The Historical Legacy of Alexander the Great and His Conquests in Persia, India, and Egypt

As one of the great historical figures of ancient civilization, Alexander the Great remains an object of investigation by historians interested in how the young king succeeded in attempting to create an empire rooted in classical Greek thought.  The campaigns launched in Persia, Egypt, and India represent markers of his success as ruler of Macedonia.  Yet, the historical legacy of these campaigns extends far beyond what historians continue to discover

Alexander the Great

The twenty-year-old man who would become Alexander the Great ascended the throne in Macedonia in the year 336 BCE after the assassination of King Philip II, his father (Parker & Parker, 2017).  Alexander was heavily immersed in Greek culture and he considered his homeland a part of the Hellenic tradition (Freeman, 2011).   Yet, the main objective of Alexander the Great ruling over Macedonia was to preserve the security of his country.  To fulfill this objective, the young king believed it was necessary to unify all of the Greek city-states into a larger, more powerful state and then permanently rid Macedonia of all potential threats entering from Persia (Parker & Parker, 2017).  During Alexander’s rule, Macedonia was divided into two different regions, one that was home to farmers in the highlands and the other that home to lowland dwellers who lived along the coast (Freeman, 2011).  However, Macedonia was also engaged in warfare with the Persian Empire and King Alexander experienced numerous difficulties in his attempts to create a more unified, powerful Hellenic state.

Alexander the Great eventually began ruling his empire by eliminating rivals and, as included in many historical reports, had some of his family members executed.   Particularly in response to the death of King Philip I, the young king occupied the pass between Macedonia and the Greek city of Thessaly (Freeman, 2011).  Alexander subsequently received recognition as the leader of the Amphictyonic League and continued to lead his battalion south into the city of Corinth.  In Corinth, Alexander accepted the official title of hegemon and received an appointment as commander for the imminent war against the Persian Empire (Freeman, 2011; Parker & Parker, 2017).  Soon, Alexander the Great and his battalion conquered the Persians but not after launching a campaign in the Balkans where the young king repressed multiple revolts by surprising them and forcing them to retreat (Freeman, 2011).  After Alexander the Great entered Persian, he and his battalion engaged in unprecedented campaigns to establish what was to become the most expansive empire in history.

In 337 BCE, Alexander the Great authorized an invasion of the Persian Empire to establish a vision of a Panhellenic society in which Greek culture would become the mainstay for producing a culture rooted in classic thought (Freeman, 2011).  For the young king, the Persian Empire represented a gift from the gods who permitted him the willingness to fight for the honor of his father.  After he and his battalion defeated the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander instituted democracy in the city of Miletus located along the Ionian coast but had to command a siege operation with great care (Freeman, 2011).  However, Alexander the Great launched his first-large scale siege in Halicarnassus and forced his rivals to withdraw their naval fleet (Freeman, 2011; Parker & Parker, 2017).  After he succeeded in Halicarnassus, Alexander traveled into Lycia, claimed control over every coastal city, and effectively denied Persians entry onto naval bases (Freeman, 2011).  Alexander and his battalion then moved inland into the cities of Termessos and Gordium where, in the latter, the young king solved the problem of the Gordian knot (Freeman, 2011).  Whence he solved this problem, Alexander the Great eventually embarked on his conquests into Egypt and India.

Egypt was, nevertheless, in a state of rebellion against the Persian Empire as many cities burned and many rebels were the victims of massacres.  Yet, Freeman (2011, p. 71) highlighted that the Persians had no particular interest in proselytizing spiritual beliefs onto the Egyptians despite how most rulers who led the Persian Empire disdained traditional religious practices.  Ironically, rulers who led the Persian Empire were as polytheistic as the Egyptians were; however, the cosmological views of rulers who led the Persian Empire entailed fierce, semi-permanent battles between good and evil (Freeman, 2011; Parker, & Parker, 2017).  For Alexander the Great, resistance in the city of Gaza led him and his battalion to launch unsuccessful campaigns, one in which the young king suffered a serious wound to the shoulder (Freeman, 2011).  Yet, when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, he required all men of military age to learn the sword and he sold women and children into slavery.

Even while Alexander the Great forced Egyptians to occupy a subjugated position, many considered the young king a liberator with powers comparable to that of deities (Freeman, 2011).  Still, Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in 332 BCE which could become the capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death nine years later (Parker & Parker, 2017).  After Alexander the Great and his battalion left Egypt in 331 BCE, the Persian Empire eventually fell when a series of raids caused many cities to fall.  Interestingly, while Alexander initially wanted to create a Panhellenic empire rooted in the Greek culture of his youth, the young king adopted some elements of Persian customs, including proskynesis, a symbolic kissing of the hand or prostration to the ground recognized by the Greeks as a gesture to the gods (Freeman, 2011, p. 263).  However, this adoption of Persian customs caused many Greeks to believe that the young king regarded himself as a deity; thus, Alexander the Great abandoned this practice before he launched a campaign in Central Asia to destroy a plot set against his wife (Freeman, 2011).  The young king succeeded in his campaign and was able to reward Greece with a significant share of the spoils.  Yet, Alexander demanded absolute loyalty from his troops and eventually depleted the military power held by his Macedonian battalion (Freeman, 2011).  However, when Alexander sought to conquer the Indian subcontinent by demanding that everyone in the region of Gandhara submit to his authority.

In 327 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded India with the intent of expanding his grandiose Panhellenic idea further east.  The campaign led by Alexander and his battalion was often brutal; however, the young king remained fascinated with the religious traditions practiced by natives (Freeman, 2011).  For Alexander, the Indian subcontinent was rich with tradition was Egypt during his rule.  Largely because Alexander saw the significance of Indian traditions, he returned the title of ruler to Ambhi in the ancient city of Taxila that had a kingdom extending from the Indus to the Jhelum rivers (Freeman, 2011).  Yet, during the first years of his Indian conquest, Alexander the Great personally launched campaigns against clans located along the Indus and Jhelum rivers.  The young king and his battalion eventually won epic battles concerning territorial control over the Indus and Jhelum rivers (Freeman, 2011).  However, while Alexander the Great succeeded in conquering the Indian subcontinent, some historians remarked that Alexander the Great was partly responsible for the spread of leprosy in the Indian subcontinent (Mark, 2002).  Several members of Alexander’s battalion died mostly because of harsh desert-like conditions in the Indian subcontinent; however, claims that the young king was partly responsible for the spread of leprosy in India lack clear historical evidence rooted in scientific processes (Mark, 2002).  Though Alexander and his battalion could have carried leprosy from the Indian subcontinent upon their return to Macedonia, several cases would have emerged throughout Macedonia and Greece to reduce the population drastically.

Conclusion

The historical legacy of Alexander the Great extends far beyond his conquests in Persia, Egypt, and India.  Considering how the young king attempted to establish a Panhellenic empire rooted in Greek culture, Alexander the Great acted with the belief that he needed to carry onward with what his father, King Philip I, intended for Macedonia.  Judging from the outcomes of campaigns launched in Persia, Egypt, and India, Alexander the Great experienced wild success despite claims that he and his battalion were responsible for the spread of diseases such as leprosy in Macedonia and Greece.

References

Freeman, P. (2011). Alexander the Great. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Mark, S. (2002). Alexander the Great, seafaring, and the spread of leprosy. Journal of the History of Medicine, 57, 285-311. doi: 10.1093/jhmas/57.3.285

Parker, G., & Parker, B. (2017). The Persians: Lost civilizations. London, UK: Reaktion Books.