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In 336 BC Alexander set out with around 37,000 soldiers to build his empire. First they crossed the river Danube to fortify the northern frontier. Then they negotiated the strait at Hellespont (a narrow strait between the Aegean and Marmara seas) with the intention of taking control of Persia. The army marched towards Babylon, fighting along the way, until encountering the forces of Darius III at Issus (modern day Syria). Even though the Macedonians were heavily outnumbered they routed the Persian army after a fake retreat ordered by tactician Alexander. Darius and his men fled for their lives, but left behind a vast wealth, including his own wife and mother. One might expect Alexander to have them killed for being in league with the enemy. Instead he treated them with care, compassion and respect. This was the beginning of Alexander's attempts to integrate Persian and European lifestyles and customs, a move that the majority of his army resented.

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Q: Why was Alexander so friendly to the Persians after he defeated them?
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Why was Alexander so important to the Hellenistic Culture What did Alexandria have that brought people to it?

As Alexander was a world conquer and was never defeated in battle. He spread Hellenstic culture, the Greek culture.


Was Alexander better general than Darius?

As he defeated his armies three times and disabled his fleet, it would seem so.


Why do you think Alexander the Great and his armies were so successful in their battles against the Persians?

Persian infantry was unarmoured - they could not stand up to Macedonian and Greek armoured formations. The Persians first tried hiring Greek armoured infantry, but after winning the battle of Granicus, Alexander had the captured Greek mercenaries massacred as a warning for Greeks thinking of hiring themselves out to Persia. At the final battle of Gaugamela, the Persians had trained their own heavy infantry (Kardakes) but they were too raw and inexperienced to stand up to the seasoned phalanx of Alexander's army.


Did Sparta defeat Persia?

No. The Spartans defeated about 500,000 Persians along with about 1,700 Greeks. Later on in the war, they withdrew to defend Sparta and lost the war. The Spartans alone did not fight or defeat Persians and Persian allies. Many Greek city states allied and defeated Persians in land and sea battles in two separate wars. The only Greek defeat from the most famous battles in the two separate Persian invasions was in Thermopylae. And even then, few thousand Greeks died, including plus or minus 300 Spartans, while it is believed more than 20,000 Persians and their allies that included many Greeks, died in Thermopylae. So it was an honorable defeat.


Did Alexander the Great follow his father's ideas?

Yes he did, after his fathers death Alexander set out to fufill his fathers goals. He amassed the largest empire in the entire ancient world, an empire that coverd 3,000 miles. He did so without the modern technology and weponry- he took the throne in 336 B.C after his father was murdered in 334 B.C, he was fufilling his fathers goals(dreams/ideas). He then declatred war on Persia witch lay across the aegean sea in Asia minor (modern day Turkey), his forces defeated the Persians and continued south.

Related questions

How was it possible that Alexander the Great Defeated the Persian army since the Persians hugely outnumbered the Macedonians?

1. The Persians were unable to match the Macedonian phalanx.2. Alexander had a strong cavalry arm to match the Persians' cavalrt and used light infantry to maintain a link between cavalry and phalanx so the the Persians could not turn the flanks of the phalanx.3 it was a superior combination.


What was the importance of Alexander the Great's many conquests?

His father had a dream to unite the city-states. Shortly after he died so Alexander was his heir. Alexander took his father's dream and tried to unite the Greeks, the Persians, and the Macedonians. He failed


Why was Alexander so important to the Hellenistic Culture What did Alexandria have that brought people to it?

As Alexander was a world conquer and was never defeated in battle. He spread Hellenstic culture, the Greek culture.


What advantages did the Greek solders have over the Persians?

Their infantry were armoured as opposed to wicker shields of the Persians. The Persian cavalry was superior, so the Greeks hung around the foothills where the cavalry couldn't get at them, and defeated the weaker Persian infantry bereft of proper cavalry support.


Was Alexander better general than Darius?

As he defeated his armies three times and disabled his fleet, it would seem so.


Why do you think Alexander the Great and his armies were so successful in their battles against the Persians?

Persian infantry was unarmoured - they could not stand up to Macedonian and Greek armoured formations. The Persians first tried hiring Greek armoured infantry, but after winning the battle of Granicus, Alexander had the captured Greek mercenaries massacred as a warning for Greeks thinking of hiring themselves out to Persia. At the final battle of Gaugamela, the Persians had trained their own heavy infantry (Kardakes) but they were too raw and inexperienced to stand up to the seasoned phalanx of Alexander's army.


Who led the Greeks to defeat the Persians in 334 BC?

Alexander the Great lead the Greeks to defeat the Persians. After doing so, Alexander conquered many other lands and created the largest empire the world has ever seen at the time. He built many cities named after himself (Alexandria), but the most well-known Alexandria was in Egypt where he built a lighthouse 394 feet tall (120 meters). Alexander was one of the greatest conquerors in history.


What are three reasons the Persian empire fell?

Alexander the Great gained control of Greece and so the manpower and logistic backing to establish and maintain a strong enough army to match the Persian army.He capturing the Mediterranean ports from which the Persian navy operated and so eliminated its navy and the threat it posed to his base of Macedonia and mainland Greece.He defeated its armies in three major land battles -Granicus, after which he had the Greek mercenaries employed by Persia slaughtered so that no more would join them and provide the armoured infantry the Persians needed to stand up to his own forces.Issus after which he captured the Persian treasury which gave him the funds to pay and feed his own army and hire mercenaries.Gaugamela, where he defeated the final stand of the Persians with his expanded force.


Did Alexander the Great free the Persian citizens?

Primary sources (such as Arrian) say that there is some evidence in supporting this question of whether or not Alexander saved the Persian citizens, however repetitions of facts among sources point to some understanding that he did offer them some so called "freedom" in J.R Hamilton and a year 13 classics document i picked up that Persian's, with Alexander as king, were given benefits that were inevitably co-operative with the Persians, their religion and way of living and gave them advantages in the kingdom. The "freedom" could be exposed as such a general statement though and may contradict with other statements said about the Persians and the system they lived by. If you look at the way Darius ruled the Persians, then at the way Alexander ruled the Persians you could draw conclusions of "Freedom" from there.


What didn't Alexander have that the Persians had?

A strong navy, so he started by capturing all the Persian Empire coastal city ports to end their sea power and ability to strike Macedonia and Greece by sea.


Why was the battle of gaugamela so important to Alexander?

In late 331 b.c., Alexander's army headed back north. He turned eastward and invaded Mesopotamia, now ruled by the Persians. Alexander's army smashed Darius's forces at Gaugamela, near the Tigris River. After this victory, Alexander's army took over the rest of the Persian Empire so in cnclusion after this victory he got the rest of persia


Did Sparta defeat Persia?

No. The Spartans defeated about 500,000 Persians along with about 1,700 Greeks. Later on in the war, they withdrew to defend Sparta and lost the war. The Spartans alone did not fight or defeat Persians and Persian allies. Many Greek city states allied and defeated Persians in land and sea battles in two separate wars. The only Greek defeat from the most famous battles in the two separate Persian invasions was in Thermopylae. And even then, few thousand Greeks died, including plus or minus 300 Spartans, while it is believed more than 20,000 Persians and their allies that included many Greeks, died in Thermopylae. So it was an honorable defeat.