Alexander the Great's Conquer of the Persian Empire

How it all began:

It all began when King Philip II was murdered by one of his bodyguards, which thus put his son, Alexander into power.

King Philip II of Macedon

Beginning at HOME

The Battle of Granicus

Between 334 and 331 B.C.,

Alexander won three battles against the

Persian Empire. The first was at the Granicus

River in May of 334 B.C. King Darius III did not even

come to the battlefield. When he did arrive,

Alexanders army was ready for battle. By the end of

the battle, about 2,000 Greek mercenaries survived,

and were shipped to Macedon to be slaves.

and about 150 of Alexanders soldiers were

When Alexander the Great became the king of Macedonia in 336 B.C., he inherited one of the greatest armies the world had ever seen. The father of Alexander the great was King Philip II of Macedon. He had plans to attack Persia that Alexander would now carry out.

killed.

The Battle of Issus

In October of 333 B.C.

Alexander lead his troops into a fierce

battle at Issus, but they were

outnumbered. Although the Persians made a huge

mistake by choosing to fight on a narrow

plain bordered by the sea, a river, and

mountains. The Persians lost about

100,000 soldiers at Issus, and only

450 Macedonians were killed.

The Battle of Guagamela

In summer 331 B.C. Alexander and

his 40,000 infantry and 7,000 calvary,

went to the village of Guagamela, up against

King Darius' army of 100,000 soldiers. When

the battle started, Alexander lured the Persians

into attacking his left and right flanks,

opening the center where he was able to go

straight for Darius. Darius soon fled on

horseback. The Persians lost 40,000

to 200,000; the Macedonians

lost 150 - 1,200.

The Empire At Its Largest

Alexander's victory at Guagamela established him as the ruler of the Persian Empire. It was all about how he greatly defeated King Darius III, even when he was outnumbered. He was able to do this because his men were extremely disciplined and committed, even dovoted, to their leader. The Persian forces were not as well trained, well disciplined, or devoted.

Alexander the Great's Conquest of the Persian Empire

Bibliography

(this guy)

The Siege of Tyre

When Alexander arrived at the island

of Tyre in 332 B.C., they refused to let him enter.

Alexander knew he needed the island, so he set

out to build a mole, a massive land bridge. They used

Alexander the Great. Digital image. Garden of Praise. Garden of Praise, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://gardenofpraise.com/images/garalex.jpg>.

Le Brun, Charles. The Battle of Guagamela. Digital image. Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Battle_of_Gaugamela_(Arbela).PNG>.

Le Brun, Charles. Battle of the Granicus. Digital image. Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, 1665. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Charles_Le_Brun%2C_Le_Passage_du_Granique%2C_1665.png>.

Mosaico De La Batalla De Issos. Digital image. Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Battle_of_Issus.jpg>.

Philip II of Macedon. Digital image. Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Filip_II_Macedonia.jpg>.

The Siege of Tyre. Digital image. Patriotfiles.com. Patriot Files, Aug. 2001. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. <http://www.patriotfiles.com/forum/imgcacheA/23510.png>.

Skelton, Debra, and Pamela Dell. Empire of Alexander the Great. New York: Chelsea House, 2009. Print.

debris from the ruined city of Tyre to build it. He also

built several wooden towers, which he mounted

catapults onto, to help him break down the large wall.

When finished, Alexander took about 120 ships from

the city of Sidon over to attack Tyre from the North

and South. Alexander destroyed the city and

killed more than 8,000 while the other

30,000 went into slavery.

Onward to Egypt

After his victory at Tyre, Alexander headed to Egypt, the richest part of the Persian Empire.

The Egyptians hated the Persians, and welcomed Alexander as a liberator. They turned over their entire treasury to him, and crowned the 24-year-old Macedonian pharaoh (king) of Egypt.

By Jacob Lamoureux