Alexander The Great Research Paper

Words: 881
Pages: 4

Being the son of Philip II, the great Macedonian king who conquered much of Greece and united them under an empirical rule in his prime, Alexander the Great wanted to expand the Macedonian empire. When he succeeded the throne after his father’s death, he led military campaigns and conquered remaining Greek resistance, including Thebes, and then turned his sights to expanding to the east, landing in Asia Minor in 334 BCE (Pom. 439). Alexander continued his campaigns eastward for nearly a decade, finally returning from India in 325 BCE and eventually dying in Babylon in 323 BCE (Pom. 463, 466). One of the first forces that resisted Alexander’s campaign were the Persian satraps in northwest Anatolia (Pom. 443). Although it was customary for …show more content…
452-453). The Persians had hoped that a change in terrain and in tactics would help them win, but they were defeated yet again by the Macedonian forces using the same methods used at Issus (Pom. 453). The Macedonians emerged with a narrow victory, yet they failed to capture Darius to solidify their new power; however, Darius fled to Iran and his own troops swore in Alexander as the new king, allowing the rest of the Persian empire to bend at Alexander’s will (Pom. 453). After securing the Persian empire, Alexander and his army continued eastward, venturing into India by moving to Kabul, down the Indus River, through the Hindu Kush mountains, and through the Khyber Pass in 327 BCE (Pom. …show more content…
Taxiles had conflicts with the rival kings Abisares and Porus and sought Alexander’s help again; after Abisares submitted under Alexander, the Macedonian force then pitted against King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BCE on the bank of the Hydaspes (now Jhelum) River (Pom. 461). Although Porus had a strong defense involving a barricade of two hundred elephants, Alexander adapted the flooded river to his advantage and defeated the opposing forces (Pom. 461-462). Although Porus was defeated, he remained noble and accepted his position as long as he was still treated like a king; because of this action, Alexander was so taken with Porus’ dignity and nobility that he restored Porus to kingship and even added territories to his land, angering Taxiles and the other neighboring kings (Pom.