|
Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BCE)
When Philip was assassinated in 336, Alexander became king of Macedonia before his twentieth birthday. He quickly eliminated all conspirators and domestic enemies by ordering their execution, and quashed rebellions in Thessaly. The following year in a campaign originally planned by his father, he conquered those areas of Thrace held by the Persian Empire. He went on to conquer Illyria, and razed the revolting city-state of Thebes, sparing only the temples of the gods and the house of the Greek lyric poet Pindar, whose works he admired. All 8000 surviving inhabitants were sold into slavery. Dissent in the other Greek cities quickly evaporated. In 334 BC, Alexander renewed his war against Persia with an army of 35,000 Macedonian and Greek troops. After crossing into Asia Minor, he attacked and defeated an army of Persians and Greek mercenaries totaling 40,000 men, and all the states of Asia Minor submitted to him. Stopping at Ephesus, he commissioned the restoration of the Temple of Artemis, which had been burned by an arsonist on the very night of Alexander's birth. Many believed the goddess allowed her temple to be burned because she was busy assisting Olympias in giving birth to the future King of Macedonia. Continuing to advance southward, Alexander encountered and defeated the main Persian army, commanded by King Darius III, at Issus in northeastern Syria, in 333 BC. The following year, Alexander captured the Phoenician seaport of Tyre after a siege of seven months. Jerusalem fell soon after. Passing through Gaza into Egypt, he was welcomed by the Egyptians as a deliverer, and later founded the city of Alexandria at the mouth of the Nile. Alexander is often credited with the founding of the Library here, though this was really the work of the Pharoah Ptolemy I Soter. The North African kingdom of Cyrenaica submitted to Alexander soon afterward. In 331 Alexander again met and defeated Darius at the battle of Gaugamela, near Babylon. Darius fled and was later killed by his own bodyguard. Alexander then moved on to capture Persepolis, the Persian capital, looting it of its treasures and then burning it to the ground in what is recorded as an insane drunk. In the space of three years, Alexander had conquered the entire Persian Empire, and was not yet thirty years old. To add to his conquests, he crossed into India, turning back only when his troops threatened to mutiny. Returning to Babylon, he contracted what appears to have been typhoid and died while still planning further campaigns to conquer Carthage and the Latin states in Italy. His young son died (or more likely was murdered), and his generals began carving his empire up among themselves. Alexander is probably the most famous person in GLBT history, and probably the biggest argument in this age of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" against those who claim that homosexuality is incompatible with the military lifestyle. Though having himself both Greek and Persian wives, and renowned especially for his love for his wife Roxana, Alexander is equally well-known for his passionate and loyal love for Hephaestion, his eromenos. Legend has it that upon his friend's death, Alexander had the attending physician crucified for failing to save him. He also had in his entourage Medius and Bagoas, two eunuchs whose pleasures and company Alexander frequently enjoyed. And while Alexander encouraged his men to take foreign wives, he also paired them off as lovers, believing that doing so would make them fight even harder to protect each other against the enemy. Finally, while other conquerors seemed interested only in dominating their subjects, Alexander wished for his territories to be united in peace, a "brotherhood of men," of which male love would be an integral part. Granted, he had his faults, being ruthless at times, and possibly even an alcoholic. He was also not without his megalomaniac tendencies, frequently identifying himself with Apollo, Hercules, Achilles, Priapus, and the Egyptian god Amon-Ra, identified by the Greeks with Zeus. Yet he did much to advance the spread of Greek culture and ideas throughout the world, and also to introduce the art and philosophies of the East into Europe. The next time some Fred Phelpsite rants that "fags" have never done any good for the world, tell them to go read a book about Alexander the Great - assuming of course that they can read, which is not a forgone conclusion. The Loves of Alexander III of Macedon Alexander the Great - Adrian on Alexander Alexander the Great - First Homepage Alexander the Great - History Project In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great - PBS Alexander the Great - Western Civilization Alexander the Great - Plutarch Alexander the Great - From History to Eternity Alexander the Great's First Home Page Alexander the Great Captures Jerusalem - Bible Tutor Alexander the Great - Cause of Death Battle of Chaeronea - Alexander the Great Animated Map - Odyssey of Alexander the Great Alexander the Great - Alexander in Tyre Alexander the Great in Kafiristan Alexander the Great - Psychoanalytic Study
|
|||||||||
