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In 334 BC, Alexander, King of Macedon, began one of the greatest military campaigns in history – against the superpower of the age – the Persian Empire. Only 20 years old, his brilliant and fearless leadership won him battle after battle. And in a stunning 10-year campaign that took him to the edge of the known world, he created one of the largest empires ever known. Few men have had such a massive impact on the course of history. To the Persians, he was Alexander the Accursed, but in the west, he was immortalized… as Alexander the Great. Ancient Greece. Around 500 BC, this broken land was the scene of extraordinary developments in art, philosophy, and warfare. Its two greatest city-states were Athens, a naval power, where democracy, art, drama, and philosophy flourished; and Sparta, a harsh, militaristic society, famed for its fearsome army. In 480 BC, these two city-states had joined forces to fight off an invasion by the mighty Persian Empire. In the narrow pass of Thermopylae, a small Greek force, led by 300 Spartans, held off the vast Persian army for three days, before being surrounded and eventually killed. Then, in the straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian navy… But they could not stop the Persians burning the sacred temples of the Athenian acropolis. The following year, at Plataea, the Greeks won a decisive land battle against the Persians and forced them to abandon their invasion. The next fifty years were the golden age of classical Greece. But rising tension between Athens and Sparta and their allies, eventually led to war, dragging the Greek world into decades of devastating conflict. Wars between the Greek city-states continued for almost a century, leaving them exhausted… and vulnerable to a new, rising power in the north… For centuries, the sophisticated Greeks had viewed the mountainous kingdom of Macedon as a backwater, Hicksville – barely Greek at all. But under King Philip II, Macedon emerged as a fearsome military power. His most famous reform: the introduction of the sarissa, an 18-foot pike, twice the length of a normal Greek spear, and used by infantry trained in a tight formation, known as the phalanx. In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, Philip’s army crushed the combined forces of Thebes and Athens. Through alliance and conquest, Philip had already gained control over most of his neighbours. Now, after this victory, he united all of Greece in an alliance known as the Hellenic League, or League of Corinth, with Philip as hegemon – or supreme commander. Only Sparta stood aside. Philip began to plan a great campaign – a Panhellenic, or all-Greek, war against the Persian Empire. Their old enemy was now a sick superpower, its vast riches ripe for the taking… But on the eve of launching his war, Philip was murdered by his own bodyguard – the victim of brutal Macedonian court rivalries. He was succeeded by his 20-year-old son Alexander: brilliant, restless, tutored by the great philosopher Aristotle, and already an experienced military commander. Alexander inherited his father’s grand plan to invade Persia, but first he had to secure his position as king: at home, he executed potential rivals and then crushed rebellions in Illyria, Thessaly, and central Greece. He made a particular example of Thebes – utterly destroying the ancient city and selling its people into slavery. In the spring of 334 BC, now ready to launch his war against the Persian Empire, Alexander led his army across the Hellespont into Asia Minor. It was the start of one of the greatest military campaigns in history. Alexander’s army was around 40,000 strong, drawn from all corners of Greece. The infantry was commanded by the veteran Macedonian general Parmenion. In the front rank, 9,000 Macedonian phalangites, armed with the 18-foot sarissa. These were professional soldiers, well-drilled and disciplined, formed for battle in the phalanx, 16 ranks deep. This packed formation presented a solid wall of bristling iron spear points and was virtually unstoppable. But it was also difficult to manoeuvre and very vulnerable to attacks on its flanks or rear. So, 3,000 elite infantry, the hypaspists, or ‘shield-bearers’, armed with shorter spears, guarded its flanks. They were commanded by Parmenion’s son, Nicanor. The second line of Alexander’s army consisted of 7,000 Greek allies and 5,000 mercenaries, armed as hoplites. They took their name from the hoplon, their large round shield, and carried shorter 8-foot spears. A hoplite phalanx was not as effective as the Macedonian phalangites, but still well-armed and heavily armoured for the time. The Agrianians were the army’s elite skirmishers, expert javelin throwers from what is now southern Bulgaria. Other skirmishers from Thrace and Illyria were armed with javelins, javelins, and bows. The shock troops of Alexander’s army were the companion cavalry, 1,800 elite horsemen armed with lance and sword, commanded by Philotas, another son of Parmenion. Alexander personally led the royal squadron. There was also 1,800 cavalry from Thessaly, commanded by Kallas, 600 from other parts of Greece, led by Erigyius, and 900 mounted scouts from Thrace and Paionia, under Cassander. The vast Persian Empire was divided into provinces, called satrapies. Each satrapy was ruled by a governor, or satrap. Those in Asia Minor now threatened by Alexander’s invasion gathered to discuss strategy. Memnon of Rhodes, a capable Greek general in Persian service, urged them to avoid battle with Alexander. Instead, he advised them to use a ‘scorched earth’ strategy – burn the villages and crops and retreat inland – Alexander’s army, he promised, would soon starve. It was good advice. But the satraps were unwilling to destroy their provinces without a fight. So they decided to face Alexander’s army at the Granicus River. The Persian army was formed up behind the river, which was shallow, but 60 feet wide with steep banks. Their front line was a wall of cavalry, around 10,000 horsemen from all over the empire – the Medes and Hyrcanians from modern Iran, the Bactrians from Afghanistan, and the Paflagonians from the Black Sea coast of Turkey. Behind, in reserve, were the infantry – several thousand Greek mercenaries, a common sight in Persian armies at this time. These men fought for Persian gold and were armed with the round shield and short spear of the hoplites. The Persians may have been unsure if they could trust these men in fighting against other Greeks, and so they placed them at the rear. Alexander, determined to attack and destroy this Persian force before it retreated, charged towards the Granicus with his best troops. On his left flank, he placed the Thessalian, Greek, and Thracian cavalry, under the command of Parmenion. In the centre, were the massed pikes of the phalanx, its six divisions commanded by Perdikkas, Coenus, Amyntas, Philip, Meleager, and Craterus. On the right, Alexander himself, with the companion cavalry under Philotas, as well as elite hypaspists, Agriane javelin-men, and archers. Alexander, with 13,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry in total, was perhaps slightly outnumbered. But ignoring advice to wait until dawn to cross the river, he ordered an immediate assault. He sent a squadron of companion cavalry to cross the river, followed by a regiment of hypaspists and the light Paionian cavalry. Alexander, calling on his men to show their courage, then led his right flank across the river. As they reached the middle of the river, the Greeks came under a hail of javelins, arrows, and darts from the Persian line. Those who reached the far bank were immediately attacked by the Persian cavalry. Alexander was in the thick of the fighting. “He charged where the whole mass of the cavalry and their leaders were posted. Around him a desperate conflict broke out… horses locked against horses and men against men, the Macedonians trying to drive the Persians from the river bank, the Persians determined to prevent them crossing and to push them back into the river. Alexander’s assault seemed reckless, but he was buying time for the rest of his army to cross the river, including the irresistible Macedonian phalanx. Then suddenly Alexander was fighting for his life, charged by two Persian nobles. “Rhoezaces approached Alexander and struck him on the head with his sword, knocking off a piece of his helmet. But the helmet broke the force of the blow and Alexander struck him down with his spear. Then, from behind, Spithridates raised his sword against the king, but Cleitus the Black, son of Dropidas, intercepted his blow, struck him on the arm and cut it off, sword and all. Now the Greek army was across the river and the Persian cavalry faced a wall of Macedonian pikes. Most turned and fled. The speed and shock of Alexander’s assault meant that Persia’s Greek mercenaries had not even had time to join battle. Alexander, in a blood frenzy, or perhaps considering these Greeks as traitors, ignored their pleas for mercy. The mercenaries were surrounded on all sides and massacred. Alexander had won a great victory. Asia Minor now lay at his mercy. But the Persian Empire was still a land of immense wealth and power. It was already mobilising its vast resources to face him. If Alexander was to conquer this empire and take his place in history, he would then have to face Darius, the King of Kings, himself… In 334 BC, Alexander, the 21-year-old king of Macedon, led a coalition of Greek forces against the greatest power of the age – the Persian Empire. He led an army of skilled veterans – at its heart, the men of the Macedonian phalanx, armed with the 18-foot sarissa and the elite cavalry of his companion cavalry. Together, at the Battle of the Granicus River, they had won a first decisive victory over the Persian army. Now, as Alexander approached Sardis, the capital of the Persian province of Lydia, its commander surrendered without a fight. But, before Alexander could advance further, he needed to neutralise the Persian naval power – Persia had a powerful fleet, with large naval bases around the eastern Mediterranean – that could potentially cut his lines of communication with Greece. Rather than challenge the Persians at sea, Alexander decided to attack their nearest bases: the Greek coastal cities of Miletus and Halicarnassus. Both put up a determined resistance, but were captured by winter. The following spring of 333 BC, Alexander continued his advance into Lycia… and Phrygia. At Gordium, he was shown the legendary “Gordian Knot” – a prophecy said that whoever could untie it would rule all of Asia. Alexander simply took his sword and cut it in half. Meanwhile Memnon of Rhodes, a capable Greek general in Persian service, led the Persian warships into the Aegean and captured the islands of Chios and Lesbos. But after Memnon’s sudden death from illness, the offensive was abandoned. It had been 18 months since Alexander’s army had crossed the Hellespont and invaded the Persian Empire. Now Alexander led his men into Cilicia… and was soon ready to cross the Nur mountains into Syria. But then the main Persian army, led by King Darius III himself, emerged behind the Greek army, to the north. Darius was determined to trap and destroy Alexander’s army, which he outnumbered almost 2 to 1. So he blocked Alexander’s only escape route, moving his army onto the coastal plain near Issus, only 6 miles wide from mountain to sea. The narrow battlefield would force Alexander to fight, but it also prevented Darius from using his great numerical advantage. His army, by some estimates, was up to 100,000 strong and contained some of the finest soldiers in his vast empire – including 10,000 of his household troops, known as the Immortals. His best cavalry were massed on his right, towards the sea, where the ground was better for horses. His best infantry, the Greek mercenary hoplites, formed the centre. Persian infantry formed his left flank. Alexander arrayed his army for battle, entrusting once again his left flank, nearest the sea, to Parmenion, with the Greek cavalry and infantry. In the centre, as always, was the Macedonian phalanx. Alexander positioned himself and his best troops on the right flank, towards the mountain slopes – his elite Agriane javelin-men, his archers, and behind them, the Hypaspists and companion cavalry. When Alexander saw the Persian cavalry force facing Parmenion on the left, he shifted his Thessalian cavalry to reinforce them. Despite his overwhelming numbers, Darius held his position behind a small river, the Pinarus, and waited for Alexander to attack. He did not have to wait long. Alexander called his men, urging them to fight bravely, singling out a few by name. Then, at the head of his army’s right flank, he charged. Once again, the speed and shock of the Macedonian advance turned the enemy to retreat. But in the centre of the battlefield the Macedonian phalanx was in trouble. In its attempt to keep up with Alexander, its formation had become disordered. Now, in fierce fighting, with Darius’s Greek mercenaries, the phalanx was slowly falling back. Alexander, seeing the danger, regrouped and led the Companions in a headlong charge straight into the Persian centre. The Greek mercenaries, threatened on their flank, were soon in disarray and the Macedonian phalanx was able to resume its advance. Alexander fought his way towards the great king, Darius himself. Rather than face this seemingly mad and fearless Macedonian king, Darius fled the battlefield in his royal chariot. Meanwhile the Macedonian left flank, under Parmenion, was in a desperate struggle against the best of the Persian cavalry. If the Persians could break through here, they could envelop Alexander’s army and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But Parmenion and his troops fought stubbornly and continued to hold the Persians at bay. As news that Darius had fled spread amongst his troops, they abandoned the fight and tried to save themselves. The battle turned into a massacre. Ptolemy, one of the Macedonian commanders, told Alexander that there were so many Persian dead, that his men had used them to fill a deep ravine, so that they could march over it. The Battle of Issus was a stunning victory for Alexander. And amongst the spoils of victory, were Darius’s wife, mother, and three children, all taken alive and well-treated by Alexander. With the Persian field army in retreat, Alexander now turned to the subjugation of the western territories of the Persian Empire. The following year, 332, the Phoenician coastal cities submitted to Alexander – ending Persian naval power in the Mediterranean. But the island city of Tyre resisted. The defenders of Tyre fought bravely and skilfully – even when Alexander began building a causeway to the island, protected by two giant siege towers… which they countered with fire ships. But after seven months, the city walls were breached and Tyre fell. Most of its citizens were killed or enslaved. Gaza too was taken after a siege. Alexander continued to Pelusium, on the Nile delta, where the Persian governor of Egypt handed over the entire province, along with the royal treasury, to Alexander. In Memphis, the priests of this ancient land welcomed Alexander as their liberator from Persian rule, and crowned him pharaoh. At the mouth of the Nile, he founded a new city, Alexandria… then travelled to the desert oracle of Siwah, where, according to some accounts, the priests welcomed him as the son of Ammon, king of the gods. Alexander returned east to Tyre… where in 331 BC, he received news of trouble at home. Despite his great victories over the Persians, many Greeks considered Alexander a tyrant. King Agis of Sparta, with Persian support, began a revolt against Macedon. Antipater, Alexander’s commander in Greece, was already dealing with rebellion in Thrace. But he quickly marched south… and met Agis in battle near the city of Megalopolis. Even the legendary Spartans could now not match Macedonian military might. The Spartan army was crushed. King Agis himself was among the fallen. With his base in Greece secure once more, Alexander advanced into Persian territory, seeking a final confrontation with Darius. He received a letter from the Persian king, offering him a fortune in gold, his daughter in marriage, and half his empire in return for peace. But Alexander’s stunning victories, all the oracles and acclamations, had already convinced him that his destiny was to rule the world… He rejected the Persian king’s offer. He did not want half the empire – he was coming to take it all… In 334 BC, Alexander, the 21-year-old ruler of the small Greek kingdom of Macedon, led an invasion of the great Persian Empire. It seemed an impossible chance, but thanks to Greek military dominance and Alexander’s fearless leadership, he won two great battles against the Persians… at the Granicus River and at Issus. Having subjugated the Persian lands west of the Euphrates River, he now set off east into the heartlands of the empire, seeking a final showdown with the Persian King, Darius III. Hearing that a vast Persian army, led by Darius, had gathered at Gaugamela, near modern Mosul in Iraq – he set off to meet it. This was Darius’s last chance to stop Alexander – and Alexander’s chance to strike at Persian power once and for all. Darius had chosen to fight on open ground, where his advantage in numbers would be most apparent. His soldiers had also worked hard to clear and level the ground, to make it suitable for the Persian war chariots. By modern estimates, the Persian army was between 50 and 80,000 troops and comprised contingents from all over the empire: infantry from Syria and Babylonia… cavalry from Armenia, India, and Central Asia… up to 200 scythe-drawn chariots… even a handful of war elephants. Alexander’s army was smaller and may have been outnumbered two to one. He deployed his units in their usual formation: on the left flank, the Thracian and Thessalian cavalry, commanded by Parmenion. In the centre, the veteran Macedonian phalangites – each armed with their 18-foot sarissa pike. On the right flank, Alexander with his elite cavalry, the Companions; and his best infantry, the hypaspists. These were the units with which Alexander planned to launch his main assault. Greek hoplites formed a second line and supported both flanks – which were echeloned backwards, to guard against encirclement by the Persians. The battle began when Alexander swung his right flank outwards – a move that surprised the Persians. Could Alexander really be attempting to outflank their vast army? The Persians mirrored his move, drawing troops from their centre, to envelop Alexander and prevent him from leaving the area they had cleared for the Persian chariots. But Alexander’s unusual manoeuvre was a trap – to lure the Persians into weakening their centre. When he saw that it had worked, he ordered his Greek cavalry to attack, to keep the Persians pinned in position. A giant cavalry battle raged on the right flank. Meanwhile Darius, judging it the decisive moment, unleashed his chariots. But the Agriane javelin experts took out the horses and crews – while the Greek infantry opened up corridors, allowing the chariots to pass harmlessly through. Now Alexander led his companion cavalry and parts of the Macedonian phalanx, in a headlong charge into the weakened Persian centre, fighting his way towards Darius himself. The sudden ferocity of Alexander’s assault threw the Persians into panic – the centre of the army broke and fled – King Darius himself leading the way. But Alexander’s left flank was in serious trouble – Parmenion, facing a massive assault by the Persian cavalry, was virtually surrounded – Indian and Scythian horsemen had even ridden through a gap in the Greek line – but instead of attacking and rolling up the Greeks from behind, they continued straight on to plunder their camp. Parmenion sent a desperate plea to Alexander for help. The king abandoned the pursuit of Darius, regrouped and charged the Persian right flank. It was the hardest and bloodiest fight of the battle – costing the lives of sixty of Alexander’s companions. Finally, as news of Darius’s flight spread across the battlefield, the last Persian horsemen turned and fled. The Battle of Gaugamela was a stunning and complete victory for Alexander. According to ancient sources, he lost only a few hundred men, while the Persians lost thousands. Alexander had shattered Darius’s great army and now the road to Babylon – the empire’s main capital – was open. The Macedonian king entered the great city in triumph, recognised by Persian officials as its new rightful ruler. So too in the city of Susa, where Alexander was ceremonially seated on the royal throne of Persia. In the Zagros mountains, at a pass known as the Persian Gates, a brave Persian force held up Alexander’s army for a month. The Greeks eventually found a mountain pass that bypassed their position, allowing them to surround and annihilate the defenders. In early 330 BC, Alexander reached Persepolis, the empire’s ceremonial capital. Alexander wanted to appear as a liberator to the Persians – as the legitimate successor to King Darius – but now, he ordered Persepolis to be plundered and burned – punishment for the Persian invasion of Greece and the burning of Athens’s sacred temples in 480 BC. Alexander now set off north into Media, where Darius had taken refuge in the royal city of Ecbatana. Alexander was determined to capture Darius – but the fugitive king fled east in the hope of raising a new army in the provinces of Parthia, Bactria and Sogdia. It was not to be. As Alexander closed in, the Persian king was murdered by one of his own governors, Bessus, who then declared himself the new ruler of the empire. Alexander ordered Darius to be buried in the royal tombs of Persepolis, alongside his ancestors. Then he paused to organise his great new empire. Alexander appointed viceroys to rule the provinces on his behalf, keeping some Persians – who had sworn loyalty – in their posts. He also allowed Greek troops, who wished to, to return home. Then he resumed his march east. His goal: to find and kill the usurper Bessus… to subjugate the eastern provinces of the empire… and to reach the far edge of the world… In 330 BC, Alexander continued his march east. His goal: to find and kill Bessus – a Persian usurper, claiming to be the rightful king – and to subjugate the eastern provinces of the empire… Alexander first set off for Aria, today part of Afghanistan, where the Persian governor Satibarzanes had launched a revolt – after initially claiming to submit to Alexander. The rebellion was crushed and Satibarzanes was killed in single combat by a Greek cavalry officer. Nearby, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Ariana, modern Herat – one of around a dozen cities that Alexander would eventually found, almost all bearing his name. Alexander marched on Phrada. The Macedonian court had a long tradition of plots and murders. Six years earlier, Alexander’s father, King Philip, had been murdered by his own bodyguard. He was now informed that Philotas, the commander of his companion cavalry, had discovered a plot to murder Alexander, but had kept it secret. Philotas and his father Parmenion were among Alexander’s most respected commanders and had played crucial roles in all his great victories. But when Philotas confessed under torture, Alexander ordered his execution… then sent assassins back to Ecbatana, where Parmenion was governor, to kill him before he learned of his son’s death and had a chance to turn against Alexander. In 329, Alexander resumed his pursuit of Bessus. En route, he founded the city of Alexandria Arachosia – modern Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. When he reached Kunduz, Bessus was betrayed by his own men and handed over in chains. Alexander sent him back to Persia for execution, as a king-slayer. Alexander continued into modern Tajikistan, where the Sogdians rose up against him. He had to fight off raids from local tribes and take several cities by storm. On the banks of the Jaxartes River, he founded the city of Alexandria-Eschate, meaning Alexander the ‘furthest’ – so named because he had, at last, reached the border of the Persian Empire. This border was often raided by nomads, known to the Greeks as Scythians. Alexander lured them into a decisive battle near the Jaxartes. The result was a crushing victory for the Macedonian king, which ended the raids. But fighting against the Bactrian and Sogdian tribes continued, frustrating Alexander and tying him down in a difficult guerrilla war. By now, many of the Macedonian troops were unhappy with Alexander. Most had not seen their homes in years, but their king seemed determined to conquer endlessly. What was worse, he had begun to adopt the rituals and dress of their defeated enemy the Persians – customs they saw as effeminate and decadent. In Maracanda, modern Samarkand, after a furious and drunken argument, Alexander murdered Cleitus the Black. Cleitus had been one of Alexander’s finest generals and the man who had saved his life at the Battle of the Granicus. Alexander was full of remorse, but his growing arrogance was alienating more and more of his old companions. When he tried to force his countrymen to perform the traditional Persian ritual of proskynesis – bowing before the king – he crossed a line. To the Greeks this was blasphemy – only a god was worthy of such respect – and Alexander was forced to back down. In Bactria, another plot to murder Alexander was uncovered. This time the ringleader was a royal page – one of the sons of Macedonian nobility attending the king. Hermolaus was murderous towards Alexander for a perceived injustice. He and his accomplices were tortured and then stoned to death. Callisthenes, Alexander’s official historian, was also implicated in the plot. He was thrown into prison, where he later died. That summer, in 327 – according to legend – Alexander was captivated by the beauty of Roxana, the daughter of a Bactrian chieftain. Their marriage was also a sound political move, helping to end local revolt against his rule – and allowing him to continue his advance… into modern Pakistan and India. Alexander now prepared to subjugate the easternmost provinces of the Persian Empire, which had not yet acknowledged his reign. To do this, he first had to cross the Hindu Kush mountains and reach the Indus River valley. Advancing in two columns, his army won a series of engagements against the Aspasii and Assaceni, as they fought their way into what is now the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan. After a fierce siege, Alexander captured the Assacenian capital of Massaga. According to legend, it was ruled by a beautiful queen, Cleophis, who bore Alexander a son and was allowed to keep her throne. The ruler of Taxila, near modern Islamabad, had formed an alliance with Alexander. Together they marched to face Porus, the king of the Pauravas, at the Battle of the Hydaspes. It was Alexander’s most costly battle, as Porus’s war elephants inflicted terrible casualties amongst the Greeks. But despite Porus’s fearless leadership, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Alexander, giving him control of the Punjab. Alexander wanted to push on into India, to reach the great river that ancient Greek geographers said formed the edge of the world. But at the Hyphasis River, known today as the Beas, his army mutinied. His men had marched thousands of miles, fought countless battles, and had not seen their homes in 8 years. They had heard rumours of giant armies awaiting them in India. They refused to go any further. Alexander was furious, but he had to turn the army back. He followed the rivers of the Punjab down to the sea – a journey that took 10 months. En route, he defeated the Mallians, but while leading the assault on their capital, he was wounded in the chest and nearly killed. Upon reaching the coast, part of the army, under Nearchus, boarded ships and returned to Persia by sea… sailing through the straits of Hormuz… and entering the Persian Gulf. It was one of the great ancient journeys of exploration, as these waters had previously been unknown to the Greeks. Meanwhile Alexander led the rest of the army overland through the Gedrosian desert, today in southern Pakistan. But the extreme heat and lack of food and water led to terrible suffering and many deaths in his army. Upon his return to Persia, Alexander executed several of his satraps and governors – men accused of unjust rule and plundering temples and tombs, during his long absence in the east. In Susa, he organised a magnificent mass wedding of Macedonian officers to 80 Persian noblewomen, to strengthen ties between his two kingdoms. Alexander himself married two Persian princesses. He also paid off all his soldiers’ debts and ordered 30,000 young men from across the empire to be trained in the Macedonian art of war. But at Opis, his Macedonian troops mutinied. They were offended by Alexander’s apparent preference for Persian advisors and Persian ways. Alexander executed the ringleaders of the group and gave the men a speech, reminding them of the glories they had won together, and leading eventually to an emotional reconciliation. In Ecbatana, Alexander’s closest and most trusted friend, Hephaestion, died of a fever. The king was grief-stricken, spent days without eating, and ordered a period of public mourning throughout the empire. Alexander conducted a successful campaign against the mountain raiders of the Koses, whom even the Persian kings had failed to subdue. Upon his return to Babylon, he was met by embassies from distant peoples, who had come to recognise his greatness – Ethiopians, Libyans, European Scythians, Lucanians, Etruscans, Gauls, and Iberians. Alexander’s Bactrian wife, Roxana, was now pregnant… But as he planned his next campaign, into Arabia and beyond, he fell ill with a sudden fever and died a few days later, at the age of just 32. The cause of Alexander’s death has never been determined. It may have been malaria, cholera, typhus… or poison. Alexander died undefeated in battle. His reputation as a brilliant, fearless, and daring military commander remains untarnished. His ten-year long campaign created one of the largest empires ever known, stretching from Greece to Pakistan. But it was vast and unstable, held together only by his brilliance and his name. Alexander left no plans for his succession and his generals soon began to fight amongst themselves to establish their own empires. In the Wars of the Successors, Alexander’s widow Roxana and his young son were murdered. His golden sarcophagus, on its way to Macedon for burial, was hijacked and ended up in Alexandria, in Egypt. Today, its whereabouts remain one of the world’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Few men have ever had such an impact on the course of history as Alexander the Great. The staggering achievements of his short life led to the Hellenistic Age, as Greek ideas spread throughout the territory of his former empire, merging with local traditions to spark new developments in art, science, governance, and language. Some of the successor kingdoms of his great empire were short-lived – others lasted for centuries.. but all, in turn, would fall to new forces… and in the west, to the rising power of Rome. The research and artwork for this video come from a wide range of Osprey Publishing books on ancient history. Each Osprey book examines a particular battle, campaign, or fighting unit in authoritative and meticulous detail. And with over 3000 titles, they cover everything from ancient warfare to modern conflict. Visit their website to view their online catalogue. Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who made this video possible and to the channel 'Invicta' – learn more about key moments from the past in their 'Moments in History' series.