At one time, every schoolboy knew perfectly well who Alexander the Great was. Which is not surprising - he left a bright mark in history, although he died quite young. Therefore, he fully deserved to have his name remembered even after two thousand years. Let's talk about him and his conquests, and also touch on the location of the tomb of Alexander the Great - where the sarcophagus of the greatest commander is hidden, alas, no one will say now.
What Alexander the Great is famous for
Of course, first of all, the great commander managed to become famous for capturing vast territories, which no ruler had been able to do before. And he did it in a matter of years, averting the threat of attack from the Persians from Greece for a long time, at the same time taking revenge on them for many years of oppression and burned cities.
He severely punished traitors and welcomed people loyal to him - from close associates to ordinary soldiers.
It has come to our timea lot of the smallest information about his campaigns due to the fact that Alexander led with him many chroniclers who described each battle and transition. Finally, he built a huge number of cities that changed their names after his death, but preserved the history for posterity.
Scientists still do not know where Alexander the Great is buried. But that doesn't stop me from respecting him as a great man.
When he was born
About where the grave of Alexander the Great is located, experts have been fiercely arguing for more than a century. But the place and time of birth is known, fortunately, quite accurately.
The baby was born in 356 BC. But it is not possible to tie his birth to a specific date - some sources speak of mid-July, while others speak of early October. However, this is not so significant.
He got his name from his grandfather - Alexander the First, the Macedonian king who ruled in Macedonia from 498 to 454 BC.
His father Philip spent many years in campaigns of conquest, trying to expand the borders of a cramped country where land was not enough for ordinary peasants. He simply did not have time for his son.
Mother - Olympias - was a tough and even cruel woman. She did not love Philip, so she spread a rumor that Alexander's father was not him at all, but a certain deity with whom Olympias met in the temple.
Young king
Alexander ascended the throne at a young age - his father Philip was stabbed to death by a personal bodyguard in 336. The reasons for this are still unknown - some experts talk aboutpolitical intrigues, and others about personal grievances.
Be that as it may, Alexander ascended the throne at the age of 20. By this time, he already had serious combat experience - in the battle of Chaeronea, he led a large detachment of hetairos - heavy cavalry. It was his tactics that allowed him to win the battle.
As a result of the young king's fear that his father would conquer the whole world, and he would not be able to do anything great, did not come true.
Alexander's first decree abolished taxes for many segments of the population. And this despite the fact that the treasury was empty, and the debt of the royal family reached 500 talents in gold - a huge amount. One talent was equal to approximately 24.5 kg.
Great Conquests
Having restored order in the country in order to establish his power (often with considerable cruelty and blood), two years after the death of his father, Alexander gathered an army to invade Persia. This country has been plundering all the major cities of Hellas for decades, burning sacred temples, and driving the inhabitants into slavery. Therefore, the blow was supported by other policies.
In total, Alexander was able to gather about 40 thousand people, mostly Macedonians. The young king did not trust other Greeks, preferring to rely on people who were personally devoted to him.
Alexander, thanks to tactical training, successfully defeated enemy units, over and over again forcing them to retreat or scatter in panic. At the same time, the losses of the Greeks were minimal.
Having broken through the route to Egypt, the Macedonian army occupied it as well. From there, the army turned north, destroying the Persian army - one ofthe most powerful at that time - and capturing Persia, covering a gigantic territory. Alexander passed through the territory of modern Uzbekistan, South Kazakhstan and other countries of Central Asia.
Soon, the northwestern part of India entered the power of Macedonian, being unable to repel the blows of his army.
Unfortunately, the commander passed away soon after. We will tell about the causes of death and where Alexander the Great was buried later. First, let's note what made him such a success.
Reason for success
In total, Alexander's military campaigns took about thirteen years - from 336 to 323. During this time, almost half of Asia was captured. And this despite the fact that the Macedonian army was frankly tiny - several tens of thousands of people. What made him so effective?
Let's start with normal mobility. As a rule, the warriors of that time went light, and equipment, additional weapons and provisions were in the convoy. Of course, the infantry and cavalry had to adapt to it, as a result, the army passed 10-15 kilometers per day at best. Philip ordered to carry armor and weapons on himself, and place provisions in special sacks. Each warrior carried rations for several days - cakes, s alted olives, dried fish and meat. Light and high-calorie foods had a small weight, while allowing them to refuse carts. The mobility of the army has increased dramatically - now the detachments passed 30-45kilometers per day.
Alexander received an excellent education - Aristotle himself became his teacher. Therefore, he was well versed in tactics, carefully studied the features of the terrain on the battlefields, choosing the most convenient areas for himself, and it was there that he imposed a battle on the enemy.
He himself fought in the forefront, being a great warrior, trained to wield various weapons since childhood. This inspired ordinary soldiers - in his presence they fearlessly rushed at the enemy so that the ruler would notice them.
Finally, urban policy has become an important factor. On all the conquered lands, Alexander built cities, naming them mainly by his own name (or by the names of his horse and beloved dog). He gave some of the cities along with land plots to veterans, hoping to secure these territories for his kingdom.
When he died
Historians argue to this day about where the crypt of Alexander the Great is located. But the date of death is known quite accurately - approximately June 10-13, 323 BC. At the time of his death, he was only 33 years old. Of course, it is difficult to explain the death of a young, he althy, physically strong and hardy man at that age with natural causes. We will tell about the main versions of death, as well as where the tomb of Alexander the Great is located a little later.
He died in Babylon, just a few days before the announcement of a new campaign - this time Alexander planned to conquer the Arabs, capturing those cities whose we alth was legendary.
Killed himradiation?
Before returning to the question of where the grave of Alexander the Great is, let's deal with the reason why he died at such a prosperous age.
There are quite a lot of versions today - some of them are quite realistic, while others are more of a fantastic origin.
The latter include his visit to the captured Indian temple. There he saw a crown made of a strange black metal. According to local priests, only a person descended from the gods can wear it without harm to he alth. Confident in his divine origin, Alexander immediately put it on. Alas, immediately after that, he staggered and almost fell. In a matter of days, the king's he alth deteriorated noticeably, and he died, suffering from vomiting and dizziness. All signs point to radioactive poisoning.
More believable causes of death
The version with malaria looks more plausible. During the campaigns, the army led by the king more than once passed through the lands where this fever raged. Alexander could well have contracted it, and there was no cure for malaria in the fourth century BC.
Another possible cause is common pneumonia. In those days, doctors did not have antibiotics in their arsenal, so they could not save the powerful ruler with all their desire.
Finally, there is a version about the poisoning of Alexander. They tried to do this more than once, but in most cases the king successfully avoided assassination attempts. But he has accumulated quite a lot of enemies - both fromnumber of enemies and former friends. It is possible that one of the attempts was successful.
Perhaps today experts would have been able to accurately determine the cause of Alexander's death. But for this you need to have access to the body. And this raises a serious problem - the place where the tomb of Alexander the Great is located is not exactly known.
Transportation of the body
The king bequeathed to bury himself in Egypt, or rather, in the Siwa oasis (photo below). It was here that the local priests declared Alexander the son of Amon himself, the god of the Sun.
It was impossible to deliver a body in hot conditions for hundreds and even thousands of kilometers without freezing equipment. Therefore, true friends came up with a way to do this - a golden coffin made for Alexander was filled with honey. He excluded the possibility of contact with air, thereby preventing the decay of the flesh. This made it possible to transport the body over a huge distance without fear that decay processes would begin in a hot climate.
Alas, Alexander's body was not destined to be laid to rest in the cherished oasis. His own governor in Egypt, Ptolemy (the founder of the powerful Ptolemaic dynasty) stole the coffin and moved it to Memphis. According to the stories of the chroniclers, the tomb of Alexander the Great was quite worthy of his greatness. Soon it became a place of pilgrimage for the greatest people - it was visited by Julius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Caligula and many other Roman rulers and emperors.
Burial place
Unfortunately, today it is not known where Alexander the Great is buried. The point is that byBy order of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, the entrance to the tomb was walled up, and all external signs by which it could be found were destroyed. Since then, about eighteen centuries have passed. And no one knows exactly where the body of the great ruler, warrior and conqueror rests.
Sometimes there are reports that the grave of Alexander the Great has been found - photo. Alas, most of such news turns out to be ordinary sensations. Either the objects are in Greece and not in Egypt, where the ruler was buried, or DNA tests indicate that the person buried in the tomb was clearly not 33 years old, or the study of the remains betrayed anyone in the deceased, but not a young blue-eyed man with golden hair like Alexander was.
Therefore, today the location of the tomb of Alexander remains one of the mysteries that hundreds and thousands of archaeologists from around the world dream of solving. We can only hope that one day history will reveal this secret and allow us to learn more about what caused the death of Alexander the Great.
Conclusion
This concludes our article. Perhaps we were not able to tell where exactly the tomb of Alexander the Great is located. But they made a short digression into history, learned a few facts from his biography, the main milestones of life, the geography of conquests and much more. We hope that you liked the article and broadened your horizons, allowing you to learn more about the history of the glorious Macedonia and the greatest of its rulers.
