Alexander the Great's invasion on persian empire

His enemies in southern Greece subdued, Alexander was free to carry out the original intention of both himself and Philip: to conquer the Persian empire to the east. Between 335 and 325 BCE Alexander and his army were almost constantly marching or fighting, with either a major battle or a siege taking place in each of those years. Alexander crossed into Asia with forty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry in the spring of 334 BCE; his first notable fight was the Battle of Granicus (a river in Turkey) in May (Bowra, 23). The Persian force of forty thousand was led by Memnon, a Greek mercenary general, who selected an excellent defensive position near to a river crossing. Alexander attacked Memnon at his strongest point, surprising him and using brute force to smash through his cavalry (Bose, 25). Memnon's forces were soundly defeated. The Persian army was devastated, and some sources suggest that Alexander lost fewer than a hundred men (Danforth, 26).

Granicus provided a template for Alexander's leadership in many of his later battles. The tactical move was bold, reckless, and innovative. Characteristics of his leadership style became apparent, even that early in his campaigning. He was, according to historian John Keegan, the epitome of the “heroic” leader, happily risking his life in the heat of the conflict alongside the men he commanded and not asking of them anything he would not do himself (Arrian, 45). In terms of battlefield bravery, Alexander had no equal. Keegan pointed out that “There is no hint, in any of the ancient biographies, that he ever showed fear at all, or that he appeared to feel it” (Keegan 1987, 90). Commanders often took to the field in those days, but Alexander went to almost theatrical extremes (Bowra, 23).

As scholar Nicholas Hammond said, “he courted every danger—fighting at the head of any formation, leading any wild adventure, and scaling first the parapet of a besieged city” (Hammond, 255). The risks were certainly considerable. At Granicus alone, where Alexander personally led his elite cavalry, his horse was killed almost immediately, his helmet was broken, and he was nearly killed at least once (Arrian, 45). Still, his men appreciated his presence on the battlefield and grew to love him for his willingness to fight with them. He may have acted so boldly as much to emulate the achievements of his hero Achilles as to earn the respect of his troops (Danforth, 26). Also, he may have believed himself to be the immortal son of the Greek god Zeus and therefore invulnerable in battle. He also clearly tried to ingratiate himself with his men by diplomatic acts of friendship. After Granicus he went among his men and “showed much concern for the wounded, asking them how they came by their wounds and giving them a chance to boast of what they had done in battle” (Fox, 143).

During the winter of 334-333 BCE Alexander allowed many of his men to return home to ...