THE ARGEAD DYNASTY AND ALEXANDER III

THE ARGEAD DYNASTY AND ALEXANDER  III

The Argead dynasty (Greek: Ἀργεάδαι, Argeádai) was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Doric provenance.[1] They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the Archaic Greek kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC. The family's most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great, under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus.[7][8]

Alexander III was born in Pella, Macedonia, in 356 B.C. to King Philip II and Queen Olympias.Philip II was an impressive military man in his own right. He turned Macedonia  into a force to be reckoned with, and he fantasized about conquering the massive Persian Empire.

BUCEPHALUS

At age 12, Alexander showed impressive courage when he tamed the wild horse Bucephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demeanor. The horse became his battle companion for most of Alexander’s life.

When Alexander was 13, Philip called on the great philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son. Aristotle sparked and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy.

Alexander was just 16 when Philip went to battle the Byzantiums and left him in charge of Macedonia. In 338 B.C., Alexander saw the opportunity to prove his military worth and led a cavalry against the Sacred Band of Thebes—a supposedly unbeatable, select army made up entirely of male lovers—during the Battle of Chaeronea.










ALEXANDER ,THE KING

In 336 B.C., Alexander’s father Philip was assassinated. Just 20 years old, Alexander claimed the Macedonian throne and killed his rivals before they could challenge his sovereignty.He also quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece. Once he’d cleaned house, Alexander left to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue Macedonia’s world domination.Alexander appointed the general Antipater as regent and headed for Persia with his army. They crossed the Hellespont, a narrow strait between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and faced Persian and Greek forces at the Granicus river; victory went to Alexander and the Macedonians.

Alexander then headed south and easily took the city of Sardes. But his army encountered resistance in the cities of Miletus, Mylasa and Halicarnassus. Under siege yet not beaten, Halicarnassus held out long enough for King Darius III, the newest Persian king, to amass a substantial army.

BATTLE OF ISSUS

In 333 B.C., Alexander and his men encountered a massive Persian army led by King Darius III near the town of Issus in southern Turkey. Alexander’s forces were greatly outnumbered in men but not in experience or the determination for revenge and to claim Persia’s great wealth, much of it plundered.By now it was clear that Alexander was a shrewd, ruthless and brilliant military leader—in fact, he never lost a battle in his life.

BATTLE OF TYRE
He then laid siege to the heavily-fortified island of Tyre in January 332 B.C., after the Tyrians refused him entry. But Alexander had no navy to speak of and Tyre was surrounded by water.

Alexander instructed his men to build a causeway to reach Tyre. He amassed a large fleet, finally breached the city’s walls in July 332 B.C. and executed thousands of Tyrians for daring to defy him; many others were sold into slavery.

ALEXANDER ENTERS EGYPT
After rejecting another peace offer from Darius, Alexander set out for Egypt. . After several weeks, he took the town and entered Egypt where he established the city that still bears his name: Alexandria..







ALEXANDER BECOMES KING OF PERSIA
After conquering Egypt, Alexander faced Darius and his massive troops at Gaugamela in October 331 B.C. Following fierce fighting and heavy losses on both sides, Darius fled and was assassinated by his own troops. It’s said Alexander was sad when he found Darius’s body and gave him a royal burial.Finally rid of Darius, Alexander proclaimed himself King of Persia. But another Persian leader, Bessus (also thought to be Darius’s murderer), had also claimed the Persian throne. Alexander couldn’t let the claim stand.After relentless pursuit by Alexander, Bessus’s troops handed Bessus over to Ptolemy, Alexander’s good friend, and he was mutilated and executed.  With Bessus out of the way, Alexander had full control of Persia.

PROSKYNESIS
To gain credibility with the Persians, Alexander took on many Persian customs. He began dressing like a Persian and adopted the practice of proskynesis, a Persian court custom that involved bowing down and kissing the hand of others, depending on their rank.Increasingly paranoid, Alexander ordered the death of one of his most esteemed generals, Parmerio, in 330 B.C., after Parmerio’s son Philotas was convicted of plotting an assassination attempt against Alexander (and also killed).

ALEXANDER KILLS CLEITUS

In 328 B.C., Cleitus, another general and close friend of Alexander, also met a violent end. Fed up with Alexander’s new Persian-like persona, a drunk Cleitus continually insulted Alexander and minimized his achievements.Pushed too far, Alexander killed Cleitus with a spear, a spontaneous act of violence that anguished him. As the story goes, Alexander fell in love with Roxane on sight. He married her despite her Sogdian heritage and she joined him on his journey.

ALEXANDER ENTERS INDIA
In 327 B.C., Alexander marched on Punjab, India. Porus’s army was less experienced than Alexander’s, but they had a secret weapon—elephants. Even so, after a fierce battle in a raging thunderstorm, Porus was defeated.One event took place at Hydaspes which devastated Alexander: the death of his beloved horse, Bucephalus. It’s unclear if he died from battle wounds or of old age, but Alexander named the city of Bucephala after him.Alexander wanted to press on and attempt to conquer all of India, but his war-weary soldiers refused, and his officers convinced him to return to Persia.








A MASS WEDDING

In early 324 B.C., Alexander reached the city of Susa in Persia. Wanting to unite the Persians and Macedonians and create a new race loyal only to him, he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at a mass wedding; he also took two more wives for himself.The Macedonian army resented Alexander’s attempt to change their culture and many mutinied. But after Alexander took a firm stand and replaced Macedonian officers and troops with Persians, his army backed down.

DEATH OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, he started plans to conquer Arabia. But he’d never live to see it happen. After surviving battle after fierce battle, Alexander the Great died in June 323 B.C. at age 32.Some historians say Alexander died of malaria or other natural causes; others believe he was poisoned. Either way, he never named a successor.

Dynasty[edit]

House of Argos

Argead Rulers

King	Reign (BC)	Comments
Caranus	808–778 BC	Founder of the Argead dynasty and first King of Macedon
Koinos	778–750 BC
Tyrimmas	750–700 BC
Perdiccas I	700–678 BC
Argaeus I	678–640 BC
Philip I	640–602 BC
Aeropus I	602–576 BC
Alcetas I	576–547 BC
Amyntas I	547–498 BC
Alexander I	498–454 BC
Perdiccas II	454–413 BC
Archelaus	413–399 BC
Orestes and Aeropus II	399–396 BC
Archelaus II	396–393 BC
Amyntas II	393 BC
Pausanias	393 BC
Amyntas III	393 BC
Argaeus II	393–392 BC
Amyntas III	392–370 BC	Restored to the throne after one year
Alexander II	370–368 BC
Ptolemy I	368–365 BC
Perdiccas III	365–359 BC
Amyntas IV	359 BC
Philip II	359–336 BC	Unifier of Greece under the rule of Macedon
Alexander III	336–323 BC	Alexander the Great. The most notable ancient Greek King and one of the most celebrated strategists and rulers of all time. Alexander at the top of his reign was simultaneously King of Macedonia, Pharaoh of Egypt, King of Persia and King of Asia
Antipater	334–323 BC	Regent of Macedonia during the reign of Alexander III
Philip III Arrhidaeus	323–317 BC	Only titular king after the death of Alexander III
Alexander IV	323–310 BC	Son of Alexander the Great and Roxana. Served only as a titular king and was murdered at a young age before having the chance to rise to the throne of Macedon