Why Did Alexander Invade the Persian Territory Essays

Why Did Alexander Invade the Persian Territory Essays Why Did Alexander Invade the Persian Territory Paper Why Did Alexander Invade the Persian Territory Paper HST 225- 01-TRACEY MARTIN -042267773â€Å"ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE HELLENISTIC AGE. †Why did Alexander invade the Persian territory? The question on why Alexander invaded the Persian territory has only been guessed at by historians in the past. The true reason why, may never be known. What is known however is the fact that Alexander had continued what many before him had done, invade the Persian territory. Rome and Parthia, had first clashed after Pompey had annexed the Syrian rump of the Seleucid empire in 64B. C. , then there was Crassus in 53B. C. , who was governor of Syria at the time, and was eager for glory, only to be destroyed by the Parthian horse arches. Then after Crassus we know there was also Caesar, who had planned an invasion only to be assassinated before he was able to see his plans take place. We know that even Alexander’s father Phillip, had planned an invasion of the Persian territory prior to his death, which could be seen as a reason behind Alexander’s decision to invade. Alexander had admired his father Phillip, and was known to be loyal to his father’s intentions, with his father wanting to reclaim the cities which had been lost to them. Alexander himself, would have wanted to accomplish the same. By reclaiming the cities, he also would have succeeded not only in rebuilding the empire, but also fulfilling one of his father’s intentions, and in his own mind, making up for his previous errors. Other factor’s were also considered to be behind Alexander’s invasion, such as, the fact that there was still a lot of bitter feelings from the cities that had been burnt by the Persian’s years before, along with wanting to claim the trading routes to the east, all which were considered to be strong motivations behind his reasons for invading the Persian territory. Persia has always been considered one of the richest empires at the time, trading routes and financial gain was always a strong motive for invasion. Even with peace treaties worked out with neighbouring empires, it never took long for a reason to warrant an invasion. It is also believed that Alexander’s financial position at the time was a contributing factor to his invasion of the Persian territory. Although, it is reported that Alexander had inherited gold mines, it is also reported that Alexander also inherited debts. Where we have Quintus Curtius, who goes onto state that Alexander was reported as saying that the entire royal assets were no-more than 60 talents at a time. Where according to Plutarch, Alexander was reported to have given most of his estates away in Macedonia. Plutarch even goes on to quote Aristobulus as stating that Alexander had no more than 70 talents to provision his army with. Even though Alexander had inherited the gold mines that did indeed supply him with a good income flow, the cost to Alexander running armies the size he had was quite expensive, which explains the writers as all agreeing that Alexander was in a poor financial situation at the time of the invasion of the Asia Minor, where it is implied by Durius, that the funds Alexander had, was only enough to last for a period of 30 days for supplies. Both Plutarch and Arrian agree that Alexander has indeed amassed a considerable debt, just with the upkeep of keeping his army functioning. The differences with the two accounts, is basically stated by Plutarch, who admits to using multiple sources for the information he has obtained following Alexander. Arrian, more than likely had used many of the same sources as Plutarch to gather a majority of his information. With Alexander’s father’s death, which Alexander quickly ascended to the throne of Macedonian, he had to quickly dispose of all of his enemies by ordering their exercusions, his father’s death had caused a lot of rebellion with the conquered nation, in which the Greeks had also seen as a chance for independence. Alexander was forced to act quickly to gain control, by the end of 336B. C, there was no choice but to except Alexander’s authority. Alexander had become enraged when rumors of his death had reached him, and he found out a major revolt had engulfed the nation. Alexander was quick in covering the 240 miles, and was quick in letting them know that he was still in fact alive, and that it wasn’t too late for them to cahance their minds. Since his father’s death, everything seemed to move quickly for Alexander, and even with all that was going on around him, and his financial situation, there may not have been any other option left open to him than to invade the Persian territory. One thing that we do know about the invasion is, the writers all tend to agree that it was around the spring. When learning about Alexander and his invasion of the Persian territory, it became a puzzle working out the different information supplied by the ancient writers on the reasons why he invaded along with the number of the infantry involved with many other aspects involved. We are told in Arrian,30,000 infantry, including light troops and archers and over 5,000 cavalry were used. Diodorus who (17. 17) gives a list of Alexander’s forces after the crossing into Asia totaling 32,000 infantry and 5,100 cavalry. The higher number for infantry (43,000; 40,000) as they state the extra number involved may have included the troops who were in Asia. As for the inconsistency in the number of the infantry and the cavalry involved used is unknown. One reason the writers may have accounted for this, could be how each leader that came, would either add to their numbers or divide their numbers and assigned them to different sections in need of protection, even though when reading Arrian, in the footnotes 38, an explanation for the discrepancy in numbers is explained as the possibility of the numbers in Asia at the time may have been included in the calculation of all involved in Alexander’s campaign. As for the reason why Alexander invaded Persian territory, is only one, that historians can guess at from the many accounts that have been written. However, Polybius makes the better assumption in Polybius, 111. 6, One thing that can’t be argued is that Alexander had proven himself to be not only a great military, but a great leader in general. [ 1 ]. Quintus Curtius: 10. 2. 24 [ 2 ]. Plutarch doc 3a â€Å" in Austin† pg-27. [ 3 ]. Plutarch doc 3a [ 4 ]. Arrian 7. 8-9 [ 5 ]. http//www. historyofmacedonia. org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat. html. cited 12/6/2011 [ 6 ]. Arrian, 1. 11. 3 â€Å"states, the start of the next campaigning season†, which according to Arrian 1. 10 ( footnote 32) The Great Mysteries of Demeter were celebrated at Eleusis from the 15th to the 23rd of the Attic month Boedromion, corresponding to Sep/ Oct. 7 ]. Arrian 11:37-38 [ 8 ]. Arrian ( footnote 38) [ 9 ]. Polybius, 111. 6 pg23-24. Arrian, â€Å" The Reign of Alexander. †BIOGRAPHIES:Ancient sources. Quintus CurtiusPlutarchArrianPolybiusModern;Austin,M. (2ND ED. 1994) The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest† The reign of Alexander . ( Cambridge university press)http/www. historyofmacedonia. org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat. html. cited 12/6/2011