt.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from [[Thessaly]] brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen [[Attic talent|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.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} Plutarch stated that 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.<ref name="PA6" /> Alexander named it [[Bucephalas]], meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as [[India]]. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, [[Alexandria Bucephalous|Bucephala]].<ref>{{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=64}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=39}}</ref>

===Education===
{{Alexander the Great series}}
When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a [[tutor]], and considered such academics as [[Isocrates]] and [[Speusippus]], the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the [[Platonic Academy|Academy]] to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose [[Aristotle]] and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at [[Mieza, Macedonia|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.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=44}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=15}}</ref>

Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as [[Ptolemy I Soter|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.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=45–47}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=16}}</ref> Alexander was able to quote [[Euripides]] from memory.<ref name="RLF">{{cite book |last1=Lane Fox |first1=Robin |title=Alexander the Great | date=1986 |publisher=Penguin Group |isbn=978-0-14-008878-6 |page=48}}</ref>

In his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed [[Artaxerxes III]].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA42 42–43]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=Timothy |last2=Brice |first2=Lee L. |title=Brill's Companion to Insurgency and Terrorism in the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-28473-9 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=248DCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EDC">{{cite book |last1=Carney |first1=Elizabeth Donnelly |title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia |date=2000 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3212-9 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbI2hZBy_EkC&pg=PA101|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> Among them were [[Artabazos II]] and his daughter [[Barsine]], possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as [[Amminapes]], future [[satrap]] of Alexander, and a Persian nobleman named [[Sisines]].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oxyz0v9T74sC&pg=PA42 42–43]}}<ref name="JM">{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Janett |title=Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia Through the Looking Glass |date=2016 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4724-8 |pages=271–272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49JVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA271|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15445-9 |page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAW6kmL30RUC&pg=PA114|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EJ">{{cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=Erik |title=Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World |date=2018 |publisher=Hackett Publishing |isbn=978-1-62466-714-5 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> This gave the Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state.<ref name="JM"/>

[[Suda]] writes that [[Anaximenes of Lampsacus]] was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|title=SOL Search|website=cs.uky.edu|access-date=24 August 2019|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809025936/https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Heir of Philip II==

===Regency and ascent of Macedon===
{{Main|Philip II of Macedon|Rise of Macedon}}
{{further|History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)}}
[[File:Philip II of Macedon Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek IN2263.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Philip II of Macedon]], Alexander's father]]

At the age of 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip II had waged war against the [[Thracians]] to the north, which left Alexander in charge as [[regent]] and [[heir apparent]].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} During Philip's absence, the Thracian tribe of [[Maedi]] revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. The territory was colonized, and a city, named [[Alexandropolis Maedica|Alexandropolis]], was founded.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=68}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=47}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=43}}</ref>

Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern [[Thrace]]. Campaigning against the Greek city of [[Perinthus]], Alexander reportedly saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of [[Amphissa (city)|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. While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern 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.{{sfn|Renault|2001|pp=47–49}}

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, Greece|Thebes]]. The Athenians, led by [[Demosthenes]], voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes's favour, but Athens won the contest.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=50–51}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|pp=44–45}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=23}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=51}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=47}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=24}}</ref>
[[File:Battle of Chaeronea, 338 BC.png|thumb|Battle plan from the [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Battle of Chaeronea]]]]
As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near [[Chaeronea]], [[Boeotia]]. During the ensuing [[Battle of Chaeronea (338&nbsp;BC)|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.<ref name="DiodXVI" />

After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the [[Peloponnese]], devastating much of Laconia and ejecting the Spartans from various parts of it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cartledge |first1=Paul |title=Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History, 1300-362 B.C. |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0-415-26276-3 |page=273 |edition=2nd |quote=Philip laid Lakonia waste as far south as Gytheion and formally deprived Sparta of Dentheliatis (and apparently the territory on the Messenian Gulf as far as the Little Pamisos river), Belminatis, the territory of Karyai and the east Parnon foreland.}}</ref> At [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]], Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on the old [[Second Persian invasion of Greece#Hellenic alliance|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]].{{sfn|Renault|2001|p=54}}{{sfn|McCarty|2004|p=26}}

===Exile and return===
When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married [[Cleopatra Eurydice]] in 338 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Peter |date=1991 |title=Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (Hellenistic Culture and Society) |location=Berkeley & Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=1 |doi=10.1086/ahr/96.5.1515  |issn = 0002-8762}}</ref> the niece of his general [[Attalus (general)|Attalus]].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=179}} 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.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|p=27}} During the [[Banquet|wedding banquet]], a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=179}}

{{Blockquote|At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor, at which Alexander reproachfully insulted him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another."|Plutarch, describing the feud at Philip's wedding.<ref name="PA9" />}}

In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King [[Alexander I of Epirus]] in [[Dodona]], capital of the [[Molossians]].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} He continued to Illyria{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} where he sought refuge with one or more Illyrian kings, perhaps with [[Glaucias of Taulantii|Glaucias]], and was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before.<ref>A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336–167 B.C. By N. G. L. Hammond, F. W. Walbank</ref> However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, [[Demaratus (hetairos)|Demaratus]], who mediated between the two parties.<ref>{{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=75}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=56}}</ref>

In the following year, the Persian [[satrap]] (governor) of [[Caria]], [[Pixodarus]], offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, [[Philip Arrhidaeus]].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Alexander reacted by sending an actor, [[Thessalus (actor)|Thessalus]] of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped the negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, [[Harpalus]], [[Nearchus]], [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]] and [[Erigyius]], and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains.<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=27}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=59}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=71}}</ref>

==King of Macedon==

===Accession===
{{Further|Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)}}
[[File:Pausanius assassinates Philip during the procession into the theatre by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899).jpg|thumb|upright=1|Pausanias assassinates Philip II, Alexander's father, during his procession into the theatre]]

In the 24th day of the [[Ancient Macedonian calendar|Macedonian month]] Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=N. G. L. |date=21 December 1992 |title=The Regnal Years of Philip and Alexander |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/3531 |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=355–373 |issn=2159-3159}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parise |first=Frank |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofcalendars0000unse_y2i4/page/10/mode/2up |title=The book of calendars |date=2002 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=978-1-931956-76-5 |location=Piscataway, NJ |pages=10 |orig-date=1983}} The month of Dios started on 2 October that year.</ref> while at [[Vergina|Aegae]] attending the wedding of his daughter [[Cleopatra of Macedon|Cleopatra]] to Olympias's brother, [[Alexander I of Epirus]], Philip was assassinated by the captain of his [[Somatophylax|bodyguards]], [[Pausanias of Orestis|Pausanias]],{{Cref2|h}} who, according to [[Diodorus]], was also his lover.<ref>Philip and Pausanias: a deadly love in Macedonian Politics, ''The Classical Quarterly'', 62.1 pp423-439 (2012); [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/classical-quarterly/article/abs/philip-and-pausanias-a-deadly-love-in-macedonian-politics/E15C00FFA970BF2D30DA39EE1D919FDF]</ref> 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 on the spot by the nobles and [[Ancient Macedonian army|army]] at the age of 20.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|pp=30–31}}<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=61–62}}</ref><ref name="Fox 1980 72">{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=72}}</ref>

===Consolidation of power===
Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. He had his cousin, the former [[Amyntas IV]], executed.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of [[Lyncestis]] killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, 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,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle.<ref name="Green 2007 5–6">{{harvnb|Green|2007|pp=5–6}}</ref>

Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive.<ref name="Green 2007 5–6" /> Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|pp=30–31}}<ref name="Fox 1980 72" /><ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=70–71}}</ref>

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 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between [[Mount Olympus]] and [[Mount Ossa (Greece)|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]].<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=31}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=72}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=104}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=95}}</ref>

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 [[Diogenes and Alexander|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.{{sfn|Stoneman|2004|p=21}} This reply apparently delighted Alexander who is reported to have said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes."{{sfn|Dillon|2004|pp=187–88}} 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=72}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=96}}</ref>

===Balkan campaign===
{{Main|Alexander's Balkan campaign}}
[[File:The Macedonian phalanx counter-attacks during the battle of the carts.jpg|thumb|The Macedonian phalanx at the "Battle of the Carts" against the Thracians in 335 BC]]
Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335&nbsp;BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from [[Amphipolis]], he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at [[Mount Haemus]], the Macedonian army attacked and defeated the Thracian forces manning the heights.<ref name="I, 1" /> The Macedonians marched into the country of the [[Triballi]] and defeated their army near the [[Lyginus]] river<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 2}}</ref> (a [[List of tributaries of the Danube|tributary of the Danube]]). Alexander then marched for three days to the [[Danube]], encountering the [[Getae]] tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry [[skirmish]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 3–4}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=73–74}}</ref>

News then reached Alexander that the Illyrian chieftain [[Cleitus (son of Bardylis)|Cleitus]] and [[King Glaukias]] of the [[Taulantii]] were in open revolt against his authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 5–6}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=77}}</ref>

=== Destruction of Thebes ===

While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} While the other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. The Theban resistance was ineffective and Alexander [[Battle of Thebes|razed the city]] and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving [[Antipater]] as regent.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=199}}</ref>

==Conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire==
{{Main|Wars of Alexander the Great|Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia}}

===Strategy===
{{Main|Military tactics of Alexander the Great#Grand strategy}}
Alexander's invasion of Persia as a whole has been denoted as a supreme example of a "strategic line" of conducting war, a line formed  by "the chain of logic that connects operations into a single whole." In his book ''Strategy'', Soviet military officer and theorist [[Alexander Svechin]] delineates Alexander's strategic steps. After securing his Greek base and the Balkans by subjugating his political opponents, and securing his army's rear through the conquest of all the Afro-Asian coastline, where the Persian fleet was based and from which it was supplied, Alexander, moved to confront directly the Persians. He thus resolved the eternal problem of an army conducting operations deep into enemy territory, Svechin states, in an "exemplary manner."<ref name=svechin>{{cite book |last= Svechin|first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Svechin|date=1991|orig-date=1927|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Kent D.|title=Strategy|publisher=East View Information Services|page=263 |chapter=Combining Operations for Achieving the ultimate Goal of the War|isbn=1-879944-33-2}}</ref>

===Asia Minor===
{{Further|Battle of the Granicus|Siege of Halicarnassus|Siege of Miletus}}

[[File:MacedonEmpire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Map of Alexander's empire and his route]]
{{Campaigns of Alexander the Great}}
{{OSM Location map
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| label1 = Pella
| mark-coord1 = {{coord|40.75|22.52}}
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| label2 = Granicus
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| label3 = Miletus
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| label4 = Issus
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| label5 = Tyre
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| mark-title5 = [[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)]] January–July 332 BC
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| label6 = Gaza
| mark-coord6 = {{coord|31.52|34.45}}
| mark-title6 = [[Siege of Gaza (332 BCE)|Siege of Gaza]] October 332 BC
| mark-description6 = [[Gaza City]]
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| label7 = Alexandria
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| label8 = Gaugamela
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| label9 = Uxians
| mark-coord9 = {{coord|32.19|48.25}}
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| label10 = Persian Gate
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| label11 = Cyropolis
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| label12 = Cophen
| mark-coord12 = {{coord|35.2|72.48}}
| mark-title12 = [[Cophen campaign]] May 327 BC – March 326 BC
| mark-description12 = [[Kabul River]]
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| label13 = Hydaspes
| mark-coord13 = {{coord|32.83|73.64}}
| mark-title13 = [[Battle of the Hydaspes]] May 326 BC
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| label14 = Malavas
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After his victory at the [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)]], [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] began the work of establishing himself as ''hēgemṓn'' ({{langx|el|ἡγεμών}}) of a league which according to [[Diodorus]] was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|480]] and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent [[Parmenion]], [[Amyntas (son of Andromenes)|Amyntas]], Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into [[Anatolia]] to make preparations for an invasion.<ref name="PB">{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire |date=2002 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-120-7 |page=817 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxQ9W6F1oSYC&pg=PA817|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="WH">{{cite book |last1=Heckel |first1=Waldemar |title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-5469-7 |page=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NR4Wn9VU8vkC&pg=PT205|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref> The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near [[Magnesia on the Meander|Magnesia]] by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary [[Memnon of Rhodes]].<ref name="PB"/><ref name="WH"/>

Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the [[Hellespont]] in 334&nbsp;BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from [[Thrace]], [[Paionia]], and [[Illyria]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 11}}</ref>{{Cref2|i}} 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.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}}

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 [[Ionia]]n coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. [[Miletus]], held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at [[Halicarnassus]], in [[Caria]], Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale [[siege]], eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain [[Memnon of Rhodes]] and the Persian [[satrap]] of Caria, [[Orontobates]], to withdraw by sea.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 20–23}}</ref> Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, [[Ada of Caria|Ada]], who adopted Alexander.<ref name="Arrian 1976 loc=I, 23">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 23}}</ref>
[[File:Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot.jpg|thumb|upright=1|''Alexander Cuts the [[Gordian Knot]]'' by [[Jean-Simon Berthélemy]] (1767)]]
From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous [[Lycia]] and the [[Pamphylia]]n plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards, the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At [[Termessos]], Alexander humbled and did not storm the [[Pisidia]]n city.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 27–28}}</ref> At the ancient Phrygian capital of [[Gordium]], Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable [[Gordian Knot]], a feat said to await the future "king of [[Asia Minor|Asia]]".<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 3}}</ref> According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|p=351}}</ref>

===The Levant and Syria===
{{Further|Battle of Issus|Siege of Tyre (332 BC)}}

In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed the [[Taurus Mountains|Taurus]] into [[Cilicia]]. After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at [[Issus (Cilicia)|Issus]]. Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother [[Sisygambis]], and a fabulous treasure.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 11–12}}</ref> He offered a [[peace treaty]] that included the lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 [[Attic talent|talents]] for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46976/46976-h/46976-h.htm|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Anabasis of Alexander, by Arrian.|via=Project Gutenberg|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=26 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326221313/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46976/46976-h/46976-h.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexander proceeded to take possession of [[Ancient Syria|Syria]], and most of the coast of the [[Levant]].<ref name="Arrian 1976 loc=I, 23" /> In the following year, 332&nbsp;BC, he was forced to attack [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], which he captured after a long and difficult [[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)|siege]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 16–24}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gunther|2007|p=84}}</ref> The men of military age were massacred and the women and children sold into [[slavery]].<ref>{{harvnb|Sabin|van Wees|Whitby|2007|p=396}}</ref>

===Egypt===
{{Further|Siege of Gaza (332 BCE)}}
[[File:Name of Alexander the Great in Hieroglyphs circa 330 BCE.jpg|thumb|Name of Alexander in [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] (written from right to left), {{circa|332&nbsp;BC}}, Egypt. [[Louvre Museum]].]]

When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to [[Egypt]] quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at [[Gaza City|Gaza]]. The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. 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".<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 26}}</ref> 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 were sold into slavery.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 26–27}}</ref>

Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Strudwick|first=Helen|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4351-4654-9|location=New York|pages=96–97}}</ref> Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed the taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians.<ref name=":0" />

Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator.<ref>{{harvnb|Ring|Salkin|Berney|Schellinger|1994|pp=49, 320}}</ref> To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult the famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the [[Siwa Oasis]] in the [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] desert,<ref name=":0" /> at which he was pronounced the son of the deity [[Amun]].{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=71–74}} Henceforth, Alexander often referred to [[Zeus-Ammon]] as his true father, and after his death, [[Horns of Alexander|currency depicted him adorned with horns]], using the [[Horns of Ammon]] as a symbol of his divinity.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahmen|2007|pp=10–11}}</ref> The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as a prophecy.<ref name=":0" />

During his stay in Egypt, he founded [[Alexandria]], which would become the prosperous capital of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] after his death.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III, 1}}</ref> Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=616}}

===Assyria and Babylonia===
{{Further|Battle of Gaugamela}}
[[File:Charles Le Brun - Entry of Alexander into Babylon.JPG|thumb|''Entry of Alexander into Babylon'' by [[Charles Le Brun]] (1665)|upright=1]]
Leaving Egypt in 331&nbsp;BC, Alexander marched eastward into [[Achaemenid Assyria]] in [[Upper Mesopotamia]] (now northern [[Iraq]]) and defeated Darius again at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III 7–15}}; also in a [https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t40.html contemporary Babylonian account of the battle of Gaugamela] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224083355/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t40.html |date=24 February 2017 }}</ref> Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as [[Erbil|Arbela]]. Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanson |first=Victor Davis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C |title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power |year= 2007 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> Darius fled over the mountains to [[Ecbatana]] (modern [[Hamadan]]) while Alexander captured [[Babylon]].<ref name="AIII16" />

[[Babylonian astronomical diaries]] say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering the city: "I shall not enter your houses".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-battle-of-gaugamela/| title = a contemporary account of the battle of Gaugamela| access-date = 16 July 2021| archive-date = 12 August 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210812155458/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-battle-of-gaugamela/| url-status = live}}</ref>

===Persia===
{{Further|Battle of the Persian Gate}}
[[File:2persian gate wall.JPG|thumb|Site of the [[Persian Gates|Persian Gate]] in modern-day [[Iran]]; the road was built in the 1990s.]]

From Babylon, Alexander went to [[Susa]], one of the [[Achaemenid]] capitals, and captured its treasury.<ref name="AIII16" /> He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of [[Persepolis]] via the Persian [[Royal Road]]. Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the [[Persian Gates]] (in the modern [[Zagros Mountains]]) which had been blocked by a Persian army under [[Ariobarzanes (satrap of Persis)|Ariobarzanes]] and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III, 18}}</ref>

On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days.<ref>{{harvnb|Foreman|2004|page=152}}</ref> Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=121}} During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of [[Xerxes I]] 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 [[Greco-Persian Wars|Second Persian War]] by Xerxes;{{sfn|Hammond|1983|pp=72–73}} Plutarch and [[Diodorus]] allege that Alexander's companion, the [[hetaera]] [[Thaïs]], instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=kngnd0GlUc4C&pg=PA99 99]}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Philip |title=Alexander the Great |date=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Paperbacks |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4391-9328-0 |page=213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v550aeZcGowC&pg=PA213 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction |date=2010 |orig-year=1974 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0-691-15445-9 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wl0xMQCW40C&pg=PA109 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> [[Plutarch]] claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=kngnd0GlUc4C&pg=PA99 99]}} but the flames had already spread to most of the city.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=kngnd0GlUc4C&pg=PA99 99]}} [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius]] claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=kngnd0GlUc4C&pg=PA99 99]}} Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person:

{{blockquote|Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects?<ref>{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy: A Biography |first=John Maxwell |last=O'Brien |publisher=Psychology Press |date=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatin00obri_0/page/104 104] |isbn=978-0-415-10617-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatin00obri_0/page/104}}</ref>}}

===Fall of the Persian Empire and the East===
[[File:Khalili Collection Aramaic Documents manuscript Bactria.jpg|thumb|Administrative document from [[Bactria]] dated to the seventh year of Alexander's reign (324 BC), bearing the first known use of the "Alexandros" form of his name, [[Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents]]<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Long List of Supplies Disbursed|url=https://www.khalilicollections.org/collections/aramaic-documents/khalili-collection-aramaic-documents-a-long-list-of-supplies-disbursed-ia17/|access-date=6 January 2021|website=Khalili Collections|archive-date=15 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815095632/https://www.khalilicollections.org/collections/aramaic-documents/khalili-collection-aramaic-documents-a-long-list-of-supplies-disbursed-ia17/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc= III, 19–20}} The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by [[Bessus]], his [[Bactria]]n satrap and kinsman.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976| loc= III, 21}} As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a [[guerrilla]] campaign against Alexander.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc=III, 21, 25}} Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral.{{Sfn | Arrian| 1976 | loc = III, 22}} He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=81}} The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander10.html |title=The end of Persia |publisher=Livius |access-date=16 November 2009 |archive-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316211044/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the [[Iranologist]] [[Pierre Briant]] "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the ''last of the Achaemenids''."{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}}

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 (region)|Media]], [[Parthia]], [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]] (West Afghanistan), [[Drangiana]], [[Arachosia]] (South and Central Afghanistan), [[Bactria]] (North and Central Afghanistan), and [[Scythia]].{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc=III, 23–25, 27–30; IV, 1–7}}

In 329 BC, [[Spitamenes]], who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]], one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc= III, 30}} However, at some point later when 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.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc = IV, 5–6, 16–17}}

===Problems and plots===
 [[File:The killing of Cleitus by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899) reduced.jpg|thumb|''The Killing of [[Cleitus the Black|Cleitus]]'', by [[André Castaigne]] (1898–1899)]]

During this time, Alexander 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.<ref name="AVII11" /> This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} The Greeks however regarded the gesture of ''proskynesis'' 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.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}

During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government, the army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]] and to a major degree, [[Persians|Persian]] noblemen.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} [[Pierre Briant]] explains that Alexander realized that it was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly the theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at [[Persepolis]] in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius' legitimate successor.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as the avenger of Darius III".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}}

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 judgmental mistakes and especially of having forgotten the Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=99}}

Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed. This one was instigated by his own royal [[page (servant)|pages]]. His official historian, [[Callisthenes]] of [[Olynthus]], was implicated in the plot, and in the ''[[Anabasis of Alexander]]'', [[Arrian]] states that Callisthenes and the pages were then tortured on the [[rack (torture)|rack]] as punishment, and likely died soon after.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924026460752|title=The Anabasis of Alexander; or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great. Literally translated, with a commentary, from the Greek of Arrian, the Nicomedian|date=18 January 1884|publisher=London, Hodder and Stoughton|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> It remains unclear if Callisthenes was actually involved in the plot, for prior to his accusation he had fallen out of favour by leading the opposition to the attempt to introduce proskynesis.<ref>{{harvnb|Heckel|Tritle|2009|pp=47–48}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his absence.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king [[Agis III]] in 331&nbsp;BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the [[battle of Megalopolis]].<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=201}}</ref> There was also considerable friction between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the other.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=202}}</ref>

In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during Alexander's campaign in Asia.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=203}}</ref> Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=205}}</ref> However, Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians throughout his empire depleted Macedon's strength, greatly weakening it in the years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome after the [[Third Macedonian War]] (171–168 BC).{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}}

=== Coinage ===
[[File:KINGS of MACEDON Alexander III the Great 336-323 BC.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Silver [[tetradrachm]] of Alexander the Great struck by [[Balakros]] or his successor [[Menes of Pella|Menes]], both former ''[[somatophylakes]]'' (bodyguards) of Alexander, when they held the position of [[satrap]] of [[Cilicia]] in the lifetime of Alexander, {{circa|333–327&nbsp;BC}}. The obverse shows [[Heracles]], ancestor of the Macedonian royal line and the reverse shows a seated [[Zeus]] Aëtophoros.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=368240|title= eAuction 430. KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great'. 336–323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.15 g, 1h). Tarsos mint. Struck under Balakros or Menes, circa 333–327 BC.|website=CNG |access-date=17 February 2019|archive-date=18 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081840/https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=368240|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

The conquest by [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] of [[Pangaeum]], and then of the island of [[Thasos]] between 356 and 342 BC brought rich gold and silver mines under Macedonian control.<ref>[[Arrian]], Anabasis VII, 3</ref>

Alexander appears to have introduced a new coinage in [[Cilicia]] in [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]], after the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, which went on to become the main coinage of the empire.<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214">G. LE RIDER, Alexandre le Grand : Monnaie, finances et politique, Chapitre V, "Histoire", PUF, 2003, p153-214</ref> Alexander minted gold [[stater]]s, silver [[tetradrachm]]s and [[Ancient drachma|drachim]]s, and various fractional [[Ancient Greek coinage|bronze coins]]. The types of these coins remained constant in his empire.<!-- But this is incorrect, because the minting of Philippeioi continued throughout Alexander's reign – see Le Rider.--> The gold series had the head of [[Athena]] on the obverse and a winged [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] ([[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]]) on the reverse.<ref>REBUFFAT Françoise, La monnaie dans l'Antiquité, Picard, 1996 .p204</ref> The silver coinage had a beardless head of [[Heracles]] wearing a lionskin headdress on the obverse and Zeus aetophoros ('eagle bearer') enthroned with a scepter in his left hand, on the reverse.<ref>Gerin, Dominique; Grandjean, Catherine; Amandry, Michel; De Callatay.  ''La monnaie grecque'', "L'Antiquité : une histoire", Ellipse, 2001. pp. 117–119.</ref> There are both Greek and non-Greek aspects to this design. Heracles and [[Zeus]] were important deities for the Macedonians, with Heracles considered to be the ancestor of the Temenid dynasty and Zeus the patron of the main Macedonian sanctuary, [[Dium]].<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/> The lion was also the symbolic animal of the Anatolian god [[Sandas]], worshipped at [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]].<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/> The reverse design of Alexander's tetradrachms is closely modelled on the depiction of the god [[Baaltars]] (Baal of Tarsus), on the silver staters minted at Tarsus by the Persian satrap [[Mazaeus]] before Alexander's conquest.<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/>

Alexander did not attempt to impose uniform imperial coinage throughout his new conquests. Persian coins continued to circulate in all the [[satrap]]ies of the empire.<ref>BRIANT Pierre, Alexandre Le Grand, "Que sais-je ?", PUF, 2011.</ref>

==Indian campaign==
{{Main|Indian campaign of Alexander the Great}}

===Forays into the Indian subcontinent===
[[File:AlexanderConquestsInIndia.jpg|thumb|Alexander's invasion of the Indian subcontinent]]

After the death of [[Spitamenes]] and his marriage to Roxana (Raoxshna in [[Old Iranian]]) to cement relations with his new satrapies, Alexander turned to the [[Indian subcontinent]]. He invited the [[tribal chief|chieftains]] of the former satrapy of [[Gandhara]] (a region presently straddling eastern Afghanistan and northern [[Pakistan]]), to come to him and submit to his authority. [[Omphis]] (Indian name [[Ambhi]]), the ruler of [[Taxila]], whose kingdom extended from the [[Indus]] to the [[Hydaspes]] (Jhelum), 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.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}} [[Ambhi]] hastened to relieve Alexander of his apprehension and met him with valuable presents, placing himself and all his forces at his disposal. Alexander not only returned Ambhi his title and the gifts but he also presented him with a wardrobe of "Persian robes, gold and silver ornaments, 30 horses and 1,000 talents in gold". Alexander was emboldened to divide his forces, and Ambhi assisted Hephaestion and Perdiccas in constructing a bridge over the Indus where it bends at [[Hund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Hund]],<ref>Lane Fox 1973</ref> supplied their troops with provisions, and he received Alexander and his whole army in his capital city of Taxila, with every demonstration of friendship and the most liberal hospitality.
[[File:The phalanx attacking the centre in the battle of the Hydaspes by Andre Castaigne (1898-1899).jpg|thumb|''The [[Phalanx]] Attacking the Centre in the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]'' by André Castaigne (1898–1899)]]

On the subsequent advance of the Macedonian king, Taxiles accompanied him with a force of 5,000 men and took part in the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]. After that victory, he was sent by Alexander in pursuit of [[Porus]], to whom he was charged to offer favourable terms, but narrowly escaped losing his life at the hands of his old enemy. Subsequently, the two rivals were reconciled by the personal mediation of Alexander; Taxiles contributed zealously to the equipment of the fleet on the Hydaspes and was entrusted by Alexander with the government of the whole territory between that river and the Indus. A considerable accession of power was granted him after the death of [[Philip (son of Machatas)|Philip]], son of Machatas, and he was allowed to retain his authority at the death of Alexander himself (323 BC), as well as in the subsequent partition of the provinces at [[Treaty of Triparadisus|Triparadisus]], 321 BC.

In the winter of 327/326&nbsp;BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against the Aspasioi of the [[Kunar Valley]], the Guraeans of the [[Panjkora River|Guraeus Valley]], and the Assakenoi of the [[Swat District|Swat]] and [[Buner District|Buner Valleys]].<ref>{{harvnb|Narain|1965|pp=155–65}}</ref> 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 against him from the strongholds of Massaga, Ora, and [[Aornos]].{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}}

The fort of Massaga was reduced after days of bloody fighting in which Alexander was seriously wounded in the ankle. According to [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius]], "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubble."<ref>{{cite book |last=McCrindle |first=J. W. |chapter=Curtius |title=History of Punjab |volume=I |year=1997 |publisher=[[Punjabi University]] |location=Patiala |editor1-first=Fauja |editor1-last=Singh |editor2-first=L. M. |editor2-last=Joshi |page=229}}</ref> A similar slaughter followed at Ora. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of [[Aornos]]. Alexander followed close behind and captured the strategic hill-fort after four bloody days.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}}

[[File:Alexander_accepts_the_surrender_of_Porus_by_Andre_Castaigne_(1898-1899).jpg|thumb|left|''[[Porus]] surrenders to Alexander'']]
After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and won an epic battle against King [[Porus]], who ruled a region lying between the Hydaspes and the [[Chenab River|Acesines]] (Chenab), in what is now the [[Punjab]], in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=124–25}} Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery and made him an ally. He appointed Porus as satrap, and added to Porus's territory land that he did not previously own, towards the south-east, up to the Hyphasis ([[Beas]]).<ref name="ReferenceA">p. xl, Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, J, Woronoff & I. Spence</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Arrian Anabasis of Alexander, V.29.2</ref> Choosing a local helped him control these lands that were distant from Greece.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=126–27}} Alexander founded two cities on opposite sides of the [[Hydaspes]] river, naming one [[Alexandria Bucephalous|Bucephala]], in honour of his horse, who died around this time.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=120}} The other was [[Nicaea (Punjab)|Nicaea]] (Victory), thought to be located at the site of modern-day [[Mong, Punjab]].<ref>{{harvnb|Worthington|2003|p=175}}</ref> [[Philostratus the Elder]] in the ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]'' writes that in the army of Porus, there was an elephant who fought bravely against Alexander's army, and Alexander dedicated it to the [[Helios]] (Sun) and named it Ajax because he thought that such a great animal deserved a great name. The elephant had gold rings around its tusks and an inscription was on them written in Greek: "Alexander the son of Zeus dedicates Ajax to the Helios" (ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ Ο ΔΙΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΙΑΝΤΑ ΤΩΙ ΗΛΙΩΙ).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.12|title=Philostratus the Athenian, Vita Apollonii, book 2, chapter 12|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225081128/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.12|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Revolt of the Hellenic army===
[[File:Asia 323bc.jpg|thumb|Asia in 323&nbsp;BC, the [[Nanda Empire]] and the [[Gangaridai]] of the [[Indian subcontinent]], in relation to Alexander's Empire and neighbours]]

East of Porus's kingdom, near the [[Ganges River]], was the [[Nanda Empire]] of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], and further east, the [[Gangaridai|Gangaridai Empire]] of [[Bengal]] region of the Indian subcontinent. Fearing the prospect of facing other large armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexander's army mutinied at the [[Hyphasis River]] (Beas), refusing to march farther east.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=34}} This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=129–30}}

{{blockquote|As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was {{convert|32|furlong|km|1|spell=in|disp=sqbr}}, its depth {{convert|100|fathom|m|spell=in|disp=sqbr}}, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of [[men-at-arms]] and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand [[war elephant]]s.<ref name="PA62" />}}

Alexander tried to persuade his soldiers to march farther, but his general [[Coenus (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 [[Malhi (Jat clan)|Malhi]] (in modern-day [[Multan]]) and other Indian tribes; while besieging the Mallian citadel, Alexander suffered a near-fatal injury when an arrow penetrated his armor and entered his lung.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=137–38}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodge |first=Theodore Ayrault |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100769753 |title=Alexander |series=Great captains |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |year=1890 |volume=2 |pages=604–605 |author-link=Theodore Ayrault Dodge}}</ref>

Alexander sent much of his army to [[Kerman province|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 [[Gedrosia|Gedrosian Desert]] and [[Makran]].{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|p=141}} Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing many men to the harsh desert.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=9}}</ref>

==Last years in Persia==
[[File:Stag hunt mosaic, Pella.jpg|left|thumb|Stag Hunt Mosaic, the figure on the right possibly being Alexander, and the figure to the left wields a double-headed axe, likely alluding to [[Hephaistos]]; possibly meaning his [[general]] [[Hephaestion]]]]
Discovering that many of his [[satrap]]s and military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed several of them as examples on his way to [[Susa]].<ref name="AVI27" /><ref name="AVII4" /> 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.<ref name="Worthington 2003 307">{{harvnb|Worthington|2003|pp=307–08}}</ref>

After three days, unable to persuade his men to back down, Alexander gave Persians command posts in the army and conferred Macedonian military titles upon Persian units. The Macedonians quickly begged forgiveness, which Alexander accepted, and held a great banquet with several thousand of his men.<ref name="Roisman 2010 194">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=194}}</ref> In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, Alexander [[Susa weddings|held a mass marriage]] of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.<ref name="AVII4" />

[[File:Valenciennes, Pierre-Henri de - Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great - 1796.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''Alexander at the Tomb of [[Cyrus the Great]]'', by [[Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes]] (1796)]]
Meanwhile, upon his return to Persia, Alexander learned that guards of the [[tomb of Cyrus the Great]] in [[Pasargadae]] had desecrated it, and swiftly executed them.<ref name="AVI29" /> Alexander admired [[Cyrus the Great]], from an early age reading [[Xenophon]]'s ''[[Cyropaedia]]'', which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator.<ref name="Ulrich">{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great |author=Ulrich Wilcken |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=1967 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WiSZM-LYsk4C&pg=PA146 |isbn=978-0-393-00381-9 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> During his visit to Pasargadae, Alexander ordered his architect [[Aristobulus of Cassandreia|Aristobulus]] to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus's tomb.<ref name="Ulrich" />

Afterwards, Alexander travelled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure. There, his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander and he ordered the preparation of an expensive [[funeral pyre]] in Babylon along with a decree for public mourning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia.<ref name="AVII19" />

==Death and succession==
{{Main|Death of Alexander the Great}}
[[File:Babylonian astronomical diary recording the death of Alexander the Great (British Museum).jpg|thumb|A [[Babylonian astronomical diary]] (c.&nbsp;323–322&nbsp;BC) recording the death of Alexander ([[British Museum]], London)]]

On either 10 or 11 June 323&nbsp;BC, Alexander died in the palace of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], in Babylon, at age 32.<ref>{{cite web |title=A contemporary account of the death of Alexander |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-death-of-alexander/ |access-date=5 November 2019 |publisher=[[Livius.org]]}}</ref><ref name="Depuydt" /> There are two different versions of Alexander's death, differing slightly in details. 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]].<ref name="P75" /> Alexander developed a fever, which worsened until he was unable to speak. The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them.{{Sfn |Wood|2001|pp= 2267–70}} In the second account, Diodorus recounts that Alexander was struck with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Heracles followed by 11 days of weakness; he did not develop a fever, instead dying after some agony.<ref name="DSXVII117" /> Arrian also mentioned this as an alternative, but Plutarch specifically denied this claim.<ref name="P75" />

Given the propensity of the Macedonian aristocracy to assassination and Alexander's relatively young age,{{sfn|Green|2007|pp= 1–2}} foul play featured in multiple accounts of his death. Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and [[Justin (historian)|Justin]] all mentioned the theory that Alexander was poisoned. Justin stated that Alexander was the victim of a poisoning conspiracy, Plutarch dismissed it as a fabrication,<ref name="PA77" /> while both Diodorus and Arrian noted that they mentioned it only for the sake of completeness.<ref name="DSXVII117" /><ref name="AVII27" /> The accounts were nevertheless fairly consistent in designating [[Antipater]], recently removed as Macedonian viceroy, replaced by Craterus, as the head of the alleged plot.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pitt |first1=E. M. |last2=Richardson |first2=W. P. |date=May 2017 |title=Hostile inaction? Antipater, Craterus and the Macedonian regency |journal=[[The Classical Quarterly]] |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=77–78 |doi=10.1017/S0009838817000301 |s2cid=157417151 }}</ref> Perhaps taking his summons to Babylon as a death sentence{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} and having seen the fate of Parmenion and Philotas,<ref name="DSXVII118" /> Antipater purportedly arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer.<ref name="AVII27" /><ref name="DSXVII118" /> There was even a suggestion that Aristotle may have participated.<ref name="AVII27" /> 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.{{Sfn |Lane Fox|2006|loc= chapter 32}} However, in a 2003 [[BBC]] documentary investigating the death of Alexander, Leo Schep from the New Zealand National Poisons Centre proposed that the plant white hellebore (''[[Veratrum album]]''), which was known in antiquity, may have been used to poison Alexander.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 October 2003 |url=http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/2003/10/16/alexander/ |title=NZ scientist's detective work may reveal how Alexander died |access-date=15 January 2014 |location=Dunedin |work=The Royal Society of New Zealand |url-status = dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116141707/http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/2003/10/16/alexander/ |archive-date=16 January 2014}}</ref>{{Sfn |Cawthorne|2004|p= 138}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bursztajn |first=Harold J |title=Dead Men Talking |journal=Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin |year=2005 |issue=Spring |url=http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artDeadMenTalking.php |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329124207/http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artDeadMenTalking.php |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2014 manuscript in the journal ''[[Clinical Toxicology]]'', Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with ''Veratrum album'', and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the ''[[Alexander Romance]]''.<ref name="schep">{{cite journal |vauthors=Schep LJ, Slaughter RJ, Vale JA, Wheatley P |title=Was the death of Alexander the Great due to poisoning? Was it Veratrum album? |journal=[[Clinical Toxicology]] |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=72–77 |date=January 2014 |pmid=24369045 |doi=10.3109/15563650.2013.870341|doi-access=free}}</ref> ''Veratrum album'' poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, ''Veratrum album'' offers the most plausible cause.<ref name="schep" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett-Smith |first=Meredith |date=14 January 2014 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/alexander-the-great-poisoned-toxic-wine_n_4591553.html |title=Was Alexander The Great Poisoned By Toxic Wine? |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=The Huffington Post |archive-date=17 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617050647/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/alexander-the-great-poisoned-toxic-wine_n_4591553.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Another poisoning explanation put forward in 2010 proposed that the circumstances of his death were compatible with poisoning by water of the river Styx (modern-day [[Mavroneri]] in Arcadia, Greece) that contained [[calicheamicin]], a dangerous compound produced by bacteria.<ref>{{cite news |last=Squires |first=Nick |date=4 August 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7924855/Alexander-the-Great-poisoned-by-the-River-Styx.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7924855/Alexander-the-Great-poisoned-by-the-River-Styx.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Alexander the Great poisoned by the River Styx |access-date=12 December 2011 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Several [[natural causes]] (diseases) have been suggested, including [[malaria]] and [[typhoid fever]]. A 1998 article in the ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]'' attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by [[bowel perforation]] and ascending [[paralysis]].<ref name="AMD" /> A 2004 analysis suggested pyogenic (infectious) [[spondylitis]] or [[meningitis]].<ref name="ashrafian" /> Other illnesses fit the symptoms, including [[acute pancreatitis]], [[West Nile virus]],<ref name="ref1" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sbarounis |first=CN |title=Did Alexander the Great die of acute pancreatitis? |journal=J Clin Gastroenterol |volume=24 |pages=294–96 |year=2007 |doi=10.1097/00004836-199706000-00031 |pmid=9252868 |issue=4}}</ref> and [[Guillain-Barré syndrome]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/64676-alexander-the-great-declared-dead-prematurely.html|title=Why Alexander the Great May Have Been Declared Dead Prematurely (It's Pretty Gruesome)|author=Owen Jarus|website=[[Live Science]]|date=4 February 2019|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727002144/https://www.livescience.com/64676-alexander-the-great-declared-dead-prematurely.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Natural-cause theories also tend to emphasize that Alexander's health may have been in general decline after years of heavy drinking and severe wounds. The anguish that Alexander felt after Hephaestion's death may also have contributed to his declining health.<ref name="AMD" />

===Post-death events===
{{see also|Tomb of Alexander the Great}}
Alexander's body was laid in a gold anthropoid [[sarcophagus]] that was filled with honey, which was in turn placed in a gold casket.<ref name="sarco1" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/personal/ron/CVNC/byline/bugs_96mar.html |date=Mar 1996 |title=Bayfront Byline Bug Walk |publisher=UCSD |access-date=25 March 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203070121/http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/personal/ron/CVNC/byline/bugs_96mar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]], a seer called Aristander foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".<ref name="Aelian" /> Perhaps more likely, the successors may have seen possession of the body as a symbol of legitimacy, since burying the prior king was a [[royal prerogative]].{{Sfn |Green|2007|p= 32}}

[[File:Mid-nineteenth century reconstruction of Alexander's catafalque based on the description by Diodorus.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|left|19th-century depiction of Alexander's funeral procession, based on the description by [[Diodorus Siculus]]]]
While Alexander's funeral cortege was on its way to Macedon, Ptolemy seized it and took it temporarily to Memphis.<ref name="sarco1" /><ref name="Aelian" /> 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.<ref name="sarco2" /> The 2014 discovery of an [[Kasta Tomb|enormous tomb]] in northern Greece, at [[Amphipolis]], dating from the time of Alexander the Great<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29239529 |title=Greeks captivated by Alexander-era tomb at Amphipolis |publisher=BBC News |date=22 September 2014 |last1=Christides |first1=Giorgos |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=21 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921235011/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29239529 |url-status=live }}</ref> has given rise to speculation that its original intent was to be the burial place of Alexander. This would fit with the intended destination of Alexander's funeral cortege. However, the memorial was found to be dedicated to the dearest friend of Alexander the Great, Hephaestion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/09/30/excavator-ancient-grave-in-greece-honored-alexanders-pal |title=Archaeologist claims opulent grave in Greece honored Alexander the Great's best friend |website=usnews.com |date=30 September 2015 |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153254/http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/09/30/excavator-ancient-grave-in-greece-honored-alexanders-pal |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/30/hephaestions-monogram-found-at-amphipolis-tomb/ |title=Hephaestion's Monogram Found at Amphipolis Tomb |newspaper=Greekreporter.com |date=30 September 2015 |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001135401/http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/30/hephaestions-monogram-found-at-amphipolis-tomb/ |url-status=live |last1=Papapostolou |first1=Anastasios }}</ref>

[[File:Alexander Sarcophagus Battle of Issus.jpg|thumb|Detail of Alexander on the [[Alexander Sarcophagus]]]]
[[Pompey]], [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Augustus]] all visited the tomb in Alexandria where Augustus, allegedly, accidentally knocked the nose of Alexander's mummified body off. [[Caligula]] was said to have taken Alexander's breastplate from the tomb for his own use. Around 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.<ref name="sarco2" />

The so-called "[[Alexander Sarcophagus]]", discovered near [[Sidon]] and now in the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]], is so named not because it was thought to have contained Alexander's remains, but because its [[bas-relief]]s depict Alexander and his companions fighting the Persians and hunting. It was originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of [[Abdalonymus]] (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon appointed by Alexander immediately following the [[Battle of Issus]] in 332.<ref>{{harvnb|Studniczka|1894|pp=226ff}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bieber |first=M |title=The Portraits of Alexander |journal=Greece & Rome |series=Second Series |year=1965 |pages=183–88 |volume=12 |issue=2 |doi=10.1017/s0017383500015345|s2cid=163858858 }}</ref> However, in 1969, it was suggested by [[Karl Schefold]] that it may date from earlier than Abdalonymus's death.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sismondo Ridgway |first=Brunilde |year=1969 |title=Review: Der Alexander-Sarkophag by Karl Schefold |journal=[[American Journal of Archaeology]] |volume=73 |page=482 |doi=10.2307/504019 | url=https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=arch_pubs| jstor=504019}}</ref>

[[Demades]] likened the Macedonian army, after the death of Alexander, to the blinded [[Cyclops]] due to the many random and disorderly movements that it made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0045:chapter=1:section=4|title=Plutarch, Galba, chapter 1, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227032246/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0045%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0116:chapter=1:section=4|title=Plutarch, Galba, chapter 1, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224185759/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0116%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0191:chapter=27|title=Plutarch, Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata, Ἀλέξανδρος|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224161752/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0191%3Achapter%3D27|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Leosthenes also likened the anarchy between the generals, after Alexander's death, to the blinded Cyclops "who after he had lost his eye went feeling and groping about with his hands before him, not knowing where to lay them".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg087.perseus-grc1:2.4|title=Plutarch, De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute, chapter 2, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224150622/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg087.perseus-grc1:2.4|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Division of the Macedonian Empire===
{{Main|Partition of Babylon|Diadochi}}
[[File:Diadochi EN.png|thumb|upright=1.4|Kingdoms of the [[Diadochi]] in 301&nbsp;BC: the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] (dark blue), the [[Seleucid Empire]] (yellow), [[Lysimachus|Kingdom of Lysimachus]] (orange), and [[Kingdom of Macedon]] (green). Also shown are the [[Roman Republic]] (light blue), the [[Carthaginian Republic]] (purple), and the [[Kingdom of Epirus]] (red).]]

Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached Greece, they were not immediately believed.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Alexander had no obvious or legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's death.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} 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".<ref name="DSXVII117" /> Another theory is that his successors wilfully or erroneously misheard "tôi Kraterôi"—"to Craterus", the general leading his Macedonian troops home and newly entrusted with the regency of Macedonia.<ref name=Shipley>{{cite book |title=The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC |author=Graham Shipley |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAoiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |isbn=978-1-134-06531-8 |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref> Arrian and Plutarch claimed that Alexander was speechless by this time, implying that this was an apocryphal story.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|p=20}}</ref> Diodorus, Curtius and Justin offered the more plausible story that Alexander passed his [[Seal (emblem)|signet ring]] to [[Perdiccas]], a bodyguard and leader of the companion cavalry, in front of witnesses, thereby nominating him.<ref name="DSXVII117" />{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}}

Perdiccas initially did not claim power, instead suggesting that Roxane's baby would be king, if male, with himself, [[Craterus]], Leonnatus, and Antipater as guardians. However, the infantry, under the command of [[Meleager (general)|Meleager]], rejected this arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion. Instead, they supported Alexander's half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus. Eventually, the two sides reconciled, and after the birth of Alexander IV, he and Philip III were appointed joint kings, albeit in name only.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=26–29}} Dissension and rivalry soon affected the Macedonians. The satrapies handed out by Perdiccas at the [[Partition of Babylon]] became power bases each general used to bid for power. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321&nbsp;BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40&nbsp;years of war between "The Successors" (''[[Diadochi]]'') ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into three stable power blocs: [[Ptolemaic Egypt]], [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid Syria and East]], and [[Antigonid dynasty|Antigonid Macedonia]]. In the process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=29–34}}

===Last plans===

[[Diodorus]] stated that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to [[Craterus]] some time before his death, which are known as Alexander's "last plans".<ref name="DSXVIII4" /> Craterus started to carry out Alexander's commands, but the successors chose not to further implement them, on the grounds they were impractical and extravagant.<ref name="DSXVIII4" /> Furthermore, [[Perdiccas]] had read the notebooks containing Alexander's last plans to the Macedonian troops in Babylon, who voted not to carry them out.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" />

According to Diodorus, Alexander's last plans called for military expansion into the southern and western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. It included:
* Construction of 1,000 ships larger than triremes, along with harbours and a road running along the African coast all the way to the [[Pillars of Hercules]], to be used for an invasion of [[Ancient Carthage|Carthage]] and the western Mediterranean;<ref name=Bad/>
* Erection of great temples in [[Delos]], [[Delphi]], [[Dodona]], [[Dium]], [[Amphipolis]], all costing 1,500 [[Attic talent|talents]], and a monumental temple to [[Athena]] at [[Troy]]<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /><ref name=Bad/>
* Amalgamation of small settlements into larger cities ("[[synoecism]]s") and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties"<ref>{{harvnb|McKechnie|1989|p=54}}</ref><ref name=Bad/>
* Construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the [[pyramids of Egypt]]"<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /><ref name=Bad/>
* Conquest of [[Arabia]]<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" />
* Circumnavigation of Africa<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" />

The enormous scale of these plans has led many scholars to doubt their historicity. [[Ernst Badian]] argued that they were exaggerated by Perdiccas in order to ensure that the Macedonian troops voted not to carry them out.<ref name=Bad>{{cite journal |last1=Badian |first1=Erns |title=A King's Notebooks |journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology |date=1968 |volume=72 |pages=183–204|doi=10.2307/311079 |jstor=311079 }}</ref> Other scholars have proposed that they were invented by later authors within the tradition of the [[Alexander Romance]].{{sfn|Tarn|1979|p=378}}

==Character==

===Generalship===
{{further|Military tactics of Alexander the Great}}

Alexander perhaps earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a military commander; he never lost a battle, despite typically being outnumbered.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lkYFVJ3U-BIC&pg=PA192 192]}} This was due to use of terrain, [[phalanx]] and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and the fierce loyalty of his troops.<ref name="Roisman 2010 193">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}}, {{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=110}}</ref> The [[Macedonian phalanx]], armed with the [[sarissa]], a spear {{convert |6|m|ft}} long, had been developed and perfected by Philip II through rigorous training, and Alexander used its speed and manoeuvrability to great effect against larger but more disparate Persian forces.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=110}} 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,{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=121}} in the manner of a Macedonian king.<ref name="Roisman 2010 193"/>

[[File:Battle granicus.gif|thumb|The [[Battle of the Granicus]], 334 BC]]

In his first battle in Asia, at Granicus, Alexander used only a small part of his forces, perhaps 13,000 infantry with 5,000 cavalry, against a much larger Persian force of 40,000.{{sfn|Tarn|1979|pp=361–362}} Alexander placed the phalanx at the center and cavalry and archers on the wings, so that his line matched the length of the Persian cavalry line, about {{convert|3|km|2|abbr=on}}. By contrast, the Persian infantry was stationed behind its cavalry. This ensured that Alexander would not be outflanked, while his phalanx, armed with long pikes, had a considerable advantage over the Persians' [[scimitars]] and [[javelins]]. Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}}

[[File:Battle issus decisive.png|thumb|The [[Battle of Issus]], 333 BC]]

At Issus in 333 BC, his first confrontation with Darius, he used the same deployment, and again the central phalanx pushed through.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}} Alexander personally led the charge in the center, routing the opposing army.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}} At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming. The advance was successful and broke Darius's center, causing the latter to flee once again.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}}

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.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}} In India, confronted by Porus's elephant corps, the Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants and used their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers.<ref name = "Roisman 2010 194" />

===Physical appearance===
[[File:Alexander-lysippus1-1.jpg|thumb|left|Roman copy of the Alexander portrait by [[Lysippos]]|216x216px]]
Historical sources frequently give conflicting accounts of Alexander's appearance, and the earliest sources are the most scant in their detail;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Andrew |title=Faces of Power : Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics Hellenistic Culture and Society |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06851-3 |page=72}}</ref> for example, Arrian describes him simply as "very handsome".<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=VII, 28}}</ref> During his lifetime, Alexander carefully curated his image by commissioning works from famous and great artists of the time. This included commissioning sculptures by [[Lysippos]], paintings by [[Apelles]] and gem engravings by [[Pyrgoteles]].<ref name="Alexander the Great">{{cite book |last1=Nawotka |first1=Krzysztof |title=Alexander the Great |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=43}}</ref> Ancient authors recorded that Alexander was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he forbade other sculptors from crafting his image; scholars today, however, find the claim dubious.<ref>{{cite web |title=Images of Authority II: The Greek Example |year=2005 |publisher=SUNY Oneonta |url=http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/images_authority_2_greek.html |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004195912/http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/images_authority_2_greek.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Alexander the Great"/> Andrew Stewart highlights the fact that artistic portraits, not least because of who they are commissioned by, are always partisan, and that artistic portrayals of Alexander "seek to legitimize him (or, by extension, his Successors), to interpret him to their audiences, to answer their critiques, and to persuade them of his greatness", and thus should be considered within a framework of "praise and blame", in the same way sources such as praise poetry are.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Andrew |title=Faces of Power : Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics Hellenistic Culture and Society |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06851-3 |page=69}}</ref> Nevertheless, though idealised, Lysippos's sculpture was thought to be the most faithful [[Plastic arts|plastic]] representation.{{Sfn |Bosworth|1988|pp = 19–20}}

{{Multiple image
| image1            = ACMA 1331 Alexander 2.JPG
| caption1          = Head of Alexander the Great by [[Leochares]], {{circa|330}} BC
| image2            = Alexander the Great Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek IN574 n1.jpg
| caption2          = 3rd century BC bust of Alexander from Alexandria, Egypt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Museernes Samlinger - Kulturarvsstyrelsen |url=https://www.kulturarv.dk/mussam/VisGenstand.action?genstandId=7552114 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=www.kulturarv.dk}}</ref>
| total_width       = 320
| align             = right
}}

[[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius Rufus]], a Roman historian from the first century AD, who wrote the ''[[Histories of Alexander the Great]]'', gives this account of Alexander sitting on the throne of [[Darius III]]:

{{blockquote|Then Alexander seating himself on the royal throne, which was far too high for his bodily stature. Therefore, since his feet did not reach its lowest step, one of the royal pages placed a table under his feet.{{sfn |Rolfe |1946 |loc = 5.2.13}}}}

Both Curtius and [[Diodorus]] report a story that when [[Darius III]]'s mother, [[Sisygambis]], first met Alexander and [[Hephaestion]], she assumed that the latter was Alexander because he was the taller and more physically impressive of the two.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skelton |first1=Debra |last2=Dell |first2=Pamela |title=Empire of Alexander the Great |date=2009 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-1-60413-162-8 |page=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QcJuRH89a8UC&dq=Robin+Lane+Fox+Hephaestion+Sisygambis&pg=PA83 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Siculus |first1=Diodorus |title=Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4–8. |date=1989 |publisher=Harvard University Press |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D17%3Achapter%3D37 |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709192544/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0084:book%3D17:chapter%3D37 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Greek biographer [[Plutarch]] ({{circa| 45|120&nbsp;AD}}) discusses the accuracy of his depictions:
{{blockquote|The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed. Apelles, however, in painting him as wielder of the thunder-bolt, did not reproduce his complexion, but made it too dark and swarthy. Whereas he was of a fair colour, as they say, and his fairness passed into ruddiness on his breast particularly, and in his face. Moreover, that a very pleasant odour exhaled from his skin and that there was a fragrance about his mouth and all his flesh, so that his garments were filled with it, this we have read in the ''Memoirs of Aristoxenus''.{{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc = [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243:chapter=4&highlight=lysippus IV, 1]}}}}

[[File:AlexanderCameo.JPG|thumb|Alexander [[Cameo_(carving)|cameo]] by [[Pyrgoteles]]|189x189px|left]]
Historians have understood the detail of the pleasant fragrance attributed to Alexander as stemming from a belief in ancient Greece that pleasant scents are characteristic of gods and heroes.<ref name="Alexander the Great"/>

The [[Alexander Mosaic]] and contemporary coins portray Alexander with "a straight nose, a slightly protruding jaw, full lips and eyes deep set beneath a strongly pronounced forehead".<ref name="Alexander the Great"/> He is also described as having a slight upward tilt of his head to the left.{{sfn|Renault|2013|p=1}}

The ancient historian [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] ({{circa|175}} – {{circa|235 AD}}), in his ''Varia Historia'' (12.14), describes Alexander's hair color as "ξανθὴν" (''xanthen''), which at the  time, could mean blond, brown, [[Tawny (color)|tawny]] (light brown) or [[Auburn hair|auburn]].{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=canqo/s ξανθός]}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=Sidney Chawner |title=English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited |year=1910 |location=London |pages=52,84,101}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert Stephen Paul |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |last2=Beek |first2=Lucien van |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |location=Leiden; Boston |pages=1033}}</ref> It is sometimes claimed that Alexander had [[heterochromia|one blue and one brown eye]],<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Green |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |title=Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age |publisher=Orion Publishing Co |year=2008 |pages=15–16 |isbn=978-0-7538-2413-9}}</ref> referring to the ''[[Alexander Romance]]'', which is however a fictional account that also claims Alexander "had sharp teeth like fangs" and "did not look like Philip or Olympias". Reconstruction, based on remaining traces of paint of the original [[polychromy]] on his [[Alexander Sarcophagus|sarcophagus]], indicates that he was depicted with brown eyes and chestnut brown hair.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brinkmann |first1=Vinzenz |url=https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/31048007537_3.jpg |title=Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity |last2=Wunsche |first2=Raimund |publisher=Arthur M. Sackler / Harvard University Art Museum |year=2007 |pages=159 |access-date=12 April 2022 |archive-date=31 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731043302/https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/31048007537_3.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> While the acropolis museum suggests that trace amounts of red paint on a head statue of Alexander were most likely a base coat for golden hues to be painted over for his hair.<ref>{{cite web |title=Head of a statue of Alexander the Great {{!}} Acropolis Museum {{!}} Official website |url=https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/head-statue-alexander-great |website=www.theacropolismuseum.gr |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref>
[[File:Detail of fresco depicting Alexander the Great.jpg|thumb|A fresco depicting a hunt scene at the tomb of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] at [[Aegae (Macedonia)|Aigai]], the only known painting of Alexander made during his lifetime, 330s BC|255x255px]]

===Personality===

Both of Alexander's parents encouraged his ambitions. His father Philip was probably 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.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} Alexander's relationship with his father "forged" the competitive side of his personality; he had a need to outdo his father, illustrated by his reckless behavior in battle.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} While Alexander worried that his father would leave him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world",<ref name="PA5"/> he also downplayed his father's achievements to his companions.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} Alexander's mother Olympias similarly had huge ambitions, and encouraged her son to believe it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} She instilled a sense of destiny in him,{{sfn|Green|2007|p=4}} and Plutarch tells how his ambition "kept his spirit serious and lofty in advance of his years".<ref name="PA4"/>

According to Plutarch, Alexander also had a violent temper and rash, impulsive nature,<ref name="AVII29"/> which could influence his decision making.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his father, he was open to reasoned debate.<ref name="PA7"/> 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.<ref name="PA8"/> This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} His intelligent and rational side was amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general.<ref name="AVII29"/> He had great self-restraint in "pleasures of the body", in contrast with his lack of [[self-control]] with alcohol.<ref name="AVII28">{{harvnb | Arrian|1976|loc=VII, 28}}</ref>
[[File:Lion hunt mosaic from Pella.jpg|thumb|Alexander (left), wearing a ''[[kausia]]'' and fighting an [[Asiatic lion]] with his friend [[Craterus]] (detail); late 4th century BC [[mosaic]],<ref>[[Olga Palagia]] (2000). "Hephaestion's Pyre and the Royal Hunt of Alexander", in A.B. Bosworth and E.J. Baynham (eds), ''Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction''. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-815287-3}}, p. 185.</ref> [[Pella]] Museum]]

Alexander was erudite and patronized both arts and sciences.<ref name="PA4"/><ref name="PA8"/> However, he had little interest in sports or the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] (unlike his father), seeking only the [[Homeric]] ideals of honour (''timê'') and glory (''kudos'').<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}}, {{harvnb|Green|2007|p=4}}</ref> He had great [[charisma]] and force of personality, characteristics which made him a great leader.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}}<ref name="AVII29"/> 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.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}}

During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander began to exhibit signs of [[wikt:megalomania|megalomania]] and [[paranoia]].{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} His extraordinary achievements, coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his companions, may have combined to produce this effect.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=20–21}} His [[delusions of grandeur]] are readily visible in his [[#Will|will]] and in his desire to conquer the world,{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} in as much as he is by various sources described as having ''boundless ambition'',<ref>M Wood (edited by T Gergel) – [https://books.google.com/books?id=5kxoAAAAMAAJ Alexander: Selected Texts from Arrian, Curtius and Plutarch] Penguin, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0-14-101312-1}} [Retrieved 8 April 2015]</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUqQbemlo80C&pg=PA7 |page=7 |title=Medieval French Alexander, the |isbn=978-0-7914-8832-4 |last1=Maddox |first1=Donald |last2=Sturm-Maddox |first2=Sara |date=February 2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> an epithet, the meaning of which has descended into a historical cliché.<ref>G Highet<!-- taught classics at Oxford University until 1938; in 1950 he was appointed Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University --> – [https://books.google.com/books?id=KRbBTeM9M2oC&pg=PA68 The Classical Tradition: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature: Greek and Roman Influences on Western Literature], Oxford University Press, 31 December 1949 p. 68 [Retrieved 2015-04-08] (ed. cf. – [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clich%C3%A9 Merriam-webster.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626135648/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clich%C3%A9 |date=26 June 2015 }})</ref><ref>Merriam-Webster [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epithet – epithet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326115024/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epithet |date=26 March 2015 }} [Retrieved 8 April 2015]</ref>

He appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,<ref name="PA3" /> an idea apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at [[Siwa Oasis|Siwa]].<ref name="P27"/> He began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon.<ref name="P27"/> Alexander adopted elements of Persian dress and customs at court, notably ''[[proskynesis]]'', which was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes;{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} however the practise of ''proskynesis'' was disapproved by the Macedonians, and they were unwilling to perform it.<ref name="AVII11"/> This behaviour cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen.<ref name="PA45"/> Alexander also was a pragmatic ruler who understood the difficulties of ruling culturally disparate peoples, many of whom lived in societies where the king was treated as divine.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=111}}, {{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=195}}</ref> Thus, rather than megalomania, his behaviour may have been a practical attempt at strengthening his rule and keeping his empire together.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=121}}, {{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=195}}</ref>

===Personal relationships===
{{Main |Personal relationships of Alexander the Great}}
[[File:Marriage of Alexander and Statira as Ares and Aphrodite, fresco, ca. 69 d. C., copy after Aetion. Antiquarim, Pompeii.jpg|thumb|A mural in [[Pompeii]], depicting the marriage of Alexander to [[Stateira (wife of Alexander the Great)|Stateira]] in 324 BC; the couple is apparently dressed as [[Ares]] and [[Aphrodite]].]]
Alexander married three times: [[Roxana]], daughter of the [[Sogdia]]n nobleman [[Oxyartes]] of [[Bactria]],<ref>Ahmed, S. Z. (2004), ''Chaghatai: the Fabulous Cities and People of the Silk Road'', West Conshokoken: Infinity Publishing, p. 61.</ref><ref>Strachan, Edward and Roy Bolton (2008), ''Russia and Europe in the Nineteenth Century'', London: Sphinx Fine Art, p. 87, {{ISBN|978-1-907200-02-1}}.</ref><ref>Livius.org. "[https://www.livius.org/articles/person/roxane/ Roxane] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414100829/https://www.livius.org/articles/person/roxane/ |date=14 April 2021}}." ''Articles on Ancient History''. Retrieved on 30 August 2016.</ref> out of love;{{Sfn|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D47 LXVII, 1]}} and the Persian princesses [[Stateira (wife of Alexander the Great)|Stateira]] and [[Parysatis II|Parysatis]], the former a daughter of [[Darius III]] and the latter a daughter of [[Artaxerxes III]], for political reasons.<ref name="Carney">{{cite book |last=Carney |first=Elizabeth Donnelly |title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia |date=2000 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |isbn=978-0-8061-3212-9}}</ref>{{Sfn |Plutarch|1936|loc= [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Fortuna_Alexandri*/2.html II, 6]}} Alexander apparently had two children by Roxana: an unnamed first child, who was born in India and died in infancy in November 326 BC,<ref>Metz Epitome 70

</ref> and [[Alexander IV of Macedon]], born after his father's death. Additionally [[Heracles of Macedon]] was claimed to be his illegitimate son born of mistress, [[Barsine]]. 

Alexander also had a close relationship with his friend, general, and bodyguard [[Hephaestion]], the son of a Macedonian noble.<ref name="AVII14" />{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}}<ref name="DSXVII114" /> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander.<ref name="AVII14" /><ref name="P72" /> This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health and detached [[mental health|mental state]] during his final months.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}}<ref name="AMD" />

=== Sexuality ===

Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy in modern times.{{sfn|Ogden|2009|p=204}} The Roman era writer [[Athenaeus]] says, based on the scholar [[Dicaearchus]], who was Alexander's contemporary, that the king "was quite excessively keen on boys", and that Alexander kissed the [[eunuch]] [[Bagoas (courtier)|Bagoas]] in public.<ref>{{cite book |title=Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents |url=https://archive.org/details/homosexualitygre00hubb|url-access=limited |editor=Thomas K. Hubbard |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-23430-7 |publisher=University of California Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/homosexualitygre00hubb/page/n97 79]}}</ref> This episode is also told by Plutarch, probably based on the same source. Historian [[William Woodthorpe Tarn]] rejected the stories of Bagoas as fabricated in ancient times to defame Alexander, mainly referring to the [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Rufus]]'s fairly fictionalized biography of Alexander that criticized the Macedonian's "degeneration" in embracing foreign Persian customs<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tougher |first=Sean |date=2008 |title=The Renault Bagoas: The Treatemnet of Alexander the Great's Eunuch in Mary Renault's ''The Persian Boy'' |url=https://fass.open.ac.uk/sites/fass.open.ac.uk/files/files/new-voices-journal/issue3/Tougher.pdf |journal=New Voices in Classical Reception Studies |issue=3 |pages=77–89}}</ref> However, in 1958 Badian countered Tarn's arguments, though his concern was the issue of the reliability of sources for Alexander rather than the figure of the eunuch himself.{{sfn|Tougher|2008}} None of Alexander's contemporaries, however, are known to have explicitly described Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion as sexual, though the pair was often compared to [[Achilles and Patroclus]], who are often interpreted as a couple. Aelian writes of Alexander's visit to [[Troy]] where "Alexander garlanded the tomb of Achilles, and Hephaestion that of [[Patroclus]], the latter hinting that he was a beloved of Alexander, in just the same way as Patroclus was of Achilles."<ref name="AelXII7" /> At the same time, ancient writers did not conclusively identify them as lovers.<ref>{{Citation |last=Palagia |first=Olga |title=Hephaestion's Pyre and the Royal Hunt of Alexander |date=2000-09-07 |work=Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction |pages=167–206 |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152873.003.0006 |access-date=2025-03-06 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152873.003.0006 |isbn=978-0-19-815287-3}}</ref> Some modern historians (e.g., [[Robin Lane Fox]]) believe not only that Alexander's youthful relationship with Hephaestion was sexual, but also that their sexual contacts may have continued into adulthood, which went against the social norms of at least some Greek cities, such as Athens,<ref>{{cite book |author=Marilyn Skinner |title=Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (Ancient Cultures) |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-4986-3 |page=190 |year=2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Sacks|1995|p=16}} though some modern researchers have tentatively proposed that Macedonia (or at least the Macedonian court) may have been more tolerant of homosexuality between adults.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Hubbard|editor-first=Thomas |title=A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities |date=2014 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-4051-9572-0 |page=143 |chapter=Chapter 8: Peer Homosexuality |author=Thomas Hubbard}}</ref>

[[File:Alexander and Hephaestion.jpg|thumb|Alexander and his general [[Hephaestion]], at the [[Getty Villa]]|left]]

[[Peter Green (historian)|Peter Green]] argues that there is little evidence in ancient sources that Alexander had much sexual interest in women; he did not produce an heir until the very end of his life.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} However, Ogden calculates that Alexander, who impregnated his partners three times in eight years, had fathered more children than his father at the same age.{{sfn|Ogden|2009|p=208|ps=...&nbsp;three attested pregnancies in eight years produces an attested impregnation rate of one every 2.7&nbsp;years, which is actually superior to that of his father.}} Two of these pregnancies—Stateira's and Barsine's—are of dubious legitimacy.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Nature of Alexander]] |author=[[Mary Renault]] |quote=No record at all exists of such a woman [ie, Barsine] accompanying his march; nor of any claim by her, or her powerful kin, that she had borne him offspring. Yet twelve years after his death a boy was produced, seventeen years old, born therefore five years after Damascus, her alleged son "brought up in Pergamon"; a claimant and shortlived pawn in the succession wars, chosen probably for a physical resemblance to Alexander. That he actually did marry another Barsine must have helped both to launch and preserve the story; but no source reports any notice whatever taken by him of a child who, Roxane's being posthumous, would have been during his lifetime his only son, by a near-royal mother. In a man who named cities after his horse and dog, this strains credulity. |page=110 |year=1979 |publisher=Pantheon |isbn=978-0-394-73825-3}}</ref>

According to Diodorus Siculus, Alexander accumulated a harem in the style of Persian kings, but he used it rather sparingly, "not wishing to offend the Macedonians",<ref name="DSXVII77" /> showing great self-control in "pleasures of the body".<ref name="AVII28" /> Nevertheless, Plutarch described how Alexander was infatuated by Roxana while complimenting him on not forcing himself on her.<ref>{{cite web |year=1936 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Fortuna_Alexandri*/2.html |author=Plutarch |title=Moralia |id=I, 11 |publisher=University of Chicago |ref=none |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref> Green suggested that, in the context of the period, Alexander formed quite strong friendships with women, including [[Ada of Caria]], who adopted him, and even Darius's mother [[Sisygambis]], who supposedly died from grief upon hearing of Alexander's death.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}}

==Battle record==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"  style="width:100%; font-size:90%; margin:1em auto 1em auto;"
|-
!width="65"|Outcome
! style="width:140px;"|Date
! style="width:110px;"|War
! style="width:auto;"|Action
! style="width:170px;"|Opponent/s
!width="45"|Type
! style="width:120px;"|Country<br>(present day)
!width="50"|Rank
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">338-08-02</span> 2 August 338 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|[[Expansion of Macedonia under Philip II|Philip II's submission of Greece]]
|<span style="display:none">Chaeronea</span> [[Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC)|Battle of Chaeronea]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Thebans]], [[Athenians]] and other Greek cities
|Battle
|[[Greece]]
|[[Prince]]
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335</span> 335 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|[[Alexander's Balkan campaign|Balkan Campaign]]
|<span style="display:none">Mount Haemus</span> Battle of Mount Haemus
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Getae]], [[Thracians]]
|Battle
| [[Bulgaria]]
|[[King]]
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335-12</span> December 335 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Balkan Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Pelium</span> [[Siege of Pelium]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Illyrians]]
|Siege
|[[Albania]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335-12</span> December 335 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Balkan Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Pelium</span> [[Battle of Thebes]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Thebans]]
|Battle
|Greece
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334-05</span> May 334 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Granicus</span> [[Battle of the Granicus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Battle
| [[Turkey]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334</span> 334 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Miletus</span> [[Siege of Miletus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesians]]
|Siege
| Turkey
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334</span> 334 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Halicarnassus</span> [[Siege of Halicarnassus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Siege
|Turkey
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">333-11-05</span> 5 November 333 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Issus</span> [[Battle of Issus]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Battle
| Turkey
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">332</span> January–July 332 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Tyre</span> [[Siege of Tyre (332 BC)|Siege of Tyre]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Tyrians]]
|Siege
| [[Lebanon]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">332-10</span> October 332 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Tyre</span> [[Siege of Gaza (332 BCE)|Siege of Gaza]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Siege
| [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">331-10-01</span> 1 October 331 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Gaugamela</span> [[Battle of Gaugamela]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Battle
| [[Iraq]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">331-12</span> December 331 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Uxian Defile</span> [[Battle of the Uxian Defile]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Uxians]]
|Battle
| [[Iran]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">330-01-20</span> 20 January 330 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Persian Gate</span> [[Battle of the Persian Gate]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Achaemenid Empire]]
|Battle
| Iran
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">329</span> 329 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Cyropolis</span> [[Siege of Cyropolis]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Sogdians]]
|Siege
| [[Turkmenistan]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">329-10</span> October 329 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Jaxartes</span> [[Battle of Jaxartes]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Scythians]]
|Battle
| [[Uzbekistan]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">327</span> 327 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Sogdian Rock</span> [[Siege of the Sogdian Rock]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Sogdians]]
|Siege
| Uzbekistan
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">327</span> May 327 – March 326 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|[[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Indian Campaign]]
|<span style="display:none">Cophen</span> [[Cophen campaign]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Aspasians]]
|Expedition
| [[Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]]
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">326-04</span> April 326 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Aornos</span> [[Siege of Aornos]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Aśvaka]]
|Siege
| Pakistan
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">326-05</span> May 326 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Hydaspes</span> [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Porus]]
|Battle
|Pakistan
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|-
|{{yes2}}Victory
!scope="row"|<span style="display:none">325</span> November 326 – February 325 BC
|style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign
|<span style="display:none">Aornos</span> [[Mallian Campaign|Siege of Multan]]
|<span style="display:none">.</span>[[Malhi (Jat clan)|Malli]]
|Siege
| Pakistan
|King
<span style="display:none">⁂</span>
|}

==Legacy==

Alexander's legacy extended beyond his military conquests, and his reign marked a turning point in European and Asian history.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Alexander the Great's Achievements|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements|access-date=19 August 2021|archive-date=2 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702234248/https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements|url-status=live}}</ref> His campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between [[Eastern world|East]] and [[Western world|West]], and vast areas to the east were significantly exposed to [[Greek civilization]] and influence.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Some of the cities he founded became major cultural centers, many surviving into the 21st century. His chroniclers recorded valuable information about the areas through which he marched, while the Greeks themselves got a sense of belonging to a world beyond the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}}

===Hellenistic kingdoms===
{{Main|Hellenistic period}}
[[File:Mappa di Eratostene.jpg|thumb|The [[Hellenistic]] world view: [[ancient world map|world map]] by [[Eratosthenes]] (276–194&nbsp;BC), using information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors<ref>{{cite web |title=World map according to Eratosthenes (194 B.C.) |publisher=Henry Davis Consulting |work=henry-davis.com |url=http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/112.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205015304/http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/112.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 1998 |access-date=16 December 2011 }}</ref>]]

Alexander's most immediate legacy was the introduction of Macedonian rule to huge new swathes of Asia. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some {{convert|5200000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},<ref name="uconn">Peter Turchin, Thomas D. Hall and Jonathan M. Adams, "[http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol12/number2/pdf/jwsr-v12n2-tah.pdf East-West Orientation of Historical Empires] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222011511/http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol12/number2/pdf/jwsr-v12n2-tah.pdf |date=22 February 2007 }}", ''Journal of World-Systems Research'' Vol. 12 (no. 2), pp. 219–29 (2006).</ref> and was the largest state of its time. Many of these areas remained in Macedonian hands or under Greek influence for the next 200–300 years. The [[Diadochi|successor states]] that emerged were, at least initially, dominant forces, and these 300&nbsp;years are often referred to as the [[Hellenistic period]].{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=xii–xix}}

The eastern borders of Alexander's empire began to collapse even during his lifetime.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most powerful Indian dynasties in history, the [[Maurya Empire]]. Taking advantage of this power vacuum, [[Chandragupta Maurya]] (referred to in Greek sources as "Sandrokottos"), of relatively humble origin, took control of the [[Punjab]], and with that power base proceeded to conquer the [[Nanda Empire]].{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=82–85}}

===Founding of cities===
{{Main|List of cities founded by Alexander the Great}}
[[File:Plan of Alexandria c 30 BC Otto Puchstein 1890s EN.svg|thumb|Plan of Alexandria {{circa|30&nbsp;BC}}]]

Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded [[List of cities founded by Alexander the Great|many cities that bore his name]], most of them east of the [[Tigris]].{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}<ref name="livius">{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html |title=Alexander the Great: his towns |publisher=livius.org |access-date=13 December 2009 |archive-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503150242/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first, and greatest, was [[Alexandria]] in Egypt, which would become one of the leading Mediterranean cities.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} The cities' locations reflected trade routes as well as defensive positions. At first, the cities must have been inhospitable, little more than defensive garrisons.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} Following Alexander's death, many Greeks who had settled there tried to return to Greece.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}<ref name="livius" /> However, a century or so after Alexander's death, many of the Alexandrias were thriving, with elaborate public buildings and substantial populations that included both Greek and local peoples.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}

===Funding of temples===
[[File:Dedication of Alexander the Great to Athena Polias at Priene.jpg|thumb|right|Dedication of Alexander the Great to [[Athena Polias]] at [[Priene]], now housed in the [[British Museum]]<ref name="Burn"/>]]
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great donated funds for the completion of the new temple of [[Athena Polias]] in [[Priene]], in modern-day western Turkey.<ref name="BritishMuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=437260&partId=1&searchText=athena+polias&people=72426&page=1 |title=Collection online |publisher=[[British Museum]] |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221426/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=437260&partId=1&searchText=athena+polias&people=72426&page=1 |url-status=live }} "Marble wall block from the temple of Athena at Priene, inscribed on two sides. The inscription on the front records the gift of funds from Alexander the Great to complete the temple."</ref> An [[Priene inscription of Alexander the Great|inscription from the temple]], now housed in the [[British Museum]], declares: "King Alexander dedicated [this temple] to Athena Polias."<ref name="Burn">{{cite book |last=Burn |first=Lucilla |date=2004 |title=Hellenistic Art: From Alexander the Great to Augustus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhjC_AdoNsC&pg=PA10 |location=London |publisher=The British Museum Press |isbn=978-0-89236-776-4 |pages=10–11 |access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> This inscription is one of the few independent archaeological discoveries confirming an episode from Alexander's life.<ref name="Burn"/> The temple was designed by [[Pythius of Priene|Pytheos]], one of the architects of the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]].<ref name="Burn"/><ref name="BritishMuseum"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=457544001&objectid=437260 |title=Priene Inscription |publisher=[[British Museum]] |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221617/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=457544001&objectid=437260 |url-status=live }} "Marble wall block from the temple of Athena at Priene, inscribed. Part of the marble wall of the temple of Athena at Priene. Above: "King Alexander dedicated the temple to Athena Polias."</ref>

[[Libanius]] wrote that Alexander founded the temple of Zeus Bottiaios ({{langx|grc|Βοττιαίου Δῖός}}), in the place where later the city of [[Antioch]] was built.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg2200/tlg00411/opp-grc1/88|title=Capitains Nemo|website=cts.perseids.org|access-date=23 May 2020|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815194836/http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg2200/tlg00411/opp-grc1/88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Downey |first1=Glanville |chapter=II The City of Seleucus the Conqueror |pages=27–44 |id={{Project MUSE|1708741|type=chapter}} |title=Ancient Antioch |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7671-6 }}</ref>

[[Suda]] wrote that Alexander built a big temple to [[Sarapis]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/117| title = Suda, sigma, 117| access-date = 12 August 2021| archive-date = 14 October 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211014070448/https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/117| url-status = live}}</ref>

In 2023, [[British Museum]] experts have suggested the possibility that a Greek temple at [[Girsu]] in [[Iraq]], was founded by Alexander. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander."<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/18/ancient-iraqi-civilisation-worshipped-alexander-the-great/| title = Ancient Iraqis may have worshipped Alexander the Great, says British Museum| newspaper = The Telegraph| date = 18 November 2023| access-date = 18 November 2023| archive-date = 21 November 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231121225300/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/18/ancient-iraqi-civilisation-worshipped-alexander-the-great/| url-status = live| last1 = Simpson| first1 = Craig}}</ref>

===Hellenization===
{{Main|Hellenization}}
[[File:Alexander-Empire 323bc.jpg|thumb|Alexander's empire was the largest state of its time, covering approximately 5.2&nbsp;million square km.]]

''Hellenization'' was coined by the German historian [[Johann Gustav Droysen]] to denote the spread of Greek language, culture, and population into the former Persian empire after Alexander's conquest.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=xii–xix}} This process can be seen in such great Hellenistic cities as [[Alexandria]], [[Antioch]]{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=56–59}} and [[Seleucia]] (south of modern [[Baghdad]]).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Waterman |first1=Leroy |last2=McDowell |first2=Robert H. |last3=Hopkins |first3=Clark |title=Seleucia on the Tigris, Iraq |publisher=The Kelsey Online |year=1998 |url=http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Excavation/Seleucia.html |work=umich.edu |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104113121/http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Excavation/Seleucia.html |archive-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Alexander sought to insert Greek elements into [[Persian culture]] and to hybridize Greek and Persian culture, homogenizing the populations of Asia and Europe. Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=21, 56–59}}

The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially [[Athenian]].<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|pp=56–59}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=17}}</ref> The close association of men from across Greece in Alexander's army directly led to the emergence of the largely [[Attic Greek|Attic]]-based "[[koine]]", or "common" Greek dialect.{{sfn|Harrison|1971|p=51}} Koine spread throughout the Hellenistic world, becoming the [[lingua franca]] of Hellenistic lands, and eventually the ancestor of [[modern Greek]].{{sfn|Harrison|1971|p=51}} Furthermore, [[town planning]], education, local government, and art current in the Hellenistic period were all based on Classical Greek ideals, evolving into distinct new forms commonly grouped as Hellenistic. Also, the [[New Testament]] was written in the [[Koine Greek]] language.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=56–59}} Aspects of Hellenistic culture were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Baynes|2007|p=170}}, {{harvnb|Gabriel|2002|p=277}}</ref>

==== Hellenization in South and Central Asia ====
{{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek art|Greco-Buddhism}}
[[File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|thumb|upright|[[The Buddha]], in [[Greco-Buddhist art|Greco-Buddhist style]], 1st to 2nd century AD, [[Gandhara]], northern Pakistan. [[Tokyo National Museum]].]]
Some of the most pronounced effects of Hellenization can be seen in Afghanistan and India, in the region of the relatively late-rising [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] (250–125 BC) (in modern [[Afghanistan]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Tajikistan]]) and the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] (180 BC – 10 AD) in modern Afghanistan and India.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–109}} On the [[Silk Road]] trade routes, Hellenistic culture hybridized with Iranian and [[Buddhist]] cultures. The cosmopolitan art and mythology of [[Gandhara]] (a region spanning the upper confluence of the Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers in modern Pakistan) of the ~3rd century BC to the ~5th century AD are most evident of the direct contact between Hellenistic civilization and South Asia, as are the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], which directly mention the Greeks within Ashoka's dominion as converting to Buddhism and the reception of Buddhist emissaries by Ashoka's contemporaries in the Hellenistic world.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara |last=Proser |first=Adriana |publisher=Asia Society |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-87848-112-5 }}</ref> The resulting [[syncretism]] known as [[Greco-Buddhism]] influenced the development of Buddhism<ref>{{cite web |url=https://neosalexandria.org/syncretism/greco-buddhism-a-brief-history/ |title=Greco-Buddhism: A Brief History |website=Neosalexandria |date=11 November 2010 |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226133605/https://neosalexandria.org/syncretism/greco-buddhism-a-brief-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and created a culture of [[Greco-Buddhist art]]. These Greco-Buddhist kingdoms sent some of the first Buddhist missionaries to [[China]], [[Sri Lanka]] and Hellenistic Asia and Europe ([[Greco-Buddhist monasticism]]).

Some of the first and most influential figurative portrayals of [[The Buddha]] appeared at this time, perhaps modelled on Greek statues of [[Apollo]] in the Greco-Buddhist style.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–09}} Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the [[ancient Greek religion]]: the concept of [[Boddhisatvas]] is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes,<ref>{{harvnb|Luniya|1978|p=312}}</ref> and some [[Mahayana]] [[Offering (Buddhism)|ceremonial practices]] (burning [[incense]], gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practised by the ancient Greeks; however, similar practices were also observed amongst the native Indic culture. One Greek king, [[Menander I]], probably became Buddhist, and was immortalized in [[Buddhist literature]] as 'Milinda'.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–09}} The process of Hellenization also spurred trade between the east and west.<ref name="Pingree (1978), 533, 554f.">{{harvnb|Pingree|1978|pp=533, 554ff}}</ref> For example, Greek astronomical instruments dating to the 3rd century BC were found in the [[Greco-Bactrian]] city of [[Ai Khanoum]] in modern-day [[Afghanistan]],<ref>{{cite book |first1=Pierre |last1=Cambon |first2=Jean-François |last2=Jarrige |year=2006 |language=fr |title=Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés: Collections du Musée national de Kaboul |trans-title=Afghanistan, the treasures found: collections of the Kabul national museum |publisher=Réunion des musées nationaux |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJFtQgAACAAJ |page=269 |isbn=978-2-7118-5218-5 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> while the Greek concept of a [[spherical Earth]] surrounded by the spheres of planets eventually supplanted the long-standing Indian cosmological belief of a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower.<ref name="Pingree (1978), 533, 554f." /><ref>{{harvnb|Glick|Livesey|Wallis|2005|p=463}}</ref><ref name="Hayashi08Aryabhata">Hayashi (2008), ''Aryabhata I''</ref> The [[Yavanajataka]] ({{Lit|Greek astronomical treatise}}) and [[Paulisa Siddhanta]] texts depict the influence of Greek astronomical ideas on Indian astronomy.

Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, [[Hellenistic influence on Indian art]] was far-reaching. In [[architecture]], a few examples of the [[Ionic order]] can be found as far as [[Pakistan]] with the [[Jandial temple]] near [[Taxila]]. Several examples of [[capital (architecture)|capitals]] displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far as [[Patna]], especially with the [[Pataliputra capital]], dated to the 3rd century BC.<ref>{{cite book |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DX-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 |title=A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture |isbn=978-1-119-01953-4 |last1=Brown |first1=Rebecca M. |last2=Hutton |first2=Deborah S. |year=2015 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=3 February 2017}}</ref> The [[Corinthian order]] is also heavily represented in the [[art of Gandhara]], especially through [[Indo-Corinthian capital]]s.

===Influence on Rome===
[[File:Roman - Medallion with Alexander the Great - Walters 591 - Obverse.jpg|thumb|This medallion was produced in [[Imperial Rome]], demonstrating the influence of Alexander's memory. [[Walters Art Museum]], [[Baltimore]].|upright]]
Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements.<ref name="Asirvatham">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 6, p. 114}}</ref> [[Polybius]] began his ''[[Histories (Polybius)|Histories]]'' by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. [[Pompey the Great]] adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anastole-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.<ref name="Asirvatham" /> [[Julius Caesar]] dedicated a [[Lysippus|Lysippean]] [[equestrian statue|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.<ref name="Asirvatham" /> The emperor [[Trajan]] also admired Alexander, as did [[Nero]] and [[Caracalla]].<ref name="Asirvatham" /> 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 jewellery or embroidered into their clothes.{{sfn|Holt|2003|p=3}}

On the other hand, some Roman writers, particularly Republican figures, used Alexander as a cautionary tale of how [[autocratic]] tendencies can be kept in check by the values of the [[Roman Republic]].<ref name="Asirvatham2">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 6, p. 115}}</ref> Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as {{lang|la|amicitia}} (friendship) and {{lang|la|clementia}} (clemency), but also {{lang|la|iracundia}} (anger) and {{lang|la|cupiditas gloriae}} (over-desire for glory).<ref name="Asirvatham2" />

[[Emperor Julian]] in his satire called "The Caesars", describes a contest between the previous Roman emperors, with Alexander the Great called in as an extra contestant, in the presence of the assembled gods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html|title=Julian: Caesars – translation|website=attalus.org|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226035227/http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Itinerarium Alexandri]] is a 4th-century Latin description of Alexander the Great's campaigns.

[[Julius Caesar]] went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after his wife's funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC. While there, he encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realised with dissatisfaction that he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little.<ref>Goldsworthy, 100</ref><ref>Plutarch 1919, XI, 2</ref>

[[Pompey]] posed as the "new Alexander" since he was his boyhood hero.<ref>Leach, John. Pompey the Great. p. 29.</ref>

After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with Alexander the Great.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Goldsworthy|first=Adrian|url=https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74|title=How Rome Fell: death of a superpower|location=New Haven |publisher=Yale University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-300-16426-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74 74]}}</ref><ref name=":92">{{Cite book|last=Brauer|first=G.|title=The Decadent Emperors: Power and Depravity in Third-Century Rome|year=1967|pages=75}}</ref> He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style [[phalanx]]es, despite the Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":92" /><ref name=":292">{{Cite book|last=Christopher|first=Matthew|title=An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action|publisher=Casemate Publishers|year=2015|pages=403}}</ref> The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term ''Phalangarii'' has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]], and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late [[Roman Republic]] who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD.<ref name=":292" /> As a consequence, the ''Phalangarii'' of [[Legio II Parthica]] may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly ''[[Triarii]]''.<ref name=":292" />

Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] school based on a legend that [[Aristotle]] had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. But this mania for Alexander, strange as it was, was overshadowed by subsequent events in Alexandria.<ref name=":92" />

In AD 39, [[Caligula]] performed a spectacular stunt by ordering a temporary [[Pontoon bridge|floating bridge]] to be built using ships as [[Pontoon (boat)|pontoons]], stretching for over two miles from the resort of [[Baiae]] to the neighbouring port of [[Puteoli]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wardle |first1=David |title=Caligula's Bridge of Boats – AD 39 or 40? |journal=Historia |date=2007 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=118–120 |doi=10.25162/historia-2007-0009 |jstor=25598379 |s2cid=164017284 }}</ref><ref name="seutonius-calig-19">Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Caligula [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#19 19].</ref> It was said that the bridge was to rival the Persian king [[Xerxes' pontoon bridge]] crossing of the Hellespont.<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" /> Caligula, who could not swim,<ref>Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Caligula [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula*.html#54 54].</ref> then proceeded to ride his favourite horse [[Incitatus]] across, wearing the breastplate of [[#Post-death events|Alexander the Great]].<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" /> This act was in defiance of a prediction by Tiberius's soothsayer [[Thrasyllus of Mendes]] that Caligula had "no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae".<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" />

The diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the [[Mithridatic Wars|later Roman expansion]] into these territories and [[Byzantine Greeks|entire basis]] for the [[Byzantine Empire]], according to [[Robert Malcolm Errington|Errington]].<ref>{{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=249}}.</ref>

===Letters===
{{main|Letters of Alexander the Great}}
Alexander wrote and received numerous letters, but no [[autograph manuscript|originals]] survive.  A few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive in copies inscribed in stone and the content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources. These only occasionally quote the letters and it is an open question how reliable such quotations are. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the ''Romance'' tradition.<ref name=LICP>{{cite journal |last1=Pearson |first1=Lionel |title=The Diary and the Letters of Alexander the Great |journal=Historia |date=1955 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=429–455 |jstor=4434421 }}</ref>

===In legend===
{{Main|Alexander the Great in legend}}
[[File:Alexander romance. Armenian illuminated manuscript of XIV century (Venice, San Lazzaro, 424) (1).jpg|thumb|right|upright|Alexander in a 14th-century Armenian manuscript]]

Many of the legends about Alexander derive from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=187}} His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in [[Cilicia]] as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, [[Onesicritus]] invented a tryst between Alexander and [[Thalestris]], queen of the mythical [[Amazons]]. He reportedly read this passage to his patron King [[Lysimachus]], who had been one of Alexander's generals and who quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time."<ref name="PA46" />

In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the legendary material coalesced into a text known as the ''[[Alexander Romance]]'', later falsely ascribed to Callisthenes and therefore known as ''Pseudo-Callisthenes''. This text underwent over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations throughout the Islamic and European worlds in premodern times,<ref>{{harvnb|Stoneman|1996|loc=''passim''}}</ref> containing many dubious stories,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=187}} and was translated into twenty-five languages,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=117}} for example [[Middle Persian]], [[Syriac language|Syriac]] and [[Arabic]].<ref>{{harvnb|Darvishi|2022|loc=''117–152''}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

===In ancient and modern culture===
{{Main|Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great|Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition|Alexander the Great in the Quran}}
[[File:Byzantine Greek Alexander Manuscript Cataphract (cropped).JPG|thumb|left|Alexander in a 14th-century Byzantine manuscript]]

Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many cultures. Alexander has featured in both high and popular culture, beginning from 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.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=117}}

Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more than any other ancient figure.<ref name="Fermor">{{harvnb|Fermor|2006|page=215}}</ref> The colloquial form of his name in modern Greek ("O Megalexandros") is a household name, and he is the only ancient hero to appear in the [[Karagiozis]] shadow play.<ref name="Fermor" /> One well-known fable among Greek seamen involves a solitary [[mermaid]] who would grasp a ship's prow during a storm and ask the captain, "Is King Alexander alive?" The answer should be  "He is alive and well and rules the world!" causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. Any other answer would cause the mermaid to turn into a raging [[Gorgon]] who would drag the ship to the bottom of the sea, all hands aboard.<ref name="Fermor" />
[[File:Khalili Collection Hajj and Arts of Pilgrimage mss-0771 CROP.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Folio from the ''[[Shahnameh]]'' showing Alexander praying at the [[Kaaba]], mid-16th century]]

In pre-Islamic [[Middle Persian]] ([[Zoroastrian]]) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet ''gujastak'', meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism.<ref>{{harvnb|Curtis|Tallis|Andre-Salvini|2005|p=154}}</ref> In [[Islam]]ic Persia, under the influence of the ''[[Alexander Romance]]'' (in {{langx|fa|اسکندرنامه}} ''[[Iskandarnameh]]''), a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} [[Firdausi]]'s ''[[Shahnameh]]'' ("The Book of Kings") [[Alexander the Great in the Shahnameh|includes Alexander]] in a line of legitimate Persian [[shah]]s, a mythical figure who explored the far reaches of the world in search of the [[Fountain of Youth]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fischer|2004|p=66}}</ref> In the ''Shahnameh'', Alexander's first journey is to [[Mecca]] to pray at the [[Kaaba]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|title=Hajj : journey to the heart of Islam|publisher=The British Museum|year=2012|isbn=978-0-674-06218-4|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=Venetia|location=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=131|chapter=Journey to Mecca: A History|oclc=709670348}}</ref> Alexander was depicted as performing a [[Hajj]] (pilgrimage to Mecca) many times in subsequent Islamic art and literature.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Peter|title=The Hajj : collected essays|publisher=The British Museum|year=2013|isbn=978-0-86159-193-0|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=Venetia|location=London|pages=14 footnote 72|chapter=The Hajj before Muhammad: Journeys to Mecca in Muslim Narratives of Pre-Islamic History|oclc=857109543|editor2-last=Saif|editor2-first=Liana}}</ref> Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as [[Socrates]], [[Plato]] and Aristotle, in search of immortality.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}}

[[File:Submerge2.JPG|thumb|right|Detail of a 16th-century [[Islamic art|Islamic painting]] depicting Alexander being lowered in a glass [[submersible]]]]
The figure of [[Dhu al-Qarnayn]] ([[Arabic]]: ذو القرنين; {{Lit|The Two-Horned One}}) is believed by the majority of modern researchers of the [[Qur'an]] as well as Islamic commentators to be a reference to Alexander.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Griffith |first1=Sidney |title=Narratives of 'the Companions of the Cave,' Moses and His Servant, and Dhū 'l-Qarnayn in Sūrat al-Kahf: Late Antique Lore within the Purview of the Qurʾān |journal=Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association |date=15 March 2022 |volume=6 |issue=1 |doi=10.5913/jiqsa.6.2021.a005 |s2cid=251486595 }}</ref> The figure is also believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} In this tradition, he was a heroic figure who [[Gates of Alexander|built a wall]] to defend against the nations of [[Gog and Magog]].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}} He also travelled the known world in search of the Water of Life and Immortality, eventually becoming a prophet.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}}

The [[Syriac language|Syriac]] version of the ''Alexander Romance'' portrays him as an ideal Christian world conqueror who prayed to "the one true God".{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} In Egypt, Alexander was portrayed as the son of [[Nectanebo II]], the last [[pharaoh]] before the Persian conquest.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}} His defeat of Darius was depicted as Egypt's salvation, "proving" Egypt was still ruled by an Egyptian.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}}

According to [[Josephus]], Alexander was shown the [[Book of Daniel]] when he entered Jerusalem, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. This is cited as a reason for sparing Jerusalem.<ref>Josephus, [[Jewish Antiquities]], XI, 337 [http://lexundria.com/j_aj/11.304-12.0/wst viii, 5]</ref>
[[File:Alexander the Great conquering the air.jpg|thumb|left|Alexander conquering the air. [[Jean Wauquelin]], ''Les faits et conquêtes d'Alexandre le Grand'', 1448–1449]]

In [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]], the name "[[Iskandar (name)|Sikandar]]", derived from the Persian name for Alexander, denotes a rising young talent, and the [[Delhi Sultanate]] ruler [[Alauddin Khalji]] stylized himself as "Sikandar-i-Sani" (the Second Alexander the Great).<ref>{{harvnb|Connerney|2009|p=68}}</ref> In [[medieval India]], Turkic and Afghan sovereigns from the Iranian-cultured region of Central Asia brought positive cultural connotations of Alexander to the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the efflorescence of ''Sikandernameh'' ([[Alexander Romances]]) written by Indo-Persian poets such as [[Amir Khusrau]] and the prominence of Alexander the Great as a popular subject in Mughal-era Persian miniatures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Donde |first=Dipanwita |date=2014 |title=The Mughal Sikander: Influence of the Romance of Alexander on Mughal Manuscript Painting |url=https://www.academia.edu/6097802 |journal=International Conference of Greek Studies: An Asian Perspective |via=Academia |access-date=19 April 2019 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812151906/https://www.academia.edu/6097802 |url-status=live }}</ref> In [[medieval Europe]], Alexander the Great was revered as a member of the [[Nine Worthies]]; a group of heroes whose lives were believed to encapsulate all the ideal qualities of [[chivalry]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Noll |first1=Thomas |article=The Visual Image of Alexander the Great |title=Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages: Transcultural Perspectives |editor-last=Stock |editor-first=Markus |translator-last=Boettcher |translator-first=Susan |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4426-4466-3 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nqMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA258 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> During the first [[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars|Italian campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars]], in a question from [[Bourrienne]], asking whether he gave his preference to Alexander or Caesar, [[Napoleon]] said that he places Alexander The Great in the first rank, the main reason being his campaign on Asia.<ref>Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, pp 158</ref>

In the ''[[Greek Anthology]]'', there are poems referring to Alexander.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://topostext.org/work/534#9.699|title=ToposText|website=topostext.org|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201022239/https://topostext.org/work/534#9.699|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://topostext.org/work/748#122|title=ToposText|website=topostext.org|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201022206/https://topostext.org/work/748#122|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Historiography==
{{Main|Historiography of Alexander the Great}}
Apart from a few inscriptions and fragments, texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander were all lost.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life included Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes, Alexander's generals; Ptolemy and [[Nearchus]], [[Aristobulus of Cassandreia|Aristobulus]], a junior officer on the campaigns, and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. Their works are lost, but later works based on these [[primary source|original sources]] have survived. The earliest of these is [[Diodorus Siculus]] (1st century BC), followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus (mid-to-late 1st century AD), [[Arrian]] (1st to 2nd century AD), the biographer Plutarch (1st to 2nd century AD), and finally [[Justin (historian)|Justin]], whose work dated as late as the 4th century.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Of these, Arrian is generally considered the most reliable, given that he used Ptolemy and Aristobulus as his sources, closely followed by Diodorus.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}}

==See also==
{{Portal|History|Greece|Iran|Egypt}}
* [[Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition]]
* [[Ancient Macedonian army]]
* [[Bucephalus]]
* [[Chronology of European exploration of Asia]]
* [[Horns of Alexander]]
* [[List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources]]
* [[List of people known as The Great]]
* [[Gates of Alexander]]
* [[Military tactics of Alexander the Great]]
* [[Ptolemaic cult of Alexander the Great]]
* [[Theories about Alexander the Great in the Quran]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}}
{{Cnote2|a| Heracles was Alexander's alleged illegitimate son.}}
{{Cnote2|b| The name {{lang|grc|Ἀλέξανδρος}} derives from the Greek verb {{lang|grc|ἀλέξω}} ({{transliteration|grc|aléxō}}, {{Literal translation|ward off, avert, defend|lk=on}}){{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29le%2Fcw IV, 57] | ps =: '{{lang|grc|ἀλέξω}}'.}}{{Sfn | Liddell | Scott | 1940}} and {{lang|grc|ἀνδρ-}} ({{transliteration|grc|andr-}}), the stem of {{lang|grc|ἀνήρ}} ({{transliteration|grc|anḗr}}, {{Literal translation|man}}),{{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc = [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da%29nh%2Fr IV, 57] | ps =: '{{lang|grc|ἀνήρ}}'.}}{{Sfn |Liddell|Scott|1940}} and means "protector of men".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |access-date=11 December 2009 |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none |title=Alexander |dictionary=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]] |archive-date=20 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920175420/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}</ref> }}
{{Cnote2|c|The first known person to call Alexander "the Great" was a Roman playwright named [[Plautus]] (254–184 BC) in his play ''[[Mostellaria]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Diana Spencer|title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics|year= 2019|chapter=Alexander the Great, reception of|chapter-url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8048|series=Oxford Research Encyclopedias|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8048|isbn=978-0-19-938113-5|access-date=9 November 2021|quote=Alexander enjoys the epithet ''the Great'' for the first time in Plautus's Roman comedy ''Mostellaria'' (775–777).|archive-date=10 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110030827/https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8048|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
{{Cnote2|d|Macedon was an Ancient Greek polity; the Macedonians were a Greek tribe.<ref name="Macedonians">{{harvnb|Hornblower|2008|pp=55–58}}; {{harvnb|Joint Association of Classical Teachers|1984|pp=50–51}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=3–4}}; {{harvnb|Fine|1983|pp=607–08}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|Walbank|2001|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Jones|2001|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Osborne|2004|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|1989|pp=12–13}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|1993|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Starr|1991|pp=260, 367}}; {{harvnb|Toynbee|1981|p=67}}; {{harvnb|Worthington|2008|pp=8, 219}}; {{harvnb|Cawkwell|1978|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Perlman|1973|p=78}}; {{harvnb|Hamilton|1974|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Bryant|1996|p=306}}; {{harvnb|O'Brien|1994|p=25}}.</ref>}}
{{Cnote2|e| By the time of his death, he had conquered the entire [[Achaemenid Persian Empire]], adding it to Macedon's European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the world then known to the ancient Greeks (the '[[Ecumene#Ancient world|Ecumene]]').{{sfn|Danforth|1997|pp=38, 49, 167}}{{sfn|Stoneman|2004|p=2}} An approximate view of the world known to Alexander can be seen in [[Hecataeus of Miletus]]'s map; see [[:File:Hecataeus world map-en.svg|Hecataeus world map]]. }}
{{Cnote2|f| For instance, [[Hannibal]] supposedly ranked Alexander as the greatest general;{{Sfn | Goldsworthy |2003|pp=327–28}} [[Julius Caesar]] wept on seeing a statue of Alexander, since he had achieved so little by the same age;<ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11" /> [[Pompey]] and [[Alauddin Khalji]] consciously posed as the 'new Alexander';{{sfn|Holland|2003|pp=176–83}} the young [[Napoleon]] Bonaparte also encouraged comparisons with Alexander. Napoleon also placed Alexander in the first rank.{{sfn|Barnett|1997|p=45}} [[Caracalla]] believed himself to be the actual reincarnation of Alexander.<ref>Ronald H. Fritze, Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy, p. 103.</ref><ref>Goldsworthy, Adrian (2009). How Rome Fell: death of a superpower. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 74. {{ISBN|978-0-300-16426-8}}.</ref><ref>Brauer, G. (1967). The Decadent Emperors: Power and Depravity in Third-Century Rome. p. 75.</ref> [[Caligula]] wore the breastplate of Alexander in order to show his power.<ref>Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 19.</ref><ref>Geoff W. Adams, The Roman Emperor Gaius "Caligula" and His Hellenistic Aspirations, pp 46</ref> [[Fidel Castro]]'s hero was Alexander the Great, whose Spanish equivalent ''Alejandro'' he adopted as his ''nom de guerre''.<ref>Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro, p 220.</ref> Among [[Ottoman sultans]], [[Mehmed II]]'s heroes were Alexander and [[Achilles]].<ref>Nicolle, David (2000). Constantinople 1453: The End of Byzantium. Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-84176-091-9}}.</ref> In a letter to his rival, [[Selim I]], while equating himself with Alexander, compares [[Ismail I]] as "Darius of our days".<ref>{{cite book|title=Imperial Citizen: Marriage and Citizenship in the Ottoman Frontier Provinces of Iraq|page=39|year=2011|author=Karen M. Kern}}</ref> [[Paolo Giovio]], in a work written for [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], says that Selim holds Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar in the highest esteem above all the generals of old.<ref>{{cite book|author=Donald Presgrave Little|year=1976|page=227|title=Essays on Islamic civilization presented to Niyazi Berkes}}</ref>}}
{{Cnote2|g|In ancient historiography, the [[Argead dynasty]] was traditionally regarded as having originated from [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]. The Argeads themselves claimed Argive Greek descent from the hero [[Temenus]]. Through his parents' genealogy, ancient authors traced Alexander's descent back to heroes and other legendary figures from [[Greek mythology]], such as [[Heracles]] and [[Achilles]].<ref>Diodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca Historica]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+17+1.5&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084 17.1.5], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+17.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084 17.4]; Plutarch, ''[[Plutarch#Life of Alexander|Life of Alexander]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plut.+Alex.+2.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243 2.1]; Pausanias, ''[[Description of Greece]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.9.8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 1.9.8], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D11%3Asection%3D1 1.11.1], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+7.8.9&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 7.8.9]; Arrian, ''[[Anabasis of Alexander]]'' [https://archive.org/details/L236ArrianIAnabasisOfAlexander14/page/148/mode/2up?view=theater 2.7.4]; Herodotus, ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.22.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126 5.22.1], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D22%3Asection%3D2 5.22.2]; Isocrates, ''To Philip'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:tlg,0010,020:32 32]; Thucydides, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D99%3Asection%3D3 2.99,3]</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Hornblower|2008|pp=55–58}}</ref>}}
{{Cnote2|h| There have been, since the time, many suspicions that Pausanias was actually hired to murder Philip. Suspicion has fallen upon Alexander, Olympias and even the newly crowned Persian Emperor, Darius III. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered.{{sfn|Lane Fox|1980|pp=72–73}} }}
{{Cnote2|i| However, [[Arrian]], who used [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]] as a source, said that Alexander crossed with more than 5,000 horse and 30,000 foot; [[Diodorus]] quoted the same totals, but listed 5,100 horse and 32,000 foot. Diodorus also referred to an advance force already present in Asia, which [[Polyaenus]], in his Stratagems of War (5.44.4), said numbered 10,000 men.}}
{{Cnote2 End}}
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
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<ref name="PA3">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D4 IX, IV]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA4">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D4 IV, 4]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA5">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D2 V, 2]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA6">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D6%3Asection%3D5 VI, 5]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA7">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D7%3Asection%3D1 VII, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA8">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D1 VIII, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA9">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D9 IX, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA62">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243:chapter=62&highlight=ganges LXII, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA46">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243:chapter=46&highlight=lysimachus%2Conesicritus LXVI, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA77">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243:chapter=77&highlight=poisoning LXXVII, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="PA45">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243%3Achapter%3D45 LXV, 1]}}</ref>
<ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0244:chapter=11&highlight=alexander XI, 2]}}</ref>
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* {{cite book |last=Starr |first=Chester G. |year=1991 |title=A History of the Ancient World |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-506628-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bA3kgtZU1iMC |access-date=3 October 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |title=Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreat0000ston |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-31932-4 |year=2004}}
* {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |title=The Novel in the Ancient World |url=https://archive.org/details/novelancientworl00schm |url-access=limited |editor-last=Schmeling |editor-first=Gareth L |chapter=The Metamorphoses of Alexander Romance |pages=[https://archive.org/details/novelancientworl00schm/page/n602 601]–12 |publisher=Brill |year=1996 |isbn=978-90-04-09630-1}}
* {{cite journal |last=Studniczka |first=Franz |title=
Über die Grundlagen der geschichtlichen Erklärung der Sidonischen Sarkophage |journal={{ill|Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts|de}} |pages=204–244 |volume=9 |year=1894}}
* {{Cite book |last=Tarn|first=William Woodthorpe |author-link=William Woodthorpe Tarn |title=Alexander the Great |date=1979 |orig-date=1948 |publisher=University Press |isbn=978-0-521-22584-7 |location=Cambridge [England] |oclc=606613 | url = https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2881/page/n1/mode/1up}}
* {{cite book |last=Tripathi |first=Rama Shankar |title=History of Ancient India |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC |isbn=978-81-208-0018-2 |access-date=5 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Toynbee |first=Arnold Joseph |year=1981 |title=The Greeks and Their Heritages |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-215256-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/greekstheirheri00toyn |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Michael |year=2001 |title=In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia |publisher=University of California Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5wDWn1dL6HMC |isbn=978-0-520-23192-4 |access-date=5 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2003 |title=Alexander the Great: A Reader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiM51I7_A1gC |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-29187-3 |page=332 |access-date=5 September 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2008 |title=Philip II of Macedonia |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |location=New Haven, CT |isbn=978-0-300-12079-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZsTAQAAIAAJ |access-date=20 June 2015}}
* {{cite book |last=Yenne |first=Bill |year=2010 |title=Alexander the Great: Lessons From History's Undefeated General |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-0-230-61915-9}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite journal |last=Badian |first=Ernst |author-link=Ernst Badian |year=1958 |title=Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind |journal=Historia |volume=7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beazley |first1=JD |author1-link=J. D. Beazley |last2=Ashmole |first2=B |author2-link=Bernard Ashmole |orig-date=1932 |date= 1966 |title=Greek Sculpture and Painting |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-04131-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AnjrLi9mTV0C}}
* {{cite book |last=Bowra |first=Maurice |author-link=Maurice Bowra |year=1994 |title=The Greek Experience |publisher=Phoenix |isbn=978-1-85799-122-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Boardman |first=John |author-link=John Boardman (art historian) |year=2019 |title=Alexander the Great: From His Death to the Present Day |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18175-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Burn |first=AR |year=1951 |title=Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=English Universities Press}}
* {{cite web |language=la |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Curtius/home.html |last=Rufus |first=Quintus Curtius |title=Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great |publisher=U Chicago |access-date=16 November 2009}}
* {{cite book |last=Cartledge |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Cartledge |year=2004 |title=Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatth00cart |url-access=registration |publisher=Overlook |isbn=978-1-58567-565-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Paul |author-link=Paul C. Doherty |year=2004 |title=The Death of Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786713400 |url-access=registration |publisher=Carroll & Graf |isbn=978-0-7867-1340-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Engels |first=Donald W |year=1978 |title=Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Fawcett |editor-first=Bill |year=2006 |title=How To Lose A Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-076024-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/howtolosebattlef0000unse}}
* {{cite book |last=Fuller |first=JFC |author-link=J. F. C. Fuller |orig-year = 1958 | year=1989 |title=The Generalship of Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |isbn=978-0-306-80371-0 |access-date=20 June 2015 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yYvqwAEACAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |author-link=Adrian Goldsworthy |title=[[Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors]] |publisher=[[Head of Zeus]] |date=2020 |location=London |isbn=978-1-78497-869-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |year=1992 |title=Alexander of Macedon: 356–323 BC. A Historical Biography |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07166-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderofmaced0000gree}}
* {{cite book |last=Greene |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Greene (American author) |year=2000 |title=The 48 Laws of Power |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670881468 |url-access=registration |publisher=Penguin |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670881468/page/351 351] |isbn=978-0-14-028019-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |author-link=N. G. L. Hammond |year=1989 |title=The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814883-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |year=1994 |title=Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman |edition=3rd |location=London |publisher=Bristol Classical Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |year=1997 |title=The Genius of Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/geniusofalexande00nglh |url-access=registration |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Lane Fox |year=1973 |title=Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-14-008878-6}}, also (1974) New York: E. P. Dutton and (1986) London: [[Penguin Books]].
* {{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Charles |year=1962 |title=The Way of Alexander the Great |location=Boston |publisher=American Heritage Inc.}}
* {{cite book |last=McCrindle |first=J. W. |orig-year=1893 |year=1973 |title=The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nc5ajgEACAAJ |location=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co |isbn=978-0-404-04119-9 |access-date=20 June 2015}}
* {{cite book |last1=Monti |first1=Giustina |title=Alexander the Great: letters: a selection |date=2023 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |location=Liverpool |isbn=9781800348622}}
* {{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=James Jerome |last2=Katula |first2=Richard A |last3=Hill |first3=Forbes I |last4=Ochs |first4=Donovan J |year=2003 |title=A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |page=17 |isbn=978-1-880393-35-2}}
* {{cite book |last1=Nandan |first1=Y |last2=Bhavan |first2=BV |year=2003 |title=British Death March Under Asiatic Impulse: Epic of Anglo-Indian Tragedy in Afghanistan |isbn=978-81-7276-301-5 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Mumbai}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=John Maxwell |year=1992 |title=Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy |location=London |publisher=Routledge}}
* {{cite book |last1=Pomeroy |first1=S |last2=Burstein |first2=S |last3=Dolan |first3=W |last4=Roberts |first4=J |year=1998 |title=Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509742-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecepol00sara}}
* {{cite book |last=Prevas |first=John |author-link=John Prevas |year=2004 |title=Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey Across Asia |url=https://archive.org/details/envyofgodsalexan00prev |url-access=registration |edition=3rd |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81268-2}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Roisman |editor-first=Joseph |year=1995 |title=Alexander the Great Ancient and Modern Perspectives |series=Problems in European Civilization |location=Lexington, MA |publisher=DC Heath}}
*{{cite book |last=Rowson |first=Alex |year=2022 |title=The Young Alexander: The Making of Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=William Collins |type=Hardcover |isbn=978-0-00-828439-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Savill |first=Agnes |author-link=l |year=1959 |title=Alexander the Great and His Time |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreathi0000savi_n3m7 |url-access=registration |edition=3rd |location=London |publisher=Barrie & Rockliff}}
* {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=Andrew |year=1993 |series=Hellenistic Culture and Society |title=Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics |volume=11 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |year=2008 |title=Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11203-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatli00ston}}
* {{cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Benjamin Ide |author-link=Benjamin Ide Wheeler |year=1900 |title=Alexander the Great; the merging of East and West in universal history |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173405 |location=New York |publisher=GP Putnam's sons}}
* {{cite book |last=Wilcken |first=Ulrich |year=1997 |author-link=Ulrich Wilcken |orig-year=1932 |title=Alexander the Great |location=New York |publisher=WW Norton & Co |isbn=978-0-393-00381-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreat00wilc}}
* {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2004 |title=Alexander the Great: Man And God |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-1-4058-0162-1}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links |s=Author:Alexander III of Macedon |n=no |voy=On the trail of Alexander the Great}}
{{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Alexander the Great
  |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }}
* {{cite map |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11738/ |title=The Empire and Expeditions of Alexander the Great |first=Félix |last=Delamarche |author-link=Félix Delamarche |year=1833}}
* {{cite news |title=Two Great Historians on Alexander the Great |type=conversations |first1=James |last1=Romm |first2=Paul |last2=Cartledge |author2-link=Paul Cartledge |newspaper=Forbes}} [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/12/two-great-historians-on-alexander-the-great-part-one/ Part 1], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/17/two-great-historians-on-alexander-the-great-part-two/ Part 2], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/20/two-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-3/ Part 3], [https://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2011/01/03/two-great-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-4/ Part 4], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/01/10/how-great-a-general-was-alexander/ Part 5], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/01/28/two-great-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-6/ Part 6].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161204170928/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z1b.html Alexander the Great: An annotated list of primary sources]. Livius. Archived from [http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z1b.html the original] on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d9bkx ''In Our Time'': "Alexander the Great"]{{snd}}BBC discussion with Paul Cartledge, Diana Spencer and Rachel Mairs hosted by Melvyn Bragg, first broadcast 1 October 2015.


{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[Argead dynasty]]||356&nbsp;BC||323&nbsp;BC}}
{{s-reg}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[King of Macedon]]|years=336–323&nbsp;BC}}
{{S-aft|rows=4|after=[[Philip III of Macedon|Philip III]]|after2=[[Alexander IV of Macedon|Alexander IV]]}}
{{S-bef|rows=2|before=[[Darius III]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Persia#Macedonian rulers, 330-129 BC|King of Persia]]|years=330–323&nbsp;BC}}
{{S-break}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of pharaohs#Argead Dynasty|Pharaoh of Egypt]]|years=332–323&nbsp;BC}}
{{S-new|creation}}
{{S-ttl|title=Lord of Asia|years=331–323&nbsp;BC}}
{{S-end}}

{{Kings of Macedon}}
{{Hellenistic rulers}}
{{Pharaohs |late}}
{{Babylonian kings|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alexander the Great| ]]
[[Category:Ancient Persia| ]]
[[Category:356 BC births]]
[[Category:323 BC deaths]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs]]
[[Category:4th-century BC pharaohs]]
[[Category:Ancient Macedonian generals]]
[[Category:Ancient Pellaeans]]
[[Category:Argead kings of Macedonia]]
[[Category:City founders]]
[[Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy]]
[[Category:Deified Greek people]]
[[Category:Deified male monarchs]]
[[Category:Hellenistic-era people]]
[[Category:Historical figures with ambiguous or disputed sexuality]]
[[Category:Kayanians]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Persia]]
[[Category:People in the deuterocanonical books]]
[[Category:Pharaohs of the Argead dynasty]]
[[Category:Shahnameh characters]]
[[Category:Temple of Artemis]]