Conquering the world

Alexander's first military engagement in Asia Minor was not with a Persian commander but with a Greek mercenary named Memnon (MEM-nahn), who had been hired by the Persians. Memnon's forces were waiting for him at the River Grani-cus (gruh-NIKE-uhs). Alexander surprised him by charging straight at the center of his army. The seemingly reckless charge, which was characteristic of his style in battle, nearly cost Alexander his life. But he won the battle—and his troops' respect.

By April of 333 b. c., having dealt with various Persian and local forces in Asia Minor, Alexander had moved down into Cilicia (suh-LISH-uh), the area where Asia Minor meets Asia. The Persian emperor Darius III came to meet him with a force of 140,000. At one point, because Alexander's armies were moving so fast, Darius cut Alexander off from his supply lines. Darius chose to wait it out, letting Alexander's forces come to him; Alexander, taking this as a sign of weakness, charged on the Persians. Again Alexander nearly got himself killed, but the Battle of Issus (Is-sus; “Is” rhymes with “hiss”) was a hands-down victory for the Greeks. Darius fled, leaving Alexander in control of the entire western portion of the Persians' empire.

Instead of raping and pillaging, as any number of other commanders would have allowed their troops to do, Alexander ordered his armies to make a disciplined movement through conquered territories. After the heavy tax burden the Persians had placed on their empire, Greek rule was a relief. People in some lands welcomed him as a liberator. As he had done in Macedon, Alexander left as few enemies behind him as possible so that he could more easily move forward.

In 332 and 331 b. c., Alexander's forces secured their hold over southwest Asia, conducting a seven-month siege on the Phoenician city of Tyre. By 331 b. c., he was in Egypt, where he founded the city of Alexandria, destined to become a center of Greek learning for centuries to come. In October of that year, he met a Persian force of some 250,000 troops (five times the size of Alexander's army) at the Assyrian city of Gaugamela (gaw-guh-MEEL-uh). It was an overwhelming victory for the Greeks. Although Darius escaped once again, he would later be assassinated by one of his own people.