1. Alexander the Great
Ruler of the
World

2. Group members
M Irfan Ashraf 13061513-059
Salman Tufail 13061513-025
Adnan Ahmad 13061513-046
M Tayyab 13061513-022

3. Why “the Great”?
In ten years, Alexander of
Macedonia created the largest
empire in the world up to that time
Alexander spread Greek culture,
ensuring cultural diffusion and the
survival of the qualities of classical
Greece

4. Alexander’s Empire

5. About Alexander’s
Born in Pella, Macedonia
Tutored by the Greek
philosopher, Aristotle
His father, Philip, was king of
Macedonia, and had conquered the
Greek city states during his 27 year
reign

6. Olympia
Alexander’s mother
Philip
Alexander’s father

7. Alexander Rules
Philip was murdered in 336 B.C. by
an assassin…maybe hired by his
wife, Olympia…
So Alexander was only 20
when he became king of
Macedonia

8. Securing his father’s empire
Alexander squelched rebellions in the
northern regions to the Danube River
In the process of reconquering the
Greek city states, his forces destroyed
Thebes, massacring all,
including women
and children

9. Expanding the Empire
Alexander’s forces of over
40,000 crossed at the
Dardanelles into Asia,
where he declared that the
whole of Asia would be won
by the spear

10. The Gordian Knot
The Gordian Knot: the legend behind the
ancient knot was that the man who could
untie it was destined to rule the entire
world.
Alexander simply slashed the knot with
his sword and unraveled it.

11. Defeating Darius of Persia
#1: Alexander’s forced dispatched
the Persian army, losing only 110
men (legend)
#2: Again Alexander was
victorious, and Darius was forced
to flee, abandoning is mother, wife
and children to Alexander

12. Major cities in Asia Minor and
along the Phoenician coast
surrendered to Alexander
Alexander proceeded
to Egypt, where he
established the city
of Alexandria and
was made pharaoh

13. #3: Yet again, Alexander’s forces
defeated Darius, this time in
Mesopotamia…
Alexander was
proclaimed king of
Persia and Darius’s
royal city and palace
were burned to the
Persepolis
ground…
Again, Darius fled… Alexander pursued…

14. When Darius was found murdered
by his own men, Alexander
executed the assassins and gave
Darius a royal funeral
Ruins of
Persepolis

15. Alexander’s divinity
While in Egypt, Alexander
had visited the temple of
Amon-Ra
The oracle proclaimed that Alexander
was the divine son of Amon-Ra and
destined to rule the world
Conflicts arose with his Greek soldiers
as he adopted Persian dress &
demanded to be recognized as a god

16. The limits of expansion
In the spring of
327 BC, Alexander
and his army
marched into India
As he conquered
regions he allowed
rulers to continue
to govern in his
name

17. Bucephalus
In India, Alexander’s horse was killed…
He mourned his loss
and named a city in
his honor
Alexander on his favorite
horse, Bucephalus
'O my son, look thee
out a kingdom equal
to and worthy of
thyself, for Macedonia
is too little for thee.'
Philip to Alexander
(Plutarch, Alexander)

18. Retreat
At the Indus, the Macedonians rebelled
and refused to go any farther
The forces travelled down the Indus
and began the arduous journey back
to Mesopotamia
His best friend, Hephaestion,
died of a fever; to console
himself, Alexander led a
ferocious military campaign and
went on a drinking binge

19. Securing a legacy
Alexander made Babylonia the capital of
his Empire
He married one of Darius’ daughters and
“encouraged” 10,000 of his soldiers to
take Persian wives
He died the following year at 33 before
he could produce an heir and his
kingdom was divided among 3 of his
generals

20. Antigonus
Seleucus
Ptolemy

21. The mystery of Alexander’s death
Alexander died of a fever at
33… but why?
Plutarch reports that he
was had been plagued by
several bad “omens”
Some others from the time
claimed Alexander was
poisoned during the
drinking binge

22. Alexander the Great
13061513-025

23. The Peloponnesian War:A Big Fat Greek Civil War
In 431 B.C. the Spartans got tired
of the arrogance of Athens,
especially after they started building
walls around their city.
Spartans fought better on land, Athens
fought better at sea so the battles
lasted a long time.
Sparta eventually won when the
Persians joined to help against
Athens, made Athens tear down
their walls.

24. Macedonia Makes a Move
After the Persian War and
Peloponnesian War, Greece was
very week and distracted.
Phillip II, King of Macedonia took
the opportunity to take over Greece
(except Sparta) and then attack
Persia.
Great General, expert at using the
phalanx.
Became king at only 23

25. Getting to Greece
338 BC: Phillip
and the
Macedonians
defeat the Greek
City States and
Unify Greece.
Governments
remained
independence,
ruling
themselves.

26. Arise Alexander
Became King of Macedonia at age 20
after Phillip died of poisoning
(suspiciously).
Killed all others who could beat him to the
throne.
Wanted to be like warriors he studied
from the blind poet, Homer.
Student of Aristotle who taught
him about Greek culture. .
Determined to outdo his father and
spread Greek culture.
Believed he descended from Hercules and
Achilles.

27. Alexander’s Three Point Plan
Alexander wanted to rule the world,
uniting different cultures under one
ruler.
How would he do this?
Spread Greek culture and ideas,
basically make everyone “Greek”.
Make himself a god to inspire loyalty.
Respect people he conquered and
adopt their cultures in addition to
Greece.

28. Born to Be a Leader
Alexander was an excellent
military leader, men were
very loyal to him.
Led from the front of his men.
Ate and drank with his men.
First one to climb walls into a
city.
Soldiers would follow him
happily into battle.

29. Alexander’s Conquests
By conquering the Persians, Alexander
could the unite Greeks against a common
enemy. By 334 he freed all Greek city
states from Persia.
332: Invaded Ancient Egypt, a Persian
territory.
Was welcomed as a liberator.
Crowned as a pharaoh/god
Founded the city of Alexandria and a huge
library on the Nile.
330 B.C.E: Conquered the Persian Empire.

30. The Library at Alexandria

31. Facts about the library
Dedicated to the Greek Muses of
Inspiration.
Contained a Zoo, botanical
gardens, and a restaurant.
Included over 500,000 papyrus
scrolls.
Became a center of advanced
Greek learning.

32. Spreading Civilization By the Sword
As Alexander’s empire spread, so did
the Greek culture.
Alexander passed the ideas and
philosophies of Aristotle on to the
world.
Sent samples of plants and animals back
to his tutor to study.
Encouraged his soldiers to marry foreign
girls so that the Greek culture would
spread.

33. The Hellenistic Heyday
Alexander’s conquests led to the
combination of many cultures.
This time period of combined cultural
advances under Alexander was called
the Hellenistic Era.
Hellas in Greek means land. So all of this was
considered “Greek land”
Greek + Egyptian + Indian + Persian =
Hellenistic Culture
Practices of other cultures were adopted by
Greeks, like monotheistic religions.

34. Hellenistic Advances
Alexander’s conquests spread the
classical Greek ideas such as
democracy and geometry out into the
world.
Cities conquered were redesigned in
Greek style.
Greek soldiers married foreign girls to
“blend” the cultures”
Alexander tried to set an example by
marrying a Persian princess, wearing
Persian clothes, worshiping Egyptian
gods, etc.

35. The End of Alexander
324: After reaching India, Alexander’s
soldiers were too tired and refused to
go on.
Age 33, Alexander died of swamp fever
and alcoholism.
After his death, Alexander’s generals
divided his empire into three pieces:
Egypt, Greece, and Asia.
He was buried in Alexandria, but his body
was lost after being burned.

36. What if????
What if the Greeks had not united with
Sparta during the Persian War?
What if Persia had won the War?
What if there had been no Greek Golden
Age?
What if there had been no Aristotle?
What if there had been no Alexander the
Great?
What would we have without Greece?

37. Alexander the Great
13061513-046

38. Battle of Issus
In the autumn of 333 BC, the Macedonian
army's encountered the Persian forces under the
command of King Darius III himself at a
mountain pass at Issus in northwestern Syria.
30,000 Greeks again formed a sizable addition
to the Darius' army as elite fighters and were
positioned directly against the Macedonian
phalanx. Describing the atmosphere before a
battle, the Roman historian Curtius explained
how Alexander raised the morale of the
Macedonians, Greeks, Illyrians, and Thracians in
his army, one at the time

40. Riding to the front line he (Alexander the Great)
named the soldiers and they responded from spot to
spot where they were lined up. The Macedonians, who
had won so many battles in Europe and set off to
invade Asia ... got encouragement from him - he
reminded them of their permanent values. They were
the world's liberators and one day they would pass the
frontiers set by Hercules and Father Liber. They would
subdue all races on Earth. Bactria and India would
become Macedonian provinces. Getting closer to the
Greeks, he reminded them that those were the people
(the Persians on the other side) who provoked war
with Greece, ...

42. Darius's army greatly outnumbered the
Macedonians, but the Battle of Issus
ended in a big victory for Alexander. Ten's
of thousands of Persians, Greeks, and
other Asiatic soldiers were killed and king
Darius fled in panic before the Macedonian
phalanx, abandoning his mother, wife, and
children behind. Alexander treated them
with the respect out of consideration for
their royalty.

43. Sieges of Tyre and Gaza
The victory at Issus opened the road for Syria and
Phoenicia. In early 332, Alexander sent general
Parmenio to occupy the Syrian cities and himself
marched down the Phoenician coast where he received
the surrender of all major cities except the island city of
Tyre which refused to grant him access to sacrifice at
the temple of the native Phoenician god Melcart. A very
difficult seven-month siege of the city followed. In an
enormous effort, the Macedonians begun building a mole
that would connect the island-city with the coast. Tons
of rocks and wood were poured into the water strip
separating the island from the coast but its construction
and the attacks from the city walls cost Alexander many
of his bravest Macedonians.

45. Although seriously tempted to lift the
siege and continue marching on Egypt,
Alexander did not abandon the project
and continued the siege, surrounding the
island with ships and blasting the city
walls with catapults. When the walls
finally gave in, the Macedonians poured
their anger over the city defenders - 7,000
people were killed, 30,000 were sold as
slaves. Alexander entered the temple of
Melcart, and had his sacrifice.

47. During the seven-month siege of Tyre,
Alexander received a letter from Darius
offering a truce with a gift of several
western provinces of the Persian Empire,
but he refused to make peace unless he
could have the whole empire. He
continued marching south toward Egypt
but was again held up by resistance at
Gaza. The Macedonians put the city
under a siege which lasted two months,
after which the scenario of Tyre was
repeated.

48. The mainland Greeks had hoped that the
Persian navy and the Greek commander
Memnon would land in Greece and help
them launch a rebellion against Antipater's
Macedonians, transfer the war into
Macedonia itself, and cut off Alexander in
Asia, but the sealing of the coast
prevented this from happening. Memnon
fell sick and died while attempting to
regain the lost Greek city of Miletus on the
Asia Minor coast, and the Persian plan to
transfer the war into Europe well apart.

49. Conquest of Egypt
Alexander entered Egypt in the beginning of 331
BC. The Persian satrap surrendered and the
Macedonians were welcomed by the Egyptians
as liberators for they had despised living under
Persian rule for almost two centuries. Here
Alexander ordered that a city be designed and
founded in his name at the mouth of river Nile,
as trading and military Macedonian outpost, the
first of many to come. He never lived to see it
built, but Alexandria will become a major
economic and cultural center in the
Mediterranean world not only during
the Macedonian rule in Egypt but centuries after
In the spring of 331

51. Alexander made a pilgrimage to the great
temple and oracle of Amon-Ra, the Egyptian god
of the sun, whom the Greeks and Macedonians
identified with Zeus Ammon. The earlier
Egyptian pharaohs were believed to be sons of
Amon-Ra and Alexander as new ruler of Egypt
wanted the god to acknowledge him as his son.
He decided to make the dangerous trip across
the desert to visit the oracle at the temple of the
god. According to the legend, on the way he
was blessed with abundant rain, and guided
across the desert by ravens. At the temple, he
was welcomed by the priests and spoke to the
oracle.

52. Battle of Gaugamela
At Tyre, Alexander received reinforcements from Europe,
reorganized his forces, and started for Babylon. He
conquered the lands between rivers Tigris and Euphrates
and found the Persian army at the plains of Gaugamela,
near modern Irbil in Iraq, which according to the
exaggerated accounts of antiquity was said to number a
million men. The Macedonians spotted the lights from
the Persian campfires and encouraged Alexander to lead
his attack under cover of darkness. But he refused to
take advantage of the situation because he wanted to
defeat Darius in an equally matched battle so that the
Persian king would never again dare to raise an army
against him.

54. The two armies met on the battlefield the next
morning, October 1, 331 BC. On the Persian
side were numerous Asiatic nations - Bactrians,
Indians, Medians, Sogdians, even Albanians
from the Caucasus, the ancestors of the modern
Albanians who many centuries later migrated to
Europe and are now northern neighbors to the
modern Greeks and western neighbors to the
modern Macedonians. The survivors of the
50,000 Greeks which Darius had on his side at
the beginning of the war were also among the
Persian ranks.

55. At the beginning of the battle the Persian forces
split and separated the two Macedonians wings.
The wing of general Parmenio appeared to be
backing down, but Alexander's cavalry rode
straight after Darius and forced again his flight
like he did at Issus. Darius fled to Ecbatana in
Media, and Alexander occupied Babylon, the
imperial capital Susa, and the Persian capital
Persepolis, and was henceforth proclaimed king
of Asia. Four months later, the Macedonians
burned the royal palace in Persepolis,
completing the end of the ancient Persian
Empire.

56. March on India
In the spring of 327 BC, Alexander and his
army marched into India invading Punjab. The
greatest of Alexander's battles in India was at
the river Hydaspes, against king Porus, one of
the most powerful Indian rulers. In the summer
of 326 BC, Alexander's army crossed the heavily
defended river during a violent thunderstorm to
meet Porus' forces. The Indians were defeated
in a fierce battle, even though they fought with
elephants, which the Macedonians had never
seen before. Porus was captured and like the
other local rulers he had defeated, Alexander
allowed him to continue to govern his territory.

58. In this battle Alexander's horse Bucephalus was
wounded and died. Alexander had ridden
Bucephalus into every one of his battles in
Europe and Asia, so when it died he was griefstricken. He founded a city which he named
Buckephalia, in his horse's name.
The army continued advancing as far as the
river Hydaspes but at this point the Macedonians
refused to go farther as reports were coming of
far more larger and dangerous armies ahead
equipped with many elephants and chariots.
General Coenus spoke on army's behalf to the
king.

61. One of the villages in which the army stopped belonged
to the Malli, who were said to be one of the most warlike
of the Indian tribes. Alexander was severally wounded in
this attack when an arrow pierced his breastplate and
his ribcage. The Macedonians rescued him in a narrow
escape from the village. Still the Malli surrendered as
Alexander became to recover from the grave
wound. The travel down the river resumed and the
Macedonian army reached the mouth of the Indus in the
summer of 325 BC. Then it turned westward to Persia.
But the return was a disaster. The army was marching
through the notorious Gerdosian desert during the
middle of the summer. By the time Alexander reached
Susa thousands had died of heat and exhaustion.

62. But the return was a disaster. The army
was marching through the notorious
Gerdosian desert during the middle of the
summer. By the time Alexander reached
Susa thousands had died of heat and
exhaustion.