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Alexander III
Alexander III Alexander III According to Plutarch, Alexander was born on the sixth of Hecatombaeon (July) in the year 356 B.C. He was the son of Philip, king of Macedon,and Olympias. Supposedly on the day he was born the temple of Artemis burnt down, signifying his future glory. Not much is known of the youth of Alexander. It is known that he was taught by Aristotle and had a love of the Greek epic poems. One famous story from his youth is told in Plutarch's life of Alexander. Philonius the Thessalian brought the horse Bucephalus to Philip offering to sell him for thirteen talents. Philip and his attendants brought the horse to a field to try him. When they got there none of Philip's attendants could even mount him. They were leading the horse away when young Alexander asked for a chance to ride him. A wager was made that if Alexander could not ride the horse he would pay the price for the horse. After the wager was made Alexander took the horse and pointed him in the direction of the sun. He had noticed that the horse was afraid of his own shadow. He then mounted the horse and began to ride, to the amazement of all who watched. When he got off the horse Philip kissed his son. Plutarch also tells of Alexander entertaining Persian ambassadors while his father was not present. When Alexander was 16 Philip left him in charge of Macedon when Philip went to fight the Byzantines. When Alexander was 20 his father was murdered at the theatre. Some say that Alexander had a part in the plot to assasinate his father but almost all agree that his mother Olympias was a key figure in the death of Philip. Whatever the case may be Alexander took the throne in 336 B.C. Alexander is known for his conquest into Persia. When there, he performed hellenization. Hellenization is the attempt to become "Greek." Alexander helped this process along in the lands that he conquered. Another of the things that Alexander did was he set up cities where ever he went. Garrisons were left in these cities. These colonists would become the ruling class. They would then impose laws or rules to promote hellenization. Also in these cities gymnasiums were set up. Gymnasiums were the center of most Greek cities. What better way to make Persian cities similar to Greek cities than by setting up institutions such as these. Another deliberate way that Alexander tried to hellenize had to do with setting up a school. Alexander recruited 30,000 Persian boys to enroll in this school to learn Greek and Greek ways of life. I think the most effective way that Alexander hellenized had to due with his army. First he let Persians into his army. These new members of his army would have to learn how to speak Greek to understand orders. The Persians would also pick up Greek customs from being in the camps with Alexander's army. Secondly, Alexander encourages his soldiers to marry Persian women. Alexander himself had Persian wives. There was even a mass marriage in Susa, where Alexander married 80 of his top officials to Persian women. Why would a Persian want to become Greek? Well, there are six main reasons. It would help to know what's going on. To achieve unity. If you wanted to join army, it would be necessary. You would need it for trade. Necessary to abide by the Greek laws. Maybe they weren't nationalistic at all,and had no problems with changing. Although Alexander tried to Hellenize Persia what actually happened was a Persianization of Alexander. Alexander began to take on Persian ways. He may have been doing this for political reasons. Maybe he hoped that the Persians would respond better to a Persian king than a Greek one. One of the things that Alexander things was take the title of "Great King" and all the things that go along with it. Alexander wanted to be worshipped as a God and even claimed to be descended from divinity. He wanted everybody to engage in proskynesis, that is the act of bowing before the king. The Persians were more than happy to do this but it caused problems between Alexander and ...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now! Get This Full Article After Registration
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