Alexander was a man of extremes and contradictions. At times he would have intense spurts of energy and then long sulks. He showed extreme generosity and at the same time murderous cruelty against former friends. One would guess given common knowledge that his insecurities most likely were originated in his childhood; perhaps the relationship with his father. After the assassination of his father, King Philip II, Alexander was in direct line to take over as ruler. Alexander was to go down in history as the “father of the Hellenic world”, “the unopposed leader of the Greek world”, and last but not least “the Great”, a title given for his numerous victories.

The mobile elite was Alexander’s Companion Cavalry consistin

Finally after a long an arduous journey, Alexander reached a place called Thara in which he learned that Darius had been overthrown by his own commanders the night before. Eager to still pursue Darius, Alexander pressed on through the Ahuran pass. By the time Alexander caught up with the Persian leaders, they were already fleeing. At the same time they stabbed Darius and left him there for dead. One of Alexander’s soldiers met up with him and gave him some water. Darius conveyed a message to Alexander thanking him for his honorable treatment of his mother and family throughout all this. Darius was dead by the time Alexander got there. Alexander covered the body with his cloak and was shocked by the premature death of the King of the World. Alexander would go on through many different cities conquering anything in his way for the next three years.

Alexander had his eyes set on a bigger goal: Persopolis. Persopolis was the huge Persian palace with royal tombs and shrines. It was the heart of the Persian Empire. This was a trophy to acquire in Alexander’s eyes. He led his reinforced army of now 80,000 right to the gates of Persopolis. The gates were closed and there seemed to be no easy way of gaining entrance. Alexander interrogated prisoners in hopes of finding a way in; this was of no help. A local shepherd told Alexander of an alternative route to gain entrance through the rear of Persopolis. This route was the only one known and it was through rocky terrain. Alexander proceeded with 15,000 of his men through the long valley of Mulla Susan to the back of the pass. Alexander and his fearless army were ready to conquer. At daybreak, Alexander’s army captured the Persians in a surprise attack from the rear. The Persians put up a good fight but it was not enough to save them. This victory has been called ‘one of the most hazardous, audacious, and certainly the most profitable of mountain campaigns in the annals of history’. Alexander achieved his goal and captured the great city of Persopolis yet he was not yet satisfied. He still wanted Darius dead or alive. In July Alexander pursued in a quest to find Darius. He marched on in the sweltering heat across the Great Salt Desert towards Afghanistan.

Memnon, now Darius’s commander-in-chief of Western operations, was setting up once again in anticipation of Alexander’s arrival. With him were the Athenian mercenary commanders Ephialtes and Thrasybulos, two men who had been on Alexander’s hit list for quite some time. This time they believed they had the best defenses to defeat Alexander’s army. Their town was a fortress fortified by a huge wall winding up into the hills above Boldrum. It had two or three main gates and the low ground was protected by deep ditches; it also had forts above the harbor and out in the bay was a fleet of four hundred ships. This place was so fortified that it was almost impossible to get in. Fortunately Alexander who had just about any type of weapon imaginable of this period used his siege-technology to gain entrance. Alexander attacked on the flat ground first on the east side of town. His army attempted to get in through the wall but this soon failed. Alexander then used his siege technology to wage war and gain entrance. Memnon launched a massive raid at dawn to overtake Alexander’s army. This was almost a stalemate until Alexander’s reserve army came in and inflicted heavy losses, and Ephialtes was killed. Memnon realizing his defeat retreated and evacuated his forces by sea, setting fire to everything they could not take with them on the ships. Alexander emerges victorious again. Although Alexander’s troops had suffered severe losses they still pursued on. They marched on to Lycia and took over thirty cities here.

g primarily of the cream of the Macedonian aristocracy. The backbone of the army was the phalanx. The phalanx was six infantry brigades, capable of fighting a compilation of different types of warfare, but

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