Alexander the Great

Question 1

In what year was Alexander born and where?

Answer 1

356 BC and Pella respectively.

Question 2

Who was Alexander’s tutor?

Answer 2

Aristotle; Alexander would always keep an extract of the Iliad under his pillow along with a dagger (Plutarch 8).

Question 3

What leading role did Alexander play when he was 16 years old?

Answer 3

Alexander was left as regent in Macedonia and in charge of affairs and keeper of the king’s seal while Philip was on campaign in Byzantium; he crushed the revolt of the Maedi and renamed their city Alexandropolis (Plutarch 9).

Question 4

Who were Alexander’s parents?

Answer 4

Philip II and Olympias of Epirus.

Question 5

What was the name of Alexander’s horse who he tamed and used in battle?

Answer 5

Bucephalus; ‘“I could certainly manage this horse better than anyone else.”’ (PLutarch 6)

Question 6

Where burned down on the same day as Alexander’s birth?

Answer 6

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus in Asia Minor (Plutarch 3)

Question 7

Which god did Alexander (according to some) believe was his father?

Answer 7

Ammon (Plutarch 50 – Cleitus says “and you have become so powerful through the blood and wounds of Macedonians that you deny Philip was your father and make yourself the son of Ammon.”)

Question 8

Name three initial reasons for Alexander’s expedition against Persia

Answer 8

Regarded the campaign as part of his inheritance from his father: Alexander took over as head of the League of Corinth, founded by Philip II in 337 with the objective of invading Persia; wanted revenge for the Persian invasion of Xerxes in 480; maintaining/funding his professional army required continuous campaigning/plundering (perhaps the initial aim was just to plunder the wealthy cities of Asia Minor).

Question 9

How many Macedonians died compared to the number of Persians/Greek mercenaries in the battle of Granicus?

Answer 9

According to Arrian 1.16 (but Plutarch generally confirms):
Greek Mercenaries fighting for Persia: 18,000 dead+2000 prisoners
Persian cavalry-1000 dead+9noblemen
Macedonians-115 dead (25 companions, 60 cavalry, 30 infantry).

Question 10

What did Alexander do after the siege of Tyre?

Answer 10

Spared the highest-ranking Tyrians in the temple of Heracles; enslaved the rest (30,000 Tyrians and foreigners); held athletic contests in honour of Heracles; offered sacrifices to Heracles. (Arrian 2.24)

Question 11

Give Arrian’s and Plutarch’s reasons for why Alexander burnt down Persepolis

Answer 11

Arrian 3.18: revenge for the Persian invasion 480BC, and a targeted gesture to keep Athens in the alliance (though Arrian says that Parmenio advised against it)

Plutarch 38: Thais (the mistress of Ptolemy) convinces him at a drunken party, and it happens in the spur of the moment-deeply regretted: ‘He gave into their wishes’… ‘It is agreed that Alexander quickly thought better of it’.

Question 12

Why is Alexander’s burning of Persepolis so difficult to explain?

Answer 12

Both Arrian and Plutarch suggest that the Macedonians saw this as evidence that he did not want to stay and rule Persia, but instead wanted to go home; but this doesn’t square with their accounts of his adopting Persian customs. Scholars still disagree on whether this was a clinical act to demonstrate his power and signal the end of his campaign of retribution (many Greek mercenaries were sent home shortly after) [eg. Cartledge]; others argue that this was indeed an inexplicable act of drunken violence, as Plutarch suggests – the version Arrian gives (that this was in revenge for Athens in 480) is the official ‘party line’ that was given out by the Macedonian camp to explain.

Question 13

When was the mutiny at Hyphasis and why did it occur there?

Answer 13

326BC-just after the siege of the Aornus rock and the battle of Hydaspes (arguably their fiercest battle), Alexander wanted to continue east; his army had enjoyed days of endless rain during the Indian monsoon.

Question 14

How did Alexander get to the oasis at Siwa?

Answer 14

Talking snakes show him and his army the way (Arrian 3.3 - NB Arrian’s source is Ptolemy for this, who probably drew on local Egyptian traditions); or they followed birds to the oasis (Plutarch, following Aristoboulus)

Question 15

How long did the siege of Tyre in 332 take and why?

Answer 15

6-7 months, they had to build a causeway over to the city but were attacked while building it; the navy then was able to break through the city walls and they stormed the city. It was also decisive that the Phoenicians (and their navy) defected to Alexander in this time, leaving Tyre entirely stranded.

Question 16

After the mutiny at Hyphasis in 326, what did the army do to celebrate going home?

Answer 16

They built 12 altars as high as the biggest towers and broader than towers would be to thank the gods for their victories so far

Question 17

How did Alexander capture the Aornus Rock in 326?

Answer 17

He sent Ptolemy to an advanced position with the Agrianes first; he then fought his way up to join him after Ptolemy’s position was attacked; he built a mound of dirt to build up to the rock itself, taking 4 days; Alexander ‘praised those who completed their task with enthusiasm, but punished those who failed to do so in such an urgent situation’ (Arrian 4.29)

Question 18

Why did Alexander conquer the Indus Valley?

Answer 18

It’s extremely fertile, wanted to go further than Heracles did, to secure the edge of his Empire along with going further than the Persian Empire

Question 19

In what year did Philip II die?

Answer 19

336BC

Question 20

Who does Arrian think was behind Philip’s murder and due to what evidence?

Answer 20

Darius III (King of Persia) and due to the contents of a letter from Alexander the Great to Darius after winning the Battle of Issus (333), saying; “My father died at the hands of conspirators instigated by you” Arrian 2.14

Question 21

Who does Diodorus Siculus think killed Philip and why?

Answer 21

Pausanias (a royal bodyguard) in a crime of passion: Philip had failed to seek justice for him, after he was abused by the slaves of Attalus (Cleopatra’s uncle) in revenge for the older Pausanias’ abuse of the younger Pausanias, who had won the favour of the king but killed himself/sacrificed himself in battle as the result of the older Pausanias’ abuse. (Diodorus 16.93)

Question 22

Who does Justin think was behind Philip’s murder and why?

Answer 22

Alexander and Olympias; because Olympias did not like Philip’s marriage to Cleopatra and Alexander feared that their son would be a rival to the throne. (Epitome of Justin 9.6)

Question 23

In what year was the murder of Cleitus?

Answer 23

328BC

Question 24

In what year was Phillip murdered? And by whom?

Answer 24

336BC

Pausanias

Question 25

Why was the cutting of the Gordian Knot a controversial part of Alexander’s campaign?

Answer 25

The prophecy stated that whoever undid the Gordian Knot would rule Asia: ‘That very night there was thunder and lightning in the heavens; because of this on the next day Alexander offered sacrifice to the gods that had shown these omens and also how to untie the knot’ Arrian 2.3

Question 26

At the mass marriages in Susa, whom did Alexander make his brother in law?

Answer 26

Hephaestion (Arrian 7.4)

Question 27

Where is Alexander said to have died?

Answer 27

Babylon

Question 28

Why, according to Arrian, did Alexander and Cleitus fight?

Answer 28

Arrian says that certain men were praising Alexander extravagantly and comparing him to Heracles; ‘Cleitus had clearly been annoyed for a long time by the way Alexander had changed his behaviour to a manner more appropriate for barbarians and also by the conversations of those who were flattering him’

; they went on to say that Philip had achieved little in comparison and Cleitus lost control: ‘now very drunk he reproached Alexander a great deal, because after all his life had been saved by Cleitus himself, during the cavalry battle at the Granicus against the Persians’. Arrian 4.8

Question 29

Why, according to Plutarch, did Alexander and Cleitus fight?

Answer 29

Certain poets sang songs mocking Macedonian generals for recent defeats to the barbarians, and Alexander did nothing to stop them; Cleitus believed that Alexander was claiming the achievements of the Macedonian army for himself, and adopting Persian ways (including suggesting that Ammon was his true father, not Philip) - Plutarch 50

Question 30

What was the name of the distinctive Macedonian spear,used by Macedonian hoplites, and how long was it usually?

Answer 30

Sarissa, 4-6 meters

Question 31

Name the two main type of specialist troops, and their uses.

Answer 31

Agrianes: Usually on the right flank, used spears, slings and bows. Used for their speed and were effective at defending and fighting against heavy infantry

Hypaspists: Elite/heavy infantry, heavily armoured, carried large shields, spear and sword. They were used when formation had broken down

Question 32

How many men were there in each Phalanx, and what was their primary use?

Answer 32

256 men, and to hold the enemy army in place whilst the cavalry broke through their ranks

Question 33

Name some siege tactics used by Alexander at Tyre

Answer 33

Built a kilometre-long causeway out to the island of Tyre

Built 2 50m tall towers on the edge of causeway, with ballistae and catapults on top of them

He performed a naval blockade with his fleet

Question 34

Name siege tactics used by Alexander at Aornus rock

Answer 34

Ordered for his army to build up a mound so, as to make the top of the rock accessible
Sent Ptolemy and Agrianes ahead, so as to perform a pincer movement on the Indians.