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Wars of Alexander the Great

Also Known As Alexander's Conquests
The Classical World

Alexander the Great of Macedon carried out a sustained series of conquests and military campaigns from 336 to 323 BC. After securing his northern borders in the Balkan campaign of 335 BC, he crossed into Asia Minor and defeated the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Darius III at the Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, then advanced through Mesopotamia and Persia into Central Asia before entering the Indian subcontinent. His army mutinied at the Hyphasis River in 326 BC, refusing to march further east, which marks the easternmost extent of his conquests. He died in 323 BC without establishing a stable governing structure for the territory he had conquered, and his empire dissolved into the Wars of the Diadochi among his successors.

Facts
Disputed
Death Toll, Low Estimate
from 1,000,000 1
Aggregate order-of-magnitude estimate across all of Alexander's campaigns (336-323 BCE, Greece through Persia to India). Ancient battle-casualty figures (Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch) are notoriously unreliable, often propagandistic in either direction, so this figure is treated as illustrative of scale rather than a precise count.
Year
336 BCE 1
Location
Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia and Persia, extending into Central Asia and northwestern India. 1
Classification
Event Type
Military Conflict 1
Connections

Associated With

Source Wikipedia: Wars of Alexander the Great

In Era

Participant

Additional Source Wikipedia: Wars of Alexander the GreatLead section, campaign leader and dates

Related To

Source Wikipedia: Achaemenid Empire
Source Wikipedia: Wars of Alexander the Great

Resulted In

Additional Source Wikipedia: Wars of Alexander the GreatPersis subsection, fall of the Achaemenid Empire
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Wars of Alexander the Great
Wikipedia
  • Date Range section
    carried out a series of conquests and military campaigns
  • Indian Campaign section
    His army mutinied at the Hyphasis River, refusing to march further east. This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests.
  • casualties summary
    More than 1 million
  • Wars of Alexander the Great: Event Type
    He died in 323 BC without establishing a stable governing structure for the territory he had conquered, and his empire dissolved into the Wars of the Diadochi among his successors.
  • Related To: The Hellenistic Period, Overall Outcome section
    Despite his military accomplishments, Alexander did not establish a stable empire, and his untimely death threw the vast territories he conquered into a series of civil wars known as the Wars of the Diadochi.
  • Participant: Alexander the Great, Lead section, campaign leader and dates
    Alexander the Great of Macedon carried out a series of conquests and military campaigns from 336 to 323 BC.
  • Resulted In: The Achaemenid Empire, Persis subsection, fall of the Achaemenid Empire
    The Achaemenid Persian Empire is considered to have fallen with the death of Darius.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Achaemenid Empire
WikipediaRelated To: The Achaemenid Empire, Fall to Alexander III of Macedon section
Quote, Related To: The Achaemenid Empire, Fall to Alexander III of Macedon section
In 330 BC, amidst a Greek military campaign that began in 336 BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered in its entirety by Alexander the Great
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