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Of satraps and kings
Prelude
Megos Alexandros III Argead
The ascension of Philip II to the Makedonian throne in 359 BCE signaled a defining moment in Makedonian, Greek, and even world history. Makedon, a largely irrelevant backwater in the Greek world for generations, had been teetering on the brink of collapse for over a decade ever since the death of Amyntas III. Threats, both external and internal engulfed the kingdom on all fronts. It was clear to everyone that Philip, like his four predecessors in the past decade, would end up dead, either from court intrigue, civil war, or external invasion, an irrelevant footnote in the long march of history.
Yet, against the odds, Philip not only survived, but thrived beyond all expectations in his new role. Following in the footsteps of greats such as the Athenian Iphikrates (whose swift moving peltasts revolutionized Greek warfare) and the Theban Epaminondas (whose echelon formation used at Leuctra won him everlasting fame for defeating the Spartans), he re-invented Greek warfare, turning Makedonian hillmen into the most effective ancient fighting force the world had yet known. The Makedonian phalanx, alongside the crack Makedonian cavalry, would become unbeatable for generations, only until an even more innovative fighting force, the Roman legion, shattered them at Cynoscephelae over 250 years later, and then settled the issue once and for all a generation later at Pydna.
Yet, on the eve of what was to be his greatest stamp on history, his invasion of Persia, Philip eventually met the end expected of him from the time of his ascension. Murdered at his wedding by a disgruntled lover, many have since speculated that it was his spurned Epeirote wife, Olympias, and their son and heir Alexander, who orchestrated the murder. Although evidence of this conspiracy has yet eluded its backers, the fact that Alexander and Olympias had the most to lose from the wedding, and the most to gain from Philip’s sudden death, allows the theory to persist.
Philip’s death paved the way for his even more famous son to make his indelible mark on world history, and cement himself as one of the greatest military minds not just of his generation, but in the entirety of world history. Admired as the most accomplished tactician and strategist by Hannibal, praised as, “a great warrior, a great statesman, a great lawmaker” by Napoleon, there are few other men who truly earned the title of “The Great”.
The campaigns of Alexander are well documented, both by ancient and modern sources alike. Conquering three fifths of the then known world, he cleverly untied the Gordion Knot, was proclaimed a son of Ammon in Egypt, and was then humbled in the mountains of Baktria and the monsoons of India. It was there in India, after a grueling and nearly ruinous battle with the Indian prince Porus, that Alexander’s troops, camped along the Beas River and facing an even more grueling campaign ahead of them, had finally had enough, and demanded to return home. Much to his anger and disappointment, he was unable to convince them otherwise as he had done on numerous occasions in the past, and instead was resigned to indulge the wishes of his soldiers and return home at last.
It was on this return trip, during an otherwise uneventful campaign against the Mallians along the confluence of the Hydraotis and Hydaspes Rivers, that a frustrated Alexander conducted a siege of the Multanese capital. It is here where our story begins.