How much ancient people paid to build such a great monumets?

  

Life of Alexander the Great

I have just finished one of my work on Alexander the Great's life.When you google his life you can find thousands of paper on internet about his life.But I have summarized his life from the work of Sani H. Panhwar who studied on work of Jacob Abbott(1803-1879) who was an American writer.

When reading I really enjoyed it because he wrote like a novel.I really liked it because his analysis on his Alexander's character and the world of his time is giving a  perfect understanding.

When summarizing it,I changed some of English sentences and simplified for easy understanding.

I learned and enjoyed so much. It is so well written and you read it with one breathe. Here it is ; 

       Life of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was born at 356 BCE and died when he was quite young,he was 32 years of age and he was about 20 when he commenced it.It was only 12 years that he actually engage in performing the work of his life.

The name of Alexander the Great’s father was Philip.The kingdom was Macedon which was in the northern part of Grecee.It was a kingdom about twice as large as the state of Massachusetts and one third as large as State of Newyork.The name of Alexander the Great’s mother was Olympias.She was a woman of very strong and determined character.Alexander seemed to inherit her energy.

Although he was a prince he was not brought up in habits of luxury and effeminacy.This would have been contrary to all the ideas which were entertained by the Greeks in those days.He was very well educated by his nurse,Lannice and his preceptor Lysimachus.In the latter part of his course of education he was placed under the charge of Aristotle who was one of the most eminent philosophers of ancient times.Aristotle had a beautiful copy of Homer’s poems and Alexander carried this copy with him in all his campaigns.Alexander learned a lot from Aristotle,he made great progress in metaphysical philosophy and mathematics.

Bucephalus,his famous horse,was a war-horse of very spirited character which had been sent as a present to Philip while Alexander was young.One day they took the horse out into one of the parks connected with palace and king and many courtiers went out to view him.The horse pranced in a very furious manner and seemed entirely unmanageable.Noone dared to mount him.In the meantime Alexander stood quitely by watching his motions and studying his character.He perceived that the horse experienced in so strange and new scene and frightened by his own shadow.Philip decided that the horse was useless and gave orders to have him send it back.Alexanader begged to his father to allow him to mount it.He,at first,refused but at lenght consented.Alexander went up to the horse and he patted him upon the neck and soothed him with his voice.Alexanader turned his head in a direction to prevent his seeing his shadow.What became of him at last is not certainly known.There are two accounts of his end.One is;Alexander got carried too far into the midst of his enemies on a battlefield,he was severely wounded again and again but he would not stop until he carried his master away to a safe place then he dropped down,exhausted and died.It maybe,however,that he did not actually die at this time but slowly recovered,he lived to be 30 years old which is quite an old age for a horse and then he died.Alexander buried him with a ceremony and build a small city in honor of his memory,Bucephalia(at Pakistan).
Philip had been planing a great expedition into Asia.He had arranged the affairs of his kingdom and gathered strong army.He was excited with ambition and full of hope.Before his expedition to Asia,a very big preparations were organized with games and shows and thousand of spectators came to watch also for second marriage with Olympias.But during the procession to the theatre of the city,he was assasinated by an officers of guards,he stabbed him to the heart.Philip fell down in the street and died.The murderer was immediately cut into pieces by other guards.

He was Pausinas who killed Philip.Why?There were some opinions about it.One was;it was an act of private revenge.Another;the murder was provoked by a party in the states of Greece who were hostile to Philip.

After he became king,his first plan was to punish his father’s murderers.Next,he decided not to make any change in his father’s appointments.He continued the old officers in command.There were two oficers; Antipater and Parmenio.Parmenio was a very distinguished general,at that time about 60 years of age.Alexander had a great confidence in his military powers.And Antipater had charge of civil affairs.The first thing he did was to re-control neighboring cities of Macedon,such as; Thebes,Sparta,Athens.He wanted to be sure that he established his own ascendency over all this region.

After a military campaign to these cities,he decided to make his dream true on the expedition of Asia.But on the way to Thrace,he found out that Thebes city rebelled against him,he returned,not expected by Thebes people and plunder the city,killed about 6,000 and sold about 30,000 inhabitants of Thebes as slaves.But his pardoning to the priests whether they had been for him or against him made every friend of religion inçline to his favor.So,this made his popularity and magnanimity spread to the rest of Grecee and he got so much popularity.

The secret of Alexander the Great success was his character.He possessed a certain combination of mental and personal attractions.He was active,athletic and full of ardor and enthusiasm,in all that he did.At the same time he was calm,collected and considerate in emergencies requiring caution and thoughtful and forseeing consequences of his acts.He was faithful to his friends and generous towards to his foes.

At one time,some embassadors from the Persian court arrived in Macedon when Philip was away.The embassadors saw Alexander of course and had opportunities to speak with him.They expected that he would be interested in hearing about splendors and parade of Persian monarchy.They had stories to tell him about famous hanging gardens,splendid palaces and vast cities of Persians and magnificent entertainments and celebrations.However,they found to their surprise that Alexander was not interested in hearing about any of these things.He would always turn the conversation from them to inquire about geographical position of different Persian countries,Asiatic armies,their system of military tactics and especially character and the habits of Artoxerxes,the Persian king.The embassadors were very much surprised at such evidence of maturity of mind and forseeing of young prince.They could not help comparing him with Artoxerxes and said; ‘Alexander is great while our king is only rich’.
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The circumstances of the world in his time distinguished by two masses of social and civilized life,widely dissimilar from each other.The Asiatic side was occupied by Persians and Assyrians,European side by Greeks and Romans.They were seperated from eachother by the waters of Hellespont,Aegean Sea and Mediterrenean.
It is hard to say whether Asiatic or European civilization was the highest.The two were so different that it is difficult to compare them.On the Asiatic side,there was wealth,luxury and splendour;on the European;energy,genius and force.On the one hand,there were vast cities,splendid palaces and gardens which were the wonder of the world,on the other, strong citadels,military roads and bridges,compact and well defended towns.The Persians had enormous armies with beautifult tents,horses elegantly decorated arms, officers magnificiently dressed and accustomed to a life of luxury and splendour.The Greeks and Romans,on the other hand,prided themselves on their compact bodies of troops and thoroughly disciplined.Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade but in courage and implicit obedience of their troop and in their own science,skill and power of military calculation.Thus,there was a great differance in the whole system of social and military organization in these two sides of globe.

He was now ready to turn his thoughts towards long-projected plan of the expedition into Asia.He organized an army of 35,000 to go with him.He sent a fleet of 150 galleys over Aegean Sea to land at Sestus(Eceabat).After he met with the fleet,he went away in a single galley on an excursion of romantic advanture to ruins of Troy.

Then he went to westward to Granicus river(Biga river).On the other bank of the river,Persian army was waiting.They were defeated and driven away.Then he turned to southward and moved along on the eastern shore of Aegean Sea.The country generally surrendered to him without opposition.The cities he conquered stayed at the same position like in Persian times;the same laws,taxes…He protected all private properties.Only executive officers changed in the countries.In a very short time,all western part of Asia Minor submitted peacefully to his sway.

At Ephesus,animosity of Greek and Persian parties had been so great that a sort of civil war had broken out.The Greek party had gained the ascendency and were threatening a general massacre of Persian inhabitants.Alexander promptly interposed to protect them though they were his enemies.The intellegence of this act of forbearance and generosity spread all over the world.He was keep going to south through Mediterrenean coast.From the Mediterrenean coast,he turned to northward and advance into the very heart of Asia Minor.He went to Gordion to untie the famous Gordian Knot.After Gordion he went to south,Tarsus,then he was planing to advance into Syria to meet Persian armies.Until that time,Alexander had fought against Persian lieutenants,not main body of Persians.

Darius had,at first,looked upon the invasion of his vast dominions by ‘such a mere boy’,as he called him.Darius collected an immense army.It is very extraordinary that king Darius took all his family and treasures with him.He left his treasures at Damascus and advanced to meet Alexander,going from Syria toward Asia Minor just at the time that Alexander was coming from Asia Minor to Syria.Darius was going toward  west took more inland route than Alexander.Alexander was coming to eastward,kept nearer to the sea.He did not know Darius was so near.Alexander and Darius actually passed eachother,without either of them being aware of it.Alexander advanced into Syria by the plains of Issus,while Darius went farther to north and arrived at Issus after Alexander left. Alexander’s army was about 50,000 and Persians about 100,000.Alexander did a sudden attact on Persians,that block all their escape ways and until sunset they got victory.Persians exhausted with fatigue and mental agitation.Darius escaped without taking even his family,left everything behind.Alexander abondened the pursuit and returned to take possessions of Persian camp.When he heard that Darius family were in despair and mourning,he went to their tent and said them to be sure their life was in safe.Alexander took them whereever he went and treated them as a royal family. 

After Darius escaped and crossed Euphrates,sent him an embassador to offer ransom for taking back his family.Alexander did not accept that reminded him his ancestors once destroyed Athens.

After Issus war,he went to city of Tyre(Sur,Lebenan).it was located on island and it was one of the greatest city in the world.It was about half a mile from shore,the water between was about 18 feet deep and great business of Tyrians was commerce.They bought and sold merchandise in all the ports of Mediterrenean.It was very defendable city that the city walls were rising up directly from surface of water 150 feet high.The Tyrians wish to avoid quarrel if it were possible.They sent complimentary message and a golden crown to Alexander.He returned with a very gracious replies and expressed them his intention of coming to Tyre for the purpose of offering sacrificies to Hercules,a god whom the Tyrians worshipped.Tyrians did not want Alexander come into city with his soldiers and offered him to make sacrificies on mainland.This was a pretext for Alexander to make a war to Tyrians.After seven months of attack,Alexander lost great number of his soldiers and captured the city.This battle changed his personality.He became haughty,imperious and cruel.He lost the modesty and gentleness.

After Tyre conquest,he commenced his march for Egypt.His route led him to Judea.It was the time about 300 years before birth of Christ and historical period of Old Testament,but no account of it is given in the sacred volumes.A jewish writer Josephus wrote history of Jews a few years after Christ.Although Jesephus magnify the importance of events,he gives information about history that Alexander passed through Palestine,he went to pay a visit to Jerussalem.In that times Jaddus was the high priest of Persian government in Jerussalem.After they hear how Alexander destroyed the city of Tyre,they did not resist to him.They organized a procession for Alexander that surprised and pleased him although he was coming on with full of determination to destroy the city.Parmenio asked him why he changed his mind.Alexander said he had a remarkable dream before he had set out his military expedition to Asia.He saw the same priest with the same dress in his dream,he said.Alexander went to Jerussalem with high priest in procession and made sacrificies in Jewish manner.He assured the Jews that they should be protected.But,on the other hand,Greek historians make no mention of this visit to Jerussalem and some scholars think it was never made.

When the city of Gaze did not surrender to Alexander they were treated with extreme cruelty.After Gaze he went to Memphis in Egypt,that was a great and powerful city on the Nile.As his character changed,he declared himself son of God.He determined to visit the temple of Jupiter Ammon and to have this declaration of this divine origin made by priests there.When walking on deserts,his army did not take sufficient water supply and it was reduced at one time.The story says that they were relieved by rain,though rain is extremely unusaul at deserts.Alexander attributed this supply to the miraculous interposition of heaven.The priest,at the temple of Jupiter Ammon,received them with great distinction and honor.He was declared he was King,son of Jupiter Ammon.

Alexander carried forward his plan of building a city at the mouth of the Nile,on his return.He personally drew the plan of the city.There was an island near the coast called island of Pharos.They built the most magnificent lighthouse which was one of wonder of the world.It was said to be 500 feet high,which may be an exaggeration.

After Egypt expedition,Alexander returned to Tyre and refreshed his army there.At the same time,Darius was also arranging his army as well.Alexander passed over Tigres,encamped for several days on the banks and at one night moon aclipse occured that made soldiers extremely terrified.A great panic spread throughout the encampment.Alexander called soothsayers and directed them to consult together and they said sun was on Alexander’s side,the moon at side of Persians and this sudden waning of her light foreshadowed the defeat and destruction which Persians were about to undergo.The army were satisfied with this decision.Alexander army consisted of about 50,000 men,Persian army was about 500,000.When Alexander approached to Persian army at Arbela,he decided to attack at daytime.There were 300,000 corpes on the ground.Darius escape one more time.

Alexander went to Babylon.He was very well welcomed there.He got all treasures of Darius at Susa where was Persian royalty winter-palace located.From Susa he went to Persepolis,the great Persian capital.The moderation and forbearance which had characterized him in his early years gradually disappeared as he became great and powerful.He was intoxicated with his success.He bacame haughty,vain and cruel.
Although inhabitance of Persepolis made no opposition to his entrance to the city,he gave his soldiers liberty to kill and plunder as they pleased.Thais was a very beautiful woman in his banquet,Alexander made her favorite.She was from Attica in Greece and she proposed to set fire the palce at Persepolis to get revenge of Athens when Xerxes invaded Greece.Alexander agreed to the proposal,they became so barbarious and set fire the place.Soon,he regreted and ordered the fire extinguished,but it was too late.

A general named Bessus in the army of Darius had a plan of seizing Darius and making him prisoner then taking command of the army himself.At around Caspesian Sea,as Darius escaped,Alexander was determined to capture him and pursued him 1,800 miles.As soon as Bessus found that pursuers were close upon them,they,at first,attemped to hurry forward in a vain hope.Darius was in a chariot,they urged the chariot on,but it moved heavily.Then they concluded to abondon it,they called Darius to mount a horse and ride off with them,leaving the rest of the army.But Darius refused and said he would rather trust himself in the hands of Alexander.Bessus thrust his spear into Darius body as he sat in the chariot.They divided into different bodies to increase their changes of escape by confusing Alexander.Alexander sent his soldiers both sides.In the meantime,Darius was at his chariot wounded and bleeding.He was worn out and exhausted both in body and in mind.His kingdom lost,his family was in captivity,he was betrayed and abondoned.Darius exasperation against Bessus was so intense that his hostily to Alexander became a kind of friendship.He lay there,faint and bleeding in his chariot,looking for coming of Alexander as for that of a protector and friend.Macedonians seacrhed about in various places.At last,the chariot he was laying was found.Darius was in it.The floor of the chariot was covered with blood.They raised him a little and he spoke.He asked for water.He spoke through a Persian prisoner interprater.He said; ‘Tell Alexander that I feel under the strongest obligations to him which I can now never repay for his kindness to my wife,my mother and my children.I hope now that he will go on prosperously and finish his conquest as triumphantly as he has begun them’.He had one last request that Alexander would pursuit Bessus and revenge the murderer.He was too weak to say much more.They gathered around him endeavoring to sustain his strenght until Alexander should arrive,but it was all in vain.He sank gradually and soon ceased to breathe.Alexander came up a few minutes after all was over.
Alexander immediately made arrangements,then sent the corpse to Susa in a very costly coffin with a procession of royal magnificence.He sent it to Sysigambis that she might have satisfaction of seeing it deposited in the tombs of Persian kings.What a president!The killer of her son sending the dead body in a splendid coffin to the mother as a token of respectful regard.

Alexander pursued Bessus as he escaped and generals under Bessus betrayed him as he had betrayed his commander.They sent a word to Alexander that if he would send forward a small force they would give Bessus to his hands.Alexander did so.After Bessus was captured Alexander told them to put a rope on his neck and send him.Alexander sent him as a second president to Sysigambis at Susa,as her revenge might direct.She inflicted upon him the most extreme tortures and finally when satiated with the pleasures of seeing him in suffer,the story is that,they chose four very elastic trees,growing at a little distance from eachother and bent down,the tops of them toward to central point between them.They fastened exhausted and dying body of Bessus to these trees and limb of his body to each and releasing the trees flew upward and each holding its own dissevered portion.

Alexander was now 26 years of age.His character was sadly changed.He adopted the dress and luxurious manners of Persians.He lived in the palaces of Persian kings.Many younger officers followed Alexander’s example.In a word he was no longer the same man.
Although there was no evidence that Parmenio and his son Philates were guilty of conspiracies,they were killed by Alexander.This made a very unfavorable impression in respect to Alexander.In a dinner,after he and his commanders became drunk,he also killed one of his greatest general,Clitus,because he praised his father and Parmenio.

Alexander continued his expedition to Asia for 3 years more.He penetrated into India as far as banks of Indus.He was preparing to cross the Indus and go onto Ganges.However his soldiers resisted to this decision.They were alarmed at the stories which they heard of Indian armies with elephants bearing castles upon their backs and soldiers armed with strange weapons.Although Alexander made a speech them he failed to convict his army and turned his steps again toward West.He returned to Babylon.
He seperated himself more and more from old Macedonian friends and linked himself more to Persians.He married Statira,oldest daughter of Darius.He encauraged similar marriages between Macedonian officers and Persian maidens.

When Alexander approached to the city,he was met by deputation of Chaldean astrologers.They were a class of philosophers to foretell human events by means of motion of stars.They informed him that they had found indubitable evidence in the stars,that if he came into Babylon he would hazard his life.They begged him not to approach any nearer but to choose some other cityfor his capital.He was very much troubled with this.At lenght,Greek philosophers came to him and persuaded him that science of astrology was not worthy of any belief.The Greeks had no faith in astrology,they foretold future events by the flights of birds or sacrificied animal organs.

He concluded to enter the city.But after a time his mind relapsed again and he became anxious,troubled and unhappy.

Hephaiston,his great personal friend,had died while he was on the way to Babylon.This effected him so deeply.He organized a very costly funeral for his friend and built an edifice grave for him which is said by historians of the day the cost was equal to about 10 millions of dollars.He was in deppression and melancholy after burial of his friend.

On one occasion,after he had spent the whole night in drinking,when the usual time arrive for leaving,they began a new banquet.To show how far from having exhausted his powers of drinking,Alexander filled bowl of Hercules,a very large cup,drank it all.His strenght was fast ebbing away.He came to conclusion that he must die.He drew his signet ring off from his finger.It was a token that all was over.He handed the ring to one of his friends who stood by his bed-side.He said;’When I am gone,take my body to temple of Jupiter Ammon’.The generals kissed his hands one after another.They asked him to whom he wished to leave his empire. ‘To the most worthy’,he said.He was too weak and exhausted to think of such affairs.Soon after this,he died at 10/11 June 323 BCE.The palace of Babylon was immediately filled with cries of mourning at the death of the prince.

It had not been aim of Alexander’s life to established well-settled governments or to encourage order and peace and industry in the counries that he conquered.
Washington’s aim was aperfect organization which would move on prosperously of themselves and independent working institutions.On the other hand,Alexander intented solely on enlarging and strenghtening his own personal power.He was all in all.He neevr thought of welfare of the countries.

The result was as might have been foreseen.After he died,civil wars started and each general and governor seized their own power.

Sysigambis,mother of Darius,mourned after Alexander’s death.Alexander had treated her with utmost respect and consideration and had supplied all her wants.She had gradually learned to think of him and to love him as a son;he,in fact,always called her mother.So,she lost all desire for food,refused and starved herself to death,at lenght she died.

Although there was mournful scene of sorrow in the palace of Sysigambis,there was joy and entertainments on the puplic places of Athens,when they learned Alexander died.They proclaimed their independance and declared war against Macedon.In the meantime,preparations for Alexander funeral was going on.It took 2 years to complete the funeral organization.The body had been given first to be embalmed according to Egyptian art then had been placed in a sarcophagus as Alexander wished his body should be taken to temple of Jupiter Ammon.It was a long journey to convey a body from Babylon to Egypt,was a distance of a thousand miles.His carriage was very well ornamented with solid golds and silvers.But his body never reached its intented destination.Ptolemy,an officer,prefered that the body should be interned in the city of Alexandria,for some reason or another.It was deposited there and a great monument was erected over the spot.This monument is said to have been remained standing for 1,500 years,but it has already disappeared.However the city of Alexandria itself is his real monumen,greatest and the best.

Alexander earned well the name and reputation of the Great.We cannot help applauding the extraordinary energy of his genius,though we condemn the selfish and cruel end to which his life was devoted.

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