Alexander The Great

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This conqueror is not mentioned by name in scripture, but his kingdom is certainly referred to in prophecy, principally in Daniel, some 200 years before he was born. It is first spoken of as a part of the great image seen in a dream by Nebuchadnezzar; it is foreshadowed by the belly and thighs, which are of brass, a depreciation in the character of the kingdom in comparison with the empires of Babylon and of the Medes and Persians, though it was larger in extent: it "shall bear rule over all the earth."  Daniel 2:32,39 . It is also compared to a leopard which had four heads and four wings of a fowl. The leopard is distinguished for its blood-thirstiness and tearing its prey : this indeed magnifies the contrast in the millennium when it will lie down with the kid.  Isaiah 11:6 . Also remarkable for its swiftness of action: 'their horses also are swifter than the leopards.'  Habakkuk 1:8 . These characteristics exactly agree with the character and actions of Alexander. The four heads and four wings refer to the extension of the kingdom to the four winds of heaven, as it was divided among four of his generals after his death.  Daniel 7:6 . Again in Dan, 8., where the kingdom of Media and Persia is compared to a ram, Greece is compared to a he goat, with a great horn, which is its first king, Alexander,  Daniel 8:21 . Here again we get his character described: so swift that he 'touched not the ground,' he rushed against the ram 'with choler,' cast him to the ground and stamped upon him.  Daniel 8:5-8 . In  Zechariah 6:2,3 , the four great monarchies are alluded to, and the third, the kingdom of Greece, is compared to a chariot with white horses.

Alexander the Great, son of Philip II. and Olympias, was born at Pella B.C. 356; became king of Macedon on the assassination of his father in 336: subdued the Greeks in 335; defeated the Persians, 334; took Tyre; conquered Syria and Egypt, and founded Alexandria 332; defeated Darius in 331; conquered Parthia, Media, Bactria, and invaded India, 330-324, sought fresh conquests, but died at Babylon in 323. These dates show the rapidity of his conquests, agreeing with the above scriptures. As to his cruelty let one instance suffice: at the capture of Tyre which then belonged to Persia, provoked by the long resistance and valiant defence, 8,000 of the inhabitants were massacred, 2,000 being crucified: of the rest, except those who escaped by sea, 30,000 were sold into slavery, the king and the chief magistrates were spared, doubtless as trophies. This was the work of the 'leopard' of scripture. While besieging Tyre Alexander sent to demand the submission of the Jews; but was told they were faithful vassals of Darius. After the conquest of Gaza, the conqueror marched to Jerusalem. The high priest Jaddua, being warned of God in a vision, hung the city with garlands and went forth in his robes with the other priests and the people in white to meet the king. On seeing these Alexander was arrested, fell to the ground and then embraced the high priest. In reply to an astonished courtier, Alexander said he did not worship the priest, but the name on his frontlet, and explained that he had seen in a vision a figure resembling this very priest, who told him to conquer Persia. He granted the Jews in Palestine, Media and Babylonia the free enjoyment of their laws and exemption from tribute during the Sabbatical year. Such is a rapid sketch of how prophecy and history agree. The empire of Greece had thus to do with God's ancient people the Jews, and formed a link in the chain of kingdoms until the Messiah Himself appeared and laid the foundation for His kingdom that shall endure for ever.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Alexander The Great . A Jewish tradition, reported by Josephus and the Talmud, relates that whilst the renowned Macedonian conqueror was besieging Tyre (b.c. 333), rival embassies from the Jews and the Samaritans solicited his protection. At the close of the siege he set out for Jerusalem, and was met outside by the entire population, with the high priest at their head. Recognizing the latter as the person who had appeared to him in a dream and promised him victory, the king prostrated himself. He then entered the city, offered sacrifice, was shown the passages in Daniel relating to himself, granted the people unmolested use of their customs, promised to befriend their eastern settlements, and welcomed Jews to his army ( Ant . XI. viii.). The objections to this story are: (1) that although there are references to Alexander and his successors in Daniel (  Daniel 2:40 ff.,   Daniel 7:7;   Daniel 8:5;   Daniel 8:8;   Daniel 8:21;   Daniel 11:3 f.), they were not written till the 2nd cent. b.c.; and (2) that the accounts given by Arrian and Curtius do not mention these events. It is also most likely that when Josephus declares that Alexander gave to the Jews in Alexandria equal privileges with the Macedonians ( c. Ap. ii. 4), he is anticipating by some years what happened under the Ptolemys.

The deep impression made by Alexander’s successes is evinced by the numerous legends connected with his name in later Jewish literature. But his real importance to the Biblical student consists in this he brought the Jews into contact with Greek literature and life.

J. Taylor.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Daniel 7:6  Daniel 8:8  Daniel 11:3-4  Zechariah 9:1-8

Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) was one of the greatest military leaders in history. His father was Phillip of Macedon, king of a region of Greece known as Macedonia.

Phillip had great plans for his son, Alexander. When Alexander was thirteen years old, his father enrolled him as a student of Aristotle. Aristotle instilled in his brilliant young pupil a love for literature and Greek culture.

When Alexander was twenty years old (336 B.C.), his father was killed, and Alexander became king. This ambitious young king immediately began to make plans to conquer Persia. Persia had extended its empire to Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). In 334 B.C., Alexander led his troops into Asia Minor where they won a series of victories over the Persians.

Alexander the Great continued his victorious military march into Syria and Egypt. From victories there, he led his troops into Persia, Media, and as far east as northern India. He returned to Babylon, where he died in 323 B.C. at the age of thirty-three.

Alexander's most lasting legacy was his spread of Greek culture. Everywhere he went, he tried to instill that culture. While Alexander is never directly named in the Bible, the culture which he brought to Palestine greatly affected the biblical world, especially during the time between the writing of the Old and New Testaments. His empire is one element of the historical background of Daniel. See Religion And Society Of Greece and Alexandria .

Lynn Jones

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Daniel 2:32

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( Ἀλέξανδρος , Man-Defender, a title often bestowed by Homer upon Paris, son of Priam, and hence a frequent Grecian name), the name of several men mentioned or involved in Biblical history, or in the Apocrypha and Josephus.

1. The third of the name, surnamed THE GREAT, son (by Olympias) and successor of Philip, king of Macedon. He is not expressly named in the Bible, but he is denoted in the prophecies of Daniel by a leopard with four wings, signifying his great strength; and the unusual rapidity of his conquests ( Daniel 7:6); also by a one-horned he-goat, running over the earth so swiftly as not to touch it, attacking a ram with two horns, overthrowing him, and trampling him under foot, without any being able to rescue him ( Daniel 8:4-7). The he-goat prefigured Alexander; the ram Darius Codomannus, the last of the Persian kings. In the statue beheld by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream ( Daniel 2:39), the belly of brass was the emblem of Alexander, and the legs of iron designated his successors (Lengeike, Daniel p. 95 sq.). He is often mentioned in the books of the Maccabees (Wernsdorf, Defide Libror. Maccabees P. 40 sq.); and his career is detailed by the historians Arrian, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius (Droysen, Gesch. Alex. d. Gr. Berl. 1833, Hamb. 1837).

Alexander was born at Pella B.C. 356 (comp.  1 Maccabees 1:7; Euseb. Chron. Ann. 2, 33). At an early age he was placed under the care of Aristotle; and while still a youth he turned the fortune of the day at Chaeronea (B.C. 338). Philip was killed at a marriage feast when Alexander was about twenty. After he had performed the last duties to his father, and put down with resolute energy the disaffection and hostility by which his throne was menaced, he was chosen by the Greeks general of their troops against the Persians, and entered Asia with an army of 34,000 men, B.C. 334. In one campaign he subdued almost all Asia Minor. In the battle of Granicus he defeated Orobates, one of Darius's generals; and Darius himself, whose army consisted of 400,000 foot and 100,000 horse, in the narrow pass of Issus, which leads from Syria to Cilicia. Darius fled, abandoning his camp and baggage, his children, wife, and mother, B.C. 333. After he had subdued Syria, Alexander came to Tyre, and the Tyrians opposing his entrance into their city, he besieged it. At the same time he is said to have written to Jaddus, high-priest of the Jews, that he expected to be acknowledged by him, and to receive those submissions which had hitherto been paid to the king of Persia. Jaddus refusing to comply, as having sworn fidelity to Darius, Alexander resolved to march against Jerusalem when he had reduced Tyre (q.v.). After a protracted siege, the latter city was taken and sacked, B.C. 332. This done, Alexander entered Palestine and reduced it. Egypt next submitted to him; and in B.C. 331 he founded Alexandria (q.v.), which remains to the present day the most characteristic monument of his life and work. In the same year he finally defeated Darius at Gaugamela; and in B.C. 330 his unhappy rival was murdered by Bessus, satrap of Bactria. The next two years were occupied by Alexander in the consolidation of his Persian conquests, and the reduction of Bactria. In B.C. 327 he crossed the Indus, penetrated to the Hydaspes, and was there forced by the discontent of his army to turn westward. He reached Susa, B.C. 325, and proceeded to Babylon, B.C. 324, which he chose as the capital of his empire. In the next year he died there (B.C. 323) in the midst of his gigantic plans; and those who inherited his conquests left his designs unachieved and unattempted (comp.  Daniel 7:6;  Daniel 8:5;  Daniel 11:3). His death is attributed to intemperance; and upon his death-bed he sent for his court, and declared that "he gave the empire to the most deserving." Some affirm, however, that he regulated the succession by a will. The author of the first book of Maccabees (1:6) says he divided his kingdom among his generals while he was living; and it is certain that a partition was eventually made of his dominions among the four principal officers of his army. He died at the age of thirty-three, after reigning twelve years-six as king of Macedon and six as monarch of Asia. He was buried at Alexandria. (See Macedonia).

The famous tradition of the visit of Alexander to Jerusalem during his Phoenician campaign (Josephus, Ant. 11, 8, 1 sq.) has been a fruitful source of controversy. The Jews, it is said, had provoked his anger by refusing to transfer their allegiance to him when summoned to do so during the siege of Tyre, and after the reduction of Tyre and Gaza (Josephus, 1. c.) he turned toward Jerusalem. Jaddua (Jaddus) the high priest ( Nehemiah 12:11;  Nehemiah 12:22), who had been warned in a dream how to avert the king's anger, calmly awaited his approach; and when he drew near went out to Sapha ( צָפָה , He Watched), within sight of the city and temple, clad in his robes of hyacinth and gold, and accompanied by a train of priests and citizens arrayed in white. Alexander was so moved by the solemn spectacle that he did reverence to the holy name inscribed upon the tiara of the high- priest; and when Parmenio expressed surprise, he replied that "he had seen the god whom Jaddua represented in a dream at Dium, encouraging him to cross over into Asia, and promising him success." After this it is said that he visited Jerusalem, offered sacrifice there, heard the prophecies of Daniel which foretold his victory, and conferred important privileges upon the Jews, not only in Judaea, but in Babylonia and Media, which they enjoyed during the supremacy of his successors. The narrative is repeated in the Talmud (Yoma, 69, ap. Otho, Lex. Rabb. s.v. Alexander; the high-priest is there said to have been Simon the Just), in later Jewish writers (Vajikra R. 13; Joseph ben Gorion, ap. Ste. Croix, p. 553), and in the chronicles of Abulfeda (Ste. Croix, p. 555). The event was adapted by the Samaritans to suit their own history, with a corresponding change of places and persons, and various embellishments (Aboul'lfatah, quoted by Ste. Croix, p. 209-212); and in due time Alexander was enrolled among the proselytes of Judaism. On the other hand, no mention of the event occurs in Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, or Curtius; and the connection in which it is placed by Josephus is alike inconsistent with Jewish history (Ewald, Gesch. d. Volkes Isr. 4, 124 sq.) and with the narrative of Arrian (2, 1). (See Jaddua).

But admitting the incorrectness of the details of the tradition as given by Josephus, there are several points which confirm the truth of the main fact. Justin says that "many kings of the East came to meet Alexander wearing fillets" (11, 10); and after the capture of Tyre "Alexander himself visited some of the cities which still refused to submit to him" (Curt. 4:5, 13). Even at a later time, according to Curtius, he executed vengeance personally on the Samaritans for the murder of his governor Andromachus (Curt. 4:8, 10). Besides this, Jewish soldiers were enlisted in his army (Hecat. ap. Josephus, Apion, 1, 22); and Jews formed an important element in the population of the city, which he founded shortly after the supposed visit. Above all, the privileges which he is said to have conferred upon the Jews, including the remission of tribute every sabbatical year, existed in later times, and imply some such relation between the Jews and the great conqueror as Josephus describes. Internal evidence is decidedly in favor of the story even in its picturesque fullness. From policy or conviction, Alexander delighted to represent himself as chosen by destiny for the great act which he achieved. The siege of Tyre arose professedly from a religious motive; the battle of Issus was preceded by the visit to Gordium; the invasion of Persia by the pilgrimage to the temple of Ammon. And if it be impossible to determine the exact circumstances of the meeting of Alexander and the Jewish envoys, the silence of the classical historians, who notoriously disregarded (e.g. the Maccabees) and misrepresented (Tac. Hist. 5, 8) the fortunes of the Jews, cannot be held to be conclusive against the occurrence of an event which must have appeared to them trivial or unintelligible (Jahn, Archceol. 3, 300 sq.; Ste. Croix, Examen critique, etc., Paris, 1810 [in Eng. Bath, 1793]; Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, 2, 193 sq.; and, on the other side, Ant. van Dale, Dissert. super Aristed, Amstel. 1705, p. 69 sq.; Favini, De Alex. M. ingress. Hierosolyma, Flor. 1781). (See Persia).

The tradition, whether true or false, presents an aspect of Alexander's character which has been frequently lost sight of by his recent biographers. He was not simply a Greek, nor must he be judged by a Greek standard. The Orientalism, which was a scandal to his followers, was a necessary deduction from his principles, and not the result of caprice or vanity (comp. Arr. 7:29). He approached the idea of a universal monarchy from the side of Greece, but his final object was to establish something hi her than the paramount supremacy of one people. His purpose was to combine and equalize, not to annihilate; to wed the East and West in a just union — not to enslave Asia to Greece (Plut. de Alex. Fort. 1, 6). The time, indeed, was not yet come when this was possible, but if he could not accomplish the great issue, he prepared for its accomplishment.

The first and most direct consequence of the policy of Alexander was the weakening of nationalities, the first condition necessary for the dissolution of the old religions. The swift course of his victories, the constant incorporation of foreign elements in his armies, the fierce wars and changing fortunes of his successors, broke down the barriers by which kingdom had been separated from kingdom, and opened the road for larger conceptions of life and faith than had hitherto been possible (comp. Polyb. 3, 59). The contact of the East and West brought out into practical forms thoughts and feelings which had been confined to the schools. Paganism was deprived of life as soon as it, was transplanted beyond the narrow limits in which it took its shape. The spread of commerce followed the progress of arms; and the Greek language and literature vindicated their claim to be considered the most perfect expression of human thought by becoming practically universal. The Jews were at once most exposed to the powerful influences thus brought to bear upon the East, and most able to support them. In the arrangement of the Greek conquests which followed the battle of Ipsus, B.C. 301, Judaea was made the frontier land of the rival empires of Syria and Egypt, and though it was necessarily subjected to the constant vicissitudes of war, it was able to make advantageous terms with the state to which it owed allegiance from the important advantages which it offered for attack or defense. (See Antiochus).

Internally also the people were prepared to withstand the effects of the revolution which the Greek dominion effected. The constitution of Ezra had obtained its full development. A powerful hierarchy had succeeded in substituting the idea of a church for that of a state, and the Jew was now able to wander over the world and yet remain faithful to the God of his fathers. (See Dispersion).

The same constitutional change had strengthened the intellectual and religious position of the people. A rigid "fence" of ritualism protected the course of common life from the license of Greek manners; and the great doctrine of the unity of God, which was now seen to be the divine center of their system, counteracted the attractions of a philosophic pantheism. (See Simon The Just). Through a long course of discipline, in which they had been left unguided by prophetic teaching, the Jews had realized the nature of their mission to the world, and were waiting for the means of fulfilling it. The conquest of Alexander furnished them with the occasion and the power. But, at the same time, the example of Greece fostered personal as well as popular independence. Judaism was speedily divided into sects, analogous to the typical forms of Greek philosophy. But even the rude analysis of the old faith was productive of good. The freedom of Greece was no less instrumental in forming the Jews for their final work than the contemplative spirit of Persia, or the civil organization of Rome; for if the career of Alexander was rapid, its effects were lasting. The city which he chose to bear his name perpetuated in after ages the office which he providentially discharged for Judaism and mankind; and the historian of Christianity must confirm the judgment of Arrian, that Alexander, "who was like no other man, could not have been given to the world without the special design of Providence" (Arr. 7:30). (See Alexandria). And Alexander himself appreciated this design better even than his great teacher; for it is said (Plut. De Alex. 1, 6) that when Aristotle urged him to treat the Greeks as freemen and the Orientals as slaves, he found the true answer to this counsel in the recognition of his "divine mission to unite and reconcile the world." (See Jewish Sects).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(Ἀλέξανδρος , Aléxandros ).

1. Parentage and Early Life

Alexander, of Macedon, commonly called "the Great" (born 356 bc), was the son of Philip, king of Macedon, and of Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemos, an Epeirote king. Although Alexander is not mentioned by name in the canonical Scriptures, in Dan he is designated by a transparent symbol (8:5, 21). In 1 Macc 1:1 he is expressly named as the overthrower of the Persian empire, and the founder of that of the Greeks. As with Frederick the Great, the career of Alexander would have been impossible had his father been other than he was. Philip had been for some years a hostage in Thebes: while there he had learned to appreciate the changes introduced into military discipline and tactics by Epaminondas. Partly no doubt from the family claim to Heracleid descent, deepened by contact in earlier days with Athenians like Iphicrates, and the personal influence of Epaminondas, Philip seems to have united to his admiration for Greek tactics a tincture of Hellenistic culture, and something like a reverence for Athens, the great center of this culture. In military matters his admiration led him to introduce the Theban discipline to the rough peasant levies of Macedon, and the Macedonian phalanx proved the most formidable military weapon that had yet been devised. The veneer of Greek culture which he had taken on led him, on the one hand, laying stress on his Hellenistic descent, to claim admission to the comity of Hellas, and on the other, to appoint Aristotle to be a tutor to his son. By a combination of force and fraud, favored by circumstances, Philip got himself appointed generalissimo of the Hellenistic states; and further induced them to proclaim war against the "Great King." In all this he was preparing the way for his son, so soon to be his successor.

2. His Preparation for His Career

He was also preparing his son for his career. Alexander was, partly no doubt from being the pupil of Aristotle, yet more imbued with Greek feelings and ideas than was Preparation his father. He was early introduced into the cares of government and the practice of war. While Philip was engaged in the siege of Byzantium he sent his son to replace Antipater in the regency; during his occupancy of this post, Alexander, then only a youth of sixteen, had to undertake a campaign against the Illyrians, probably a punitive expedition. Two years later, at the decisive battle of Chaeroneia, which fixed the doom of the Greek autonomous city, Alexander commanded the feudal cavalry of Macedon, the "Companions." He not only saved his father's life, but by his timely and vehement charge materially contributed to the victory.

3. His Accession to the Hegemony of Greece

When all his plans for the invasion of Persia were complete, and a portion of his troops was already across the Hellespont, Philip was assassinated. Having secured his succession, Alexander proceeded to Corinth, where he was confirmed in his father's position of leader of Hellas against Darius. Before he could cross into Asia he had to secure his northern frontier against possible raids of barbarian tribes. He invaded Thrace with his army and overthrew the Triballi, then crossed the Danube and inflicted a defeat on the Getae. During his absence in these but slightly known regions, the rumor spread that he had been killed, and Thebes began a movement to throw off the Macedonian yoke. On his return to Greece he wreaked terrible vengeance on Thebes, not only as promoter of this revolt, but also as the most powerful of the Greek states.

4. Campaign in Asia Minor

Having thus secured his rear, Alexander collected his army at Pella to cross the Hellespont, that he might exact the vengeance of Greece on Persia for indignities suffered at the hands of Xerxes, who "by his strength through his riches" had stirred, up "all against the realm of Grecia" ( Daniel 11:2 , the King James Version). Steeped as he was in the romance of the Iliad , Alexander, when he came to the site of Troy, honored Achilles, whom he claimed as his ancestor, with games and sacrifices. This may have been the outflow of his own romantic nature, but there was also wise policy in it; the Greeks were more readily reconciled to the loss of their freedom when it was yielded up to one who revived in his own person the heroes of the Iliad . It may be noted how exactly the point of Alexander's invasion is indicated in Daniel's prophecy ( Daniel 8:5 ). From Troy he advanced southward, and encountered the Persian forces at the Granicus. While in the conflict Alexander exhibited all the reckless bravery of a Homeric hero. He at the same time showed the skill of a consummate general. The Persian army was dispersed with great slaughter. Before proceeding farther into Persia, by rapid marches and vigorously pressed sieges, he completed the conquest of Asia Minor. Here, too, he showed his knowledge of the sensitiveness of Asiatic peoples to omens, by visiting Gordium, and cutting the knot on which, according to legend, depended the empire of Asia.

5. Battle of Issus and March Through Syria to Egypt

What he had done in symbol he had to make a reality; he had to settle the question of supremacy in Asia by the sword. He leaned that Darius had collected an immense army and was coming to meet him. Although the Persian host was estimated at a half-million men, Alexander hastened to encounter it. Rapidity of motion, as symbolized in Dan by the "he-goat" that "came from the west ... and touched not the ground" ( Daniel 8:5 ), was Alexander's great characteristic. The two armies met in the relatively narrow plain of Issus, where the Persians lost, to a great extent, the advantage of their numbers; they were defeated with tremendous slaughter, Darius himself setting the example of flight. Alexander only pursued the defeated army far enough to break it up utterly. He began his march southward along the seacoast of Syria toward Egypt, a country that had always impressed the Greek imagination. Though most of the cities, on his march, opened their gates to the conqueror, Tyre and Gaza only yielded after a prolonged siege. In the case of the latter of these, enraged at the delay occasioned by the resistance, and emulous of his ancestor, Alexander dragged its gallant defender Batis alive behind his chariot as Achilles had dragged the dead Hector. It ought to be noted that this episode does not appear in Arrian, usually regarded as the most authentic historian of Alexander. Josephus relates that after he had taken Gaza, Alexander went up to Jerusalem, and saw Jaddua the high priest, who showed him the prophecy of Daniel concerning him. The fact that none of the classic historians take any notice of such a detour renders the narrative doubtful: still it contains no element of improbability that the pupil of Aristotle, in the pursuit of knowledge, might, during the prosecution of the siege of Gaza, with a small company press into the hill country of Judea, at once to secure the submission of Jerusalem which occupied a threatening position in regard to his communications, and to see something of that mysterious nation who worshipped one God and had no idols.

6. Founding of Alexandria and Visit to the Shrine of Jupiter Ammon

When he entered Egypt, the whole country submitted without a struggle. Moved at once by the fact that Pharos is mentioned in the Odyssey , and that he could best rule Egypt from the seacoast, he founded Alexandria on the strip of land opposite Pharos, which separated Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean. The island Pharos formed a natural breakwater which made possible a spacious double harbor; the lake, communicating with the Nile, opened the way for inland navigation. As usual with Alexander, romance and policy went hand in hand. The city thus founded became the capital of the Ptolemies, and the largest city of the Hellenistic world. He spent his time visiting shrines, in the intervals of arranging for the government of the country. The most memorable event of his stay in Egypt was his expedition to the oracle or Jupiter Ammon (Amen-Ra) where he was declared the son of the god. To the Egyptians this meant no more than that he was regarded a lawful monarch, but he pretended to take this declaration as assigning to him a Divine origin like so many Homeric heroes. Henceforward, there appeared on coins Alexander's head adorned with the ram's horn of Amen-Ra. This impressed the eastern imagination so deeply that Mohammed, a thousand years after, calls him in the Quran Iskander dhu al-qarnain , "Alexander the lord of the two horns." It is impossible to believe that the writer of Dan could, in the face of the universal attribution of the two ram's horns to Alexander, represent Persia, the power he overthrew, as a two-horned ram ( Daniel 8:3 ,  Daniel 8:20 ), unless he had written before the expedition into Egypt.

7. The Last Battle with Darius

Having arranged the affairs of Egypt, Alexander set out for his last encounter with Darius. In vain had Darius sent to Alexander offering to share the empire with him; the "king of Javan" (Revised Version margin) "was moved with anger against him" ( Daniel 8:7 ) and would have nothing but absolute submission. There was nothing left for Darius but to prepare for the final conflict. He collected a yet huger host than that he had had under him at Issus, and assembled it on the plain east of the Tigris. Alexander hastened to meet him. Although the plain around Gaugamela was much more suitable for the movements of the Persian troops, which consisted largely of cavalry, and gave them better opportunity of making use of their great numerical superiority to outflank the small Greek army, the result was the same as at Issus - overwhelming defeat and immense slaughter. The consequence of this victory was the submission of the greater portion of the Persian empire.

After making some arrangements for the government of the new provinces, Alexander set out in the pursuit of Darius, who had fled in the care or custody of Bessus, satrap of Bactria. Bessus, at last, to gain the favor of Alexander, or, failing that, to maintain a more successful resistance, murdered Darius. Alexander hurried on to the conquest of Bactria and Sogdiana, in the course of his expedition capturing Bessus and putting him to death. In imitation of Bacchus, he proceeded now to invade India. He conquered all before him till he reached the Sutlej; at this point his Macedonian veterans refused to follow him farther.

8. Close of His Life

Thus compelled to give up hopes of conquests in the farther East, he returned to Babylon, which he purposed to make the supreme capital of his empire, and set himself, with all his superabundant energy, to organize his dominions, and fit Babylon for its new destiny. While engaged in this work he was seized with malaria, which, aggravated by his recklessness in eating and drinking, carried him off in his 33rd year.

9. His Influence

Alexander is not to be estimated merely as a military conqueror. If he had been only this, he would have left no deeper impress on the world than Tamerlane or Attila. While he conquered Asia, he endeavored also to Hellenize her. He everywhere founded Greek cities that enjoyed at all events a municipal autonomy. With these, Hellenistic thought and the Hellenistic language were spread all over southwestern Asia, so that philosophers from the banks of the Euphrates taught in the schools of Athens. It was through the conquests of Alexander that Greek became the language of literature and commerce from the shores of the Mediterranean to the banks of the Tigris. It is impossible to estimate the effect of this spread of Greek on the promulgation of the gospel.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

The king of Macedonia, son of Philip by Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus; born at Pella, 356 B.C.; had the philosopher Aristotle for tutor, and being instructed by him in all kinds of serviceable knowledge, ascended the throne on the death of his father, at the age of 20; after subduing Greece, had himself proclaimed generalissimo of the Greeks against the Persians, and in 2 years after his accession crossed the Hellespont, followed by 30,000 foot and 5000 horse; with these conquered the army of Darius the Persian at Granicus in 334 and at Issus in 333; subdued the principal cities of Syria, overran Egypt, and crossing the Euphrates and Tigris, routed the Persians at Arbela; hurrying on farther, he swept everything before him, till the Macedonians refusing to advance, he returned to Babylon, when he suddenly fell ill of fever, and in eleven days died at the early age of 32. He is said to have slept every night with his Homer and his sword under his pillow, and the inspiring idea of his life, all unconsciously to himself belike, is defined to have been the right of Greek intelligence to override and rule the merely glittering barbarity of the East.