The Classical Era in Greek History (which lasted for two
hundred years between the 5th and 4th centuries BC) was
followed by the Hellenic Period that was consistent with the rise of the
Northern kingdom of Macedonia as the power centre within the Greek mainland.
Philip of Macedonia defeated the alliance of Thebians and
Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC and brought the city-states
under his sphere of influence. To consolidate his power he formed the League of
Corinth in 337 BC but it was his son Alexander the Great who did more than
anyone to expand Greek influence eastward.
Alexander the Great was arguably one of the most brilliant
military figures to grace all of history and was the first true military
champion and active expander of the Western ideal. He ruled as King of Macedon
for less than thirteen years (336-323 BC) but built a legacy that would persist
for centuries after his death.
The greatest success of Alexander, at least on the battle
field, were the victories that he recorded over the Archaemenid Persians who
were dispatched in a series of battles of which Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela and
Persian Gate are the most important. In doing so he captured the cities of
Babylon and Susa and absorbed the Persian Empire (up until this point the
world’s largest Empire) into his own.
He also campaigned in Egypt, the Levant and the Balkans
before driving eastwards into India where he recorded another famous victory at
Hydaspes River.
Alexander spread the message of Greek Civilization. He was a
personal student of Aristotle and believed in the supremacy of the rationalism
of his culture. Yet he was driven by ambition and when this ambition could not
go further (his troops actively rebelled when he wanted them to march on to
conquer more land) he stagnated, drank himself into an early grave and by the
young age of 32 he was to be no more.
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