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ANCIENT WARFARE
Part III: Ancient Greek Military:
Alexander The Great
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| Introduction. Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon (Alexander the Great, Alexander III of Macedon) (356-323 B.C.), King of Macedonia, was born in late July 356 BC in Pella, Macedonia, he was one of the greatest military genius in history. He conquered much of what was then the civilized world, driven by his divine ambition of the world conquest and the creation of a universal world monarchy.  Arrian describes Alexander: the strong, handsome commander with one eye dark as the night and one blue as the sky, always leading his army on his faithful Bucephalus. Alexander inherited from his father King Philip the best military formation of the time, the Macedonian Phalanx, armed with sarisses - the fearful five and half meter long lances. He was the first great conqueror who reached Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and Asia up to western India. He is famous for having created the ethnic fusion of the Macedonians and the Persians. From victory to victory, from triumph to triumph, Alexander created an empire which brought him eternal glory. He brought Greek ideas, culture and life style to the countries which he conquered, and assured expansion and domination of Hellenistic Culture which, together with Roman Civilization and Christianity, constitutes the foundation of what is now called Western Civilization.
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Alexander's Origins
 Alexander was born at Pella in Macedonia in late July of 356 BC, on the same day on which the famous Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed by fire. His father, Philip II of Macedon, was a brilliant ruler and strategist. His mother was Olympias, princess of Epirus, daughter of King Neoptolemus. Olympias was initiated into the cults of Dionysus and Orpheus. She was often jealous, vindictive and very protective of Alexander.
According to tradition, Olympias' ancestor was the mythical hero of the Iliad - Achilles, while his father, Philip II of Macedon, was said to descend from the Zeus' son - Hercules. The legend of Alexander of Macedon begins even before his birth. Alexander's parents, King Philip II of Macedon and Myrtali - the Princess of Epirus, later known as Olympias - were in their dreams warned about his birth. Philip and Olympias were initiated in the mysterious cults of Kabira of Samothrace, and they had believed in the messages in dreams, so that they have invited the most renowned prophet of that time Arixstandros Telmisy, to interpret their dreams. Olympias had dreamt of a loud burst of thunder and lightening that had hit her womb, while in Philip's dream, he was sealing her womb with the seal of the lion. Arixstandros determined that Olympias was pregnant, and that the child would have the character of lion. The oracle of Delphi advised Philip to worship Zeus-Ammon, more than any other god. That brought the advent of Alexander's birth. Ammon (also Amon, Hammon, Zeus, Jupiter) represents the principle of invincibility, and ancient Egyptians had called Ammon "The Invisible", so any other attribution is superfluous. The animal dedicated to the cult of Ammon was ram-aries, one of the "astral fire signs", with the active male principle and the symbol of Pure Will strength, that stands behind everything , which initiates each significant event and crushes all obstacles (like aries or thunder). The thought and vision, now become action. Only through action does it take form, power and is transformed into reality. The purely spiritual can not be stopped and is invincible. Alexander's historical mission was to prepare the impulse of a new astrologic era, to terminate the old one and to transform ancient-obsolete forms of culture and world dominion. (This transition period from Aries to Pisces astrologic era in history is known as the Hellenistic period, and it has lasted for more than two centuries. One astrologic era has a duration of 2000 years.) 
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the largest temples ever built by the Greeks, circa 550 B.C.
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Alexander, Prince of Macedon
Even as a young boy Alexander was fearless and strong. At the age of twelve, he tamed the beautiful and spirited Bucephalus ("ox-head" in Greek), a horse that no one else could ride. Philip was so proud of Alexander's horsemanship that he said:
- O my son, seek out a kingdom worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee.
 Later, this famous stallion carried him as far as India up to the Hydaspes River, where he died. There Alexander built the city of Bucephala, in memory of his beloved horse.
The court at which he grew up was the centre of great deeds, and Philip, by war and thorough diplomacy, was raising Macedon to the guidance of the Greek states, and the atmosphere was charged with grand ideas. To unite the Greek race in a war against the Persian Empire (Isocrat's political project) was set up as the ultimate mark for his ambition, Prince Alexander was even more ambitious than his father; he was even desperate when he heard of Philip's conquests:
My father will get ahead of me in everything, and will leave nothing great for me to do. Alexander knew the Iliad by heart. He loved Homer, and always slept with a copy of the Iliad under his pillow.
His first teacher was Leonidas, a relative of Olympias. Leonidas instilled in Alexander his ascetic nature for which he became famous during his future campaigns; he lived simply, in a Spartan way, eating and sleeping together with his troops. Leonidas was replaced with Lysimachus, who taught Prince Alexander to play the lyre, and to appreciate the arts.  Plutarch writes: The care of his education, as it might be presumed, was committed to a great many attendants, preceptors, and teachers, over the whole of whom Leonidas, a near kinsman of Olympias, a man of an austere temper, presided, who did not indeed himself decline the name of what in reality is a noble and honorable office, but in general his dignity, and his near relationship, obtained him from other people the title of Alexander's foster father and governor. But he who took upon him the actual place and style of his pedagogue was Lysimachus the Acarnanian, who, though he had nothing to recommend him, but his lucky fancy of calling himself Phoenix, Alexander Achilles and Philip Peleus, was therefore well enough esteemed, and ranked in the next degree after Leonidas.
343-342
By the 5th century BC. the Hellens have achieved the cultural stability necessary to develop a common tradition of religion, literature, Olympic sport, art, craft, philosophy, folklore and mythic history. That great cultural achievements lay already far enough behind to have become invested with a classical splendour and the importance of Hellenic culture had been made solid in a way which might maintain respect and passion for ideal values, deep-rooted by tradition, present and aprecited even in the modern Western world. And this sum of tradition was brought upon Alexander in his thirteenth year through the person of the man who beyond all others had gathered it up into an organic system of knowledge. In 343 Aristotle came to Pella at Philip's bidding to direct the education of his son. Alexander from age 13 to 16, together with the other boys belonging to the Macedonian aristocracy, was taught by Aristotle at the Mieza temple- about 30 kilometers from the royal palace at Pella; it was the great Greek philosopher himself who introduced them to the world of arts and sciences. He was also early schooled in war. Aristoteles who conquered the world with thought, was the teacher of Alexander who conquered the world with the sword.
Character of Alexander 
Alexander's actions were inspired: by one god, one demigod, one hero and one sovereign. Dionysios - a divinity. Hercules - a demigod. Achilles - a hero. Cyrus the Great - The Persian emperor. His actions were guided by the sprit of Homer, who appeared in Alexander's dreams, while the Illiad was his manual of war. Like Achilles he was a superhuman hero and warrior, he exposed himself often to the extreme danger during battle. Alexander could support pain, hunger, thirst, heat, desperation and great suffering with immense patience, like Hercules. As a boy, his mother introduced him to the cult mysteries of the Dionysios. Through Dionysios, Alexander took extreme mobility and love for adventure. During the course of his conquest, Alexander repeated the same journey as Dionysios, only in reverse. Alexander admired the personality of the Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, whose example and politics he imitated during the creation of his universal empire. Like Cyrus, Alexander respected the tradition and religion of dominated peoples. The Illiad thought him that he could have only two epic and noble passions: furious anger and disinterested generous friendship. To live with such a multitude of images and multiplicity of souls inside one personality was difficult and dangerous, as such a coexistence was not often harmonious and pacific. Alexander's epic actions were often guided by the ghost of Homer, like Hamlet's were by the ghost of his dead father.
Some notion of the personal appearance of Alexander may be got from the literature and the surviving monuments. He is described as of an athletic frame, though not taller than the common, and a white and ruddy complexion. The expression of his eyes had something liquid and melting and the hair which stood up over his forehead gave the suggestion of a lion. He had a way of carrying his head somewhat aslant. (See especially Plut. Alex. 4; de Alex. fort.ii. 2.) The greatest masters of the time executed portraits of him, Lysippus in sculpture, Apelles in painting and Pyrgoteles in graven gems. Among surviving monuments, we have no completely certified portraits except the Tivoli herm (now in the Louvre) and the coins struck by his successors. The herm is a dry work and the head upon the coins shows various degrees of idealization. There are, however, a considerable number of works which can make out a better or worse claim either to be portraits of Alexander or to reproduce his type, and a large field of discussion is therefore open as to their values and classification
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Alexander, Prince Regent
 During Philip's expedition against Byzantium in 340, Alexander, then sixteen years old was left in Macedonia in the charge of the royal seal; at that time, he was anything but idle: he managed to subjugate the rebellious Maedi, a Thracian tribe. He took their capital town by storm, drove out the barbarous inhabitants, and created a colony of several nations in their region, calling the new town Alexandropolis. -
Philip's autocracy was not appreciated by the Athenians, and Demosthenes considered him semi-barbarian. Obviously the hegemony of Macedonia presented a threat for the autonomous politics of Athens.
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Next Tuesday, continuation : Alexander The Great
Philip's Kingdom |
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