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{{Infobox royalty
| name = Alexander the Great
| title = [[Basileus]]
| image = Alexander the Great mosaic (cropped).jpg
| caption = Alexander in the ''[[Alexander Mosaic]]''
| succession = [[King of Macedon]]
| reign = 336–323 BC
| predecessor = [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]]
| successor = {{
| succession2 = [[Hegemony#8th–1st centuries BC|Hegemon]] of the [[League of Corinth|Hellenic League]]
| reign2 = 336–323 BC
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| reign3 = 332–323 BC
| predecessor3 = [[Darius III]]
| successor3 = {{
| succession4 = [[King of Persia]]
| reign4 = 330–323 BC
| predecessor4 = Darius III
| successor4 = {{
| full name =
| spouse = {{hlist|[[Roxana]]|[[Stateira (wife of Alexander the Great)|Stateira]]|[[Parysatis II|Parysatis]]
| [[Stateira (wife of Alexander the Great)|Stateira]]▼
}}
| issue = {{plainlist|
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| birth_place = [[Pella]], [[Macedon]]
| death_date = 10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32)<!-- 32 years, 10 months and 20 days (approx.) -->
| death_place = [[Babylon]], [[Mesopotamia]]
| religion = [[Ancient Greek religion]]
}}
{{Alexander the Great series}}
'''Alexander III of Macedon''' ({{lang-grc|[[wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος|Ἀλέξανδρος]]|Alexandros}}; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''',{{Cref2|c}} was a king of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] kingdom of [[Macedon]].{{Cref2|d}} He succeeded his father [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]] to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy [[military campaign]] throughout [[West Asia|Western Asia]], [[Central Asia]], parts of [[South Asia]], and [[ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. By the age of 30, he had created one of the [[List of largest empires|largest empires]] in history, stretching from [[History of Greece|Greece]] to northwestern [[
Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by [[Aristotle]]. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he [[Alexander's Balkan campaign|campaigned in the Balkans]] and reasserted control over [[Thrace]] and parts of [[Illyria]] before marching on the city of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], which was [[Battle of Thebes|subsequently destroyed in battle]]. Alexander then led the [[League of Corinth]], and used his authority to launch the [[Greek nationalism#History|pan-Hellenic project]] envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all [[Greeks]] in their conquest of [[Greater Iran|Persia]].{{sfn|Heckel|Tritle|2009|p=99}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burger |first1=Michael |title=The Shaping of Western Civilization: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment |date=2008 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-55111-432-3 |page=76}}</ref>
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{{Main|Alexander's Balkan campaign}}
[[File:The Macedonian phalanx counter-attacks during the battle of the carts.jpg|thumb|The Macedonian phalanx at the "Battle of the Carts" against the Thracians in 335 BC]]
Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from [[Amphipolis]], he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at [[Mount Haemus]], the Macedonian army attacked and defeated the Thracian forces manning the heights.<ref name="I, 1" /> The Macedonians marched into the country of the [[Triballi]] and defeated their army near the [[Lyginus]] river<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 2}}</ref> (a [[List of tributaries of the Danube|tributary of the Danube]]). Alexander then marched for three days to the [[Danube]], encountering the [[Getae]] tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry [[skirmish]].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 3–4}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=73–74}}</ref>
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Meanwhile, upon his return to Persia, Alexander learned that guards of the [[tomb of Cyrus the Great]] in [[Pasargadae]] had desecrated it, and swiftly executed them.<ref name="AVI29" /> Alexander admired [[Cyrus the Great]], from an early age reading Xenophon's ''[[Cyropaedia]]'', which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator.<ref name="Ulrich">{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great |author=Ulrich Wilcken |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=1967 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WiSZM-LYsk4C&pg=PA146 |isbn=978-0-393-00381-9 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> During his visit to Pasargadae, Alexander ordered his architect [[Aristobulus of Cassandreia|Aristobulus]] to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus's tomb.<ref name="Ulrich" />
Afterwards, Alexander travelled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure. There, his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander and he ordered the preparation of an expensive [[funeral pyre]] in Babylon along with a decree for public mourning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia
==Death and succession==
{{Main|Death of Alexander the Great}}
[[File:Babylonian astronomical diary recording the death of Alexander the Great (British Museum).jpg|thumb|A [[Babylonian astronomical diary]] (c. 323–322 BC) recording the death of Alexander ([[British Museum]], London)]]
On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], in Babylon, at age 32.<ref>{{cite web |title=A contemporary account of the death of Alexander |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-death-of-alexander/ |access-date=Nov 5, 2019 |publisher=[[Livius.org]]}}</ref><ref name="Depuydt" /> There are two different versions of Alexander's death, differing slightly in details. Plutarch's account is that roughly 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained admiral [[Nearchus]] and spent the night and next day drinking with [[Medius of Larissa]].<ref name="P75" /> Alexander developed a fever, which worsened until he was unable to speak. The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them.{{Sfn |Wood|2001|pp= 2267–70}} In the second account, Diodorus recounts that Alexander was struck with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Heracles followed by 11 days of weakness; he did not develop a fever, instead dying after some agony.<ref name="DSXVII117" /> Arrian also mentioned this as an alternative, but Plutarch specifically denied this claim.<ref name="P75" />
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The [[Alexander Mosaic]] and contemporary coins portray Alexander with "a straight nose, a slightly protruding jaw, full lips and eyes deep set beneath a strongly pronounced forehead".<ref name="Alexander the Great"/> He is also described as having a slight upward tilt of his head to the left.{{sfn|Renault|2013|p=1}}
The ancient historian [[Claudius Aelianus|Aelian]] ({{circa|175}} – {{circa|235 AD}}), in his ''Varia Historia'' (12.14), describes Alexander's hair color as "''ξανθὴν''" (''xanthín''), which at the time, could mean
===Personality===
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* {{cite map |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11738/ |title=The Empire and Expeditions of Alexander the Great |first=Félix |last=Delamarche |author-link=Félix Delamarche |year=1833}}
* {{cite news |title=Two Great Historians on Alexander the Great |type=conversations |first1=James |last1=Romm |first2=Paul |last2=Cartledge |author2-link=Paul Cartledge |newspaper=Forbes}} [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/12/two-great-historians-on-alexander-the-great-part-one/ Part 1], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/17/two-great-historians-on-alexander-the-great-part-two/ Part 2], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2010/12/20/two-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-3/ Part 3], [https://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2011/01/03/two-great-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-4/ Part 4], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/01/10/how-great-a-general-was-alexander/ Part 5], [https://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/01/28/two-great-historians-talk-alexander-the-great-part-6/ Part 6].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161204170928/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z1b.html Alexander the Great: An annotated list of primary sources]. Livius. Archived from [http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z1b.html the original] on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06d9bkx ''In Our Time'': "Alexander the Great"]{{snd}}BBC discussion with Paul Cartledge, Diana Spencer and Rachel Mairs hosted by Melvyn Bragg, first broadcast 1 October 2015.
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