• Alexander was near death for a week, but survived and started fighting again
• Alexander's men survived on seafood at Alexander's Harbor, where he built an altar that has never been found
• He started going through the Macron Desert
• There is almost no water in the desert
• Many people died on the way through
• Only about a quarter of the army survived
• He was offered some water, but poured it away in the sand. He said that if they couldn't drink, he wouldn't either.
• It took him 60 days to get through the desert
• He was the ruler of Persia
• Hephaestian (his friend and lover) died, making Alexander almost suicudal
• He moved back into Iraq
• He was deathly ill, and the veterans came to see him one last time
• June 10th, he died

3 Biographies

Socrates-

Socrates was a very intimidating man, with long, Spartan-inspired hair and a strong build. He lived a very humble lifestyle, lacking both wealth and placement in the government. Although he did not want to be known as a teacher, he was extremely philosophical, and made others do their own thinking.

Plato-

Plato was one of the most contemplative people that there ever was. He had ideas about politics and philosophy that no one else had, which made them more shocking. His ideals could not be shaken, and he took great pride in his opinion. His main works are doctrines, although several of his works are called 'puzzles' by his students.

Aristotle-

Aristotle was Plato's student, and the teacher of Alexander the Great. He was in the same league as Plato as far as philosophy goes, which is saying a lot. He worked with different types of sciences, many of which are still used today. His main studies were Productive, Practical, and Theoretical Sciences.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

Photograph. Aristotle's Triple Threat Legacy. Professor Julia Evergreen Keefer. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

Photograph. Dialogues of Plato. Internet Sacred Text Archive. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

Photograph. Socrates on Knowledge. The Epoch Times. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

Plato. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

Socrates. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

• Chose to marry one of the local dancers
• Alexander was bisexual, which was nothing out of the ordinary for Ancient Greece
• "The Mother of Cities"
• Alexander wanted to be worshiped as a god
• A group of pages wanted to assassinate him, but were betrayed and tortured to death
• Callisthenes was tortured and crucified for saying Alexander wasn't a god
• Indian people were a source of rumors and stories to the Greeks
• Hindu came from the Indus River
• Alexander celebrated at the place of Dionysus's birth
• The Kallash are the direct descendants of Alexander's army and the local women
• Alexander's trek was in winter at night, with snow on the ground
• They built a bridge over a 500-foot gap
• Built an altar to Athena-Nike, goddess of victory
• Horace became his ally because of his bravery in battle
• Alexander

Notes on Alexander- 2/18/10

• About 12,000 ft
• Plentiful food supply
• The people of Bactrius didn't put up a fight
• Alexander pursued Bessus
• The troops didn't bring enough water to the desert, and they drank the wine supply instead
• That made them hungover, and they got even more lost
• Alexander made homemade rafts and got his men across the river
• A small town they found spoke Greek and had Greek people in it
• Their ancestors fought with the Persians in the war Alexander was out to avenge
• Alexander massacred the whole city, and leveled it
• Bessus had his ears and nose cut off, and was impaled
• Alexander built a statue of Dionysus to mark his farthest border, "Alexandria the Farthermost"
• The locals did not want a Greek empire
• They were a hit and run team of horsemen
• Alexander lost his sight and speech to injuries by them
• He forced his way across the river, and won against the nomads
• 50,000 men went almost to China
• The mountain is 14,000 feet high
• The people surrendered after Alexander's men climbed up the mountain

Notes on Alexander- 2/17/10

• Carpal has been a battleground for over 2000 years
• The whole museum was looted
• Bessus murdered Darius
• His troops crossed Afghanistan entirely on foot
• Alexander went up the Khawak Pass
• Lack of food and provisions
• Alexander always used local guides
• If they did well, they were rewarded, if they betrayed him, they were killed
• The people Alexander passed had never seen foreigners before
• Ran out of grain, ate the pack animals raw
• Troops suffered chronic fatigue from altitude sickness

Darius the Great's Death

Although Alexander hated Darius, and everything he had done to Alexander's people, this does not seem like the way he wanted his enemy to go. Darius and Alexander wanted a fight to the finish, prove that they were the King of Kings. With Darius chained, stabbed, and on the brink of death, there was nothing to be proven. What made it worse was the fact that, at the end of his life, Darius was helped by one of the soldiers he had hated and wanted to kill. He saw what was happening to Persia, and told the soldier to tell Alexander good luck and thanked him for treating his family with respect. We see that Darius, like Conan O'Brien, was gracious to those that destroyed him.

http://www.livius.org/a/1/iran/darius.JPG

http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t14.html

War Against Darius and Persian Empire

Darius was the king of Persia, and the commander of the Persian army. He was Alexander's main adversary, although Alexander outwitted him in strategy. Their first battle was the Battle of Issus. When Alexander charged straight at Darius, he fled the battlefield. When the Persian army saw him running away, they fell apart. The Egyptians hated the Persians because Darius had come into their lives and destroyed their culture while conquering them. This is why they considered Alexander a liberator when he came forth as their leader. While in Egypt, Alexander started gathering supplies for what he knew would be the deciding battle between himself and Darius. The battle would show who was truly King of Kings.

http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/alexander/08.shtml

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/ALEX.HTM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/Darius.jpg

2/5/10

• Alexander was outwitted, because he went into a pass and was shot at from above
• They came up a gully, and if they had been betrayed by their local guide, they would have been trapped
• Had 10-15 thousand men
• 3 infantry would go straight ahead to bridge the river
• Alexander would go around to the back of the pass with about 4000 troops to the back of the Persians
• The more experienced men would stay to the front
• This was in the winter, so some men started to despair
• Alexander cheered them up
• He was behind the Persians, and attacked the rear right before the dawn
• He had his other men surround the sides, and the Persians were surrounded
• Alexander won, and gave the guide 30 silver talents (a quarter of a million dollars)
• He approached Persepolis, "The Most Hated City On Earth"
• $300,000 of gold bullion in the treasury
• He stayed there for 3 months
• The legend tells us that Alexander attended a party and got drunk. An Athenian woman named Thase told Alexander that he should set fire to the palace. Alexander assembled a fire lighting group and was the first to throw his torch in. Thase was the second.
• Alexander was usually respectful of religion, but he persecuted Persians and desecrated their temples.
• He slaughtered Persian priests, he burned their scriptures, and forced the children of Persia to marry Greek soldiers.
• There is a flame that Darius prayed before that hasn't stopped burning in 2000 years.
• An oracle gave a prophecy about Alexander that he was a devil's minion and that he would take over Asia. It also said that those that he wanted to take over would take over him.
• The Persians said that they wanted a fresh start with a different leader than Darius. They thought that the Gods were against Darius. He refused to give up the crown, and they bound him in golden chains.
• Alexander found out that Darius was overthrown and ahead, so he pushed his troops through the night for 50 miles.
• At dawn, Alexander caught up with them. Darius was stabbed, and the Persians left him their to die. Polastratus (a simple soldier) found Darius, and took his dying words back to Alexander. He wished him luck in ruling the world, and thanked him for treating his family with respect.
• Alexander was now the ruler of Asia
• An Amazonian queen came to him so that they could have a child together. It took him 13 days, but he finally gave her rich presents and she went home.
• The Great Wall of China was built by Alexander
• They didn't know that the Caspian Sea was landlocked.

Alexander at Troy and Egypt

Alexander visited Troy so for political and personal reasons. When his ship sailed up to the shore, he waded forth in full armor, and threw his spear ashore to claim the land. He respected the men who died in the Trojan War so much he worshiped them, and he greatly respected Homer as well. When he went there, he made a highly symbolic gesture; he replaced his weapons in Athena's temple with he ones used in the Trojan War. By doing this, he claimed, without words, that he was going to be a hero, and now the gods and the soldiers that fought in the Trojan War were on his side. While visiting Troy, he also liberated many cities, gaining him support and admiration.

For Alexander, Egypt didn't need to be conquered.

2/4/10

• Thunder and lightning showed that he gods were with Alexander
• Legend says that Alexander had horns, so he was the devil
• Darius- king of Persia
• Brought and army twice as big as Alexander's
• He circled around the back, so there was no retreat
• They met in Issus
• The Persians are weak at one point, so Alexander attacks there
• He encourages troops and charges, and when the archers realized that the arrows were ineffective, they ran away
• It took Alexander 7 months to build the causeway
• People were trapped there
• The people crowded into Hercules' temple
• Women and children that resisted were sold into slavery
• The men were all let go/crucified, depending on the story
• Gaza was destroyed by Alexander because the people resisted
• Alexander was mentioned as the most powerful man in the Quran
• Went to Egypt, they loved him because he hated Persia
• Alexandria was the most cultured city in the world, it rivaled Athens
• Had the greatest library in the world
• Founded almost 30 "Alexandrias"
• There are canals to bring the city's water supply in from the Nile
• The catacombs are a combination of Egyptians and others
• Was still seeking advice from the gods from and Oracle
• Zeus was on the Sacred Hill
• He went to the Oracle to see if his father was Philip or Zeus
• The priests greeted him as the Son of God
• Alexander was the King of Upper and Lower Egypt
• Famous places stay important through history
• An eclipse stopped the army right before the battle
• Alexander waited until he was completely surrounded, and then went through a gap in the soldiers
• The Babylonians gave up without a fight
• Greeks had been working in and travelling through Persia, so there was a lot of information
• Alexander is seen as the ultimate villain
• Took a shortcut through th mountains to surprise the Persians
• 
  

The History of the Persian War

Cyrus, the prince of Persia, wanted to take over the Lydians. He told the Ionians to revolt against the Lydians, but they didn't want to and refused. Cyrus conquered the Lydians, and the Ionians offered to be his subjects peacefully. Cyrus was still miffed about them refusing to revolt, so he attacked them instead. After conquering them, they were not easy to rule. This is what started Alexander on the path against Persia; he wanted revenge against what they did to Greece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Persian_Wars

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM

Notes on Alexander-- 2/3/10

Son of God-

born in Macedonia

claimed that Zeus was his father

conquered most of the world before he was 30

his father created Macedonia, had 7 wives, was a drunk

his mother was smart and beautiful, but was also involved in cults and "slept with snakes"

he took over Persia because of revenge

Persia devastated Greece 150 years before

His father was murdered when Alexander was 19

347- set out on his war on Persia

He never returned to his homeland

He was the first to go ashore to Troy

Waded to shore in full ceremonial armor

Threw the spear ashore to claim the land

He hero-worshiped the heroes that died in the Trojan War

He left behind his weapons, and took the weapons used in the Trojan War

Defeated the Persian's government and opened up the coast

Aristotle was his tutor

Seen as a liberator to many cities

Wanted Apollo's help, so he went to Didi ma

Alexander was very superstitious

Thought he would win because the god's temples were destroyed by the Persians

the oracle said that Alexander would triumph

The Persians controlled the sea

Alexander had 166, Persians had 400

He disbanded his fleet

He couldn't break through the walls and he took serious losses

Mercenary generals were getting worried

Didn't want to give Alexander his dead back

Persians would lead a dawn raid to destroy Alexander's siege equipment

The young Macedonians tried to fight, but the veterans showed them how to do it!

Alexander was short and couldn't swim

"The sea bowed to Alexander"

He didn't always think things through

He was very lucky

He was obstinate--stubborn

Went into Central Turkey

The tale of the Gordian Knot