Why Did Alexander The Great Go East?

[DecimusCaesar]

Yes, this is true Alexander of Epirus (the Molossian) did launch an invasion of Italy. He had married Alexander's sister Cleopatra and was killed in a skirmish against either the Samnites or Campanians.

Edited October 3, 2006 by DecimusCaesar

[AEGYPTUS]

Having just finished reading Alexander the Invisible Enemy (John Maxwell O'Brien) I think it is also important to note that Alexander took any chance he had to out do his father according to Arrian "Victories were squandered on his father". Examples of Alexander wanting to out do his father are Philip reaching the Danube Alexander crossing to fight Gatea, Philip punishing Thebes Alexander destroying it, Philip sending an expeditionary force over the Hellespont Alexander conquering Persian Empire and parts of India, Philip playing with the idea of deification Alexander declaring himself to be the son of Ammon (Zeus). You get the idea lol. So you could say Alexander was motivated to out do Philip. We know it was a tetchy subject as one Cleuitus belittled his achievements and exaggerated Philips he killed him there and then in the palace at (Samarkand) obviously under the influence of wine. But as the saying goes "Wine speaks the truth" or something like that lol

Edited November 11, 2006 by AEGYPTUS

[Rameses the Great]

Conspiracy theory?

 

Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC), also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and also the last native Egyptian ruler of the country.

Black siltstone obelisk of King Nectanebo II. According to the vertical inscriptions he set up this obelisk at the doorway of the sanctuary of Thoth, the Twice-Great, Lord of Hermopolis. Nowadays it is placed in the British Museum, London.

 

Nectanebo was placed on the Egyptian throne by Spartan king Agesilaus II, who helped him overthrow Teos and fight off a rival pretender. After a reign of 17 years, he was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III, and fled first to Memphis and then into Upper Egypt, and finally into exile in Nubia where he vanishes from history. With Nectanebo's flight all organized resistance to the Persians collapsed, and Egypt once again was reduced to a satrapy of the Persian Empire.

 

There is an apocryphal tale, appearing in the pseudo-historical Alexander Romance, which details another end for the last true Pharaoh of Egypt. Soon after Alexander the Great's confirmation of godhood was confirmed by the Oracle of Zeus Ammon, a rumor was begun that Nectanebo II did not travel to Nubia but instead to the court of Philip II of Macedon in the guise of an Egyptian magician. He coupled with Phillip's wife Olympias and from his issue came Alexander. This myth would hold strong appeal for Egyptians who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule.

 

Wikipedia

 

It makes sense, but could it be an undiscovered myth?

Edited November 22, 2006 by Rameses the Great

[DecimusCaesar]

I have heard of this tale as well, didn't the Egyptian Magi also claim with his dying breath that his yet unborn son would one day conquer the world? Or am I mixing this up with another legend?

[edgewaters]

It also has to be considered that in the east, lay empires which were already well-organized and possessed infrastructure and bureaucracies which could be used by a conqueror to govern, and orderly trade networks through which Hellenic culture might spread. Also, rule could be established through a few major battles and conquests, and it was not necessary to pacify every square inch. As well, these urban civilizations would possess stores of supplies which could be used by Alexander's armies.

 

To go north or west was quite different. Conquest would have to be largely piecemeal, every village individually pacified (and probably garrisons stationed all over the place for an indefinite amount of time), and in order to maintain rule, infrastructure and a bureaucracy would have to be built from the ground up. Without any large stores, the armies would have spent much time in forage. The Romans, in time, became well-suited to this sort of conquest, but Alexander wouldn't have got far before he would be bogged down building up an administrative structure and resolving logistic difficulties. I don't think it would have been possible to go north or west with the same sort of rapidity as in the east.

[Gaius Octavius]

"My question is.... Has anyone read why Alexander the Great of Macedonia chose to not to attack the Roman Empire, but instead drove his armies to the east?"

 

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Did not Alexander have an urge to 'get even' with the Persians for their invading Greece? There were riches in the East, what would he have gained in the West?

Edited February 18, 2007 by Gaius Octavius

[Ursus]

Yes, I honestly don't understand why we keep seeing this question.

 

Persia was the world's greatest empire at the time with untold wealth to plunder, and whose recent invasions needed avenging in the eyes of many Greeks. Italy was a collection of small hilltop villages involved in little else than the Western Mediterranean trading routs.

[Novosedoff]

On 7/20/2004 at 7:47 AM, Guest alydan said:

My question is.... Has anyone read why Alexander the Great of Macedonia chose to not to attack the Roman Empire, but instead drove his armies to the east?

Well, apparently the Roman empire had not yet been established at the time of Alexander the Great 🙂 However an interesting digression from the original topic would be to ask why Alexander went southward towards India rather than northward through Kashgar to China. There is a junction point in Balkh (Bactria), from where 2 ways lead, one to China and the other one - to India. The active Silk road trade had not yet fully started at the time of Alexander, and for Persians, who advised Alexander, historically India had been a more familiar destination since the time of Aryan migration. 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Novosedoff