THE CONQUEST OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

At 20, Alexander became King of Macedonian and of the Greek territories conquered by his father, Philip II.

At 21, he set out on his Danubian Campaign. It seems that his thirst for adventure could not be satisfied, even by the conquest of Greece. Young Alexander was accompanied by his young Macedonian officers - well educated and skilled in riding horses and hunting - who participated in all sorts of sports games and drank much wine.

He was well acquainted with The Iliad, and carried his own copy of it (which he had received from his professor, Aristotle) simply everywhere. Still under the influence of the Trojan War stories, when the Thracian Trojans had been defeated by the Greek-Achaean invaders, Alexander decided to explore the ancient world ahead of his army, whose number increased after he had taken over a big group of Greeks from the territories conquered by him.

We should not forget that these otherwise Pelasgian, Thracian territories had been occupied by the Greeks in 1900-1400 BC as the latter migrated from the east of the Caspian Sea. Thus, in the spring of the year 334 BC, the 22-year old Pelasgian Alexander of Macedon led his armies towards Hellespont (the Dardanelles), narrows that separated Europe from Asia. He was accompanied by engineers, builders of bridges, mobile towers, and of stone throwers, and a great number of scientists: botanists, astronomers, philosophers, historians and propagandists (such as Calistenes, Aristotle's nephew, who would eventually ruin Alexander and Aristotle's relationship). As medicine weighed no less, Alexander had a numerous medical staff, and tones of medicines and medical supplies.

His army was ready for the fight; it numbered 32,000 soldiers and a 12,000-soldier advanced detachment who had already crossed the Dardanelles a year before. In all likelihood, it was one of the most outstanding crack armies antiquity had ever had. It was simply invincible. The flower of the Macedonian aristocracy, the cavalry, and the Greek army gathered from the territories occupied in the south of Greece (50% of his auxiliary soldiers above-mentioned amounted to 90,000 people, according to Hammond).

It was a splendid, slightly cool morning (it must have been so); it was May, 334 BC. A cool wind was blowing across the Hellespont Narrows, pushing the Macedonian ships towards Asia, along a blue-whitish water, clear enough to reflect the ships full of enthusiastic young men, driven by the mystery of the unknown. On the deck of the leading ship, there was a young man, not very tall (1,55 m), thin, with his strong jaw jutted out and an aquiline nose (taking after his father's), whose long auburn hair was blown by the wind. His black and staring eyes were sparkling with yet unfulfilled desires: he wanted Troy, he wanted Asia, Persia, and India; he wanted the WHOLE WORLD. Wearing an armour made of small shining metallic plates fastened with small leather straps, having on his chest the terrifying head of a long since forgotten deity, he was scanning the horizon, while the priests were sacrificing a black ox whose blood they threw into the sea in order to tame the gods. As he reached the Asian shore, he was the first to jump off the ship and set foot on this land.

He visited Achilles' tomb in the Besika Golf, drunk with happiness and wine; he danced naked, in the presence of his dear friend Hephaestus. Next, Alexander laid wreaths of flowers on the tombs of the two heroes, fighters in the Trojan War- Achilles and Patrocles. We should not judge him according to the mores we now abide by; 2000 years ago they simply did not apply.

In an old temple dedicated to the goddess Athens, a guide showed Alexander arms, spears, and shields said to have belonged to Achilles. Alexander took Achilles' shield and put in its place his own. This shield was going to save his life in Punjab, after he set out to conquer India.

From now on for his tempestuous advance there was no turning back. The Invasion of the world was about to start. The great battle for the conquest of Asia was fought on or along the river Granicus (today, the river Kocabas Cay, Turkey).

The Persian Empire was incredibly big and strong and was capable of assembling almost effortlessly an army made of thousands of soldiers.

However it so happens that sometimes the fate (or outcome) of a fight is dictated or affected by certain psychological circumstances. Fortune smiled on Alexander as it was to smile on Cortez 1700 years later in his fight against Mentezums.

After crossing the Dardanelles Narrows without being intercepted by the big Persian naval force, which was deftly and blindingly placed on the Aegean Sea, Alexander, in charge of a small army would brave Darius III's Imperials. Darius had a group of Greek mercenaries led by Memnon of Rhodos, who considered Alexander a maniac barbarian, young and arrogant, but dangerous because he simply sneezed at death, an attitude specific to our Thracian-Dacian people.

Memnon of Rhodos advised the Persians not to take part in a direct fight with the Macedonian and suggested instead that they should engage the Macedonians in a series of skirmishes, break down all their supply sources, and lay waste the land before them. However, the Persian leaders took his advice as an insult. In Mihai Eminescu's words this sounded very much like:

When the whole world is open to me

Would you rather have me watch

As my Persian army stumbles

Over nothing but a Thrach?

The sun was going down slowly beyond the horizon, when the Macedonian army reached the bank of the river Granicus. The Persians were waiting on the other side; their 10,000 crack horsemen had been gathered from all over Asia, from Bactria and even from the north of Afghanistan. Beside them, there were 4,000 Greek mercenaries mad with hatred for the Macedonians who had conquered Greece. Troops of foot soldiers were organized in flanks.

Parmenio, the old Macedonian General advised the 22-year old Alexander to put off the fight until dawn so that the Macedonian army might rest and fight more successfully. However, could anyone talk the Pelasgian Alexander, "the one chosen by the gods" out of his plans?

There was a ratio of forces of 1:10, that is one Macedonian soldier against 10 Persians. Silence everywhere, as if even nature had stopped breathing. The Macedonian bugles suddenly broke the silence; the fight began. It didn't take Alexander and his troops long to cross the river; urged by the war-cries of the old Macedonian war gods (according to M.Wood, The Footsteps of Alexander the Great, page 40), 1,000 cavalry men and 500 foot soldiers reached the opposite bank. Blinded by the high dust clouds and totally confused by the Macedonians, the Persians were so astounded that they gave in, unable to fight back. Half of the Greek mercenaries who fought alongside the Persians were slaughtered, while the Greek survivors were put in chains and sent to the silver mines in Thracia. The message the Macedonians gave to the Persians was shocking. What the latter could not understand was how it had been possible for such a small army to defeat them. This victory opened up for Alexander the Ionic Coast, Asia Minor, and the small fortresses and towns lying there. One after the other they all surrendered, without any military action. Only a few Greek fortresses objected to giving in, Miletus being one of them. After being defeated they benefited by Alexander's mercy. One should not forget that half of his army was made of Greeks. The communication difficulties between officers and soldiers resulted from the fact that they spoke different languages - Macedonian versus Greek - had no importance. However things changed after Alexander's death.

Alexander's victory at Caria, considered unimportant by some, nonetheless prevented him from being stuck in Anatolia. The same Greek Memnon of Rhodos who sent Barsine, his Persian wife (who later became Alexander's mistress) and his children to Darius for safety reasons, abandoned the fight, taking to the sea and thinking that this would make his life easier. Before leaving, he set the fortress on fire. Once more, young Alexander proved to be an educated tyrant and saved out of the flames one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world - the tomb of Mausolus, king of Caria, erected at Halicarnassus. If Memnon had continued to fight back, Alexander would have probably left Anatolia. Maybe Darius would have been saved, and so would India and Egypt. After conquering 30 Lycian towns, Alexander together with his troops headed for the north,reaching as far as Gordion.

Gordion was the town of Midas, whose father Gordius had been a Thracian emigrant from Macedonia, who had arrived there in a wooden wagon which he had left as a monument for posterity, fastening it to a stake with a very complicated knot. Legends have it that he who will undo the knot will be "the Prince /Master of Asia". After a moment of silence and meditation, Alexander is said to have unsheathed his sword and "cut the Gordian knot." Historian Arrian was not sure whether this story was indeed true. Fact is the knot was "undone."

Alexander marched on, first eastwards, to Ancyra (today Ankara), and then, after crossing the river Nely, entered Capa-Dacia (Capa Docia),territories conquered by his Carpatho-Danubian ancestors thousands of years before him. In the meantime, the Greek Memnos, one of his bitterest enemies, who had destroyed the Macedonian naval force at sea, was taken ill and soon died. In Babylon, 1000 km far from the sea shore, the Persianking Darius III, on learning about the death of his general Memnos, would not listen to the advice of another Greek commander, the mercenary Caridemos, whose suggestion was that Darius should bribe the discontented Greeks with gold and turn them against the Macedonians; Darius would not listen to him; more than that, during a conversation full of serious insults, he ordered Caridemos' execution. Darius lived to regret his decision; as for Alexander, luck seemed to smile on him twice. Without an

experienced general, Darius could nothing but take over the command in the fight against the Macedonians and so lost the battle of Issus (Kinet Huyuk) in November, 335 BC. What happened to his family was turned into an exciting story plot: Alexander is said to have fallen in love with Darius' mother who was over 60 years old at the time. If you ask me, I can hardly bring myself to believe that. Partially defeated on the Anatolian territory, Alexander drove his army

(332-331 BC) towards the territories occupied today by Syria, Lebanon and

Egypt.