Free Alexander the Great by Norman F. Cantor

Roxane’s newborn child. 19
    The conqueror of the world was dead at the age of thirty-three.

THREE
The March of Conquest
    P HILIP I I of Macedon had left to his son Alexander the most powerful army that had been seen in Europe and western Asia before the rise of Roman military might in the second century BC. He also left Alexander a lot of enemies. It was by no means certain that the Macedonians in general or the army in particular would accept Alexander’s rule. He was, after all, only twenty, and many others in the court believed that they had more experience and as much right to rule as he did. Macedonia did not have a strict right of primogeniture or succession, and Philip himself had not made himself clear regarding his preferred heir. Philip’s death had set off a wave of rebellion, not only in the Greek city-states but also in the far reaches of Macedonia itself.
    In addition Darius was certain that Alexander was planning a march into Asia, as he was continuing his father’s war plans. Darius further complicated the matter by sending envoys to the various cities with large bags of gold for the purpose of bribing any and all who could be bribed to cause trouble for Alexander and prevent him from holding together the tenuous Greek alliance.
    Alexander did not immediately kill his small half-brother or Amyntas, who was married to Alexander’s sister and a likely contender for the throne. With his father’s body barely cold, these murders would have been too risky for his reputation.
    The most apparent hostility came first from Athens. There Demosthenes, who had been spewing venom against Philip for years, now turned his anger against Alexander. He believed that the best way to topple Alexander was to make an alliance with those who backed the widow, Cleopatra, and her young son, Caranus. He proposed this to Attalus, the man who had set in motion the events that led to Philip’s death; and to Parmenion, Philip’s primary general, who had no love for Alexander. Demosthenes’ comment to them showed the extent of his hatred but little knowledge of Alexander, whom he derided as “a stripling, a mere booby.” 1
    While all these troubles were brewing, Alexander decided that a strong display of power was needed. Any backing down would be seen as weakness. He rode south from the Macedonian capital of Pella into Thessaly. He found the pass at Mount Olympus strongly fortified, and he could not get through. While the Thessalonians were trying to decide what to do, Alexander ordered his men to cut steps in the side of the mountain; he crossed the mountains and was behind the opposing army before they knew what had happened. At this point they chose to negotiate rather than fight, gave Alexander a large contingent of cavalry, and agreed to pay taxes. 2
    All Alexander asked of the various sections of Greece was that they acknowledge him as hegemon , or leader. He made peace with Parmenion, his father’s old general, and with his brother-in-law, Amyntas—both of whom did a complete about-face and came back to Alexander’s side. He called a meeting of the Hellenic League at Corinth, with representatives from all the cities and provinces “invited” to attend. From all over the peninsula support poured in, except from Sparta. Alexander ignored the Spartans for the time being, since he was attempting to give the impression that he was acting according to constitutional procedure. He gave the Greek city-states the outward semblance of autonomy, which he believed would satisfy them. Alexander was elected captain-general of all their forces to lead the war against Persia. In addition each city-state was required to supply a certain number of soldiers and finance them as well.
    After the conference was over, Alexander received the congratulations of all involved, but he decided to pay a visit to Diogenes, the famous cynic who traipsed around looking for an honest man and went home at night to a large clay tub, in which he lived.