Why does Alexander fascinate people
so much? Of course for the entire West Greece had been the mother in education,
scholarship, philosophy, science and culture. That is why although he comes
from a small country like Greece, Alexander becomes important to them. Of
course coupled to this are the mighty conquests he made.
In fact Alexander comes from Macedonia and not from proper Greece. At that time Macedonia was considered uncivilised and crude. While, Greece itself has a population of 10 million today, Macedonia has about a mere 2 million at the most. Of course these are current day populations and obviously in the 3rd century BC at the time of Alexander Macedonia would have had no more than say about 0.5 million population and Greece about 2 million population. That is what makes Alexander phenomenal. He raised a fighting force of 46000 men which is about 2.5% of the population of entire Greece then.
He rose like a meteor and also died like one. He has conquered a huge parcel of land and the countries of Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Bulgaria, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Azerbaizan, Palestine, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Ujbekistan, Tadjhikistan, Kuwait & Cyprus which countries together account for 70 crores of population today. Alexander conquered all this territory in a matter of 12 years after he became King at 20 years of age in 336 BC.
Alexander had a volatile temperament
but his Guru Aristotle gave him a sort of steadiness by teaching him the
sciences as well as arts. He became so interested in Homer that he carried a
copy of Homers works specially prepared for him by Aristotle in all his
campaigns. He led from the front and was recklessly brave and always threw
himself into the thick of battle. Coupled with this he was well reasoned and
intelligent too which made him outfox his enemy in war tactics all the time. So,
he was a brilliant commander and a most brave fighter who never cared for his
life in battle as well. He did well in Metaphysics and mathematics under
Aristotle.
Of course having said all this, he
carried with him an impetuosity which could not be curbed on some occasions. He
was noble and sparing in battle. We know the incident regarding Porus whom he
spared and made him his vassal. When he defeated Persia he took the family of Ataxerxes
consisting of his mother and 3 daughters as hostages but treated them very
well. In fact later he married Parysatis the youngest daughter of Ataxerxes.
The ruler of Persia Ataxerxes III
sent his ambassadors to Greece who was very impressed with Alexander’s maturity
of mind and his reflective powers.
His studentship with Socrates made
him take an entourage of Zoologists, Botanists, Philosophers and other
Researchers on his campaigns deep into Asia. Of course the two fell out when
Alexander adopted Persian customs because Aristotle was totally against Persia
and its customs.
We know that his father Philip was an
able King and from his small kingdom in Macedonia managed to conquer all of
Greece. Although the Sarissa or the Greek Pike or long spear was known in
Greece, it was very effectively used by Philip who invented the Macedonian
Phalanx. In this 256 men in 16 rows and 16 columns marched together as a group.
They carried a pointed Sarissa in their hands pointed forward covering
themselves with a shield. This Phalanx worked very effectively and the enemies
found it extremely hard to pierce. The
Sarissa is about 16 to 18 feet in length and weighed about 6.5 Kgs.
Alexander was considered to have had
a relationship with men by some historians. In fact initially he was very
averse to sex itself. King Philip and his mother Olympia were extremely worried
at his aversion to sex and they brought a high priced prostitute from Thessaly
to induce Alexander into sex, but apparently even that did not succeed in
persuading him. However, in later life he was seen to be freely having sex with
women. Alexander has sternly refused offers from men and it is said that the
renowned Athenian orator Demosthenes himself tried to pimp him with two men but
to no success.
Alexander married 3 times to ROXANA
of Bactria, STATEIRA the daughter of Darius III of Persia whom Alexander
defeated, and PARYSATIS the youngest daughter of Ataxerxes III of Persia. He
fathered Alexander IV of Macedon through Roxana.
