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Ancient Syria › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
Syria is a country located in the Middle East on the shore of Mediterranean Sea and bordered, from the north down to the west, by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. It is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world with archaeological finds dating the first human habitation at c. 700,000 years ago. The Dederiyeh Cave near Aleppo has produced a number of significant finds, such as bones, placing Neanderthals in the region at that time and shows continual occupation of the site over a substantial period.
The first evidence of modern humans appears c. 100,000 years ago as evidenced by finds of human skeletons, ceramics, and crude tools. There seem to have been mass migrations throughout the region that impacted the various communities but, as there is no written record of the period, it is unknown why they happened if they did occur. These migrations are suggested by archaeological finds throughout the region showing significant changes in the manufacture of ceramics and tools found at various sites. These developments, however, could be just as easily explained by cultural exchange between tribes in a region or simply similar developments in the manufacturing process rather than large-scale migration. The historian Soden notes that,
Scholars have sought to deduce especially important developments, for example, folk migrations, from cultural changes which can be read in archaeological remains, particularly in ceramic materials…Yet there can be frequent and substantial changes in the ceramic style, even if no other people has come onto the scene. (13)
It is thought that climate change in the area c. 15,000 years ago may have influenced humans to abandon the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and initiate an agricultural one or that migrating tribes introduced agriculture to different regions. Soden writes, “We term 'prehistoric' those epochs in which nothing had yet been written down, without thereby assuming that events of great significance had not yet taken place” (13). The significance of the mass migration theory is that it explains how agriculture became so widespread in the region when it did but, again, this theory is far from proven. It is clear, however, that an agrarian civilization was already thriving in the region prior to the domestication of animals c. 10,000 BCE.
SYRIA WAS AN IMPORTANT TRADE REGION WITH PORTS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN, PRIZED BY A SUCCESSION OF MESOPOTAMIAN EMPIRES.
THE NAME & EARLY HISTORY
In its early written history, the region was known as Eber Nari ('across the river') by the Mesopotamians and included modern-day Syria, Lebanon, and Israel (collectively known as The Levant ). Eber Nari is referenced in the biblical books of Ezra and Nehemiah as well as in reports by the scribes of Assyrian and Persian kings. The modern name of Syria is claimed by some scholars to have derived from Herodotus ' habit of referring to the whole of Mesopotamia as ' Assyria ' and, after the Assyrian Empire fell in 612 BCE, the western part continued to be called 'Assyria' until after the Seleucid Empire when it became known as 'Syria'. This theory has been contested by the claim that the name comes from Hebrew, and the people of the land were referred to as 'Siryons' by the Hebrews because of their soldiers' metal armor ('Siryon' meaning armor, specifically chain mail, in Hebrew). There is also the theory that `Syria' derives from the Siddonian name for Mount Hermon - `Siryon' – which separated the regions of northern Eber Nari and southern Phoenicia (modern Lebanon, which Sidon was a part of), and it has also been suggested that the name comes from the Sumerian, `Saria' which was their name for Mount Hermon. As the designations `Siryon' and `Saria' would not have been known to Herodotus, and as his Histories had such an enormous impact on later writers in antiquity, it is most likely that the modern name `Syria' derives from `Assyria' (which comes from the Akkadian ` Ashur ' and designated the Assyrian's chief deity) and not from the Hebrew, Siddonian, or Sumerian words.
Early settlements in the area, such as Tell Brak, date back to at least 6000 BCE. It has long been understood that civilization began in southern Mesopotamia in the region of Sumer and then spread north. Excavations at Tell Brak, however, have challenged this view, and scholars are divided as to whether civilization actually began in the north or if there could have been simultaneous developments in both areas of Mesopotamia. The claim that, in the words of the scholar Samuel Noah Kramer, “history begins at Sumer” is still most widely accepted, however, owing to the certainty of the presence of the so-called Ubaid people in southern Mesopotamia prior to the rise of communities in the north such as Tell Brak. This debate will continue until more conclusive evidence of earlier development in the north is unearthed and, presently, both sides in the argument offer what seems to be conclusive proof for their respective claims. Until the discovery of Tell Brak (first excavated by Max Mallowan in 1937/1938 CE), there was no doubt regarding the origins of civilization in Mesopotamia, and it is certainly possible that future finds in the modern countries which were once Mesopotamia will help decide this point, although evidence for civilization beginning in Sumer seems far more conclusive at this point.
Palmyra Castle
The two most important cities in ancient Syria were Mari and Ebla, both founded after the cities of Sumer (Mari in the 5th and Ebla in the 3rd millennium BCE) and both of which used Sumerian script, worshipped Sumerian deities, and dressed in Sumerian fashion. Both of these urban centers were repositories of vast cuneiform tablet collections, written in Akkadian and Sumerian, which recorded the history, daily life, and business transactions of the people and included personal letters. When Ebla was excavated in 1974 CE the palace was found to have been burned and, as with Ashurbanipal ’s famous library at Nineveh, the fire baked the clay tablets and preserved them. At Mari, following its destruction by Hammurabi of Babylon in 1759 BCE, the tablets were buried under the rubble and remained intact until their discovery in 1930 CE. Together, the tablets of Mari and Ebla provided archaeologists with a relatively complete understanding of life in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BCE.
SYRIA & THE EMPIRES OF MESOPOTAMIA
Both cities were founded c. 4000-3000 BCE and were important centers of trade and culture by 2500 BCE. Sargon the Great(2334-2279 BCE) conquered the region and absorbed it into his Akkadian Empire. Whether Sargon, his grandson Naram-Sin, or the Ebalites themselves first destroyed the cities during the Akkadian conquest is a matter of debate which has continued for some decades now but both cities sustained significant damage during the time of the empire of Akkad and rose again under the control of the Amorites after the Akkadian Empire had fallen in the second millennium BCE. It was at this time that Syria came to be known as the Land of Amurru (Amorites). The Amorites would continue to call the land their own and to make incursions into the rest of Mesopotamia throughout its history but the region of Syria would also continually be wrested from their control. Since it was recognized as an important trade region with ports on the Mediterranean, it was prized by a succession of Mesopotamian empires. The Hurrian Kingdom of Mittani (c. 1475-1275 BCE) first seized the area and built (or re-built) the city of Washukanni as their capital. They were conquered by the Hittites under the reign of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I (1344-1322 BCE) who placed Hittite rulers on the Mitanni throne.
Map of Mesopotamia, 2000-1600 BC
Egypt had long had trade relations with Syria (archaeological finds at Ebla substantiate trade with Egypt as early as 3000 BCE) and fought a number of battles with the Hittites for control of the region and access to trade routes and ports.Suppiluliuma I had taken Syria before the conquest of the Mitanni and, from his bases there, made incursions down the coast throughout the Levant, threatening Egypt's borders. As the Hittite and Egyptian forces were equal in strength, neither could gain the upper hand until Suppiluliuma I and his successor Mursilli II died, and the kings who came after them could not maintain the same level of control.
The famous Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE, between the Egyptians and the Hittites over the trade center of Kadesh in Syria, was a draw. Although both sides claimed victory, neither obtained their objective, and this was most likely noted by the other power growing in the region: the Assyrians. The Assyrian king Adad Nirari I (1307-1275 BCE) had already driven the Hittites from the region formerly held by the Mitanni and his successor, Tikulti- Ninurta I (1244-1208 BCE) decisively defeated the Hittite forces at the Battle of Nihriya in c. 1245 BCE. The Amorites then tried to assert control after the fall of the Hittites and gained and lost ground to the Assyrians over the next few centuries until the Middle Assyrian Empire rose to power, conquered the region, and stabilized it. This political stability was upset by the invasions of the Sea Peoples c. 1200 BCE, and Mesopotamian regions changed hands with different invading forces (such as the Elamite conquest of Ur in 1750 BCE which ended the Sumerian culture). This instability in the region continued until the Assyrians gained supremacy with the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under King Adad Nirari II (912-891 BCE). The Assyrians expanded their empire across the region, down through the Levant and, ultimately, controlled Egypt itself.
After the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612 BCE, Babylon assumed control of the region and exerted control north and south of their city, conquering Syria and destroying Mari. The historian Paul Kriwaczek writes how, after Babylon's conquest of Assyria, “the western half of Assyria's domain was still called the province of Assyria – later, having lost its initial vowel, Syria. The Persian Empire retained the same name, as did Alexander ’s empire and its successor the Seleucid state, as well as the Roman Empire which was its inheritor” (207). At this time the Aramaeans were the majority in Syria and their alphabet, which had been adopted by the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III to replace Akkadian in the empire, provided the written history of the region. The Phoenicians, before this time, had occupied the coastal regions of Syria and their alphabet, which had merged with that of the Aramaeans (along with loan words from Akkadian), became the script inherited by the Greeks.
Flood Tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh
SYRIA & THE BIBLE
Babylon held the region from 605-549 BCE until the Persian conquest and the rise of the Achaemenid Empire (549-330 BCE). Alexander the Great conquered Syria in 332 BCE and, after his death in 323 BCE, the Seleucid Empire ruled the region. The Parthians reigned until, weakened by repeated attacks by the Scythians, their empire fell. Tigranes the Great(140-55 BCE) of the Kingdom of Armenia in Anatolia was welcomed by the people of Syria as a liberator in 83 BCE and held the land as part of his kingdom until Pompey the Great took Antioch in 64 BCE and annexed Syria as a Roman province. It was completely conquered by the Roman Empire in 115/116 CE. The Amorites, Aramaeans, and Assyrians made up most of the population at this time and had a significant impact on the religious and historical traditions of the Near East. The historian Kriwaczek, citing the work of the Assyriologist Professor Henry Saggs, writes:
Descendants of the Assyrian peasants would, as opportunity permitted, build new villages over the old cities and carried on with agricultural life, remembering traditions of the former cities. After seven or eight centuries and after various vicissitudes, these people became Christians. These Christians, and the Jewish communities scattered amongst them, not only kept alive the memory of their Assyrian predecessors but also combined them with traditions from the Bible. The Bible, indeed, came to be a powerful factor in keeping alive the memory of Assyria (207-208).
The historian Bertrand Lafont, among others, has noted the “parallels that are sometimes evident between the content of the tablets at Mari and biblical sources” (Bottero, 140). Kriwaczek, Bottero, and many older scholars and historians since the 19th century CE discovery of much of ancient Mesopotamia and the 20th century find of the tablets at Ebla have repeatedly written on the direct influence of Mesopotamian history on the biblical narratives so that, at this point, there is no doubt that popular stories such as the fall of man, Cain and Abel, the great flood, and many other tales from the Bible originated in Mesopotamian myths. There is also no doubt that the pattern of monotheism as illustrated in the Bible existed previously in Mesopotamia through worship of the god Ashur, and that this idea of a single, all-powerful, deity would be one reason behind the claim (which has been contested) that the Assyrians were the first to accept Christianity and set up a Christian kingdom: because they were already familiar with the idea of an omnipresent, transcendent god who could manifest himself on earth in another form. Kriwaczek clarifies this in writing :
That is not to say that the Hebrews borrowed the notion of a single omnipotent and omnipresent God from Assyrian predecessors. Just that their new theology was far from an utterly revolutionary and unprecedented religious movement. The Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition that began in the Holy Land was not a total break with the past, but grew out of religious ideas that had already taken hold of Late Bronze and Early Iron Age northern Mesopotamia, the world view of the Assyrian kingdom, which would spread its faith as well as its power right across western Asia over the course of the following centuries (231).
This heritage was held by the people of Syria who, it is claimed, could have influenced depictions of kings, battles, and events as recorded in the Old Testament and even the vision of the risen god as given in the New Testament. Saul of Tarsus, who would later become the apostle Paul and then Saint Paul, was a Roman citizen of Tarsus in Syria who claimed to have seen a vision of Jesus while en route to Damascus (also in Syria). The first major center of Christendom rose in Syria, at Antioch, and the first evangelical missions were launched from that city. Scholars such as Hyam Maccoby (and, earlier, Heinrich Graetz in his History of the Jews) have suggested that the apostle Paul synthesized Judaism and Mesopotamian – particularly Assyrian – mystery religions to create the religion which became known as Christianity. If one accepts these claims, then Panbabylonism (the historical viewpoint that the Bible is derived from Mesopotamian sources) owes its existence to the people of Syria, who would have helped to spread Mesopotamian culture.
Citadel of Aleppo
ROME, THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, & ISLAM
Syria was an important province of the Roman Republic and, later the Roman Empire. Both Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great favored the region and, after the rise of the empire, it was considered one of the most essential regions owing to its trade routes and ports on the Mediterranean Sea. In the First Jewish-Roman War of 66-73 CE, Syrian troops played a decisive role at the Battle of Beth Horon (66 CE), where they were ambushed by Judean rebel forces and slaughtered. The Syrian warriors were highly regarded by the Romans for their skill, bravery, and effectiveness in battle, and the loss of a legion convinced Rome of the need to send the full force of the Roman military against the rebels of Judea. The rebellion was brutally put down by Titus in 73 CE with tremendous loss of life. Syrian infantry were also involved in putting down the Bar-Kokhba Revolt in Judea (132-136 CE) after which the emperor Hadrian exiled the Jews from the region and re-named it Syria Palaestina after the traditional enemies of the Jewish people.
Three later emperors were Syrian by birth: Elagabalus (reigned 218-222 CE), Alexander Severus (reigned 222-235 CE), and Philip the Arab (244-249 CE). Emperor Julian (361-363 CE), the last non-Christian emperor of Rome, paid particular attention to Antioch as a Christian center and tried, unsuccessfully, to mollify religious strife between pagans and Christians in the region which he had, unwittingly, fostered. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Syria was part of the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire and continued as an important center of trade and commerce. In the 7th century CE, Islam began to spread through the region through the Arab Conquests and, in 637 CE, the Muslims defeated the armies of the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Iron Bridge at the Orontes River in Syria. This proved to be the decisive battle between the Byzantines and the Muslims and, after the fall and capture of Antioch, Syria became absorbed into the Rashidun Caliphate.
The majority of the populace was at first relatively unaffected by the change in government from the Byzantines to the Muslims. The Muslim conquerors maintained a tolerance for other faiths and allowed the continued practice of Christianity.Non-Muslims were not allowed to serve in the Rashidun Army, however, and, as the army offered steady employment, a majority of the populace may have converted to Islam simply to procure jobs. This theory has been contested but there was a steady conversion of the majority of the population to Islam. The Islamic Empire spread rapidly throughout the region and Damascus was made the capital, resulting in unprecedented prosperity for the whole of Syria which, at that time, had been divided into four provinces for ease of governance. The Umayyad Dynasty was overthrown by another Muslim faction, the Abbasid, in 750 CE and the capital was at that time moved from Damascus to Baghdad which caused economic decline throughout the region. Arabic was proclaimed the official language of the region of Syria, and Aramaean and Greek fell out of use.
The new Muslim government was busied with affairs throughout the empire, and the cities of the region of Syria suffered deterioration. The Roman ruins and cities, still extant in the modern day, were abandoned as dams diverted water away from previously vital communities. The ancient region of Eber Nari had now become Muslim Syria, and the people would continue to suffer the invading forces of various warlords and political factions fighting for control of the region's resources over the next few centuries without regard for the impressive history of the land, the preservation of that history and those resources, or the population who lived there; a situation which continues to trouble the region, in varied form, even to the present day.
Alexander the Great › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Alexander III of Macedon, known as Alexander the Great (21 July 356 BCE – 10 or 11 June 323 BCE), was the son of King Philip II of Macedon. He became king upon his father's death in 336 BCE and went on to conquer most of the known world of his day. He is known as 'the great' both for his military genius and his diplomatic skills in handling the various populaces of the regions he conquered. He is further recognized for spreading Greek culture, language, and thought from Greecethroughout Asia Minor, Egypt, and Mesopotamia to India and thus initiating the era of the " Hellenistic World ".
ALEXANDER'S YOUTH
When Alexander was young, he was taught to fight and ride by Leonidas of Epirus, a relative of his mother Olympias, as well as to endure hardships such as forced marches. His father, Philip, was interested in cultivating a refined future king so hired Lysimachus of Acarnania to teach the boy reading, writing, and to play the lyre. This tutelage would instill in Alexander a life-long love of reading and music. At the age of 14 Alexander was introduced to the Greek philosopher Aristotlewho Philip hired as a private tutor. He would study with Aristotle for the next three years, and the two remained in correspondence throughout Alexander's later campaigns.
Aristotle's influence directly bore upon Alexander's later dealings with the people he conquered, in that Alexander never forced the culture of Greece upon the inhabitants of the various regions but merely introduced it in the same way Aristotle used to teach his students. The influence of Leonidas may be seen in Alexander's lifelong resilience and physical stamina as well as in his skill with horses. Alexander tamed the `untamable ' Bucephalus when he was only 11 or 12 years old. While his tutor's influence certainly had a profound effect upon him, Alexander seemed destined for greatness from birth. He had, first of all, a father whose accomplishments laid a firm foundation for his later success. The historian Diodorus Siculus observes:
During the twenty-four years of his reign as King of Macedonia, in which he started with the slenderest resources, Philip built his own kingdom up into the greatest power in Europe...He projected the overthrow of the Persian Empire, landed forces in Asia and was in the act of liberating the Hellenic communities when he was interrupted by Fate - in spite of which, he bequeathed a military establishment of such size and quality that his son Alexander was enabled to overthrow the Persian Empire without requiring the assistance of allies. These achievements were not the work of Fortune but of his own force of character, for this king stands out above all others for his military acumen, personal courage and intellectual brilliance.
While it is clear that his father had a great impact on him, Alexander himself chose to see his success as ordained by divine forces. He called himself the son of Zeus, and so claimed the status of a demi-god, linking his blood-line to his two favorite heroes of antiquity, Achilles and Herakles, and modeling his behavior after theirs. This belief in his divinity was instilled in him by Olympias who also told him that his was a virgin birth as she had been miraculously impregnated by Zeus himself. His birth was associated with great signs and wonders, such as a bright star gleaming over Macedonia that night and the destruction of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Plutarch writes:
Alexander was born the sixth of Hecatombaeon, which month the Macedonians call Lous, the same day that the temple of Diana at Ephesus was burnt; which Hegesias of Magnesia makes the occasion of a conceit, frigid enough to have stopped the conflagration. The temple, he says, took fire and was burnt while its mistress was absent, assisting at the birth of Alexander. And all the Eastern soothsayers who happened to be then at Ephesus, looking upon the ruin of this temple to be the forerunner of some other calamity, ran about the town, beating their faces, and crying that this day had brought forth something that would prove fatal and destructive to all Asia. (Plutarch, Lives )
AT THE ORACLE OF SIWA, HE WAS PROCLAIMED A SON OF THE GOD ZEUS- AMMON.
Though his miraculous birth is well documented by historians, there is little information on his youth, aside from tales of his precociousness (he allegedly interviewed visiting dignitaries about the boundaries and strengths of Persia when he was seven years old), his tutors, and his childhood friends. Alexander's friends Cassander, Ptolemy, and Hephaestion would become his life-long companions and generals in his army. Callisthenes, another friend, was Aristotle's great-nephew, and came to the Macedonian court with the philosopher. He would become court historian and follow Alexander on campaign in the capacity of philosopher. Hephaestion remained his best and dearest friend throughout his life and second-in-command of the army. Of Alexander's youth, the historian Worthington writes that Alexander "would have been educated at home, as was the custom in Macedonia, and he would have grown used to seeing (and then participating in) the drinking contests that were part of Macedonian court life" but that, aside from that, "we know surprisingly little about Alexander's boyhood"(33).
CHARONEA & THE EARLY CAMPAIGNS
Alexander's military prowess was first noted at the Battle of Charonea in 338 BCE. Although only 18 years old, he helped turn the tide of battle in the decisive Macedonian victory which defeated the Greek allied city -states. When Philip II was assassinated in 336 BCE, Alexander assumed the throne, and with the Greek city-states now united under Macedonian rule following Charonea, embarked on the great campaign his father had been planning: the conquest of the mighty Persian Empire. Worthington states:
Homer was Alexander's bible and he took Aristotle's edition with him to Asia...During his campaigns Alexander was always intent on finding out everything he could about the areas through which he passed. He took with him an entourage of scientists to record and analyse this information, from botany, biology, zoology and meteorology, to topography. His desire to learn, and to have information recorded as scientifically as possible, probably stemmed from Aristotle's teachings and enthusiasm.(34-35)
With an army of 32,000 infantry and 5,100 cavalry, Alexander crossed over to Asia Minor in 334 BCE and sacked the city of Baalbek, re-naming it Heliopolis. He then liberated the Greek city of Ephesos from Persian rule and offered to re-build the Temple of Artemis, which had been destroyed by arson on the night of his birth, but the city refused his gesture. In 333 BCE Alexander and his troops defeated the larger force of King Darius III of Persia at the Battle of Issos. Darius fled the field, leaving his family behind. Alexander went on to sack the Phoenician city of Sidon and then to conquer Aleppo. In 332 BCE he conquered Syria and then Egypt in 331 BCE, where he founded the city of Alexandria. At the Oracle of Siwa, in the eponymous Egyptian oasis, he was proclaimed a son of the god Zeus-Ammon.
Alexander the Great
Though he had conquered Egypt, Alexander was not interested in imposing his own ideas of truth, religion, or behavior upon the people as long as they willingly kept the supply lines open to feed and equip his troops (an important aspect of his ability to rule vast areas which was to be neglected by his successors). This does not mean, however, that he did not ruthlessly suppress uprisings or hesitate to viciously annihilate those who opposed him. After designing the plan for the city of Alexandria, he left Egypt for further campaigns, easily conquering the land of Phoenicia except for the island city of Tyre, which he placed under siege. So determined was he to conquer Tyre that he built a causeway from the mainland to the island on which to mount his siege engines to take the city. This causeway, in time, collected silt and earth and is the reason why Tyre is a part of the mainland in Lebanon today. For their stubborn resistance, the inhabitants of the city were slaughtered and the survivors sold into slavery. His policy regarding the citizens of Tyre is a prime example of his ruthlessness.
THE PERSIAN CAMPAIGNS
In 331 BCE Alexander met King Darius III on the battlefield at Gaugamela where, again facing overwhelming numbers, he decisively defeated Darius who fled the field. Darius was later assassinated by his own general and cousin Bessus, an act which Alexander was said to deplore. Darius' body was treated with the greatest respect, as were the surviving members of his family. Alexander proclaimed himself the King of Asia and continued on to march on the great city of Susa which surrendered unconditionally without resistance.
From Susa, Alexander marched on the city of Persepolis, where in 330 BCE, according to the ancient historian Diodorus Siculus (and others), he started the fire which destroyed the main palace and most of the city as revenge for the burning of the Acropolis in Xerxes ' Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE. This act was said to be instigated during a drunken party by Thais, the Athenian lover of the general Ptolemy, claiming it would be apt revenge for the city to be burnt 'by women's hands', and she is said to have thrown her torch right after Alexander threw the first. Leaving Persepolis in ruins and carrying off the vast treasures, he marched on to Bactria and Sogdianna, conquering them easily.
In 329 BCE he founded the city of Alexandria-Eschate on the Iaxartes River, destroyed the city of Cyropolis, and defeated the Scythians. Alexander founded many cities bearing his name during this time to further his public image as a god and adopted the title ShahanShah (King of Kings) used by the rulers of the First Persian Empire. In keeping with this status, Alexander introduced the Persian custom of proskynesis to the army, forcing those who addressed him to first kneel and kiss his hand.
The Macedonian troops became progressively uncomfortable with Alexander's apparent deification and adoption of Persian customs. Assassination plots were hatched only to be revealed and the conspirators executed, even if they were old friends.Callisthenes became one of these when he was implicated in a plot. Cleitus, the elder statesman who had saved Alexander's life at the Battle of Granicus, would doom himself in a similar way. In 328 BCE Alexander would murder both Callisthenes and Cleitus, in separate incidents, for treason and questioning his authority, respectively.
Alexander's habit of drinking to excess was well known, and certainly in the case of Cleitus' death, significantly influenced the murder. Both Cleitus and Callisthenes had become quite vocal in their criticism of Alexander's adoption of Persian customs.Though capable of great diplomacy and skill in dealing with conquered peoples and their rulers, Alexander was not known for tolerating personal opinions which conflicted with his own, and this intolerance was exacerbated by drinking. Cleitus' death was swift, through a javelin Alexander hurled at him, while Callisthenes was imprisoned and either died in confinement or was crucified.
Map of Alexander the Great's Conquests
INDIA & MUTINY
In 327 BCE, with the Persian Empire firmly under his control and newly married to the Bactrian noblewoman Roxana, Alexander turned his attention to India. Having heard of the exploits of the great Macedonian general, the Indian King Omphis of Taxila submitted to his authority without a fight, but the Aspasioi and Assakenoi tribes strongly resisted. In battles throughout 327 BCE and into 326 BCE, Alexander subdued these tribes, finally meeting King Porus of Paurava at the Battle of the Hydaspes River in 326 BCE. Porus charged Alexander's forces with elephants and fought so bravely with his troops that, after defeating Porus, Alexander installed him as ruler of a larger region than he had previously held. Alexander's horse Bucephalus was killed in this battle, and Alexander named one of the two cities he founded after the battle "Bucephala" after him.
Alexander intended to march on and cross the River Ganges toward further conquests, but his troops, worn out by the hard-fought battle with Porus (in which, according to Arrian, Alexander lost 1000 men), mutinied and refused to go further.Alexander tried to persuade his men to press on but, failing to win them over, finally assented to their wishes. He split his army in two, sending half back to Susa by sea under the command of Admiral Nearchus through the Persian Gulf, and marching the other half on through the Gedrosian Desert. His reasoning behind this decision is still unclear and debated by historians. Even though he had abandoned his conquest of India, he still paused on his march to subdue those hostile tribes he encountered along the way. The harsh terrain of the desert, and the military engagements, took a great toll on his troops, and by the time they reached Susa in 324 BCE, Alexander had sustained considerable losses.
Upon his return he found that many of the satraps he had entrusted with rule had abused their power and so executed them as well as those who had vandalized the tomb of Cyrus the Great at the old capital city of Pasargadae. He ordered the ancient capital and tomb to be restored and took other measures to ingratiate and integrate his army with the people of the region and merge the cultures of Persia and Macedonia. Alexander held a mass marriage service at Susa in which he married members of his senior staff to Persian noblewomen. Many of his troops objected to this cultural merger and increasingly criticized his adoption of Persian dress and manners which he had affected since 329 BCE. They further objected to the promotion of Persians over Macedonians in the army and to Alexander's order merging Persian and Macedonian units. Alexander responded by appointing Persians to prominent positions in the army and awarded traditional Macedonian titles and honors to Persian units. His troops backed down and submitted to Alexander's wishes, and in a gesture of good will, he returned the titles to the Macedonians and ordered a great communal feast at which he dined and drank with the army. He had already dropped the custom of proskynesis in deference to his men but continued to comport himself as a Persian, rather than Macedonian, king.
At about this time, in 324 BCE, his lifelong friend and second-in-command, Hephaestion, died from a fever, though some reports suggest he may have been poisoned. Historians' accounts of Alexander's response to this event universally agree that his grief was insupportable. Plutarch claims that Alexander slaughtered the Cossaeans of a neighboring town as a sacrifice to his friend, and Arrian writes that he had Hephaestion's doctor executed for failing to cure him. The manes and tails of the horses were cut as a sign of mourning, and Alexander refused to promote another to Hephaestion's position as commander of the cavalry. He abstained from food and drink and declared a period of mourning throughout his empire and funeral rites usually reserved for a king.
ALEXANDER'S DEATH
Upon his recovery from Hephaestion's death, Alexander returned to plans for expanding his empire but would never realize them. He died in Babylon at the age of 32 on 10 or 11 June 323 BCE after suffering ten days of high fever. Theories concerning his cause of death have ranged from poisoning to malaria to meningitis to bacterial infection from drinking contaminated water (among others). Plutarch says that, 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained his fleet admiral Nearcus and his friend Medius of Larissa with a long bout of drinking, after which he fell into a fever from which he never recovered. When he was asked who should succeed him, Alexander said, “The strongest”, which answer led to his empire being divided between four of his generals: Cassander, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus (known as The Diadochi or `successors').
Alexander Sarcophagus (detail)
Plutarch and Arrian, however, claim he passed his reign to Perdiccas, the friend of Hephaistion with whom Alexander had carried their friend's body to his funeral in Babylon. Perdiccas was also Alexander's friend as well as his bodyguard and fellow cavalryman, and it would make sense, considering Alexander's habit of rewarding those he was close to with favors, that he would choose Perdiccas over others. However that may be, following Alexander's death, the generals ignored his wishes and Perdiccas was assassinated in 321 BCE.
THE DIADOCHI
His longtime comrade, Cassander, would order the execution of Alexander's wife Roxana, Alexander's son by her, and Alexander's mother Olympias to consolidate his power as the new King of Macedonia (a title he would later lose to Antigonus and his heirs). Ptolemy stole Alexander's corpse as it was en route to Macedon and spirited it away to Egypt in hope of securing the prophecy that the land in which it was laid to rest would be prosperous and unconquerable. He would found the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt which would last until 30 BCE, ending with the death of his descendant Cleopatra VII. Seleucus founded the Seleucid Empire, comprising Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and parts of India, and would be the last remaining of the Diadochi after the incessant 40 years of war between them and their heirs. He came to be known as Seleucid I Nicator (the unconquered). None of his generals possessed Alexander's intelligence, understanding, or military genius but would found dynasties which, with exceptions, ruled their respective regions until the coming of Rome.
Their influence over the regions they controlled created what historians refer to as The Hellenistic Period in which Greek thought and culture became entwined with that of the indigenous populace. According to Diodorus Siculus, one of the stipulations of Alexander's will was the creation of a unified empire between former enemies. People of the Near East were to be encouraged to marry with those of Europe and those of Europe to do likewise; in so doing, a new culture would be embraced by all. Although the Diodachi failed in the peaceful fulfillment of his wishes, through the Hellenization of their empires they contributed to Alexander's dream of a cultural unity; even if such unity could never be fully realized.
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