Alexander the Great (Alexander the Great) d. 20 (21) July 356 BC e. - d.s. 10 (13) June 323 BC e. King of Macedonia since 336, the most famous commander of all times and peoples, who created the largest monarchy of antiquity by force of arms.
According to the deeds of Alexander the Great, it is difficult to compare with any of the great generals in world history. It is known that he was revered by such world-shaking conquerors as ... In fact, the conquests of the king of the small state of Macedonia in the very north of the Greek lands had a serious impact on all subsequent generations. And the military art of the king of Macedonia has become a classic for people who have devoted themselves to military affairs.
Origin. early years
Alexander the Great was born in Pella. He was the son of Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympias, daughter of the king of Epirus Neoptolemus. The future hero of the Ancient World received a Hellenic upbringing - his mentor since 343 was perhaps the most legendary ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
“Alexander ... admired Aristotle and, in his own words, loved his teacher no less than his father, saying that he owes Philip that he lives, and Aristotle that he lives with dignity,” Plutarch wrote.
The king-commander Philip II himself taught his son the art of war, in which he soon succeeded. In ancient times, the winner in the war was considered a man of great statesmanship. Tsarevich Alexander commanded a detachment of Macedonian soldiers for the first time when he was 16 years old. For that time, this phenomenon was common - the son of the king simply could not help but be a military leader in the lands subject to him.
Fighting in the ranks of the Macedonian army, Alexander exposed himself to mortal danger and received several severe wounds. The great commander sought to overcome his own fate with insolence, and the strength of the enemy - courage, because he believed that there was no barrier for the brave, and no support for cowards.
Young commander
Tsarevich Alexander demonstrated his leadership talent and courage as a warrior already in 338, when he defeated the "sacred detachment" of the Thebans at the Battle of Chaeronea, in which the Macedonians met with the troops of Athens and Thebes that had united against them. The prince commanded the entire Macedonian cavalry in battle, numbering 2,000 horsemen (in addition, King Philip II had another 30,000 well-trained and disciplined infantrymen). The king himself sent him with heavily armed cavalry to that flank of the enemy, where the Thebans stood.
The young commander with the Macedonian cavalry defeated the Thebans with a swift blow, who were almost all exterminated in the battle, and then attacked the flank and rear of the Athenians.
Ascension to the throne
This victory brought Macedonian dominance in Greece. But for the winner, she was the last. Tsar Philip II, who was preparing a large military campaign in Persia, was killed by conspirators in August 336. 20-year-old Alexander, who ascended his father's throne, executed all the conspirators. Together with the throne, the young king received a well-trained army, the core of which was detachments of heavy infantry - spearmen armed with long pikes - sarissas.
Auxiliary troops were also numerous, which consisted of mobile light infantry (mainly archers and slingers) and heavily armed cavalry. In the army of the king of Macedonia, various throwing and siege machines were widely used, which were taken disassembled after the army during the campaign. Among the ancient Greeks, military engineering was at a very high level for that era.
Tsar-commander
First of all, Alexander established the hegemony of Macedonia among the Greek states. He forced to recognize the unlimited power of the supreme military leader in the upcoming war with Persia. The king threatened all his opponents only with military force. 336 - he was elected head of the Corinthian Union, he took the place of his father.
After Alexander made a victorious campaign against the barbarians who lived in the Danube valley (the Macedonian army crossed the full-flowing river) and coastal Illyria. The young king forced them by force of arms to recognize his dominion and help him with his troops in the war against the Persians. Because rich military booty was expected, the leaders of the barbarians willingly agreed to go on a campaign.
While the king was fighting in the northern lands, false rumors about his death spread throughout Greece, and the Greeks, especially the Thebans and Athenians, opposed the Macedonian domination. Then the Macedonian forced march unexpectedly approached the walls of Thebes, captured and destroyed this city to the ground. Having learned a sad lesson, Athens surrendered, and they were treated generously. The rigidity shown by him in relation to Thebes put an end to the opposition of the Greek states to militant Macedonia, which at that time had the strongest and most efficient army in the Hellenic world.
334, spring - the king of Macedonia began a campaign in Asia Minor, leaving the commander Antipater as the governor and giving him a 10,000-strong army. He quickly crossed the Hellespont in ships assembled for this purpose from everywhere, at the head of an army consisting of 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The Persian fleet was unable to prevent this operation. At first, Alexander did not meet with serious resistance until he reached the Granik River, where large enemy forces were waiting for him.
Alexander's conquests
In May, on the banks of the Granik River, the first serious battle took place with the Persian troops, commanded by the famous commander Memnon of Rhodes and several royal commanders - satraps. The enemy army consisted of 20 thousand Persian cavalry and a large number of hired foot Greek soldiers. According to other sources, the 35,000th Macedonian army was opposed by a 40,000th enemy army.
Most likely, the Persians had a noticeable numerical advantage. In particular, it was expressed in the number of cavalry. Alexander the Great, before the eyes of the enemy, resolutely crossed the Granik and was the first to attack the enemy. At first, he easily defeated and dispersed the light Persian cavalry, and then destroyed the phalanx of Greek infantry mercenaries, of which less than 2,000 people were taken prisoner. The victors lost less than a hundred soldiers, the defeated - up to 20,000 people.
In the battle on the Granik River, the Macedonian king personally led the heavily armed Macedonian cavalry and often found himself in the thick of the battle. But he was rescued either by bodyguards who fought nearby, or by personal courage and martial arts. It was personal courage, multiplied by the art of generalship, that brought the Great Commander unprecedented popularity among the Macedonian soldiers.
After this brilliant victory, most of the cities of Asia Minor with a predominantly Hellenic population opened the fortress gates to the conqueror, including Sardis. Only the cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus, famous for their independence, offered stubborn armed resistance, but they could not repel the onslaught of the Macedonians. At the end of 334 - beginning of 333 BC. e. The Macedonian king conquered the regions of Caria, Lycia, Pamphylia and Phrygia (in which he took the strong Persian fortress of Gordion), in the summer of 333 - Cappadocia and went to Cilicia. But the dangerous illness of Alexander stopped this victorious march of the Macedonians.
Having barely recovered, the king moved through the Cilician mountain passes to Syria. The Persian king Darius III Kodoman, instead of waiting for the enemy on the Syrian plains, advanced at the head of a huge army to meet him and cut off the enemy’s communications. Near the city of Issa (modern Iskenderun, the former city of Alexandretta), in northern Syria, one of the largest battles in the history of the Ancient World took place.
The Persian army outnumbered the forces of Alexander the Great by about three times, and according to some estimates, even 10 times. Usually sources indicate a figure of 120,000 people, of which 30,000 are Greek mercenaries. Therefore, King Darius and his commanders did not doubt a complete and quick victory.
The Persian army took a convenient position on the right bank of the Pinar River, which crossed the Issa plain. It was simply impossible to flank her unnoticed. King Darius III probably decided to intimidate the Macedonians with one sight of his huge army and achieve complete victory. Therefore, he did not rush things on the day of the battle and gave the enemy the initiative to start the battle. It cost him dearly.
The king of Macedonia was the first to launch the attack, moving forward a phalanx of spearmen and cavalry operating on the flanks. The heavy Macedonian cavalry (the cavalry of the "comrades"), under the command of Alexander the Great himself, attacked from the left bank of the river. With her impulse, she carried the Macedonians and their allies into battle, setting them up for victory.
The ranks of the Persians mixed up, and they took to flight. The Macedonian cavalry pursued the fugitives for a long time, but they could not catch Darius. Persian losses were enormous, perhaps over 50,000.
The marching camp of the Persians, together with the family of Darius, went to the winner. In an effort to win the sympathy of the population of the conquered lands, the king showed mercy to the wife and children of Darius, and allowed the captive Persians, if they wished, to join the ranks of the Macedonian army, in its auxiliary detachments. Many captive Persians took advantage of this unexpected opportunity to escape the shameful slavery on Greek soil.
Because Darius fled far away with the remnants of his army, to the banks of the Euphrates River, the Great commander moved to Phenicia in order to conquer the entire eastern, Syrian coast of the Mediterranean Sea. At this time, he twice rejected the proposal of the Persian king for peace. Alexander the Great only dreamed of conquering the vast Persian state.
In Palestine, the Macedonians met with unexpected resistance from the Phoenician fortress city of Tyra (Sur), located on an island near the coast. Tire was separated from the land by a strip of water of 900 meters. The city had high and strong fortress walls, a strong garrison and a squadron, large supplies of everything necessary, and its inhabitants were determined to defend their native Tire from foreign invaders with weapons in their hands.
A seven-month, incredibly difficult siege of the city began, in which the Macedonian navy took part. Along the dam, under the very fortress walls, various throwing and wall-beating machines were brought up. After many days of effort by these machines, the fortress of Tire was taken by the besiegers during a fierce assault.
Only a part of the inhabitants of the city was able to escape on ships, whose crews broke through the blockade ring of the enemy fleet and were able to escape to the Mediterranean Sea. During the bloody assault on Tire, 8,000 citizens were killed, and about 30,000 were sold into slavery by the victors. The city itself, as a warning to others, was practically destroyed and for a long time ceased to be the center of navigation in the Mediterranean.
After that, all the cities in Palestine submitted to the Macedonian army, except for Gaza, which happened to be taken by force. The victors in a rage killed the entire Persian garrison, the city itself was plundered, and the inhabitants were sold into slavery. This happened in November 332.
Egypt, one of the most densely populated countries of the Ancient World, submitted to the Great General of antiquity without any resistance. At the end of 332, the conqueror founded the city of Alexandria in the Nile Delta on the sea coast (one of many who bore his name), which soon turned into a major commercial, scientific and cultural center of Hellenic culture.
When conquering Egypt, Alexander showed the wisdom of a great statesman: he did not touch local customs and religious beliefs, in contrast to the Persians, who constantly offended these feelings of the Egyptians. He was able to win the trust and love of the local population, which was facilitated by an extremely reasonable organization of the country's administration.
331, spring - the Macedonian king, having received significant reinforcements from the royal governor in Hellas Antipater, again moved to war against Darius, who had already managed to gather a large army in Assyria. The Macedonian army crossed the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and at Gaugamela, not far from the city of Arbela and the ruins of Nineveh, on October 1 of the same year, the opponents met in battle. Despite the significant superiority of the Persian army in numbers and absolute - in the cavalry, Alexander the Great, thanks to the skillful tactics of conducting an offensive battle, was again able to win a brilliant victory.
Alexander the Great, who was with his heavy cavalry "comrades" on the right flank of the Macedonian fighting position, made a gap between the left flank and the center of the Persians and then attacked their center. After stubborn resistance, despite the fact that the left flank of the Macedonians was under strong pressure from the enemy, the Persians retreated. In a short time, their huge army turned into crowds of unruly armed people. Darius III fled among the first, and his entire army ran after him in complete disarray, suffering huge losses. The winners lost only 500 people.
From the battlefield, Alexander the Great moved to the city, which surrendered without a fight, although it had powerful fortress walls. Soon the victors captured the Persian capital of Persepolis and the huge royal treasury. The brilliantly won victory at Gaugamela made Alexander the Great the ruler of Asia - now the Persian state lay at his feet.
By the end of 330, the Great commander subjugated all of Asia Minor and Persia, having achieved the goal set by his father. In less than 5 years, the king of Macedonia was able to create the greatest empire for that era. In the conquered territories, the local nobility ruled. Only military and financial affairs were entrusted to the Greeks and Macedonians. In these matters, Alexander the Great trusted exclusively his people from among the Hellenes.
In the next three years, Alexander made military campaigns in the territory of present-day Afghanistan, Central Asia and North India. After that, he finally put an end to the Persian state, whose fugitive king, Darius III Kodoman, was killed by his own satraps. Then followed the conquest of the regions - Hyrcania, Aria, Drangiana, Arachosia, Bactria and Sogdiana.
Having finally conquered the populous and rich Sogdiana, the Macedonian king married Roxalana, the daughter of the Bactrian prince Oxyartes, who fought especially valiantly against him, seeking in this way to strengthen his dominance in Central Asia.
328 - Macedonian, in a fit of anger and drunk with wine, stabbed the commander Clitus during a feast, who saved his life in the battle of Granik. At the beginning of 327, a conspiracy of noble Macedonians was uncovered in Bactria, who were all executed. The same conspiracy led to the death of the philosopher Callisthenes, a relative of Aristotle. This last punishing act of the great conqueror was difficult to explain, because his contemporaries were well aware of how highly the student revered his wise teacher.
Having finally subjugated Bactria, Alexander the Great in the spring of 327 undertook a campaign in northern India. His army of 120,000 men consisted mainly of the troops of conquered lands. Crossing the Hydaspes River, he entered into battle with the army of King Por, which included 30,000 foot soldiers, 200 war elephants and 300 war chariots.
The bloody battle on the banks of the Gidasp River ended with another victory for the great commander. A significant role in it was played by the light Greek infantry, which fearlessly attacked the war elephants, which the eastern warriors were so afraid of. A fair number of elephants, enraged by numerous wounds, turned around and rushed through their own battle formations, mixing the ranks of the Indian army.
The victors lost only 1,000 soldiers, while the defeated lost much more - 12,000 were killed and another 9,000 Indians were captured. The Indian king Por was captured, but was soon released by the victor. Then the army of Alexander the Great entered the territory of modern Punjab, winning several more battles.
But further advance into the interior of India was stopped: an open murmur began in the Macedonian army. The soldiers, exhausted by eight years of constant military campaigns and battles, begged Alexander to return home to distant Macedonia. After leaving along the banks of the Indus to the Indian Ocean, Alexander the Great had a chance to obey the wishes of the troops.
Death of Alexander the Great
But the king of Macedonia did not have a chance to return home. In Babylon, where he lived, busy with state affairs and plans for new campaigns of conquest, after one of the feasts, Alexander suddenly fell ill and died a few days later at the age of 33. Dying, he did not have time to appoint his successor. One of his closest associates, Ptolemy, transported the body of Alexander the Great in a golden coffin to Alexandria and buried it there.
The collapse of the empire
The consequences of the death of the Great commander of antiquity were not long in coming. Just a year later, the huge empire created by Alexander the Great ceased to exist. It broke up into several constantly warring states, which were ruled by the closest associates of the hero of the Ancient World.
He was born and raised in the backyards of the great Greek civilization. The kings of Macedonia looked at Hellas as an older brother who had undeniable merits in history and culture. Alexander was in awe of Achilles and Hercules, Socrates and Pericles, dreaming of touching their glory and taking a place in the pantheon of heroes, at least on the edge. It so happened that he surpassed his idols, defeated the main enemy of the Greeks and spread the cultural code of Hellenism throughout the Mediterranean. The world has changed since he left. The Republic of the Romans was already gaining strength, for whom Alexander was a role model. His life is covered with legends and rumors, which were not stinted by contemporaries and descendants. Now it is difficult to separate truth from fiction, but his military exploits are beyond doubt. Alexander the Great is one of the pillars of European culture.
Heir to the throne
As befits a great man, the circumstances of his birth are unusual. He was born in 356 in the capital of Macedonia, the city of Pella, on the very night when Herostratus burned the temple of Artemis of Ephesus. Probably the Greeks themselves composed this legend to explain the military catastrophe in India. Both dates are not exactly known, so they are easy to manipulate. Alexander's father, Philip II, had a rich pedigree, belonging to the tree of the kings of Argos, who, in turn, descended from Hercules.
Interestingly, in the succession of Macedonian kings, the name Alexander has already been encountered. It was a king who ruled in the 4th century BC. It is known about him that he was lucky on the battlefield and sympathized with the Greeks. The mother of the future commander, Olympias, was the most influential of Philip's six wives. The daughter of the king of Epirus was undoubtedly a Grecophile and raised her son in favor of Hellenic values. She did not love her husband and tried to plant similar feelings in the boy's soul.
Among the educators of Alexander, Aristotle deserves special attention, a personality no less great and famous. The thinker instilled in the heir to the throne a love for medicine, literature and philosophy. The future civilizer of the ecumene received a classical Greek education, admired the heroes of the Iliad and did not part with the scroll of Homer, rereading his favorite lines in his moments of leisure.
Perhaps Aristotle was also the man who managed to sow dreams of glory in the boy's soul. Young Alexander is stubborn, indifferent to women and bodily pleasures. His ambition knows no bounds. He founded the first city in his honor at the age of 16, having suppressed the uprising of the Thracian tribe of Meds. Queen Olympias uses her stubborn and adventurous son in her intrigues against her husband. Philip II was killed by his bodyguard for no apparent reason. We can only guess who directed the criminal hand, since the killer was executed on the spot.
The conquest of Hellas
Alexander, who ascended the throne, was not slow to deal with possible conspirators and contenders for the throne. The deceased king left behind an empty treasury and a dissatisfied population of the conquered lands. Having promised the Greek policies to respect their sovereignty, Alexander leaves his garrisons there, and with a small army he successfully suppresses the rebellious Illyrians and Thracians. Thebes was the only city in Hellas that dared to throw off the hegemony of the Macedonians. Other policies preferred to provide moral support, and even the famous Athenian orator Demosthenes could not do anything.
Without waiting for the pacification of Thebes, the policies deal with the internal opponents of the Macedonians. The point here is not only cowardice, but also a sober calculation, because Alexander appealed to the Persian threat, and no one but him could organize revenge for past grievances.
Against the barbarians
The Greeks considered the Macedonians savages, but not barbarians, since they were part of the cultural space of Hellenism. Both Philip II and Alexander never had plans to enslave and ruin the country before which they bowed. They only sought to unite it into a kind of state that would allow the pampered Hellenes to withstand external danger and preserve the heritage of their ancestors. After the battle of Chaeronea in 338, which showed the weakness of the Greek world, Philip creates the Corinthian Union, which proclaims the Macedonian king the hegemon (leader and patron) of all Greeks.
Dealing with the Thebans, Alexander insisted on the continuation of the rule of the Macedonians. In the spring of 334, he gathers an expeditionary force, which included not only his compatriots, but also Greeks from city-states. Through the Hellespont, he crossed into Asia Minor, deceiving the vigilance of the Persians. His army numbered 50 thousand, but this army marched through the places of epic glory described by Homer in the Iliad.
Not far from the legendary Troy, a battle took place on the Granik River, in which the Persian army was utterly defeated, after which most of the Greek colonial cities in Asia Minor surrendered to the mercy of the winner. In November 333, at the Battle of Issus, the Persian king Darius himself fought with Alexander. Squeezed in a gorge between the mountains and the sea, the Persian army could not take advantage of its advantages and was defeated. The king himself fled, leaving his family and wealth behind. Darius asks for peace twice, but does not receive it.
Entering Phoenicia, Alexander meets stubborn resistance from the city of Tyre, located on the island. For seven months, the Phoenicians, who have the best fleet in the then world, supply the besieged fortress with everything necessary. The next tough nut to crack was the Palestinian city of Gaza, which held out for two months. Without any resistance, Egypt was surrendered, which was under the yoke of the hated Persians. Alexander the Great is greeted not only as a deliverer, but also as a new deity.
Son of Zeus
The unearthly honors given to Alexander prompted him to proclaim himself the son of Zeus-Amon. This trick was of great importance in inspiring his own army, and the demoralized enemy lost faith in his leader. On October 1, 331, at the battle of Gaugamela, the Persians and the peoples subject to them were defeated, and Darius again shamefully fled from the battlefield. The satrap governors of Babylon and Susa go over to the side of the successful commander without a fight. In January 330, after a short siege, the capital of Persia, the city of Persepolis, was surrendered.
Darius flees first to Media and then to Parthia, where he is killed by his own commanders. The satrap of Bactria, who participated in the conspiracy, proclaims himself the new Persian king under the name Artaxerxes and tries to organize resistance. Issued by his own associates, he was executed.
The multicultural policy pursued by Alexander in the vast expanse of the conquered territories, in general, failed. It was impossible to equalize the Persians, Hellenes and Egyptians. The style of government in the eastern provinces required the worship of the king and the rendering of divine honors to him, while the Greeks continued to see in their leader an older comrade and an equal participant in feasts. Their muffled murmuring evoked the habit of prostrating themselves and kissing the lord's foot.
The burden of power corrupts a person. Alexander becomes haughty and suspicious. The fatigue of the soldiers provides food for discontent and ripening conspiracies. But the king of Persia is preparing for new campaigns. He wants to see the world and cut another Gordian knot. In his convoy were scientists who recorded not only military details, but also the features of local life.
In 329, Alexander set off to conquer the Central Asian satrapies of Persia, who were in no hurry to swear allegiance to the new monarch. It was a war with partisans who raised an uprising in different parts of the empire. The population hid in hard-to-reach areas or migrated deep into the sparsely populated areas. In Sogdiana, the Macedonians encountered the Scythians, defeated them, but did not pursue them.
India
Hastily gaining a foothold in harsh Central Asia, Alexander invades the territory of modern Pakistan. In the Punjab region, King Taxil swears allegiance to him, hoping with the help of the conquerors to defeat his rival, King Por. Por is defeated at the Battle of the Hydaspes in July 326, but pardoned and left in the kingdom.
It is not known where else the son of Zeus-Amon wanted to climb, if at the end of the summer of 326 his army had not clearly and unequivocally expressed its refusal to proceed further. Fatigue and fear of the unknown was stronger than the fear of the divine master. Alexander is forced to reconcile. Having descended the Indus into the Indian Ocean, the Macedonians returned to Persia with heavy losses.
last years of life
Realizing the fragility of his motley empire, Alexander tries to cement it with family ties. It was in his rules to marry the daughters of local satraps and rulers. He forces his commanders and soldiers to marry non-local girls. Following the model of the Macedonian phalanx, he forms a new army of noble youths. Asian aristocrats are enrolled in the elite cavalry of the hetairoi, which causes open disobedience of the soldiers. Having executed the instigators of the rebellion, Alexander continues the Hellenization policy and prepares a campaign against the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula...
In Babylon, he suddenly fell ill and died after 10 days of fever. According to historians, this happened on June 10 or 13, 323 BC. One can argue whether his death was caused by an infection or indigestion, but the version of deliberate poisoning is quite plausible, because no one but him wanted to fight anymore.
The empire of Alexander the Great collapsed immediately after the burial of its founder. In his entourage, there was not a single equally authoritative person capable of leading the "Greek world." The patchwork quilt of the Macedonian state was torn apart along ethnic lines. New dynasties were founded by Alexander's diadochi: Antipater, Perdiccas, Antigonus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Seleucus. The descendants of some of them reached Gaius Julius Caesar. The world entered the era of Hellenization, which prepared the hegemony of Rome in the Mediterranean, the birth of Christianity and, centuries later, the flourishing and victory of European culture on a global scale.
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences Valery Nikitich Demin was one of the few real scientists who, with his daily quiet, but extremely important work, tied together the threads of national and world history lost for centuries, returning us to its origins, to the great secrets of the cradle of mankind - Hyperborea. It was he who a few years ago introduced the readers of the Red Star to the ancestral home of modern civilization. It was he who revealed to us the secret of almost "genetic", to put it mildly, to Russia. It was he who first brought us closer to unraveling why in Russia, in turn, they were so respected and revered, for example, Alexander the Great... When this material was already prepared for publication, Valery Nikitich was gone. And let it be a tribute to our memory of a wonderful scientist, writer, patriot.
What is he looking for in a distant land
On the facade of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral in Vladimir, built in 1194-1197, there is a relief depicting a flight Alexander the Great On sky. It testifies to at least two circumstances. Firstly, that the great one was extremely popular in ancient Russia and became almost a saint for its people. And, secondly, the only conqueror of the whole world in history had the ability to rise above the ground in the people's minds. And its flight itself is a lot like testing backpacks with rocket engines, which the Discovery channel has already shown us more than once.
Was there really a legendary commander in Russia? And what was he looking for in the far northern region? Valery Nikitich Demin tried to answer these questions in the book "In Search of the Cradle of Civilization", published by the Veche publishing house.
From time immemorial, there was a legend in Russia that Alexander the Great, after conquering India and talking with local sages, did not turn back to Greece, but with a small detachment rushed to the North in search of the legendary White Island (Hyperborea) in order to find the secret of immortality. In the "Drawing Book of Siberia", compiled by an outstanding historian and geographer of the 18th century Semyon Remezov, next to the image of the lower reaches of the Amur is inscribed: “Tsar Alexander the Great reached this place and hid the gun, and left the bell”.
From the classical version of world history, it is known that the conqueror of the Earth in his campaigns moved strictly to the east. However, if you carefully read the testimonies of ancient historians, the victorious feet themselves in some unknown way inevitably carried the great Alexander to the north. So it happened in Persia, when, having defeated Darius, the Greeks seemed to rush after him, but in such a way that, having crossed the impregnable Hindu Kush, they found themselves in Central Asia and reached modern Samarkand. So it was in India, where the troops of the great commander moved in inexplicable zigzags, often rushing far to the north.
To explain the "strange" spiritual and strategic "throwing" of the commander, there will not be enough evidence from historians. It is impossible not to take into account the opinion of the peoples conquered by Alexander, whose rumors and folklore turned the invincible alien into a legendary, almost mythical image. It is oral traditions that have preserved such details and details that are lacking in historical chronicles. Can these messages be trusted? At least, according to Plutarch in Comparative Lives, Alexander himself attached great importance to oral and secret knowledge. When one day he suddenly found out that his teacher, the great Aristotle, had lifted the veil over such intimate knowledge to his interlocutors, he immediately lashed out in a letter to his mentor with reproaches: “Alexander wishes well-being to Aristotle! You have done wrong by publishing teachings intended only for oral teaching. How will we differ from other people if the very teachings on which we were brought up become common property? I would like to surpass others not so much in power as in knowledge of higher subjects. Be healthy".
This means that it was the possession of the highest sacred knowledge for the student of Aristotle that was more important than any of the brilliant victories on the battlefield! But what, then, is this secret knowledge that Alexander treasured so much? Last but not least, sacred information about the ancient northern ancestral home and its high scientific and technical achievements (and, in particular, in the military field) could act as such. Ancient northern civilization called the Hellenes Hyperborean, reached in the distant past in its development unprecedented scientific and technical heights, mastered the terrestrial, aboveground, underground and underwater world, mastered the art of moving through the air with the help of rockets and other aircraft, learned to use various types of energy, split the atomic nucleus, created a beam and .
We are talking about the great magical Triad of Antiquity, which at all times haunted the rulers of different eras and peoples. We are talking about Immortality, Ultimate Weapon and Universal Knowledge.
Fusion Lord
Alexander was called even during his lifetime the king of the universe. It is clear that anyone who was honored with such a title was primarily attracted Ultimate Weapon. Ancient legends about the great battles of gods and heroes tell about this weapon in sufficient detail - the Hellenic "Titanomachy" and "Gigantomachy", the Indian "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", other eastern and even northern European sources. You just need to learn how to see, like Valery Dyomin, in the information of unknown storytellers not fiction, but accurate information about the ancient past dressed in a symbolic-figurative form.
The Indo-European epic and folklore are full of reminiscences about the use in numerous bloody wars waged by the Indo-Aryans of perfect military equipment and the mysterious all-destroying weapon. In ancient Indian literature, there was even a special term for its designation - Astravidya. Classical examples that have come down to us are the paintings contained in the great ancient Indian epic poems - the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
The Mahabharata, for example, talks about the "weapon of Brahma", the action of which is clearly reminiscent of the explosion of a nuclear or thermonuclear bomb. The poem tells how a sparkling projectile, possessing the radiance of fire, devoid of smoke, was brought down on the enemy. A thick fog suddenly covered the army. All sides of the horizon were plunged into darkness. Deadly whirlwinds arose. Clouds with a roar rush to the height of the sky. The world, scorched by the heat of the miracle weapon, seemed to have gone crazy: the elephants, burned by the flames, rushed with a roar, seized with horror. Thousands of chariots, people and fighting animals were burned, incinerated by a monstrous explosion. Weapons were delivered with the help of a huge "iron arrow", which looked like a giant messenger of death. It is not difficult to guess the outlines of a modern rocket in it.
"Ramayana" also does not spare colors on the description of the "weapon of Brahma" (translated by Vera Potapova):
Arrow golden-fingered all substances and beginnings
Absorbed and radiated an unthinkable brilliance.
Shrouded in smoke, like the flame of the end of the universe,
It sparkled and awe instilled into living creatures ...
And - death's minion - warriors dead bodies
This flame-bearer fed the vultures.
Something similar (including “fiery arrows”) is also drawn by the ancient Greek “Titanomachia” of Hesiod, which describes in great detail the mortal struggle of the Olympic gods and titans for power over the world:
The terribly boundless sea roared,
The earth groaned muffledly, the wide sky gasped and shuddered;
the great Olympus trembled to the foot From the terrifying fight.
A heavy trembling of the soil, a dull stamping of feet and a whistle from the mighty
Throwing the depths of the deepest reached the underworld shrouded in darkness.
So they hurled moaning arrows against each other.
Shouting themselves encouraging, the gods converged to battle.
The Hellenic mythological tales directly speak of Hyperborea, where, apparently, the epoch-making battle took place. According to the Roman astronomer of the 2nd century AD, Julius Gigin, after the decisive victory won by the Olympian gods, they hid the miracle weapon in Hyperborea. Gigin also says that the Sun God Apollo buried his all-striking "fiery arrow" and (lightning) of Jupiter on the Hyperborean mountain. The same lightning bolts, with which the Olympians defeated the titans, were also used by other associates of Zeus. But at the end of the deadly war, the ruler of Olympus was afraid that the miracle weapon would allow his brothers and sisters to equal him, the supreme ruler. There must be only one Thunderer! Therefore, everyone else handed over the received lightning devices, outwardly not much different from Hollywood laser guns and machine guns.
The Buryat version of the legends about Geser Khan (also common among the Tibetans, Mongols, Tuvans, Altaians, Uighurs) tells how the enemies of Geser, the Sharagol khans, sent an iron bird similar to a giant plane to his people. But she was shot down by a "fiery arrow", more like a modern anti-aircraft missile (translated by Semyon Lipkin):
From the thumb, great Strength is given to this arrow!
Piercing the eight upper heights, Shaking them to the very bottom,
Seven depths and lowlands shaking, Their arrow struck through.
Alexander the Great was looking for such weapons first in India, where he invaded after the conquest of Bactria and Sogdiana, and then, following the prompts of the keepers of ancient knowledge and folk rumor, far beyond its borders, in the north. Why? The Argead dynasty, to which Alexander belonged, derived their lineage directly from Hercules. Therefore, the king, who set as his goal the conquest of the world, decided to follow the path of the greatest of the heroes of Hellas. Let us recall that Hercules, with his exploits, reached the Far North and the Hyperborean limits, for which he received the epithet "Hyperborean"?
Considering himself the direct heir of Hercules and revering, like any Macedonian, the god of winemaking Dionysus, Alexander knew very well that even before appearing on, both heroes invaded India. From the point of view of classical history, we can talk here about the era of the migration of Aryan tribes from north to south.
What the ultimate weapon looked like has never been a secret to anyone, and to this day it can be seen on iconographic images. And Indra's lightning gun - the vajra - became an object of religious worship both in Hinduism and Buddhism, in particular in Lamaism. It is believed that Indra entrusted the secret of his fiery weapon to the Buddha for protection from unkind people and malicious intent. By the way, the problem of preventing people from possessing absolute weapons runs like a red thread through the epic texts of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Only in exceptional cases in decisive battles and duels did the gods temporarily trust lightning bolts to their favorites. The rest of the time, people should only be afraid of these weapons. He was allowed to worship, but to own it - never. So the question of non-proliferation on Earth was first raised by the gods of the ancient settlers from Hyperborea.
In some ancient Greek drawings, one can also see the image of a similar weapon in the hands of Zeus. It is very similar to the vajra. Models and drawings of the irresistible invention of the Aryan gods prove the undoubted fact of its existence, although they do not bring us any closer to unraveling the principle of its mechanism of action. What energy was used, who and where created these masterpieces of military-technical thought - all this was a mystery with seven seals already in the era of Alexander the Great.
Secrets of Babylon
However, the lord of the then world knew that the information of interest to him could be preserved in the memory of professional keepers of ancient knowledge - priests and other clergymen of the states he conquered: Indian Brahmins, Persian Zoroastrian magicians, Chaldean sages of Babylon. As the Macedonian army moved deeper into the depths, Aristotle's disciple Alexander could not but communicate with the keepers of sacred knowledge. The Babylonian priests were the first to reveal their secrets to him. They themselves proclaimed the young leader "King of All": this is how the rulers of Assyrian-Babylonia were traditionally called. It happened when the Macedonian army without a fight entered Babylon - the largest and most famous city of the ancient world, the trendsetter of that time. Ancient historians recalled that "the king stayed in this city longer than anywhere else." Apparently, the Babylonian elite, which suffered from the forcibly imposed Persian orders and alien culture, considered the Macedonians as liberators and accepted the enlightened and inquisitive king Alexander, who respected the ancient and traditions of Mesopotamia.
The Chaldean priests-magicians were not only considered skilled astronomers, astrologers and soothsayers. They possessed secret knowledge, the origin of which was lost in the inexhaustible depths of the past. The Babylonians counted the chronology of human history from some real point, which was separated from the era of Alexander the Great by almost four hundred thousand years, kept count of the cosmic planetary cataclysms that once shook the Earth. It was from them that Alexander learned much of what was inaccessible to mere mortals. And besides, the conqueror of the world received ancient documents and maps at his disposal, which could not but plunge him into confusion.
As Valery Nikitich Demin suggested, the ancient manuscripts of Babylon contained sacred and not intended for mere mortals information about the distant and all boundless Cosmos, about countless sentient beings scattered in the Universe, about the many-sided contacts between them, about the immortal substance - the source of universal knowledge, spilled throughout the infinite world, and about the ways of familiarizing with the absolute wisdom of centuries and millennia, about the races and civilizations that preceded earthly humanity, and, finally, about achieving immortality, eternal youth and possessing the inexhaustible energy potential of the Universe, including in terms of creating an absolute weapon.
The maps, which depicted the planet Earth in various historical epochs of its existence, with contours of oceans and continents unlike today, still had incredible ups and downs in their long, complex and confusing life. After the mystical death of the thirty-three-year-old Alexander the Great, they will end up in the Jerusalem Temple, from where, after the first Crusade, the Knights Templar will take them to, and after the defeat of the order, they will fall into the hands of Masons and adherents of other secret organizations, from where information about the mysteries of ancient history began to reach the medieval navigators (Christopher Columbus, Billem Barents, Turkish admiral Piri Reis, etc.), cartographers (Gerard Mercator), hunters for Universal knowledge (Nicholas Roerich and Alexander Barchenko), high technologies of antiquity and absolute weapons, which were very interested in the Nazi Gestapo, along with the Ahnenerbe Institute (“Heritage of the Ancestors”), which is part of its structure, and the Soviet Cheka - OGPU - NKVD - KGB ...
Conqueror of the Avesta
Alexander received other information about sacred knowledge from oral Indian texts, where the powerful weapons of the Indo-Aryan gods were described in full detail. And the Persian keepers of ancient knowledge - the mobeds - for their silence, he even had to be severely tortured and hanged. Although everything that they so carefully kept in their wise heads was long ago transferred to parchment and collected in one of the greatest and ancient books of mankind - the Avesta.
As in the Babylonian manuscripts, it also told about the beautiful northern ancestral home of all Aryans - Aryan Vej ("Aryan expanse"), where the Golden Age once reigned and happy people lived, who knew neither need, nor strife, nor disease. Then overnight everything changed: a global cataclysm hit the Earth, and the North turned into an icy desert. Avesta captured the memory of these ancient events in the sayings of the supreme ancient Iranian deity Ahura Mazda: “As the first best of places and countries, I, Ahura Mazda, created Aryan Veja (“Aryan expanse”) of Good Datia. But in contrast to this, the deadly Angra-Manyu created the red dragon and the winter created by the devas. There are ten winter months, only two summer months, and they are cold for water, cold for earth, cold for plants. And there is the middle of winter; and when the winter comes to an end, then there are a lot of floods".
Information about ten winter months and only two summer months confirmed what the Chaldean priests told him about in Babylon. And yet, she revealed to him something new, such that, having gained access to the great Book of Wisdom, the ruler of the world ordered it to be destroyed so that no one else would dare to touch this treasury of secrets.
The canonized text of this sacred Zoroastrian book was based on the sermons of the legendary prophet Spitam Zarathushtra. Zarathustra (in the European tradition called Zarathustra, in such a transcription he entered the famous book of Friedrich Nietzsche) was real historical figure. At different times, Azerbaijan and some regions of Central Asia (Ancient Bactria) were considered to be the places of his birth. Recently, the ancient defensive, industrial and cult complex in the Southern Urals Arkaim, which served as a transit point on the Aryan migration route, began to be assumed to be the birthplace of the prophet.
According to traditional Pahlavi chronology, the great prophet and founder of Zoroastrianism lived 258 years before Alexander the Great (in the 7th-6th centuries BC). However, ancient sources report that Zoroaster arrived from the northern regions (called Hyperborean among the Greeks and Romans): Zoroaster is said to be 6,000 years older than Plato,<...>as if he crossed over to the mainland across the great sea".
Note that the original complete set of the Avesta consisted of two million verses divided into one thousand two hundred chapters. It was applied with indelible gold paint on twelve thousand tanned cowhides of a special fine dressing. Heavy scrolls were kept in the main Zoroastrian temple of the capital of the Persian kings in the legendary Persepolis. When Alexander the Great defeated Darius and sacked the capital of the Persians, he ordered the main sanctuary of the fire worshipers to be wiped off the face of the earth, and the Avesta to be burned on its ruins and the ashes scattered to the wind. It is still unknown whether a second copy of the holy book existed anywhere. The legend speaks of several lists of her, one of which, among other trophies, was even supposedly taken to.
When, many years later, the magician priests tried to restore the burnt book from memory, the new Avesta turned out to be four times shorter than the original one. However, the text of the Avesta, recreated with great difficulty, was destroyed again, now by the Arab conquerors who attacked Persia and Central Asia at the end of the 7th century AD. Everything that contradicted the Koran and opposed the new order was mercilessly burned and destroyed - people, temples, books. The Arab invasion put an end to the ancient religion of Zoroaster, and along with the Persian power of the Sassanids. The worship of fire, light, truth and wisdom has been replaced by a new faith...
Alexander the Great - a dark warrior who was defeated by the Scythians
Alexander the Great was born in the autumn of 356 BC. e. in the capital of ancient Macedonia - the city of Pella. From childhood, in the biography of Macedonian, he was trained in politics, diplomacy, and military skill. He studied with the best minds of that time - Lysimachus, Aristotle. He was fond of philosophy, literature, did not attach himself to physical joys. Already at the age of 16, he tried on the role of a king, and later - a commander.
Rise to power
After the assassination of the king of Macedonia in 336 BC. e. Alexander was proclaimed ruler. The first actions of Macedonian in such a high state post were the abolition of taxes, the reprisal against the enemies of his father, the confirmation of the union with Greece. After the suppression of the uprising in Greece, Alexander the Great began to consider a war with Persia.
Then, if we consider a brief biography of Alexander the Great, military operations followed in alliance with the Greeks, the Franks against the Persians. In the battle near Troy, many settlements opened their gates to the great commander. Soon, almost all of Asia Minor submitted to him, and then Egypt. There Macedonian founded Alexandria.
King of Asia
In 331 BC. e. the next major battle with the Persians took place at Gaugamela, during which the Persians were defeated. Alexander conquered Babylon, Susa, Persepolis.
In 329 BC. BC, when King Darius was killed, Alexander became the ruler of the Persian Empire. Becoming the king of Asia, he was subjected to repeated conspiracies. In 329-327 BC. e. fought in Central Asia - Sogdean, Bactria. Alexander in those years defeated the Scythians, married the Bactrian princess Roxana and set off on a campaign in India.
The commander returned home only in the summer of 325 BC. The period of wars ended, the king took up the management of the conquered lands. He introduced several reforms, mostly military ones.
Death
From February 323 BC. e. Alexander stopped in Babylon and began planning new military campaigns against the Arab tribes, and then to Carthage. He raised troops, prepared a fleet, and built canals.
But a few days before the campaign, Alexander fell ill, and on June 10, 323 BC. e. died in Babylon from a severe fever.
Historians have not yet established the exact cause of the death of the great commander. Some consider his death natural, others put forward versions of malaria or cancer, and others - about poisoning with a poisonous medication.
After the death of Alexander, his great empire fell apart, wars for power began among his generals (Diadochi).
Alexander the Great
The first powerful European who visited India was the ancient commander Alexander the Great. His life was surrounded by a halo of secrets and mysteries. The clan of his father, Philip II, as was customary among noble people in those days, was considered to be descended from Heracles, and the clan of his mother, Olympias, to Achilles' grandfather Aeacus. According to a common legend that appeared during his lifetime, he himself was conceived by his mother Olympias from the supreme Greek god Zeus. These kind of people, born of a god/goddess and mortal, were considered heroes by the Greeks because they combined both divine and human traits. According to another legend widespread in the East, Alexander's father was a descendant of the Egyptian pharaohs - the fugitive priest Nectaneb, who was forced to leave Egypt because he was a contender for the throne and a bearer of royal blood. He settled in the capital of Macedonia, Pella, where he bewitched the queen Olympias, and Olympias became pregnant with Alexander from communication with him. According to the third version, which became widespread in Persia, Philip II of Macedon allegedly lost the battle to the Persians, and the Persian king Darius II, among the tributes, also took Philip's daughter, who in the Persian novels about Alexander bore the Persian name Halai, which was strange for a Macedonian princess. Darius spent the night with her, as a result of which she conceived Alexander, however, due to the physical deficiency of Philip's daughter, Darius cooled off towards her and returned her to her homeland, where she gave birth to the future commander. This version is the most incredible of all, as it contains a number of fictitious events, such as the defeat of Philip by the Persians, while the historical Philip fought mainly with the Greeks, and considered the Persians as a powerful and irresistible force in the East. This legend was necessary for the Persians in order to rank Alexander among their kings. The Persians could not imagine that they were ruled by a foreigner, and therefore a bearer of evil and wickedness.
Alexander is one of the few people of antiquity whose date of birth is precisely known. He was born on July 22, 356 BC. e. in Pella. According to legend, it was on this very day that Herostrat burned one of the 7 wonders of the world - the temple of Artemis of Ephesus.
The Macedonians were not Greeks. For many centuries, Macedonia was considered a barbarian province and was known for its low morals. However, the proximity to the Greek cities, which were at that time the centers of civilization, benefited the Macedonians. At the court of the Macedonian kings diligently imitated the Hellenes. The Greek language, literature, history, and philosophy were held in high esteem. Philip II made the outstanding philosopher Aristotle a teacher and educator for the prince. The Macedonians also adopted military science from the Greeks and achieved great success in it. The teacher of military affairs at the future great commander was his father. The first example of personal heroism Alexander showed in the battle of Chaeronea at the age of 18. Then the troops of the Greek cities were defeated by the Macedonians and all mainland Greece fell under Macedonian rule. In 335, after the death of his father, Alexander undertook his first independent military campaign - against the tribes of the Illyrians, Triballi and Getae who lived to the north-west of Macedonia. At this time, an uprising began in the cities of Central Greece. The rebels intended to take advantage of Alexander's absence and his youth, but, having quickly dealt with the Illyrians, he crossed the peninsula with lightning speed and pacified the rebels.
Strictly speaking, the Macedonian dominion was not such an unbearable yoke for Greece, the Macedonians very quickly Hellenized, adopted the Greek language, Greek customs and traditions. In addition, Alexander figured out how to save Macedonia from the uprisings of Greek cities: he decided to lead the Greek army in their war against the Persians. The fact is that a few hundred years before Alexander, Persian troops invaded Greece. The personal courage of the Greeks, who defended themselves from the invasion of the barbarian hordes from the east, stopped the attackers, but in the memory of the Greeks this invasion was a dark spot on their military history and they tried to take revenge on the Persians. The Persians have since owned the rich and fertile lands of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
The military campaign against the Persians solved two problems - it deprived the Greek cities of combat-ready soldiers who could raise an uprising against the Macedonians, and made Alexander the idol of the Greeks, who realized their dream of revenge on the Persians. The Persian Empire of that time was a loose state formation, stretching for many thousands of kilometers from Asia Minor and Egypt to India. It is to her that the famous biblical expression "colossus with feet of clay" refers. However, the Persians could send troops from the provinces they conquered, so the fight against the Persians promised to be difficult and difficult. The very idea of war with a huge empire seemed like a gamble.
In the spring of 334, the Greek-Macedonian army crossed the Hellespont (the Dardanelles) and entered Asia Minor, which meant the beginning of the war with Persia. Asiatic barbarians often invaded Europe, but this was the first time that European troops invaded Asia. And what's more - they invaded successfully. Not counting the auxiliary lightly armed detachments, Alexander's army had 30,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry. The experienced Greek commanders Antipater, Ptolemy Lag, Parmenion, Philot, Perdikka commanded the army. However, the Persian army greatly outnumbered the Greco-Macedonian. Moreover, the union of the Greek cities of Asia Minor came out on the side of the Persians. After the invasion, the Persians saved these cities from destruction, and now the Greeks of Asia Minor fought on the side of the Persians. But the small number of Greek-Macedonian troops was more than offset by their high fighting qualities, organization, experience and technical equipment. Alexander's army had pontoons, battering rams and assault towers. In addition, the Greeks were inspired by the opportunity to take revenge on the offenders of their ancestors. Strictly speaking, Alexander's army was not Macedonian, but Greek, the Macedonians proper made up a small percentage in it and were represented mainly by Alexander's personal guard.
After the victory in May 334 at r. Granina in the hands of Alexander was the whole of Asia Minor.
The Greek cities, which had been allies of the Persians, now opened their gates to Alexander and begged for indulgence. In the autumn of 333, the Persian king Darius III, the great-grandson of the same Darius who ravaged the Greek cities, tried to return Asia Minor under his rule - to defeat the troops of Alexander at Issus. But despite the triple superiority in strength, the Persians were defeated, Darius III himself fled. The flight of Darius was not cowardice, as one might think - he assumed that the Greek army would chase after him, and in Persian territory, unfamiliar to the Greeks, he could easily be defeated. This is exactly what the Scythians did with Darius I at one time: they lured his army into the depths of their territory and exhausted him. However, Alexander also remembered the "Scythian tactics" and did not fall for this trick.
He moved south and captured the cities of the eastern Mediterranean coast almost without a fight. The fact is that the army of Alexander was closely connected with the Greek cities, and the fleets based in the Mediterranean ports could disrupt the supply of the army through the Aegean Sea. In addition, these cities, famous centers of maritime trade, brought rich booty to Alexander. It was here, in Syro-Palestine, that Alexander made the first rotation of his own army: he left his veterans here, founding 10 cities for them, and recruited troops from local residents. This military trick is very popular in the art of generalship: it is well known that people hate their neighbors most of all, therefore, recruiting soldiers in a certain region, he was sure that his army had additional motivation in campaigns against their neighbors. By the way, this is exactly what many imperial conquerors did, for example, the Mongol-Tatars. In addition, the fighting enthusiasm of the Greeks, who conquered Asia Minor, gradually dried up and fresh forces were needed. In addition, by settling the Greeks in Syro-Palestine, he received certain levers of influence on the local political situation. Another important advantage of such an additional recruitment was that the cities were deprived of warriors who could raise an uprising.
Speaking of the military-strategic legacy of Alexander, one often has to use the word "for the first time." For the first time in history, Alexander used the interaction between the branches of the armed forces: simultaneously with the ground forces marching along the coast, Alexander's fleet attacked the enemy from the sea, thus a double blow was delivered to the enemy. And another innovation of Alexander, which has survived to the present, is for the first time the troops were dressed in a common uniform. Previously, every soldier going to war had to equip himself at his own expense. Now uniforms were issued to soldiers centrally, and in battle such an army, dressed in identical armor shining in the sun, made a frightening and demoralizing impression on the enemy. Alexander introduced innovations in military tactics. The phalanx of heavy infantry, armed with swords and long spears (sarissas), formed the center and basis of the battle order of the Greco-Macedonian army. On one of the flanks (usually on the right), Alexander created a strong grouping of heavy cavalry and medium infantry, designed to deliver the main blow. The rest of the cavalry and light infantry were used to cover the other flank and start the battle. The onslaught of the phalanx from the front was combined with the decisive actions of the strike force, which broke through to the flank or rear of the main enemy forces and decided the outcome of the battle in its favor. Later, this tactic became widespread.
According to legend, Alexander favorably reacted to the Jerusalem temple and even received a blessing there for having delivered Judea from the Persians. However, he received similar blessings in other cities, which rather testified to the priestly "sanction" for the transition of cities and kingdoms under the rule of the winner. When in the winter of 332/331 BC. e. Alexander occupied Egypt, the Egyptian priests officially recognized him as the son of the supreme Egyptian god Ammon of Theban and the pharaoh. It can be assumed that the legend popular in Greece about the conception of Alexander by Zeus is an echo of these Egyptian dynastic legends.
Most likely, having captured Egypt, Alexander did not think of more, his empire by that time was already very large. He paid much attention to the choice of location and the construction of a new city named after him - Alexandria. The requirements for the city were very serious. First of all, it was supposed to be a port city, which means that it should have a convenient bay protected from both attacks and storms. In order to withstand a long siege, the city had to be well supplied with water - 12 rivers flowed through Alexandria at the time of Alexander. The land was supposed to be fertile - there were 16 villages on the site of Alexandria, which means that this land could feed the farmers.
But it turned out that the respite in Egypt was short-lived - Darius gathered troops and prepared to attack Alexander. Not wanting to let Darius near the rich cities of Phoenicia and Syro-Palestine, Alexander's army headed for Mesopotamia, where on October 1, 331, near Gaugamel, they inflicted a decisive defeat on the Persians. The victory went to the small, but well-armed and well-motivated troops of Alexander.
Darius III fled again and tried to raise a new army, but in 330 one of the satraps (rulers of the provinces conquered by the Persians) ordered the death of Darius, in the hope of exchanging the head of the king for Alexander's indulgence. According to a later Persian legend, the inhabitants of the city of Hamadan brought the mortally wounded Darius to Alexander's tent. Darius forgave Alexander, but took three promises from him: to take revenge on his killers, to marry his daughter Roushanak so that power remained in his family, and not to put a foreign ruler over the Persians.
Another legend tells that Alexander, disguised as a messenger, himself went to the court of Darius. Darius suspected that Alexander himself was in front of him, but he could not prove this, because neither he nor his entourage had ever seen Alexander. When in the evening the Persian ambassadors arrived at the headquarters of Darius, who saw Alexander, he managed to escape from the headquarters of Darius under the cover of night and return to the location of his army. This legend dates back to the late Middle Ages, it is fantastic precisely because of the reckless courage attributed to Alexander, who, at the risk of being captured by enemies, nevertheless penetrates Darius's headquarters.
If earlier Alexander walked through the lands once conquered by the Persians, and therefore the local population regarded him as a liberator, then, having crossed through Mesopotamia, Alexander's troops entered the Persian lands proper. However, after the death of Darius, the Persian cities did not offer significant resistance. The conqueror entered the ancient capital of Mesopotamia, Babylon, and, developing success, took possession of the ancient capitals of the Persian Empire - Susa, Persepolis and Ecbatana. Since Darius III died, Alexander was declared by the Persians to be his "legitimate" successor. So from the "Greek liberator" he turned into an Eastern monarch, whose empire was even larger than the former Persian. However, Alexander did not immediately become an eastern ruler and despot; in one of the first Persian campaigns, he ordered the palace of the Persian kings in Istakhr to be burned.
As in the case of the Persians, there were many representatives of the local nobility of the conquered countries in his army and administration, which contributed to the interpenetration of Greek and Eastern cultures. In the cities taken, Alexander surrounded himself with the local nobility, and at court he introduced magnificent Persian ceremonial. Attempts to become an Asian despot caused a negative reaction among the Greeks accustomed to democracy, and now and then conspiracies broke out at the court - the “conspiracy of pages”, the conspiracy of the commander Philot, the conspiracy of Cleitus, a close friend of Alexander. It should be said that the conspirators were not personal enemies of the commander, they tried to defend the democratic traditions of governance, which they were used to in Greece, but Alexander could no longer stop - the eastern despotism captivated him with unlimited power and the pliability of the natives, ready to bow before any stupidity of the ruler.
According to Persian sources, Alexander ordered to collect the books on philosophy and astrology that had survived after the battles and city fires, translate them into Greek and send them to Greece. It is possible that this legend is true; thus Alexander wanted to make a valuable gift to his teacher and educator - the philosopher Aristotle. However, the fate of the translated books is unknown: either after the death of Alexander the order was forgotten, or the books were lost on the way to Macedonia, but it is reliably known that after Alexander, Greek translations of Egyptian, Near East, Mesopotamian and Persian religious and astrological texts began to penetrate into Greece. It is quite possible that it was from these ancient books delivered to Greece that the Greek astrologer and philosopher Beros (other names - Berossos, Bel Rushu) drew his knowledge, who, being a Babylonian by origin, soon after the conquest of Babylon by Alexander came to Greece and founded on island of Kos astrological school. Here, based on ancient Eastern treatises, he wrote several works that have not come down to us.
In 330 BC. e. Alexander continued his campaign and occupied the central part of the Iranian Highlands, and the following year he invaded Central Asia, inhabited at that time by semi-nomadic tribes who spoke Iranian dialects. In the next few years, he subjugated all of Iran and the south of Central Asia and went to the borders of India. Before Alexander, the Persians waged unsuccessful wars with the Indian rulers. Their campaigns were often limited to the destruction of several cities, the taking of tribute and a large number of slaves. On the other hand, the presence of a strong enemy in the west led to the need to consolidate Indian cities and tribes. And in the spring of 327, Alexander crossed the border of India. The reason for the war was an internecine war between two Indian rulers - the king of India Por and the ruler of the city of Taxila, formally subject to him. True, "Shah-name" gives a slightly different version of the reason that prompted Alexander to the Indian campaign. According to Firdousi, Darius, who fled to the city of Kirman, asks the allied king Fur (Porus) for help, and he puts his army against Alexander. Thus, the Indian campaign is justified, it is a response to Porus' support for the defeated Persian king. This version is most likely incorrect, since there is a significant time gap between the death of Darius and the Indian campaign. But this legend shows how Alexander tried to justify the need for a campaign in India for the Greeks and Persians.
Alexander the Great and Porus. Unknown artist
The hike was hard. On the Hydaspe River (a tributary of the Indus), he with great difficulty defeated the army of Por. It was in this battle that the troops of Europeans first encountered war elephants. And although the Porus army had only 200 war elephants, their appearance produced such a frightening effect on Alexander's army that he won the victory only by chance. Alexander planned to continue his journey further - to cross the low divide between the Indus and the Ganges and descend into the poorly protected Ganges valley. However, the army was categorically set up, a rebellion and an open rebellion were ripening - the soldiers were exhausted in battles and suffered from tropical diseases. And now, on the river Gifanis (modern Bias, the eastern tributary of the Indus), fearing a rebellion, Alexander was forced to give the order to return. To return, the army was divided into three parts, one of which went by sea under the leadership of Nearchus, the other, under the leadership of Alexander himself, followed the land route through Gedrosia, the third Macedonian sent with the commander Crater through Arachosia.
Alexander returned to Babylon, the city he had made his capital. According to the testimony of the Greeks close to the court, in the last days of his life, the great commander indulged in unbridled orgies. Persian legends say that beauties from all over Persia were collected in his harem. Many modern historians, without denying such orgies in principle, argue that Alexander, nevertheless, was preparing for new campaigns, but the Greek and Eastern nobility surrounding him no longer wanted to fight, and in the process of preparing for their next campaign in June 323 Alexander was poisoned by those close to him. After his death, the huge power he created broke up into several large states formed in Syro-Palestine, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Persia.
The dizzying success of Alexander, according to the writings of Macedonsky's contemporaries and later novels, was facilitated by the fact that Darius III was a cruel and arrogant ruler who set against himself the peoples of the provinces subject to the Persians by mass executions. Literary "novels about Alexander" say that Darius III had a certain vizier, who, out of revenge for the brother killed by the father of Darius III, specially pitted Darius with subject tribes.
It is curious that in the later Indian historical treatises it was indicated that in the time of Alexander Chandragupta, whose name is a tracing paper from the name Alexander, ruled. The glory of Alexander was so great that a certain capable Indian commander took the name Alexander to emphasize his exclusivity and claims to the title of king, the unifier of India. The kingdom of Chandragupta was much smaller than the kingdom of Alexander, but he lived a long life. After the death of Alexander, Seleucus I Nicator, who ruled Persia, tried to subjugate the Indus Valley and thus complete the conquests begun by Alexander, but Chandragupta managed to defend the independence of his kingdom, and in 305 an agreement was concluded between Seleucus and Chandragupta, according to which the rulers of the Greco-Persian kingdom abandoned their claims to the Indian lands conquered by Alexander. Chandragupta did what Alexander failed - he subjugated almost the entire Ganges valley, and in addition, became the founder of a new Indian Maurya dynasty. This period is considered the heyday of Indian culture, literature, architecture. It was then that India was included in world trade, became an important subject of world political life. Goods exported from India - such as, for example, spices, ivory and gold - were considered luxury goods in Europe and Asia.
Such is the history of the victories of Alexander the Great and his quest for India. But, in addition to the facts, many legends are associated with the name of Alexander, with which his biography has grown. For two thousand years, in various regions conquered by Alexander, "Alexandria" - novels about Alexander - were created. According to ancient literary tradition, all these novels date back to the lost novel of Callisthenes, Aristotle's nephew and Alexander's personal physician. Indeed, some notes of Callisthenes could form the basis of the text of "Alexandria", but later its text was processed by another author. The fact is that the historical Callisthenes was accused of knowing about the conspiracy against Alexander, but did not inform on the conspirators, and was either tortured and hanged, or died a prisoner during the Indian campaign. But in antiquity, a certain laudatory work by Callisthenes was known, which describes the victories of Alexander from the crossing of the Dardanelles to the battle of Gaugamela, that is, the period of time when Callisthenes was still a friend and close associate of Alexander.
Other sources suggest that the "Alexandrius" is based on the biographies of Alexander written by his associates Cleitarchus and Onesikritos. Modern literary scholars are critical of this information and suggest that the novels about Alexander began to appear somewhat later - in the 1st-3rd centuries, in the era of the decline of the Roman Empire, when there was a need to refer to the legacy of the great figures of the past. Later, in the 4th century, the Roman emperors Caracalla and Alexander Severus deified Alexander the Great and introduced his cult throughout the Roman Empire.
One way or another, but these novels became widespread in the countries that were part of the empire of Alexander. Over time, they were translated from Greek into Arabic, and on their basis, within the framework of the Arabic and Persian literary traditions, many retellings of Iskanderiy appeared - in Arabic, the name Alexander sounds like Iskander. The fame of Alexander in ancient times and in the Middle Ages was so great that "Alexandria" gained popularity in countries that never belonged to Alexander's empire, for example, in Great Britain and Western Europe, as well as in Russia. In total there are more than 20 translations of the novel, the main of which are considered to be Latin (French and Scottish translations came from it), Middle Persian, Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Coptic (New Egyptian) and Serbian. The Russian version of "Alexandria" is a retelling of the Serbian translation. From "Alexandriy" and "Iskanderiy" we know a lot of real and fantastic facts from his biography. The most enigmatic and mysterious belong to the time of his short stay in India. Moreover, in the popular mind, many real facts are rethought and become myths. So, according to one version, Alexander the Great did not die, but was ascended to heaven. According to this legend, having conquered all of India, Alexander ordered the Indian sages to build a flying ship, because he wanted to look at the lands he had conquered from a bird's eye view. Such a ship was built, and Alexander took it to heaven, where he remained. People who believe in UFOs see in this legend the echoes of a possible visitation of the Earth by aliens. Indeed, the description of the Earth in such a flight is slightly reminiscent of the takeoff of a spaceship. However, the mere existence of such a detailed description of the journey to heaven suggests that the "aeronauts" returned safely to Earth, otherwise there would be no story about what they could see in the sky.
In Eastern miniatures, Alexander was often depicted wearing a horned helmet, which is why he is mentioned in the Koran (18:82), and then in Arabic culture under the nickname Zul-Qarnein (two-horned). This nickname stuck with him in the Iskandaria. According to the Koranic legend, Zul-Karnein was under the protection of Allah, and in one of his conversations with God, he spoke of himself as follows: “I know that you have grown two horns on my head so that I can destroy all the kingdoms of the world with them.” It is curious that in the East many rulers were depicted with horns on their heads. Such an image was supposed to symbolize that the ruler was the bearer of the idea of fertility, a living deity of fertility. The oldest image of a “horned” ruler known to scientists is a stele depicting a ruler in the 3rd millennium BC. e. Akkadian king Naram-Sin. In addition, the Arabs who lived in the time of Alexander to the south of his empire really wanted to be considered the heirs of this ruler, so the early Arab historians already consider Iskander Zul-Karnein the ruler of Arabia or Yemen, while the historical Alexander never visited Arabia. Moreover, many Iskanders consider Iskander a direct descendant of the forefather Ibrahim.
Medieval Byzantine "Alexandria" saw in Alexander the first Christian who allegedly professed Christianity more than 300 years before Jesus. Even in the chapter dedicated to Iskander "Shah-name" by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, it is said that a "loving cross" was inscribed on the banner of Iskander. Arab historians, following the same logic, argued that Iskander professed the Hanifite faith, which was given to the Arabs by their forefather Ibrahim (Abraham), known, according to the Koran, as the builder of the Kaaba. Other Arab historians tend to regard him as a prophet equal to Ibrahim.
Another Koranic legend claims that it was Allah who “strengthened him for every deed” and granted him three victorious campaigns, in one of which “he reached sunset and found that it was going into a hot spring, a certain people found near him”, in on the second (northern) campaign, he conquered all the tribes up to “the place between two ramparts and went on the other side to the people who hardly knew human speech”, in the third campaign “he reached the sunrise and found that it was rising over the people, whom we [Allah] did not give except for him [the sun] cover. The interpreters of the Koran explain the last text as follows: this people have no houses, no yards, no clothes that could protect them from the scorching rays of the sun, this people, they continue, are bestial, and they perform all their departures in public. This last description accurately, though rather arrogantly, describes the Dravidians of South India, who live on the eastern coast of Hindustan, their skin is really black, as if scorched by the sun, their dwellings are hidden in thickets of tropical forests so securely that one would think that they completely without houses, and the orgiastic cults and promiscuity common in their culture were savagery and ignorance for Muslims.
The prototype of the mythical northern campaign of Iskander was the very real campaign of Alexander in Central Asia, but in the retelling of the Arab and Persian "Iskander" he acquired fantastic features. So, in the northern campaign, Iskander, on the orders of Allah, builds a rampart of iron and bronze against the mythical people of Yajuj and Majuj (descendants of Yafet, the third son of Nuh Noah, analogues of the biblical peoples Gog and Magog). This people, only a cubit in height, has ears so huge that they sleep on one, and take refuge in the other. These dwarfs feed on weeds and any other grass; penetrating into Muslim countries, they, like locusts, devour trees with branches and leaves. According to Islamic beliefs, before the Last Judgment, a leader named Inshaullah will be born among their people and they will break through the rampart built by Zul-Karnein, eat all the food in Muslim countries, drink all the fresh water, and then the angel Israfil will trumpet about the beginning of the Last Judgment.
Judging by the Persian "Iskanderiya", the Indian campaign of Alexander was much more productive than in the present story. According to this text, Iskander completely subjugated not only India, but also China and Tibet. Having reached the Far Sea (Pacific Ocean), he turns north and conquers Siberia. Having reached the North Pole, he, accompanied by 4,000 warriors, enters the Land of Eternal Gloom. In this country, he is trying to find a source of living water that gives immortality to the living and revives the dead. However, after 18 days of fruitless searching, Alexander was forced to leave this country. It is interesting that one of the early Persian authors of the Iskanderia, Abu Ali Muhammad ibn Muhammad Balami (died in 996, completed the presentation of the Iskanderia no later than 963), tells this legend differently: from Central Asia, Alexander invades India and Tibet , and then goes to the extreme west of the Old World - to the Maghreb, and it is there that he tries to find the source of immortality.
Particular attention is paid in "Alexandria" to Alexander's conversations with the gymnosophists (literally, "naked sages") - this is how the Greeks called Indian yogis and brahmins because they walked naked, considering the absence of clothing as one of the aspects of asceticism. According to the Persian "Iskanderia", the son of Iskander from the Persian princess Roushanak, who bore the same name as his father, became not a king, but a hermit yogi.
Legends overgrown not only the commander himself, but also people close to him. One of the later legends tells of Alexander's personal chef named Glaucus, who, on an Indian campaign, heard the secret of the "grass of immortality" from the Brahmin sages. Glaucus ate this herb and became immortal. Alexander, who learned about this, also desired to become immortal and ordered Glaucus to get this herb for him too, but Glaucus could not fulfill this requirement, and Alexander ordered the cook to be tied up and thrown into the sea. Since Glaucus ate the "grass of immortality", he did not die, but turned into a water demon, whose machinations are attributed to historically reliable difficulties in the navigation of the fleet of Nearchus from India to Mesopotamia.
Another unusual area of historiography is connected with the name of Alexander the Great. In 1947, the English historian and culturologist Arnold Toynbee published a short article "If Alexander had not died then", which laid the foundation for a new direction, called "alternative history". Authors working in this direction consider history not as an integral and unchanging process, but as a sequence of choices made by nations, states and individual rulers. Each such significant choice entails irreversible changes in society and world politics. Toynbee suggested that if Alexander had not died in the summer of 323 BC. e. in Babylon, he could create a worldwide empire by conquering the entire Old World from Gibraltar to China.
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