![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Two hundred years before Alexander, an obscure ruler from a the tiny city state of Anshan named Cyrus II would forge what would become known as the Achaemenid or First Persian Empire. (Image source: WikiCommons) Cyrus the Great (559–530 BC) An engraving of Cyrus’ army in his capital Persepolis. Despite its defeat, Carthage would maintain its foothold on Sicily for years to come, but the defeat at Himera, which supposedly coincided with the decisive Greek victory over the Persians at Salamis and Sparta’s spirited defence of Thermopylae, stalled the empire’s designed on Sicily for decades. Some sources report he was slaughtered when enemy cavalry attacked the Punic king’s camp others say that the humiliated monarch threw himself onto a bonfire after watching his army scattered. While advancing along the coast to Syracuse, the massive Carthaginian army was surprised and destroyed at Himera by a much smaller Greek force. Storms battered the Punic fleet during its transit, and once ashore, things only got worse for the invaders. Were the two powers in collusion? An intriguing idea, but one that lacks much supporting evidence. Interestingly, Hamilcar’s massive flotilla embarked on its expedition at the precise moment that the Persian emperor Xerxes was marching on Greece. In 480 BCE, the Punic ruler amassed a massive army of 50,000 men and sailed against Syracuse, the ruler of which, Gelo, was trying to unite other Greek settlements on Sicily against the Carthaginians. Having secured lands from modern day Morocco to eastern Libya, Hamilcar set his sights on the strategically vital island of Sicily, which at the time was being colonized by Greeks. While Hamilcar I of Carthage may not be as well-known as Hannibal, the greatest Punic commander of all time, the 6 th Century BC ruler did oversee the transformation of his burgeoning Phoenician city state into a powerful commercial and military power. (Image source: WikiCommons) Hamilcar I (510 BCE to 480 BCE) A romanticized depiction of the Battle of Himera, Hamilcar’s last fight. Impressive as Alexander’s feats remain, he was by no means the world’s first great conqueror. Centuries before the Macedonian emperor was even born, powerful warlords were writing their own pages in the annals of military history. But within 20 short years, the late ruler’s hard-won kingdom had splintered into a series of squabbling factions headed by an assortment of his own generals and advisors. Still, by the time of his death, he’d carved out an empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the Indus River – an area spanning two million square miles. Undefeated, Alexander was poised to push into India, but called off his invasion of the subcontinent after his war-weary army refused to march any farther. He fought and won 10 major battles too bringing the centuries-old Persian Empire to its knees. Over the span of roughly a decade, Alexander led his army of phalanxes and his elite Companion cavalry on an epic odyssey through what is now Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although historians disagree on the cause of death ( was it binge drinking, typhoid, malaria, poison?) all agree that he was one of finest, if not the best, military commander in history. The Macedonian conqueror breathed his last on June 10, 323 BCE in a Babylonian palace that once belonged to Nebuchadnezzar II. ![]() But who came before him? (Image source: WikiCommons) “Centuries before Alexander the Great was even born, powerful warlords were writing their own pages in the annals of military history.”ĪLEXANDER THE GREAT was just 32 when he died. Alexander the Great is remembered as the finest military leader of the ancient world. ![]()
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