Ég sendi inn þráð á korkana hérna þar sem ég spurði hvort ég hefði samþykki hugara sem stunda áhugamálið. Allir sem höfðu svarað þegar ég er að skrifa þetta svöruðu játandi.
Ég skrifaði þessa ritgerð í ensku í skólanum mínum og hef nú þegar fengið einkunn. Í staðin fyrir að laga ritgerðina samkvæmt athugasemdum kennarans, ákvað ég að senda ritgerðina inn eins og ég skrifaði hana. Þess vegna bið ég hugara að leiðrétta ekki málfræði né stafsettningavillur. Eftir farandi er eftir heimildum svo það er ekki mín vitneskja sem er vitlaus ef einhverjar sögulegar staðreyndir eru rangar.

1. Alexander the crown prince
Macedon (also known as Macedonia), a small district in northern Greece, once raised the world’s greatest king, Alexander the Great. His father was Philip II, youngest of three brothers. His oldest brother, Alexander II was killed after one year as a king. The third brother was Perdikka III. He fell in battle 359 BC; then it was time for Philip to rule.
Philip needed to strengthen his defenses at the borders of Illyria. The Illyrian kings had been attacking Macedon for centuries but without success. In spring 358 BC he marched with his armies to Illyria and beat his greatest enemy Bardylis, king of the Illyrians.
Philip II married Olympias, the daughter of the king of Epirus. She gave birth to his son, Alexander III, in 356 B.C. Olympias was a descendant of Achilles, or so she claimed. Olympias also made Alexander believe that he was the son of Zeus, the God of Gods.
Alexander was provided with all the best education on all fields he pursued. For example he studied philosophy under the guidance of Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Alexander loved literature and he did particularly like Homers work, Odyssey and Iliad. One thing that was most precious to him was a copy of Odyssey that Aristotle had mad notes in.
In 340 BC, Philip had at this point won many wars and had gained many enemies and he had won most of them. His biggest enemy was the people of Athens due to their magnificent fleet. The people of Athens had been encouraging other kingdoms to form an alliance against Macedon because they were a threat to the Cities of Greece and other countries near them. The fear of Macedon was so formidable that the allied countries accepted money from their worst enemy, the rulers of the Persian kingdom. Philip had to make a fleet that would mach the one that the people of Athens possessed and as a king he had to lead his fleet in battle. Macedon needed a ruler while Philip was away so now it was time for Alexander to show what he was made of.
Philip hadn’t even left Macedon when a tribe at the borders of north Macedon revolted and it was Alexander that had to silence it. Alexander marched to Thrakia and silenced the rebels. Afterwards he named the city Alexandropoulos and it has been called that ever since. Philip liked his efforts so he made him a general and Alexander and Philip fought together, side by side, in every battle ever since.
The father and son showed how great they were in planning battles and making strategic decisions in the battle against the people of Athens and Thebans, which had formed an alliance against Macedon. Philip and Alexander controlled 5.000 infantry units and 2.000 cavalry while the allied force controlled the same amount of cavalry and 30.000 infantry units. The people of Athens and the Thebans lost the battle and the Thebans had to pay a very expensive price. All Theban soldiers were killed except for 46 that surrendered; all Theban civilians were killed, robed or sold to slavery. The same thing was not in the maters of the Athens, Philip offered them a peace pact and 2000 prisoners of war were released against no price. Philip now controlled all territories in Greece and was officially claimed king of all Greece and Macedon.
Two years later, or in 336 B.C., was Philip as happy as one can get. His empire was not facing any external threat and his daughter was getting married. The celebration was supposed to reach its highest point at a theater in Aegea. One of his silenced enemies had hired an assassin to kill him; at the theater the assassin stabbed Philip but was captured only moments later trying to escape. While the people of Macedon were grieving the word spread out that the Macedonian and Greek king was dead. People started to prepare for revolutions. Alexander had to silence those people and so he did. He marched with his army from one side of Greece to another, without fighting. Most cities of Greece didn’t even try to fight; they were too scared to fight Alexander and his magnificent army. Alexander spent the next year rebuilding his environment, both militarily and politically. In 334 B.C. Alexander went over to Asia and to the direction to Granicus, a river that was guarded by 28.000 Persian soldiers and 5.000 Greek mercenaries. Alexander won the battle, killed 10.000 men and captured 2.000 men for slavery but lost only about 150 men. Alexander kept on marching through Asia and managed to capture many cities without a fight. After one year he and his army had captured 12 cities without meeting any resistance. Then he finally heard that Darius III, king of the Persian Empire, was trying to reach a town called Issus because there he could use the support from the Persian fleet and therefore would Alexander, which was only two days away from Darius, stand no chance of victory.


Mynd: Það er gott að styðjast við þessa mynd þegar þið lesið næsta hluta. Auk þess er tilvísun í kaflanum á aðra mynd tengda efninu.

2. The Battle of Issus
The greatest battle Alexander ever fought took place near an ancient town called Issus in 333 B.C. and due to that the battle is known as the battle of Issus. Alexander, controlling the Macedonian army and their allies, the Greek army, had about 5.000 cavalry and 26.000 infantry under his command. Darius III controlled 30.000 Greed mercenaries, 40.000 Persian infantry and 20.000 Persian cavalry. Different references provide different numbers of the Persian army. Some say less than those used here, some say more. Due to Alexander’s allies need to exaggerate the number in Darius’s army, mostly to increase Alexander’s greatness and eligibility to others, prevents us to know the exact size of the army. As author earlier said, was the battle fought near a town called Issus, which would now be in Turkey. Darius and Alexander had both marched with their armies to each other but they didn’t go by the same side of a mountain and therefore missed each other. Darius found Alexander’s camp, that he had build for wounded soldiers, and burned it down as well as killing everybody that were resting there. Darius now realized he had cut his enemies supply lines so they had to return back to Issus, where the camp had been, and Darius could take advantage of that. He decided a location where he and his army would ambush Alexander and the Macedonians. He located him self with his army by a river called Panarus, even though he chose the location did the surrounding mountains, the river and The Gulf of Issus make sure Darius could not take advantage of his superior strength.

When Alexander didn’t receive his supplies, he realized what had happened so he turned back and headed toward Issus. There he met Darius and his army, as expected. Darius had been planning this for some time so he had positioned his army in a pretty good position while Alexander had to think fast and think well if he was to equal Darius’s excellent choice of positioning. On this picture can you, dear reader, see both Darius’s choice of positioning along with how Alexander chose to meet him. On the picture the Macedonian army is in blue color and the Persian army in red. Infantry units are full colored while cavalry units are semi colored. Darius’s units, men, both with a great deal of experience at fighting and customized training in the art of combat, are marked with a “D”. Alexander had to find a way to break up the Persian line and since Darius had placed all his cavalry units (expect for his “bodyguards”) on the right flank (left side from Alexander’s view) the easiest way for Alexander to get to Darius and his bodyguards was to use cavalry units on the right side and break up the infantry units on Darius army’s left flank. On the left flank of the Macedonian army, Alexander placed his Thessalian Greek allied cavalry units under the command of General Parmenion. Between Alexander and Parmenion were the Macedonian Phalanxes and surprisingly, had Darius placed some troops a bit up in the mountain’s hill. Probably so they could come behind Alexander and cause disruption amongst Alexander’s men. That meant that the battle would take place in three different locations within the battlefield. To address Darius’s hill troops, Alexander sent the similar number of units up the hill. Darius had only placed infantry wile Alexander sent both infantry units and cavalry, meaning that the Macedonians would have great advantage in the fight between these few soldiers. Due to the location of these few military units was it necessary for the Macedonian army to make sure that the Persian would not proceed in there plan to cause disruption near Alexander. The cavalry units made sure that those plans failed to be accomplished. At the same time, down by the gulf, the Persian cavalry charged Parmenion and the Greek allied cavalry. Parmenion and his men were of course outnumbered, meaning that Parmenion had to make good strategic decisions to make sure Alexander had enough time to do what they had planed before the battle. Like author earlier spoke of, was the easiest way for Alexander to break through to Darius was to strike with his cavalry against the infantry units on Darius’s left flank. That was what Alexander did with the help of so-called Hypaspists, elite infantry units with great experience and training (like Darius’s bodyguards). With the help of the Hypaspists, Alexander managed to break up the Persian line and separate some Persian soldiers from the main part of the army. Alexander’s next move was a direct assault on Darius himself. When Darius was attacked he fled from the battle causing the remaining soldiers to panic and retreat, like there cowardly leader had done. Macedonian victory was now obvious and the Macedonian cavalry pursued the fleeing soldiers and slaughtered them all.
For the next 10 years or so, Alexander kept on winning battles like the battle of Issus. He expanded his empire from Macedon to the Himalayas, from the Himalayas to Egypt, from the Black Sea to the Indian Ocean and from the Red Sea to the Caspian Sea. Author could write about these battles, and about everything that happened in Alexander’s life for these 10 years, but thinks the essay would be to repetitive.

3. Bucephalos
Alexander didn’t care for anything as much as his horse, Bucephalos. The ancient Greek name is Bucephalos so author intends to use that name and that name only, instead of using an English translation.
Bucephalos is probably the most famous horse in history. In Rome the senate, witch marveled at Alexander’s actions, built a statue group in the so-called Piazza del Quirinale, approximately hundred years later and one of the statues is a statue of Bucephalos, the greatest horse of all. Many other statues of Bucephalos have been built far and wide. Also have many paintings been painted of Alexander riding Bucephalos, many paintings are on show at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The most famous one is probably “The Passage of the Granicus“ which depicts the warhorse contesting the difficulties of the steep muddy river banks, biting and kicking all enemies that fought in the battle of the Granicus River.
When Alexander was 10 years old, in 344 B.C., a horse dealer offered his father to buy a horse for 13 talents (talent is an ancient unit of mass and in those days people used gold and silver as a currency. 1 talent is therefore a certain amount of gold (or silver)) but he didn’t want to buy it, mainly because this specific horse could not be tamed by anyone. Alexander liked the horse, which was then 11 years old, from that moment and told his father he would tame it and if he would fail he would pay his father back. Alexander saw what seemed to be bothering the horse, his own shadow. Alexander walked towards Bucephalos while talking soothingly; the horse was already a bit calmer. The next thing Alexander did was to turn the horse towards the sun so he couldn’t see his own shadow. The horse was now completely calm, Alexander had tamed the untamable beast, only 10 years old.
His father was so impressed by his son’s magnificent act that he said (according to Plutarch, a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, which is supposed to have written down many things that happened during his travels with Philip and Alexander) ”O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."
Alexander didn’t go anywhere without Bucephalos, he was with him until the day he died. He rode with Alexander in every battle and many historiographers mean that he had a part in Alexander’s victories, although not literally. Bucephalos ought to have died in June of 326 B.C., 29 years old, after he wounded fatally at the battle of Hydaspes. Alexander founded a city in honor of the horse, Bucephala. The city stood close to the battlefield Bucephalos received his fatal wound.

4. “Mortal being”
In 323 B.C., on 10th of June in the afternoon, Alexander, the son of the god of gods, showed that he was only a mortal being. Alexander died on that day, due to a mysterious disease that had been chivying him for 12 days. Alexander was only 32 years old, 33 in July. Many theories considering conspiracy have been suggested and the three most popular ones are; that he was poisoned, that the sickness was a relapse of Malaria he had contracted in 336 B.C. or that he had gotten ill from drinking too much at a party 12 days earlier. At least it’s certain that he went to bed very ill after he got home from a party on the 29th of May. The soldiers were getting worried; they hadn’t seen their leader for 10 days. Everyone “knew” that he was ill; they had heard rumors about Alexander illness and these rumors kept on getting more and more serious. On 9th of June the generals decided to grant the soldiers access to the king even tough he couldn’t even speak. Alexander forced himself to lift his hand to greet the soldiers that came in to condone their king. As earlier said, the king died the day after.


5. Epilogue
Alexander the great is the most successful conqueror in the history of the human. His empire was one of the largest empires ever. Alexander is, by many, considered the smartest military commander that has ever walked this planet and there is no doubt that he is at least one of 10 best commanders in history. Many people admired him and his ways in combat, the Romans, which would be the next to rule over the territory Alexander had conquered, admired his efforts and methods, both politically and militarily. The Romans weren’t the only ones who admired Alexander, Adolf Hitler, leader of the German Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), also looked at Alexander with admiration. Hitler also looked at the Romans with the same sentiment so he wasn’t only under Alexander’s direct influence; he was also under indirect influence through the Romans. Alexander didn’t only inspire military commanders; he also inspired poems, writers, painters, sculptures and movie makers. When everything comes down, Alexander turns out to be one of the most influential and inspiring human being ever.

Hér má sjá veldi Alexanders, það fylgja útskýringar með kortinu þannig ég þarf ekkert að útskýra frekar.

Heimildir:

Bóklegar: Alan Fildes & Joann Fletcher (2001), Alexander mikli: Sonur Guðanna, Þíð. Jón Þ. Þór (2004), Hólar, Akureyri.

Vefheimildir:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Battle_issus_decisive.gif
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_great
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Macedon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalus