Ancient History - Alexander the Great - Conquest of Persia

Who did Alexander kill to consolidate power?

Amyntas IV (he was a child who ascended the throne and Philip was his regent, Alexander had him killed), two Macedonian princes (for involvement in Philip’s assassination) and Attalus (trying to defect to Athens and insulted Alexander)

Who did Olympias kill?

Cleopatra Eurydice (the person Philip married and Alexander and Philip fought at her wedding) and her daughter, Europa. Alexander was mad at Olympias

Who did Alexander kill to consolidate power?

Amyntas IV (he was a child who ascended the throne and Philip was his regent, Alexander had him killed), two Macedonian princes (for involvement in Philip’s assassination) and Attalus (trying to defect to Athens and insulted Alexander)

Who did Olympias kill?

Cleopatra Eurydice (the person Philip married and Alexander and Philip fought at her wedding) and her daughter, Europa. Alexander was mad at Olympias

Who did Alexander spare?

Arrhidaeus, who was mentally disabled, possibly from poison from Olympias

Who rebelled upon Philip’s death?

Thessaly, Athens, Thebes and Thracians to the north

How did Alexander defeat the Thessalians?

3,000 cavalry headed to the pass between Mount Olympus and Ossa they occupied: they rode over Ossa and Thessaly surrendered, adding to Alexander’s cavalry

What did he do to Athens?

Advanced on them but pardoned the rebels: he also met Diogenes and said if he was not Alexander, he would like to be Diogenes. He then took the title of hegemon.

How did Alexander defeat the Thracians?

He travelled to the country of the “Independent Thracians” and defeated their forces, then marched to the Danube where he crossed at night and defeated the Getae tribe. He also defeated Illyria at this time.

When Thebes and Athens rebelled again, what did he do to Thebes and why didn’t he do it to Athens?

Burnt Thebes and massacred the population: Athens did not actively fight

What was the role of cavalry in the Macedonian Army?

Alexander fought with the cavalry, companion cavalry were the best (included royal squadron), fought on right wing, intimidated men so they could run after and cut them down, guarded left flank so right could attack

How was the phalanx arranged?

The first group of men held their sarissas forward: the rest held it up to ward off projectiles. Weak at rear and sides

What was the role of agrianes and hypaspists?

Agrianes - Javelin throwers, very lightly armoured

Hypaspists - Larger shield than phalanx, no pike

What weapons did they use?

Most carried a sword, infantry had shield, phalanx had sarissa and javelin, companion cavalry had a double edged spear (xyston) which could be turned and reused if broken

What was the benefit of all of this?

Speed and coordination, leading to attacks that could overwhelm an enemy efficiently

How did Alexander support the soldiers, the wounded and the families of the dead?

Alexander gave them medicine, commissioned bronze statues of them, made sure they were buried the next day, gave tax breaks to their families, let his men rest, gave them motivation through speeches

What are some tactics used by Alexander?

Phalanx as an anvil and cavalry as hammer, good choice of terrain, psychological warfare, being adaptive

What are some examples of Alexander’s religious nature?

Sacrifices, seeking omens, allowing those who sheltered in the Tyrian temple to live, he went on a dangerous journey across Egypt to honour Zeus-Ammon

What are some things Alexander did to incorporate into Persian culture?

Adopt Persian dress, proskynesis, marrying Persians etc

After crossing through part of Asia Minor, where did Alexander go and what did he do there?

Troy, sacrificed to Athena and Priam

What happened to Alexander?

He was crowned and he crowned Achilles: his friend Hephaestion crowned Patroclus

Who was notably not present at the Battle of Granicus?

Darius III - Persia was not prepared

What sign was Alexander told by the Oracle before he left Greece?

That he was invincible

What did the Persians hope to do?

Defeat the cavalry and encircle the phalanx

What actually happened?

Infantry clashed and the Persians were destroyed

What did Parmenio advise?

To set up camp, Alexander wanted to attack. The Persian cavalry consisted 20,000.

What does Arrian say the battle is like despite being fought on horseback?

An infantry battle

How many Persians were killed or taken prisoner?

1,000 and 2,000 respectively

What was the prophecy about the person who untied the Gordian Knot?

They would rule all of Asia

What are the two theories on how Alexander untied the knot?

Cut it with his sword or removed the peg

What happened in the Siege of Halicarnassus?

Alexander had disbanded the Greek fleet and he continued to face Persian attacks. The Persian Navy sailed to Halicarnassus under Memnon to establish a new defense. Traitors were unable to get Alexander in due to being repelled and Alexander reconstructed the navy.

What was Darius’ plan at Issus?

Defeat Alexander in Syria and cut off his retreat

What does the Alexander Sarcophagus show?

Alexander wearing a lion skin (Heracles) and ram horn (Zeus-Ammon), Hephaestion is shown in another, hunting with a Persian: portrayed as cooperative and equal

What does the Alexander Mosaic show?

Alexander on Boucephalas in armour but with no helmet: he is very confident, Darius rides a few steps away. One of Darius’ kinsmen jumps to protect Darius, and the charioteer frantically whips. Darius is shocked and retreats in fear: the Persians wear trousers, distincted from the kilt like garment of the Greeks.

Why did Alexander want to take Tyre?

Deny the Persians their last harbour in the region

How did Alexander build to the city?

A causeway, then siege towers when the water got too deep

How did Alexander get onto the coast?

He built anchors onto it: the Tyrians tried to set fire to the siege towers with their fire ships, and they tried to cut the anchor cables, so chains were used instead

How did Alexander punish the Tyrians?

8,000 were massacred, 30,000 enslaved but those in the Temple of Heracles were spared, with a further 2,000 crucified on the beach

What mistake did Darius fix at the Battle of Gaugamela?

He fought on flat, open plains

How many men did Darius have?

A million

What did Alexander’s men do before battle?

They had a fight between someone they called Alexander and someone they called Darius: the winner got villages and the right to wear Persian clothes

How did Darius and Alexander differ in their approach?

Darius kept his forces ready while Alexander’s men rested: Alexander also refused to attack, claiming he did not “steal a victory”

What two bad things happened at the start?

Parmenio was pushed back and the Bactrian cavalry fell towards the Macedonians: Parmenio urgently asked for reinforcements from Alexander: after sending a reply, Alexander prepared to go in

How did Alexander appeal to the gods?

He said if he was son of Zeus, he should recieve protection of the Greeks from Zeus

Why did Darius have difficulty escaping the battlefield?

Men fell around him and he could not escape by chariot, so took a foal (young horse)

(According to Arrian), how many Macedonians were there?

47,000

(All questions past this point on Gaugamela are Arrian, the above are Plutarch) When Alexander had covered about half the distance between himself and the enemy, what did he do?

Halt his phalanx and summon his comrades

To avoid going onto higher ground (his chariots would not be useful on this), what did Darius do?

He ordered his troops to go around Alexander’s right wing and stop the advance: this worked

Why did the scythe bearing chariots fail to break the phalanx?

Javelins were thrown and Greeks took control of the horses coming

After hearing of Darius fleeing, where did Alexander go?

The Persian right wing

How many did each side lose?

The Greeks lost a few hundred men and 1,000 horses: the Persians faced 300,000 dead or captured

What happened to Darius following the battle?

He left Ariobarzanes (a satrap) in charge of Persepolis while he went east

Where did Parmenio and Alexander go?

Parmenio headed towards Ecbatana and Alexander towards Persepolis by crossing the narrow mountain pass called the Persian Gates

After failing to take the wall due to it being so large and defended (40K infantry and 700 cavalry), where did prisoners tell Alexander to go?

Through a rough and narrow pass to go behind the Persians: Alexander left Craterus and headed with a small force, while signalling to Craterus when to attack: some men ran and many more were encircled and cut down

What did Alexander do once inside?

Plundered it, celebrated hugely including excessive drinking and burnt the palace down (primarily in revenge for Xerxes burning Athens): Arrian criticises Alexander here