Background

Alexander III of Macedon achieved a great deal at an early age. He was tutored by Greek philosopher Aristotle as a teenager. By age 18, he had already ended rebellions and won battles. He was crowned king of Macedon at age 20 and ruled over the Greek peninsula. At 24, he was proclaimed the pharaoh of Egypt. He destroyed the mighty Persian Empire and conquered all the lands between Egypt and India. He did all this before his death at age 32. History remembers him as Alexander the Great.

Formation

For centuries, the Greek city-states had clashed with the Persian Empire to their east. The Persian Empire was an ancient superpower that stretched from the Nile River in the west to the Indus River in the east. It was more powerful than the Greeks because it was unified. The Greek city-states were divided and constantly competing with each other.

Alexander the Great inherited a kingdom from his father, Phillip II of Macedon. Phillip had conquered the divided city-states and united them under Macedonian rule. Alexander united the city-states under a common cause by attacking their old enemy, Persia.

In 12 years (334–323 BCE), Alexander conquered everything from the Mediterranean Sea to India. His empire collapsed soon after his death, but his influence lasted for centuries. Hellenistic (ancient Greek) culture spread in the lands he had conquered.

Administration

Alexander ruled over what historians call the “Macedonian Empire,” but it is sometimes simply referred to as “Alexander’s Empire.” The empire was held together by the personality, legend, and military victories of one man. This was not a good thing. When Alexander’s power and the authority of his government faltered, the empire crumbled.

The Persians had large networks of roads connecting their large, unified empire. Ironically, this helped Alexander to conquer it. Alexander’s armies used the Persians’ roads to resupply and communicate with their own forces.

Alexander was careful not to destroy the empire he had conquered. He kept the structures of the Persian government in place and allowed Persian elites to remain in positions of power to smooth the transition.

Religion and culture

Alexander hoped to spread Greek culture across the world. He built new cities with Hellenistic architecture and created new educational institutions to spread Greek ideas. Greek became the common language of elite culture in Western Asia.

However, Alexander was also tolerant of local religions and customs. He supported Persian and Egyptian priests and sponsored the building of temples.

Greeks also integrated into the culture and traditions of those they conquered. Alexander encouraged his men to marry Persian women and married three Persian wives himself. The effects of Hellenistic religion and culture on local traditions endured for centuries.

Trade

Alexander founded 70 new cities and towns, some of which became intersections of trade. One such city was Alexandria in Egypt. It became an important trade center connecting networks from the Mediterranean through the Middle East and into India.

Alexander created an expansion of trade by turning Persian gold and silver into coins. He injected a large amount of wealth into trade networks. Historian Frank Lee Holt says that this drove economic progress in the ancient world. Alexander’s military “dominated the Near East for years, but his money dominated Eurasia for centuries,” Holt says.

Women in society

Women in the Hellenistic world saw an increase in their power and influence. However, they were generally still valued for marriage, motherhood, and virtue.

Privileged women were able to participate in local politics as magistrates (government officials). Non-Greek women seemed to have more freedoms than those who came from more restricted city-states. For example, a Greek woman needed a guardian present when doing official business, while Egyptian women did not. Educational opportunities expanded for women during this era, particularly for those of the upper classes.

Decline and fall

The successes of Alexander’s conquests would also be his downfall. His soldiers did not share his desire to continue conquering new lands and they disapproved of the way Alexander adopted local customs. They wondered if he was forgetting his Macedonian roots. After conquests in India, the soldiers refused to travel any farther. Alexander was forced to turn around and focus his attention on governing his empire.

Alexander died of a sudden illness in 323 BCE. His generals and governors began fighting over the empire, splitting into rival factions. Alexander’s empire was divided into various kingdoms ruled by his generals. They continued to spread Greek culture and religion across Asia long after Alexander’s death.