Alexander the Great: Soul and Education

The Soul of a Conqueror

• Alexander the Great inherited his resolve from his father's ambitions
• It was combined with a passion derived from his mother's side of the family
• Alexander embodied the drunken vigor of Philip and the barbaric intensity of Olympias
• Olympias claimed descent from Achilles
• Alexander was fascinated by the Iliad
• He saw his crossing of the Hellespont as retracing Achilles' steps
• His conquest of the Near East mirrored his ancestor's work at Troy
• He carried a copy of the Iliad annotated by Aristotle throughout his campaigns
• He kept it under his pillow with his dagger to symbolize the instrument and goal

The Making of Alexander

• Leonidas trained Alexander's body
• Lysimachus taught him letters
• Aristotle worked to shape his mind
• Philip wanted Alexander to study philosophy to avoid his mistakes
• Aristotle helped to make Alexander a Hellene, instilling a lifelong admiration for Greek literature and civilization
• Alexander considered himself and his Greek companions like demigods among Macedonians

Physical Prowess and Temperament

• Alexander excelled in sports like running, horsemanship, fencing, archery, and hunting
• He would only compete in foot races at Olympia against kings
• Alexander tamed Bucephalus when others could not
• Philip declared that Macedonia was too small for Alexander, urging him to seek a larger empire
• Alexander channeled his energy into shooting arrows and jumping from his chariot
• He enjoyed hunting and facing animals in combat
• He liked hard work and disliked resting
• He mocked generals with too many servants
• Alexander believed the greatest need after victory was avoiding the vices of the conquered
• He was restrained in eating and drinking until later in life
• He preferred simple foods and a night march for an appetite
• According to Plutarch, Alexander's complexion was remarkably clear, and his body and breath were fragrant
• He was considered exceptionally handsome with expressive features, soft blue eyes, and auburn hair
• Alexander introduced shaving to Europe, believing whiskers were an easy handle for enemies

Intellect and Superstitions

• Alexander was an avid student, saddened by his inability to be both a man of action and a thinker
• He had a passion for learning and enjoyed discussing with scholars after marching or fighting
• He valued knowledge of excellence over power and dominion
• Possibly inspired by Aristotle, he funded Nile exploration
• He may not have reached the intelligence of Caesar or the understanding of Napoleon
• He remained uneducated in some ways, making mistakes outside of politics and war
• He never grasped geography well
• He was superstitious and trusted soothsayers and astrologers
• Before the battle of Arbela, he performed magic with Aristander and sacrificed to Fear
• He was easily alarmed by portents, which even changed his plans
• He could lead and conquer, but not control his temper
• His judgment was clouded by praise
• He favored war and lacked inner peace

Paradoxical Morals

• Alexander's moral character was contradictory
• He was sentimental and emotional with "melting eyes"
• He was moved by poetry and music but later rejected them
• He was sexually virtuous due to preoccupation, not principle
• He took wives for political reasons and preferred the company of his generals
• He rebuked servants for almost causing him to commit adultery
• He deeply loved Hephaestion
• He reacted strongly against the suggestion of buying beautiful boys
• He showed tenderness and warmth to friends
• He forgave enemies, like Harpalus, and showed kindness to his soldiers, seeming to feel their wounds
• In 333 BC at Tarsus he drank medicine offered from his physician, after being warned it was poison at the same time

Cruelty and Remorse

• His reputation for generosity aided him in conflicts
• Many enemies surrendered peacefully
• Alexander had a Molossian tigress in him, leading to cruelty
• After conquering Gaza, he dragged Batis around the city
• He later regretted his violent revenge and showed leniency to Athens
• He respected and loved Athens, dedicating spoils and returning statues

Ambition and Administration

• Alexander's ambition drove him
• He worried about Philip achieving everything before him
• He embraced every task and risk
• At Chaeronea and the Granicus, he was eager for danger
• Battle intoxicated him
• He forgot his duties as a general and charged into battle
• His soldiers often had to pull him back
• He was a great general and a brave soldier
• His generals contributed organization, training, tactics, and strategy
• He inspired his troops through imagination, oratory, and empathy
• He was a good administrator
• He ruled with kindness and firmness
• He respected agreements
• He didn't tolerate oppression
• He aimed to unify the eastern Mediterranean under Greek civilization

Revolts and Rebellions

• Alexander became the head of a declining empire upon becoming king
• Northern tribes in Thrace and Illyria revolted
• Several regions renounced allegiance
• Artaxerxes III claimed to have instigated Philip's murder
• Demosthenes celebrated Philip's death
• Conspiracies formed against the young King in Macedonia

Greece Pacified and Thrace Conquered

• Alexander decisively put an end to opposition
• He arrested and executed conspirators
• He marched into Greece (336 BC)
• Greek states renewed allegiance
• Athens apologized, voted him crowns, and gave him divine honors
• Alexander abolished dictatorships and declared freedom for cities
• Most confirmed his rights and honors
• A congress in Corinth, excluding Sparta, made him captain general and promised support for the Asiatic campaign
• Alexander returned to Pella and marched north to suppress barbarian rebellions (335 BC)
• He led troops swiftly to Bucharest and planted standards on the Danube
• Hearing of the Illyrians advancing upon Macedonia, he countered and defeated them

Destruction of Thebes

• A rumor of Alexander's death stirred Athens and encouraged war
• Demosthenes accepted Persian funds
• Thebes revolted, killed Macedonian officials, and besieged the Cadmeia
• Athens aided Thebes and sought an alliance against Macedon
• Alexander, enraged, marched to Greece in thirteen days and defeated the Theban army
• He left Thebes' fate to Plataea, Orchomenos, Thespiae, and Phocis
• They voted to burn Thebes and enslave its people
• Alexander spared Pindar's home, priests, priestesses, and opponents of the revolt to send a message
• He later regretted the act and made amends to Thebans
• He forgave Athens and respected the city
• He dedicated spoils and returned statues taken by Xerxes, remarking on the dangers he faced to earn their praise

In the Footsteps of Achilles

• Alexander secured allegiance from most Greek states, except Sparta
• He prepared to invade Asia with an almost empty state treasury and a legacy of five hundred talents deficit
• He borrowed eight hundred talents, and set out to conquer the world with just 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry
• He left troops to guard Macedonia and set out on a daring venture in 334 BC
• While his army crossed the Hellespont, he landed at Cape Sigeum to follow Agamemnon's path
• He quoted the Iliad, visited Achilles' tomb, and vowed to complete the Europe-Asia struggle started at Troy

Defeat of Persians, Siege of Tyre, Surrender of Jerusalem, Sack of Gaza

• Alexander defeated the first Persian forces at the Granicus River
• Cleitus saved his life at Granicus
• He offered democratic self-government to Greek cities in Ionia
• At Issus, he defeated Darius III's army of 600,000 using cavalry attacks and infantry defense
• Darius fled
• Alexander took Damascus and Sidon peacefully
• He laid siege to Tyre, which harbored a Phoenician squadron
• After a long resistance, he captured Tyre and massacred eight thousand Tyrians, selling thirty thousand into slavery
• Jerusalem surrendered and was treated well
• Gaza fought to the death, and its women were raped

Conquest of Egypt

• The Macedonian march continued through Sinai to Egypt
• Alexander showed respect for Egyptian gods and was welcomed as a liberator
• He crossed to the oasis of Siwa and paid respects to Ammon
• Priests crowned him Pharaoh, paving the way for the Ptolemaic dynasty
• He approved building a new capital at a Nile mouth, Alexandria
• He marked the city's walls, streets, and temple sites, leaving details to Dinocrates

Darius Defeated and Slain

• Marching back into Asia, Alexander met Darius's polyglot army at Gaugamela, near Arbela
• He spent the night reconnoitering and offering sacrifices
• His victory was decisive
• Darius's forces broke and fled
• Darius' generals assassinated him
• Alexander received Babylon's submission, distributed wealth, and made obeisance to its gods
• By 331 BC, he reached Susa, whose people welcomed him as a deliverer

Destruction of Persepolis

• Alexander protected Susa from pillage and divided treasures
• He remitted donations to Greek cities in Asia
• He marched to Persepolis
• His judgment failed him, and he burned the magnificent city to the ground
• His soldiers looted, ravaged women, and killed men
• Alexander, moved by mutilated Greeks, gave them lands and dependents

Conquest of Nomads, Revenge Upon the Regicide

• Alexander attempted to subjugate the tribes bordering Persia, as Cyrus had tried
• He entered Sogdiana and ordered inhabitants slain for their ancestors' betrayal of Xerxes
• Near Bokhara, his men captured Bessus, who had slain Darius
• Avenging the Great King, Alexander had Bessus whipped, mutilated, and executed
• He gradually became less Greek and more barbarous

To India and the Gaze Beyond

• In 327 BC, Alexander passed over the Himalayas into India
• He defeated King Porus after crossing the Indus
• His troops refused to advance
• He sulked for three days
• He turned back
• He had personal bravery while facing hostile tribes
• He fought until exhausted scaling the walls of Mallians
• Soldiers sacrificed themselves to protect him

Another Patroclus

• Alexander renewed his march and reached the Indian Ocean
• Nearchus led part of the forces by sea
• Alexander led the army northwest along the Indian coast through the Gedrosia desert
• His men suffered from heat and thirst exceeding Napoleon's army's struggles in Russia
• After seeing the suffering of his men, he poured water to the ground, as though he was quenched
• Alexander completed a voyage only for some ten thousand to reach Susa

The Eurasian Empire

• Alexander spent nine years in Asia
• Aristotle had told Alexander to treat Greeks as freemen and "barbarians" as slaves
• He found refinement among Persian aristocrats
• Alexander realized he could only ensure permanence to his conquests by reconciling the Persian nobles to his leadership

The Marriage of Cultures

• Thousands of his soldier married native women
• Alexander wed Statira, daughter of Darius III, and Parysatis, daughter of Artaxerxes III
• Eighty of his officers took Persian brides
• Thousands of marrying soldiers were given dowries paid off
• Lands in Mesopotamia and Persia opened to Greek colonists to further union of peoples
• Land opening to Greek colonists reduced pressure of populating and class war
• Hellenized Asiatic cities would become vital part of the Seleucid Empire
• Thirty thousand Persian youths were educated on Greek lines, and taught them Greek manual war

Persian Conquest of Alexander

• His wives possible influenced Oriental ways
• Clothing worn between Greek and Persian
• Soldiers felt was the conquest of Alexander by the Orient
• Persians were flattering
• Macedonian's grumbled at the tasks

The Imperial Deity

• Announcement of own divinity sent to Greek states except Macedonia in 324 BC
• He wished to be recognized as the son of Zeus-Ammon
• Most states were compliant
• Greeks overleaped at being gods
• Egyptians saw the Pharaohs as Gods
• Priests assured him of his divine origin
• He did not actually believe himself to be a God
• Olympias laughed at the legend of him making it official
• Continued to offer sacrifice to the Gods

The Imperial Deity

• His culmination was his announcement of his own divinity
• Alexander declared himself a God in 324 BC
• Greek states complied, feeling as a form
• Spartans agreed
• The Egyptians saw the Pharaohs of gods
• Priests from Siwa, Didyma, and Babylon assumed his divine origin
• All taunted at Attalus insulting his birth
• Alexander considered himself a ruler unify two hostile worlds

Tensions and Sedition in the Army

• Macedonian officers couldn't fathom Alexander's policy
• Found it humiliating
• Philotas, son of Parmenio, entered in a conspiracy to kill
• Alexander got wind of Philotas death
• Philotas forced to confessed before
• Relation turned strained
• Army became discontent
• King suspicious, severe, and lonely

Wine and Darkness

• Solitary exaltation cares inclined to seek forgetfulness of wine
• Banquet in Samarkand: Cleitus revealed Alexander won through other
• Page, Hermolaus, formed conspiracy
• Nephew Callisthenes incriminated, and sent to prison
• Aristole ended

Grumblings in the Army

• Discontent came open mutiny
• Announced send oldest solder-shocked

Another Patroclus

• Affecion led Alexander to dreamed of new campaigns
• Frame weakened by exposure and drink
• Dearest compainion, Hephaestion fell sick
• Cut hair and sentenced to death and ordered to be sacrificed