Alexander the Great by Martin Howard

Author:Martin Howard
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408163702
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2019-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

11

The God-king

After the Battle of Issus, Alexander turned his army south and marched towards Egypt. Before giving chase to Darius, he first wanted to finish the task of conquering Persia’s seaports and then move on to Egypt. The ancient and mysterious land had been under Persian rule for 200 years and it was a rich country. Alexander knew it would be a terrible shock to Darius if Egypt fell to him.

It took over a year to get there. Six Persian cities stood in his way and all had to be beaten. The first four opened their gates to Alexander easily, but the two southernmost cities, Tyre and Gaza, refused to let him in and Alexander was forced to lay siege. It was seven long months before the Macedonian army crashed through the walls of Tyre in 332 BC and another two before Gaza fell. Alexander punished the people of both cities terribly for daring to defy him. Large parts of both places were reduced to rubble, thousands of men killed, and their women and children sold into slavery.

While the Macedonian army moved south, taking city after city from Darius’ empire, the Great King himself began raising more troops.

‘This time there will be no mistakes,’ he told his commanders. ‘It will be the greatest army the world has ever seen and we will choose the battleground to suit us. When Alexander comes again, we will finish him.’

The Persians in Egypt were less willing to fight. After conquering Gaza, Alexander’s army moved south without a single battle, and marched to the Egyptian capital of Memphis through cheering crowds that scattered flower petals before him. The Egyptians hated the Persians and thought that Alexander had been sent by the gods to free them from Persian rule. At Memphis, Alexander was crowned pharaoh of Egypt and worshipped as both a god and a king.

In Egypt, Alexander also learned of a place deep in the desert called Siwah, where the mysterious god Ammon dwelled. It was said that the god’s oracle spoke to a favoured few and had the power to answer any question.

‘I must see this oracle,’ Alexander told Hephaestion one night. ‘They worship me as a god here in Egypt, and my mother told me that I was the son of Zeus. I must know if it is true.’

‘It’s a dangerous journey,’ replied Hephaestion, shaking his head.

Alexander rested a hand on his friend’s arm and looked into his eyes. ‘But I must know,’ he said.

Hephaestion nodded. ‘And, as always, I will follow you anywhere.’

Alexander took a small troop of men and his closest friends and set off for distant Siwah to the west the next day. At first, the journey was easy. Alexander and his men took the coast road, stopping at a large bay on the way. As the king looked out across the lush landscape and the sparkling sea, a thought struck him. ‘This would make an excellent place for a city,’ he said. ‘Bring some engineers and builders.’

In time, a city was built, exactly to Alexander’s plan.

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