Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Ussher: Alexander 3rd of Macedon (356-323 BC)

     Notes on James Ussher, Annals of the World (1658).
     401 BC: Xenophon, along with 10,000 Greek mercenary companions, finds himself abandoned in the middle of hostile Persian territory. He later writes of how they worked together to survive a harsh weather and enemies to return home safely (P1451).
     370 BC: Spartan power, growing since its defeat of Athens in 404 BC, is broken by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra (P1591).
     356 BC: Alexander, son of Philip, king of Macedonia, is born in Pella (P1632).
     348 BC: Plato dies (P1672).
     337 BC: An assembly of leaders from all Greek cities meets in Corinth and makes Philip, king of Macedonia, leader of their combined army to attack Persia (1685).
     336 BC: Philip is murdered. His son Alexander writes a letter to Darius, emperor of Persia, and accuses him of hiring the assassins who did it (P1697).
     335 BC: Another assembly in Corinth confirms Alexander as leader of the combined Greek forces against Persia (P1703).
     Later Athens, Sparta, and Thebes withdraw their support from Alexander and commit themselves to Persia. The Athenians are persuaded to do so by their gifted orator Demosthenes. They do not know that he has been bribed by Darius to speak as he does (P1704). Athens later repents of its rebellion and Alexander forgives them (P1707).
     When Thebes refuses to repent, Alexander attacks it (P1707) and levels it. His army kills 90,000 men and sells another 30,000 into slavery. The only buildings he spares are the houses of priests, his father’s friends, and the poet Pindar (P1711).
     Alexander visits the philosopher Diogenes (P1712).
     334 BC: As Alexander continues preparations in Macedonia to attack Persia, the high priest of Jerusalem appears to him in a dream and encourages him to attack Persia quickly (P1713). Alexander and his forces enter Asia in early spring (P1714).
     Once in Asia, Alexander makes sacrifices to Achilles, his ancestor and inspiration, and the other Greek heroes of the Trojan War (P1719). He also visits Troy (P1720).
     At the Battle of the Granicus River, his first with the Persian army, Alexander almost has his head sliced open before his army achieves its first and decisive victory (P1725).
     333 BC: Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot (P1746).
     332 BC: Alexander enters Jerusalem and is led to the Temple by the high priest where he offers sacrifices to Yahweh as instructed. When asked why, he tells the high priest of the dream he had two years previously (P1814).
     331 BC: Alexander’s army marches through Egypt and takes Memphis without a fight (P1824-5). Alexander sails down the Nile to the Mediterranean and there founds a city which he names Alexandria after himself (P1826).
     Alexander’s army decisively defeats the Persian army under Darius at the Battle of Guagamela (P1878). Darius flees (P1881). Alexander is then recognized as ruler of all Anatolia and Levantia (P1887).
     Alexander and his army then enter Babylon itself uncontested (P1889).
     Alexander and his army occupy Susa (P1899).
     The Macedonians next take Persepolis (P1909).
     Alexander visits the tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae (P1920).
     Darius, wounded by those closest to him, dies just before Alexander catches up to him. He had reigned as Persian emperor a mere six years and died 200 years after the first Persian emperor Cyrus the Great (P1945).
     329 BC: Alexander captures Bessus (P1991), murderer of his master Darius, and later has him executed (P2009).
     328 BC: Alexander comes to believe he is the divine Son of God (Jupiter). He now requires all who wish to speak with him to first prostrate themselves before him. While this was an old Persian custom, Macedonians had always thought of it as lacking in dignity and never practiced it. Being required to do so now sparks deep resentment (P2041).
     Alexander’s army cross the Indus River into India (P2075).
     327 BC: Alexander’s army reaches its easternmost point at Hyphasis in India because his soldiers refuse to continue the string of battles that for them had started eight years before (P2119-2120).
     324 BC: Alexander and his army manage to fight their way back to Babylon (P2316).
     323 BC: Alexander dies in Babylon (P2355) after suffering from a fever for over a week (P2356).

Copyright © 2017 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved.