At one time, every student knew who Alexander the Great was. Which is not surprising - he left a bright mark in history, although he died very young. Therefore, he fully deserved to be remembered even after two thousand years. We will tell about him and his conquests, and also touch upon 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 is famous for Alexander the Great
Of course, first of all, the great commander was able to become famous for having captured vast territories, which no ruler had succeeded before. Moreover, he did this in a matter of years, having for a long time removed the threat of attack from the Persians from Greece, at the same time avenging them for many years of oppression and burnt cities.
He severely punished the traitors and greeted people faithful to him - from close ones to ordinary soldiers.
A lot of the smallest information about his campaigns has reached our time due to the fact that Alexander led many chroniclers with him who described each battle and passage. Finally, he built a huge number of cities, which after his death changed their names, but preserved the history for posterity.
Scientists still do not know where Alexander the Great is buried. But this does not prevent him from being respected as a great man.
When he was born
About where the grave of Alexander the Great is located, experts have been engaged in fierce debate 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 talk about mid-July, and others - about the beginning of October. However, this is not so significant.
He received 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, 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 - the Olympics - was a woman tough and even cruel. She did not love Philip, so she spread the rumor that Alexander’s father was not him at all, but a certain deity with whom the Olympics had converged in the temple.
Young king
Alexander ascended the throne at a young age - his father Philip was stabbed to death with a personal bodyguard in 336. The reasons for this are still unknown - some experts speak of political intrigue, while others speak of personal insult.
Be that as it may, Alexander ascended the throne at age 20. By this time, he already had serious combat experience - at the Battle of Heronay he led a large detachment of geters - heavy cavalry. It was his tactics that made it possible to win the battle.
As a result of the young king’s fear that his father would conquer the whole world and that he could not accomplish anything great, they did not materialize.
His first decree, Alexander abolished taxes for many segments of the population. And this despite the fact that the treasury was empty, and the royal family's debt reached 500 talents in gold - a huge amount. One talent was approximately 24.5 kg.
Great Conquests
Having put things in order in the country in order to assert 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 plundered all the major cities of Hellas for decades, burned sacred temples, and stole the inhabitants into slavery. Therefore, the strike was supported by other policies.
In total, Alexander was able to gather about 40 thousand people, mainly Macedonians. The young king did not trust other Greeks, preferring to rely on people who were personally loyal to him.
Thanks to tactical training, Alexander successfully defeated enemy units, forcing them to retreat or scatter in panic over and over again. At the same time, the losses of the Greeks were minimal.
Having broken through the route to Egypt, the Macedonian army occupied it too. From there, the army turned north, destroying the Persian army - one of the most powerful at that time - and capturing Persia, covering a gigantic territory. Alexander passed through the territory of modern Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan and other countries of Central Asia.
Soon, the northwestern part of India entered the power of Macedon, being unable to repel the blows of his army.
Unfortunately, the commander died shortly afterwards. We will talk about the causes of death and where Alexander the Great was buried. To begin with, we note, thanks to which he achieved such success.
Reasons for success
In total, the military campaigns of Alexander took about thirteen years - from 336 to 323 years. 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 allowed him to act so effectively?
Let's start with regular mobility. As a rule, the soldiers of that time walked lightly, and equipment, additional weapons and provisions were in the wagon train. Of course, the infantry and cavalry had to adapt to it, as a result, during the day the army marched 10-15 kilometers at best. Philip ordered to carry armor and weapons on himself, and place the provisions in special boxes. Each warrior carried rations for several days - cakes, salted olives, dried fish and meat. Light and high-calorie foods were lightweight, while allowing you to abandon carts. Army mobility has increased dramatically - now units traveled 30-45 kilometers 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 at the battlefield, 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 magnificent warrior trained to wield various weapons from childhood. This inspired ordinary soldiers - in his presence they fearlessly rushed at the enemy so that the ruler noticed them.
Finally, urban planning policy has become an important factor. On all the conquered lands, Alexander built cities, calling them mainly by his own name (or by the names of a horse and a beloved dog). He gave some of the cities to veterans along with land plots, hoping to secure these territories for his kingdom.
When he died
Historians still argue about where the crypt of Alexander the Great is located. But the date of death is known quite accurately - about 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, healthy, physically strong and hardy man at this age with natural reasons. We will talk 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 riches were legendary.
Was he killed by radiation?
Before returning to the question of where the grave of Alexander the Great is, we will deal with the reason why he died at such a flourishing age.
There are quite a few versions today - some of them are quite realistic, while others are more of a fantastic origin.
The latter include his visit to a captured Indian temple. There he saw a crown made of strange black metal. According to local priests, only a person descended from the gods will be able to wear it without harm to health. Confident of his divine origin, Alexander immediately put on her. Alas, right after that he staggered and almost fell. In a matter of days, the king’s health was noticeably crippled, and he died, suffering from vomiting and dizziness. All signs indicate radioactive poisoning.
More likely causes of death
The version with malaria looks more believable. 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 the cure for malaria in the fourth century BC did not yet exist.
Another possible cause is common pneumonia. At that time, doctors did not have antibiotics in the arsenal, so they could not save the powerful ruler with all their will.
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 attempts. But he has accumulated quite a few enemies - both from among enemies and former friends. It is possible that one of the attempts was successful.
Perhaps today, experts would be able to precisely establish the cause of Alexander's death. But for this you need to have access to the body. And this poses a serious problem - the place where the tomb of Alexander the Great is located is not known exactly.
Body transportation
The king bequeathed to bury himself in Egypt, or rather, in the oasis of Siwa (photo below). It was here that the local priests declared Alexander the son of Amun himself - the god of the Sun.
It was impossible to deliver the body in the heat for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers without freezing equipment. Therefore, loyal friends came up with a way to do this - the 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 allowed the body to be transported over a huge distance, without fear that decay would begin in a hot climate.
Alas, the body of Alexander was not destined to be laid to rest in a treasured oasis. His own governor in Egypt, Ptolemy (the founder of the powerful Ptolemaic dynasty) stole the coffin and transferred to Memphis. According to the chroniclers, the tomb of Alexander the Great was worthy of his greatness. Soon it became a pilgrimage site 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 fact is that, by order of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus, the entrance to the tomb was walled up, and all the external signs by which it could be found were destroyed. About eighteen centuries have passed since then. And no one knows exactly where the body of the great ruler, warrior and conqueror rests.
Sometimes there are reports that the tomb of Alexander the Great was found - photo. Alas, most of these news are 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 revealed in the deceased anyone, but not a young blue-eyed man with golden with 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
On this our article comes to an end. Perhaps we did not manage to tell where exactly the tomb of Alexander the Great is located. But they made a short excursion 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 glorious Macedonia and the greatest of its rulers.