The Greatest General in History? Alexander – To the Ends of the Earth

At the age of just 22, Alexander, ruler of the small Greek kingdom of Macedonia, led an invasion of the vast Persian Empire. After a series of victories, he decisively defeated Persian military power at the Battle of Gaugamela and claimed the Persian throne for himself. In 330 BC, Alexander continued his march eastward with the goal of finding and confronting Bessus, a Persian usurper claiming to be the rightful king, and subjugating the eastern provinces of the empire.

Alexander first headed for Aria, located in present-day Afghanistan, where the Persian governor Satibarzanes had launched a revolt after initially pretending to submit to Alexander. The rebellion was quelled, and Satibarzanes was killed in single combat by a Greek cavalry officer. Nearby, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria Ariana, modern-day Herat, one of many cities he would establish, most bearing his name.

Continuing his campaign, Alexander marched on to Phrada. The Macedonian court had a long history of plots and assassinations. Six years earlier, Alexander’s father, King Philip, had been murdered by his bodyguard. Alexander learned that Philotas, commander of his Companion Cavalry, had uncovered a plot to assassinate him but kept it secret. Philotas and his father Parmenion were respected commanders who had played crucial roles in Alexander’s victories. However, after Philotas confessed under torture, Alexander had him executed and sent assassins to Ecbatana, where Parmenion was governor, to eliminate him before he could react to his son’s death.

In 329, Alexander resumed his pursuit of Bessus. Along the way, he founded the city of Alexandria Arachosia, modern Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan. Upon reaching Kunduz, Bessus was betrayed by his own men and captured. Alexander sent him back to Persia for execution as a king-slayer.

Alexander then advanced into modern Tajikistan, where he faced uprisings from the Sogdians. He fought off attacks from local tribes and captured several towns. At the banks of the Jaxartes River, he founded Alexandria-Eschate, meaning “Alexandria the Furthest,” as he had reached the limit of the Persian Empire. This frontier was frequently raided by nomads known to the Greeks as Scythians. Alexander lured them into a decisive battle near the Jaxartes, achieving a significant victory that ended the raids. However, fighting against Bactrian and Sogdian tribes continued, leading to a challenging guerrilla war.

By this time, many Macedonian troops were unhappy with Alexander. Most had not seen their homes in years, and their king seemed intent on endless conquest. Additionally, he began adopting the rituals and attire of their defeated Persian enemies, customs they viewed as inappropriate. At Maracanda, modern Samarkand, after a heated argument, Alexander killed Cleitus the Black, one of his best generals who had saved his life at the Battle of the Granicus. Although filled with remorse, Alexander’s growing arrogance alienated many of his old comrades. When he attempted to have his countrymen perform the traditional Persian ritual of proskynesis—prostrating themselves before the king—he crossed a line. To the Greeks, this was blasphemy, as only a god was deemed worthy of such respect, forcing Alexander to back down.

In Bactria, another assassination plot against Alexander was uncovered, led by a royal page named Hermolaus, who had become resentful towards Alexander over a perceived injustice. Hermolaus and his accomplices were tortured and executed. Callisthenes, Alexander’s official historian, was also implicated in the conspiracy and died in prison.

That summer, in 327, according to legend, Alexander became enamored with Roxana, the daughter of a Bactrian lord. Their marriage was a strategic political move that helped quell local revolts and allowed him to continue his advance into modern Pakistan and India. Alexander prepared to subdue the Persian Empire’s eastern provinces, which had yet to recognize his kingship. To do so, he first had to cross the Hindu Kush mountains and reach the Indus River valley.

Advancing in two columns, his army won a series of skirmishes against the Aspasii and Assaceni as they fought their way into what is now the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan. After a fierce siege, Alexander captured the Assacenian capital of Massaga, which was said to be ruled by a beautiful queen, Cleophis, who bore him a son and was allowed to retain her throne. The ruler of Taxila, near modern Islamabad, allied with Alexander, and together they faced Porus, king of Pauravas, at the Battle of the Hydaspes. This battle was costly for Alexander, as Porus’s war elephants inflicted significant casualties among the Greeks. Nevertheless, despite Porus’s strong leadership, the battle ended in a decisive victory for Alexander, granting him control of the Punjab.

Alexander aimed to push further into India to reach the great river that ancient Greek geographers believed marked the edge of the world. However, at the River Hyphasis, known today as the Beas, his army mutinied. After marching thousands of miles, fighting numerous battles, and not seeing their homes for eight years, they refused to go any further, having heard rumors of massive armies waiting for them in India. Although furious, Alexander had to turn the army around. He followed the rivers of the Punjab to the sea, a journey that took ten months. Along the way, he defeated the Mahlians, but while leading the assault on their capital, he was wounded in the chest and nearly killed.

Upon reaching the coast, part of the army, under Nearchus, boarded ships and returned to Persia by sea, sailing through the Straits of Hormuz and entering the Persian Gulf. This voyage was one of the great ancient explorations, as these waters had been largely unknown to the Greeks. Meanwhile, Alexander led the rest of the army back by land through the Gedrosian desert, located in present-day southern Pakistan. However, extreme heat and shortages of food and water led to significant suffering and many deaths among his troops.

Upon his return to Persia, Alexander executed several viceroys and governors accused of ruling unjustly and robbing temples during his long absence in the east. At Susa, he organized a grand mass marriage of Macedonian officers to 80 Persian noblewomen to strengthen ties between the two kingdoms. Alexander himself married two Persian princesses. He also paid off all his soldiers’ debts and ordered 30,000 youths from across the empire to be trained in the Macedonian art of war.

However, at Opis, his Macedonian troops mutinied again, offended by Alexander’s apparent preference for Persian advisors and customs. He executed the ringleaders and delivered a speech to the men, reminding them of their shared glories, leading to an emotional reconciliation.

At Ecbatana, Alexander’s closest and most trusted friend, Hephaestion, died of fever. The king was devastated, went days without eating, and ordered a period of public mourning across the empire. Alexander waged a successful campaign against the mountain raiders of Cossaea, who had previously eluded even the Persian kings.

Returning to Babylon, he was met by embassies from distant peoples recognizing his greatness: Aethiopians, Libyans, European Scythians, Lucanians, Etruscans, Gauls, and Iberians. Alexander’s Bactrian wife Roxana was pregnant, but as he planned his next campaign into Arabia and beyond, he developed a sudden fever and died days later at the age of just 32. The cause of his death remains uncertain; it may have been malaria, cholera, typhus, or poison.

Alexander died undefeated in battle, and his reputation as a brilliant and daring military commander remains intact. His decade-long campaign created one of the largest empires ever known, stretching from Greece to Pakistan. However, it was vast and unstable, held together only by his brilliance and name. Alexander left no plans for his succession, leading to conflicts among his generals as they fought to carve out their own empires. In the Wars of the Successors, Alexander’s widow Roxana and his young son were murdered. His gold sarcophagus, en route to Macedonia for burial, was hijacked and ended up in Alexandria, Egypt, where its location remains one of the world’s great unsolved mysteries.

Few individuals have had such a profound impact on the course of history as Alexander the Great. The remarkable achievements of his short life ushered in the Hellenistic Age, as Greek ideas spread across his former empire, merging with local traditions to inspire new developments in art, science, government, and language. Some of the successor kingdoms to his vast empire were short-lived, while others endured for centuries, but all would eventually fall to new forces, including the rising power of Rome.

Research and artwork for this video comes from Osprey Publishing’s extensive range of books on ancient history. Each Osprey book examines a specific battle, campaign, or combat unit in meticulous detail. With over 3,000 titles, they cover everything from ancient warfare to modern conflict. Visit their website to explore their online catalog. Thank you to all the Patreon supporters who made this video possible, and to the channel ‘Invicta’—find out more about key moments from the past in their ‘Moments in History’ series.