Pardon Me, Just Invading Your Land! Quiz

Answer: Thessaly

The League of Corinth, as a hegemony, recognized Phillip II as their titular king, but with his assassination, various members of the League decided that they wanted to be independent again. Alexander chose a show of force, rather than diplomacy, to keep the League of Corinth in line.

Taking an army of 3,000 cavalry, Alexander headed south, but found an army of Thessalonians blocking the Tempe pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa. During the night, Alexander took his men and actually dug out steps to go over Ossa. When the Thessalonians woke in the morning, they found themselves cut off in the narrow pass, with Alexander at their rear. They surrendered, and Alexander joined their force to his as he continued south.

Answer: The Danube

Alexander faced a force of 14,000 Getae across the Danube and his ships did not arrive to support him. Rather than wait, he proceeded to cross the river with rafts made from tents. He ferried over a force of 4,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry, to the amazement of his foes. The first skirmish with his cavalry was all it took to force the Getae to retreat.

Alexander went on to pacify the Illyrian tribe and secure his northern borders, leaving him free to deal with more unrest happening to the south.

Answer: Thebes

Upon hearing news of a resurgence of unrest in the city-states within the Hegemony of Greece (the League of Corinth), Alexander made an incredibly fast march south, covering over 300 miles in two weeks. This show of force quickly caused other city-states (incited by the actions of the Thebans) to quell their own bids for independence, and Alexander laid siege to Thebes.

Alexander gave the Theban assembly the opportunity to surrender, and to hand over the leaders of the insurrection. Despite the lack of military support from their political allies (Athens and Sparta), the Thebans refused.

The hard-fought battle resulted in a resounding victory for Alexander. He burned the city to the ground, killed more than 6,000 men, and took 30,000 captives to be sold as slaves. After that example, Alexander had no further problems with the city-states within the League of Corinth.

Answer: King Darius III

Darius III was originally installed on the Persian throne as a puppet monarch by the vizier Bagoas, who had had Artaxerxes III assassinated (along with his whole family, except Arses, who became Aratxerxes IV). He later also had Arses killed, at which point Darius III was placed on the throne (original name Artashata). When Darius showed himself to be an independent thinker, Bagoas also tried to poison him, but Darius turned the tables on Bagoas and made him drink his own poison.

As Alexander began his incursion into Persian territory, Darius did not take it too seriously at first. It was only as Alexander continued his advance, taking more territory, that Darius was forced to take him seriously.

Answer: The Battle of the Granicus River

Before joining the Battle of the Granicus River, Alexander transported his entire army, numbering approximately 48,000 soldiers and 6,000 cavalry, across the Hellespont using over 100 triremes. The waiting Persian satraps chose the Granicus River as the location to meet Alexander in battle, hoping to attack Alexander as he attempted to cross the river. Alexander countered this tactic by ordering his attacking front in an unorthodox manner, forcing the Persians to alter their defenses to match. Alexander took advantage of the confused opposition by feinting and drawing off the Persian's cavalry, then attacking the weakened center.

The battle occurred in the May of 334 BC.

Answer: The Battle of Issus

Following the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander systematically moved down the Ionian coast, taking control of every major Persian port, and rendering Darius' fleet essentially useless. Halicarnassus was the final straw that broke the Persian navy's back, as it were. That battle also saw the final defeat of Memnon of Rhodes, the Greek mercenary leader who had been commanding Darius' forces in Asia Minor. Memnon fled Halicarnassus, setting it afire behind him as it fell. Soon thereafter, Memnon died. That battle was in 334 BC.

Alexander continued advancing through the region, and it was during this stage of his conquest that the story of his cutting of the Gordian Knot arose. From there, after consolidating his forces, Alexander continued on until he met Darius on the field of Battle near the village of Issus by the mouth of the Pinarus River.

The Battle of Issus was fought in November of 333 BC, and despite outnumbering Alexander's forces by a ratio of 2:1, Alexander routed the Persians, sending Darius fleeing.

Answer: Tyre

Tyre was the only remaining (Mediterranean) coastal stronghold controlled by the Persians. Because of its strong position as an island fortress, Tyre was virtually unassailable from land. It didn't stop Alexander from trying though.

Initially, Alexander sent envoys of peace, hoping to take control of Tyre without a fight, but after Alexander's emissaries were killed and flung over the walls of the city, Alexander was set on conquest. His efforts even including the construction of a long causeway to attempt to attack using siege engines. That didn't work as well as Alexander had hoped, and eventually it was the capture of the Persian fleet that led to his victory over Tyre.

Answer: Egypt

After conquering Tyre, Alexander moved south to lay siege to Gaza, a hillside fortress that withstood three assaults by Alexander before falling. As with Tyre, Alexander put the men of military age to the sword while the rest of the city's inhabitants were sold into slavery.

After defeating Gaza, Alexander continued south, walking into the open gates of Jerusalem (and sparing the city) before continuing on to Egypt. The Egyptians, who hated their Persian rulers, welcomed Alexander as a liberator, naming him the 'Master of the Universe'.

He arrived in Egypt in late 332 BC, and during his stay in Egypt, founded the city of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.

Answer: The Battle of Gaugamela

Using tactics similar to those that granted him victory against Darius at Issus, Alexander's troop movements and misdirection fooled Darius' forces into moving in such a manner that Alexander opened up a gap that he then exploited with a cavalry attack in a wedge formation, smashing through the center and routing them. Again, Darius fled, and Alexander pursued as far as Arbela.

While Alexander took control of Babylon, Darius retreated east with the intention of gathering up another army to face Alexander once again. It was not to be.

Alexander took possession of Susa and Persepolis, then chased Darius into Media and Parthia. In July of 330 BC, Darius was betrayed by Bessus, one of his generals (and kinsmen), who killed him and then named himself Darius' successor (as Artaxerxes V) and began a guerilla warfare campaign against Alexander.

History marks Darius' death as the end of the Persian Empire, in spite of Bessus' efforts to make himself a king.

Answer: His army revolted

When Alexander encountered the lands of the powerful Nanda Empire of Magadha and Gangaridai of Bengal, his soldiers refused to march further east, fearing that they would have nothing but more interminable battle on an extended campaign. With the army in revolt, Alexander's advisors convinced him that the men would best be served by returning to their wives and children, and Alexander turned his force around, returning to Babylon (by way of the conquering of the Mallian clans).

Alexander died just two years after returning from the Indian campaign, in June of 323 BC, while at Nebuchadnezzar II's palace in Babylon. He was 32 years old.