I have just read Machiavelli's "The Prince", and in the book the author says that for a ruler to ensure that the dominated territory is under his dominion, he has to live among the conquered people. Machiavelli says that in this way he will be able to respond more efficiently to problems that may arise.
@@luana.desousa6398 how many Alexandria’s did Alexander found as colonies throughout his empire? Didn’t he plan to have all of them to posses libraries, hospitals, and other infrastructure for a major city? I’m pretty sure he did I think he founded 50 Alexandria’s…
His treatment of Persians is certainly complex; training 30, 000 Persian soldiers in The Macedonian fashion was deeply unpopular with his hardcore Macedonians (I wonder what happened to those Persians as we never hear from the again after Alexander's death), and his adoption of Persian dress and manners split his generals between those who were supportive- Hephaistion (obviously), Ptolemy, Seleucus, and those who were dead against it such as Craterus and Cleitus the Black. I can't help but think that Alexander was never going to go back and govern from Macedonia had he lived, that the centre of his kingdom was obviously Babylon, and that he had to blend Greek and Persian culture for his rule to survive. Look at how far away geographically Pella and Babylon are, it'd be impossible to go back to Macedonia and rule from there, his empires most Western point. Assimilation (up to a point) was absolutely necessary in an empire so big.
I also wonder about those Persians. I doubt he'd have stayed to govern much at all. He wanted to expand and conquer more and for that he needed stability in the already conquered lands and a bigger supply of troops for future conquests.
The Macedonians didn't have much problem with pleasing the Persians because they regarded them as conquered subjugates and Alexander was very moderate with pleasing them. Opposition to that policy only started when Alexander tried to ally himself with the tribes of arachosia and Bactria (modern day Afghanistan). alexander dressed in their style, gave vassalship over entire Bactria and arachosia to natives instead of his greek or macedonian fellows and even married a local woman after capturing her and her father. All that was done to reduce military opposition to his rule in that Region. that was regarded as humiliation for the Macedonians.
@@akiogood4712 but it worked to cut back on guerilla attacks and constant raids and retaking of sparse settlements. Bactria was a tough land to govern for anyone so Alexander adapted pretty well
@@akiogood4712 true... it did not "work" in the long run and he probably went about it the wrong way trying to compete with Darius instead of compromise/Connect with the peoples
I have to say that you guys at Kings and Generals have done fantastic videos on Rome, but in my opinion your videos about Alexander are your best work yet. Can't wait for the climax of this series.
I am in the middle of a course about the Achaemenids, and I just learned about Zoroastrianism and Persian religion. I love when your videos line up with studies.
As a Persian, I think apart from the unfortunate incident at Persepolis, he mostly treated the defeated enemy with dignity and respect. Cyrus the Great himself would have been proud, and I suspect Alexander did look up to his memory as did many educated Greeks back in the day. Anyhow if an empire's fate is to fall, better at the hands of the greatest general who ever lived, rather than some nomads with no knowledge or understanding of civilisation! Edit: Don't read the replies if you value your sanity.
The nomad brought you the greatest civilization ever Do you think arabs capable to maintain rule over the whole persia as they had no experience of being a proper state? Them Persian help them against Sassanids and they converted to Islam in flock. If your ancestor didnot choose to be Muslim, your name will be like Suren or Krystsya instead of Hamed
@@chideraalexanderdex547 there were great Arab civilizations like the Nabateans and Arabs were involved in all semitic empires and how are Persians greater than Arabs? If you're fully conquered then it means you've lost to a superior enemy that's all there is it to it
those nomads built one of the greatest civilizations in the history, you can cry as you wish but our effect on your civilization will stay forever and will never can do anything about it :)
Alexander the Great at this time was just trying to merge together a series of different cultures. Which is something that should always be looked at with respect.
he failed achaemenids managed to do it but alexander force effected Hellenistic religion to fast and greek soldiers were racist (foreigners were among cysrus's commanders and guiders and no one objected because alexander used hatred to increase his soldiers morality) great massacres happened and he was the first conqueror of that region who called himself god imagine someone takes your surrendered CAPITAL, loots it, kills your family, destroys your religious artifacts and says he respects your religion and calls himself god and puts a foreigner to rule you cyrus the great did exactly the different specially for the capital that's why he faced far less rebelions than alexander whose reign was even shorter alexander(iskender) is called alexander the Macedonian not great in countries not touched by rome in middle east
a weeb? who conqoured the empire that was the largest and most dominant at the time, a weeb from a province the greeks sore as ''back water'' , a weeb whos legacy lives on today and will be, a weeb who has over 20 citys/settlements named after him, Not many in history can claim the achievements this man done@@jasonbelstone3427
There was also an instance where Alexander, in blind rage, killed one of his own soldiers just because he humiliated the king during a banquet, claiming that he became more of a Persianized ruler instead of remaining a Greek Macedon one. I remember reading this from a colorful book detailing some of the major events of his life.
From the sources seems like Alexander had great problems with alcohol; also seems like that after the death of Cleitus the Black he was never the same, like they were really great friends
I thought it was because the solider said that Alexander was telling the masses he was a pure demi god, when he acted just another drunken man like the rest of his army. Then Alexander regretted his decision and tried to stab himself in the heart after that. That's what I remember hearing.
@@cyberwar4111 For the Greeks being a king didn't mean absolute monarch above everyone else (even for regions like Epirus and Macedonia which were closer to the concept of kingdom than city state).
Awesome. I’m currently reading “Phillip & Alexander: Kings and Conquerors” by Adrian Goldsworthy. Persepolis has been burned down and Besus just got captured and executed.
Love how I decided to watch this series last night and you guys decided to post another video in it for me, thanks for looking out! Now if you guys could put out the next episode the early Muslim conquests for me I’d appreciate it ;) jokes aside by far my favorite history channel
@@KingsandGenerals That would be great! Hellenistic history is so overlooked, with most just saying "Alexander's empire was split - now let's go focus on Rome!". The Ptolemies and Seleukids have such a fascinating (and frankly wild) history with both each other and individually that really shouldn't be overlooked as much as they are...
Unfortunately Islamized Iran has not much to do with Persia, unless your revolution succeed overthrowing Islamic rule . How many of you are willing to do that ?
It's an interesting topic in many respects because Alexander's empire helped to shape the world as we know it today, particularly regarding religions. For example, Zoroastrianism survives to this day, whereas Zeus and The Greek Pantheon worship, apart from within some small circles, has disappeared. Hellenic descendants of Macedon carved the first Buddha images and helped spread the religion through The Khyber Pass and into China. Less well-known is that some researchers say Alexander brought shadow puppets from Egypt to India, where they began to be used, and are still used to this day, in religious rites. It's nice to see videos covering the social impacts of empire, as opposed to the military impacts only, which is often the focus in popular history.
Zoroastrian population is also very small and it's less than 200,000 people globally. As most Iranians were forced to convert to the religion of their Arab conquerors.
@@boborappa I don't, no. I work with a foundation that organises puppet festivals and forums, so I've heard it mentioned during lectures. One speaker, Dr. Loy Chee Luen from Malaysia, cited a source recently, but I don't remember the paper he cited. To be honest I was skeptical about it until I heard him refer to that it as well. From what I've been told The Egyptians made large shadow puppets from papyrus. I'd like to find a direct source about it myself. I've also been told that Indian shadow puppetry dates back 3,000 years, but I don't know if that was a rough estimate or how that figure was reached. To be honest, there have been a lot of questions regarding shadow puppetry which people have been trying to find answers to.
@@soniahemmati2372 I have a friend who left Iran and was quite proud of being Zoroastrian, and defying the government imposed religion. He indicated there were many who secretly stuck to that faith, but I couldn't guess as to numbers.
@@WaterShowsProdAs far as I know, Zoroastrianism doesn't allow converts and is an ethnic religion to which one must be born to. Those you talk about, are mostly ex-Muslim Iranians who are looking for other religions and like to call themselves zoroastrians to distance themselves from Islam and to have a more nationalistic culture. I totally understand them, though. Even if they read Islamic histories themselves and see what their ancestors went through when the Arabs took them into slavery on large scale, which is also by the way, the main reason they ended up being Muslim, it becomes really hard to continue to worship the murderers of their forefathers as their Gods and prophets. Actually there are even Arabic sources themselves according to which when Mohammed wanted to make peace treaty with his opponents, he would give them the promise of plundering Iran and having so many Iranian sex-slaves!
That makes sense now. He wasn’t always full of himself. He was really good at being an administrator and a politician. I don’t know why some historians believe he is NOT worthy of his title.
@@KingsandGenerals I hope that in that video series, you will also mention the emergence of the Frataraka Kingdom. It was an independent Persian kingdom that appeared on the Iranian plateau at the same time as the Seleucid Empire. Unfortunately, many people d'ont know about it.
@@KingsandGenerals Also, I have started reading Xenophon's Cyropedia for some time now. I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but it could be an interesting topic to make a video series about. Think about it
King of Asia?! Amazing again K&G, I never realized the Selucid empire was named after Seleukos, who was also Alexander's close friend. And it's interesting hearing more about the administrative and diplomatic side of Alexander's talents, truly fascinating! Edit: I remember in another video, someone wondered what Alexander's further plans were for India & China during his recovery, after his Mallian campaign. And they were asking what namesake Alexander would need if he'd conquered more. Well, look no further fellow history nerds, our King of Asia Alexander had already expected this and chose one for himself!
@@MiraakfIncorrect... at least as far as we know. PERHAPS he was bisexual or closeted. But we have no more direct evidence for him being secretly gay than we do for any other ancient figure. He really liked one of his male friends, had hundreds of wives, had at least one child, and kissed a eunuch once after being egged on by the crowd, but to call some of those acts overt signs of homosexuality is to overlay your modern culture onto antiquity, and to ignore evidence that doesn't fit with your theory. If you took all the historical mentions of his attraction to each sex equally, there is much more talk of his like of women than his like of men. He certainly could have slept with men, there's just no direct evidence for it. We have barely any more reason to think that of him than any other historical figure you could pick at random, but people latch on to this little "factoid" without doing the research on how fragile the evidence is, and then repeat it forever, further influencing Alexander's image in pop culture.
Had he not died so young, what an emperor he would have made. So active and hard working, so accommodating, but also commanding respect. Some writings suggest he had designs on resting for a year to manage the empire and allow his veterans to return home, and then he would campaign into western Europe. Made up mostly of fragmenting "barbaric" peoples, he would have marched through with ease, having multiple, fresh and/or replenished armies instead of one tired one. Had Alexander lived to the normal expectancy of Greek nobility in that day (65 or so years), Europe and Asia would have been changed in such a way that we likely never would have gotten a Roman Empire.
The Zoroastrianism explained in this video is the Mazdasena sect, which was created during the Sassanid era and was one of the seven Zoroastrian sects in old Iran. it certainly has differences with ancient Zoroastrianism, and it should be said that ancient Iranian rituals and religious also existed among the people of that time .
Zoroastrian is such underrated religion. One determinant factor of a religion’s greatness is it’s capacity to function as a guiding compass for great civilizations and empires. In this case, Zoroastrian was the center of civil, cultural and political life of the Empires that rose out of Zagreb regions - including the Persian Empire. It should not be left only to small number of experts to study and understand this great religion.
Zoroastrian is gaining more notice in recent years due to the internet and the easy available of historical sources. Zoroastrianism actually had a massive impact on the Jewish religion (and later Christianity and Islam) via its dualism and concepts such as angels, good vs evil, and similar mythologies such as the creation story.
@Jigger Jones I'm pretty sure Zoroastrian is an organized belief of previous Iranian religious beliefs prior to Zoroaster, though I may be wrong. But I do know with great certainly that Hindus worship a Supreme God under Monism, so your last statement is probably not true.
@Jigger Jones Vedic Hinduism and Iranian Zoroastrianism share the same origin, but none of them rose from the other. They are both descendants of the ancient Aryan religion. Aryans who settled in India kept the religion more pure and intact, while the Aryans who settled in Iran reformed the religion into what we now call Zoroastrianism. And keep in mind that the Avesta is as old as the Vedas if not older.
Kings and generals should make/fund a total war style strategy game where you can play some of the famous battles or campaigns that they have covered, liek the 30 years war, great northern war, alexander the great, rome, japanese sengoku period, etc.. I would gladly pay for that
@@vandare6913 But Philip The Macedonian spoke a non-Greek language they called "Macedonian," which was said to be mutually unintelligible to the Greek neighbors to their south. It's recorded in the Greek books. Macedonians were undoubtedly Hellenes though, being a part of the same Hellenistic cultural sphere as Greeks.
@@vandare6913 Greek was the lingua franca of all Hellenes, Greek or non-Greek. The Hellenistic cultural sphere included more than ethnic Greeks. (i.e. Lydians, Carians, Macedonians, Thracians, Illyrians, Cretans and even Ptolemaic Egypt & Southern Italy and subsequently the Roman Empire).
I also thought Alexander went to become full native wherever he went . When he conquered egypt he became Egyptian , Same with Afghanistan and sindh province. That's shows he was genius military tactican , becoming embedded with natives will let you know their intolerance towards you and the perpetrators.
It is very interesting that during 2000 years and until the 19th century, the people of Iran thought that Alexander was a Persian and that he was the brother of Dara, who rebelled against each other and caused the destruction of Kai Khosrow's government.
At 11:31 you say he broke religious artifacts at Persepolis but the actual reason was that was his way of retaliation to the burning down of the sacred temples of Athens by persians in 480 BCE.
Alexander is almost like an “anti-christ” in Zoroastrian/Avestan scriptures. The whole period between the fall of the Achaemenid empire and rise of the Sassanian empire is seen as a dark age for Zoroastrianism and Arya people according to Sassanian period Avestan writings. He might have thought Iranian culture to be interesting but he absolutely did not do Iranian culture and Zoroastrianism any favors at all. I’m a Zoroastrian and also very well studied in Iranian history and he is no friend of our legacy. Part of the reason why Ardashir and the Sassanians destroyed the Parthians was literally to remove Alexander’s legacy from Iran and return the true spirit of Iran, which he did. Alexander only becomes admired by Iranians much later when Iran is mostly Muslim and hates Zoroastrians and actual Iranian culture.
What a beautiful video! On top of being beautiful, it makes us Greeks so proud, as our love for this magnificent historical figure of our ancient past is rooted deeply.
It is better to say that he made the greatest decision for his country and even for Europe. Alexander learned a lot from Persian cultural aspects that not only influenced Greece but also shaped Western culture.
I am from India and I started to see this entire Alexander campaigns playlist knowing that it will end up at Battle of Hydaspes. Eagerly waiting for the detailed account of the same. 👍🏻
@Daniel Maudling That’s bs. The ancient IVC predate the IE migration. IE ppl settled after the Indus Valley collapse (Pakistan) after which they migrated to the Ganges valley (modern India). Pakistan name itself is an acronym of the ancient provinces of the Indus. Porus ruled in what’s now Punjab and modern Punjabis are not alien to the region. Obviously, cultures and religions change but the people still remain relatively the same. Ppl don’t argue to Greeks and Egyptians about this. India is also a modern nation state that only came into being in 1947, never were they one singular civilization.
Alexander the Great: *Conquers a great part of the World, creating a gigantic Empire and becoming an unstoppable living God* Romans: "If we stay still, maybe he won't see us..."
@@xunqianbaidu6917 Pyrrhus didnt have the companions , alexanders bodyguard (argyraspides ) or his skirmishers. Phalanx and elephants were not the entire macedonian army .
Que paso con los videos que antes tenían subtítulos en casi todos los idiomas? Antes el canal era disfrutable por eso, pero ahora para los que no somos angloparlantes es imposible disfrutarlo como antes :(
short answer, no. But he had a good eye for a smart syncretist move, eg his visit to the shrine in Libya where the priest 'accidentally' called him a 'son of Zeus'
That's it, yeah. Although, that last one, might have been a one letter translation error, if the head priest called him 'paidios'(child of Zeus), instead of 'paidion'(child).
I guess, making every single culture of this massive empire feel important was an essential step to keep all those people united and avoiding endless revolts. I believe that if he was able to live longer and fully construct a stable and functioning state of this scale, the world, even today, would have been a different place.. His biggest mistake, in my opinion, was not naming an heir to the throne.
In Jewish thought, it is said that Alexander the Great converted to Judaism and so it’s why Alexander can be a Jewish boy’s name. I have heard stories where he did it because he wanted to be part of every religion in his Empire or that he realized Judaism was the original religion etc.
every invader of the empire of the fertile crescent took on the local culture, from the Amorites and Akkadians right down to Alexander, then his generals kinda broke that long line.
@Kings_and_Generals could you call the country by it's correct name, more than just a few mentions? Persia has been, up to today, only a province of Iran. The country's name, back then, was Airiya Xshathra (Arian Shire/Country) which evolved into Ariyana Shahra, then Eeran Shahr, then into Iran Shahr and finally shortend to Iran.
Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, famously put himself amongst the Greek gods, shortly before he was murdered. And considering that Alexander (allegedly) later believed himself the son of Zeus and had - to put it mildly - conflicted relationship with Philip and his memory. It is really interesting to see how he eventually went down the same path of living deification. Coupled with Alexander's Herculean drinking (killing his bodyguard, Cleitus the Black who had saved his life, Macedonian officers drinking themselves to death, the burning of Persepolis), it is clear that he struggled a lot with his own actions. There is no denying that he is an endlessly fascinating character, whom people have loved or loathed for well over 2000 years.
Timing of this video surprised me, do you know what is going on in Iran right now? Iranians are trying to get out of Islam and get back to their ancient roots. They've been trying to do that for 40+ years now. Majority in Iran aren't Muslims but the government tries to present them as Muslims. That's why they have mandatory hijab because if they don't nobody would wear hijab like real Muslim countries like Pakistan. I hope Iran gets back to its true form 🖤🖤🖤
As an iranain, Thank you bringing light to the fact that majority are not Muslim. Many people completely ignore this fact on both sides. Muslims don’t want anybody leaving their religion and Iranians have been a very significant part of Islamic history so it’s hard for them to accept that Iranians don’t want Islam anymore. And I assume many people in the west do not want to make assumptions about the religious stance of Iranians so they choose to stay safe and categorize us as we have always been categorized, which is not accurate at all.
We support the revolution from the other side of the gulf. we don't consider Iranian government as Muslims and we don't believe in theocracy. your government been trying to destabilize neighboring countries with imported Shia insurgents. Iranian influence must stay within Iran and must focus on its internal affairs.
I seem to remember hearing, from film mainly, that T.H. Lawrence underwent a similar identity crisis when he operated in Persia during the first world war (I know it wasn't actually the first. Because of Napoleon).
@@fredflinstone6601 I'm transcending space and time when I say Persia. The Arab world was Persian in Alexander's time. In the early 20th century it was Ottoman more than Persian if you really want to give the geographic location a name.
As you can see from the maps of Alexander’s conquest of India corresponds with the borders of modern day Pakistan. To set the record straight, Alexander himself never invaded the modern nation state of India.
@Kings and Generals seventy-two magi should have been forced by Ptolemy II Philadelphus to translate the entirety of the Avesta into Greek and then subsequently placed into The Great Library of Alexandria.
Which pronunciation of 'Persepolis' is the way those who named it would have used. I said it the same way it was pronounced in this video (I'm not trained in notating phonetics, but something like per-SEH-paw-lis, where lots of emphasis is on 'SEH' and 'paw' is farther back in the mouth) my entire life, but recently changed to per-seh-po-lis, where there's little emphasis at all and the entire word in in the front of the mouth.
Head to keeps.com/kings to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment.
Guys Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth vid is long overdue
:D, you look like John Locke.
why your podcast being delete on spotify?
I have just read Machiavelli's "The Prince", and in the book the author says that for a ruler to ensure that the dominated territory is under his dominion, he has to live among the conquered people. Machiavelli says that in this way he will be able to respond more efficiently to problems that may arise.
And to colonize instead of maintaining armies as garrison. Alexander's mistake
@@luana.desousa6398 how many Alexandria’s did Alexander found as colonies throughout his empire?
Didn’t he plan to have all of them to posses libraries, hospitals, and other infrastructure for a major city?
I’m pretty sure he did
I think he founded 50 Alexandria’s…
@@thedreamtime3624 The flag is here for that, mate. It is my duty as a free man to support the cause of the Ukrainian people.
@@vitorpereira9515
Funny that there's support about a country defending from conquest, in a video about a conqueror.
@@mpalfadel2008 he didn't, he just renamed them existing cities
His treatment of Persians is certainly complex; training 30, 000 Persian soldiers in The Macedonian fashion was deeply unpopular with his hardcore Macedonians (I wonder what happened to those Persians as we never hear from the again after Alexander's death), and his adoption of Persian dress and manners split his generals between those who were supportive- Hephaistion (obviously), Ptolemy, Seleucus, and those who were dead against it such as Craterus and Cleitus the Black.
I can't help but think that Alexander was never going to go back and govern from Macedonia had he lived, that the centre of his kingdom was obviously Babylon, and that he had to blend Greek and Persian culture for his rule to survive. Look at how far away geographically Pella and Babylon are, it'd be impossible to go back to Macedonia and rule from there, his empires most Western point. Assimilation (up to a point) was absolutely necessary in an empire so big.
I also wonder about those Persians.
I doubt he'd have stayed to govern much at all. He wanted to expand and conquer more and for that he needed stability in the already conquered lands and a bigger supply of troops for future conquests.
The Macedonians didn't have much problem with pleasing the Persians because they regarded them as conquered subjugates and Alexander was very moderate with pleasing them. Opposition to that policy only started when Alexander tried to ally himself with the tribes of arachosia and Bactria (modern day Afghanistan). alexander dressed in their style, gave vassalship over entire Bactria and arachosia to natives instead of his greek or macedonian fellows and even married a local woman after capturing her and her father. All that was done to reduce military opposition to his rule in that Region. that was regarded as humiliation for the Macedonians.
@@akiogood4712 but it worked to cut back on guerilla attacks and constant raids and retaking of sparse settlements. Bactria was a tough land to govern for anyone so Alexander adapted pretty well
@@ExoTheDrakoXIII It did not work. Alexander failed to control modern day Afghanistan. he gave up after several years on conquering that region
@@akiogood4712 true... it did not "work" in the long run and he probably went about it the wrong way trying to compete with Darius instead of compromise/Connect with the peoples
I have to say that you guys at Kings and Generals have done fantastic videos on Rome, but in my opinion your videos about Alexander are your best work yet. Can't wait for the climax of this series.
I am in the middle of a course about the Achaemenids, and I just learned about Zoroastrianism and Persian religion. I love when your videos line up with studies.
@@Masamune2001 We are called Parses bcz we came from Pars modern day Fars
@@Shahanshah.Shahin nothing to do with Persians?
@@ExoTheDrakoXIII Persia or Persian is a Greek version of original old Persian word Parsā or Pars in Middle Persian
@@Shahanshah.Shahin Thx
@@Masamune2001 Also in Iran in Yazd
As a Persian, I think apart from the unfortunate incident at Persepolis, he mostly treated the defeated enemy with dignity and respect. Cyrus the Great himself would have been proud, and I suspect Alexander did look up to his memory as did many educated Greeks back in the day.
Anyhow if an empire's fate is to fall, better at the hands of the greatest general who ever lived, rather than some nomads with no knowledge or understanding of civilisation!
Edit: Don't read the replies if you value your sanity.
@@tamberlame27 relax
@@tamberlame27 Nah it was fun. 10/10, would have my city razed by Mongols again.
The nomad brought you the greatest civilization ever
Do you think arabs capable to maintain rule over the whole persia as they had no experience of being a proper state?
Them Persian help them against Sassanids and they converted to Islam in flock.
If your ancestor didnot choose to be Muslim, your name will be like Suren or Krystsya instead of Hamed
@@chideraalexanderdex547 there were great Arab civilizations like the Nabateans and Arabs were involved in all semitic empires and how are Persians greater than Arabs?
If you're fully conquered then it means you've lost to a superior enemy that's all there is it to it
those nomads built one of the greatest civilizations in the history, you can cry as you wish but our effect on your civilization will stay forever and will never can do anything about it :)
Alexander the Great at this time was just trying to merge together a series of different cultures. Which is something that should always be looked at with respect.
he failed achaemenids managed to do it but alexander force effected Hellenistic religion to fast and greek soldiers were racist (foreigners were among cysrus's commanders and guiders and no one objected because alexander used hatred to increase his soldiers morality) great massacres happened and he was the first conqueror of that region who called himself god imagine someone takes your surrendered CAPITAL, loots it, kills your family, destroys your religious artifacts and says he respects your religion and calls himself god and puts a foreigner to rule you cyrus the great did exactly the different specially for the capital that's why he faced far less rebelions than alexander whose reign was even shorter alexander(iskender) is called alexander the Macedonian not great in countries not touched by rome in middle east
@@sohrab4371 only westerners call him Alexander the great, lmao. He's just called escander here, that's it.
@@alexknox814---Nice movie reference.
@@alexknox814---Thanks. I would give anything to own that movie again. I regrettably only had for VHS and only briefly.
@@alexknox814---Couldn't agree with you more.
In plain language, Alexander was not only a great general, but also a great politician. The Greeks just didn’t understand.
Nah, he a weeb.
"they called me a madman"
The Greeks still don’t understand
a weeb? who conqoured the empire that was the largest and most dominant at the time, a weeb from a province the greeks sore as ''back water'' , a weeb whos legacy lives on today and will be, a weeb who has over 20 citys/settlements named after him, Not many in history can claim the achievements this man done@@jasonbelstone3427
you invade Persia, Persian invade your culture, you become Persianized = history of Iran
same thing for Arabs, Turks , Mongols .....
i love the way you transition from what you were talking about to your sponsors
The voice of the narrator of these videos are irreplaceable.
everybody talking about alexander and history, but i can't ignore the epic mane of king and generals. Is just so freaking cool.
Greeks and the Persian nobility , Alexander ordered a great wedding ceremony between his officers and Persian women .
There was also an instance where Alexander, in blind rage, killed one of his own soldiers just because he humiliated the king during a banquet, claiming that he became more of a Persianized ruler instead of remaining a Greek Macedon one. I remember reading this from a colorful book detailing some of the major events of his life.
Not just any soldier, Cleitus the Black, who saved his life at Gaugamela during the thick of the fighting after charging into the persian lines.
@@garretfox7807 Thanks for the information.
From the sources seems like Alexander had great problems with alcohol; also seems like that after the death of Cleitus the Black he was never the same, like they were really great friends
I thought it was because the solider said that Alexander was telling the masses he was a pure demi god, when he acted just another drunken man like the rest of his army. Then Alexander regretted his decision and tried to stab himself in the heart after that. That's what I remember hearing.
@@cyberwar4111 For the Greeks being a king didn't mean absolute monarch above everyone else (even for regions like Epirus and Macedonia which were closer to the concept of kingdom than city state).
Any Plans on making a video about Trajan's conquest of Dacia?
Awesome. I’m currently reading “Phillip & Alexander: Kings and Conquerors” by Adrian Goldsworthy. Persepolis has been burned down and Besus just got captured and executed.
I’ve had that book for like 2 years, still haven’t read it😂
Besus? Keep at it soon you'll get to Jesus. Just a few more letters.
Wow SPOILER ALERT!
It’s a really really good book. Should make it a priority
@@carltonbauheimer from over 2,000 years ago? :p
Alexander's Epic story is one of your best series! I look forward to a similar cycle about PTOLEMIES‼️
But he was a destroy of Cultures!
@@alejandrosakai1744 Ptolemy I Soter was an outstanding leader and a great pharaoh!
@@ancientsitesgirl you're right!
Love how I decided to watch this series last night and you guys decided to post another video in it for me, thanks for looking out! Now if you guys could put out the next episode the early Muslim conquests for me I’d appreciate it ;) jokes aside by far my favorite history channel
Could you do a series about the Syrian wars between the ptolemies and the seleucids?
We will
@@KingsandGenerals documentary about lydians also would be good..especially that exteremly rich guy
@@KingsandGenerals That would be great! Hellenistic history is so overlooked, with most just saying "Alexander's empire was split - now let's go focus on Rome!". The Ptolemies and Seleukids have such a fascinating (and frankly wild) history with both each other and individually that really shouldn't be overlooked as much as they are...
MACEDONIAN HISTORY 25 CENTURIES from KING PHILIP ! ! !
Watching this in Iran /Persia in the midst of a revolution is very satisfying
It is a very Beautiful dream but too soon to judge.
Unfortunately Islamized Iran has not much to do with Persia, unless your revolution succeed overthrowing Islamic rule . How many of you are willing to do that ?
Revolution is a strong word. Let's not get it mixed up with a couple of protests
@@thinkingagain5966 Even if it is not a revolution , it doesn't look like "a couple of protest" only .
@@kulrul9180 it certainly is in decline but unfortunately the decline is too slow like saying that every year 2 people leave out of a cult of 100,000
So you guys did change the title, well done, this is more accurate.
Dude was an absolute political mastermind in his 20s
That genius is the reason why Caesar on his 30th birthday wept at Alexander's tomb for not accomplishing as much as Alexander had.
@@hypergraphic man should've been satisfied with not drinking himself to death
Well, if your teacher is Aristotle himself, what else do you even expect?
It's an interesting topic in many respects because Alexander's empire helped to shape the world as we know it today, particularly regarding religions. For example, Zoroastrianism survives to this day, whereas Zeus and The Greek Pantheon worship, apart from within some small circles, has disappeared. Hellenic descendants of Macedon carved the first Buddha images and helped spread the religion through The Khyber Pass and into China. Less well-known is that some researchers say Alexander brought shadow puppets from Egypt to India, where they began to be used, and are still used to this day, in religious rites. It's nice to see videos covering the social impacts of empire, as opposed to the military impacts only, which is often the focus in popular history.
Zoroastrian population is also very small and it's less than 200,000 people globally. As most Iranians were forced to convert to the religion of their Arab conquerors.
Do you have a source on the puppetry? Sounds interesting
@@boborappa I don't, no. I work with a foundation that organises puppet festivals and forums, so I've heard it mentioned during lectures. One speaker, Dr. Loy Chee Luen from Malaysia, cited a source recently, but I don't remember the paper he cited. To be honest I was skeptical about it until I heard him refer to that it as well. From what I've been told The Egyptians made large shadow puppets from papyrus. I'd like to find a direct source about it myself. I've also been told that Indian shadow puppetry dates back 3,000 years, but I don't know if that was a rough estimate or how that figure was reached. To be honest, there have been a lot of questions regarding shadow puppetry which people have been trying to find answers to.
@@soniahemmati2372 I have a friend who left Iran and was quite proud of being Zoroastrian, and defying the government imposed religion. He indicated there were many who secretly stuck to that faith, but I couldn't guess as to numbers.
@@WaterShowsProdAs far as I know, Zoroastrianism doesn't allow converts and is an ethnic religion to which one must be born to. Those you talk about, are mostly ex-Muslim Iranians who are looking for other religions and like to call themselves zoroastrians to distance themselves from Islam and to have a more nationalistic culture. I totally understand them, though. Even if they read Islamic histories themselves and see what their ancestors went through when the Arabs took them into slavery on large scale, which is also by the way, the main reason they ended up being Muslim, it becomes really hard to continue to worship the murderers of their forefathers as their Gods and prophets. Actually there are even Arabic sources themselves according to which when Mohammed wanted to make peace treaty with his opponents, he would give them the promise of plundering Iran and having so many Iranian sex-slaves!
Awesome work. Thanks!
That makes sense now. He wasn’t always full of himself. He was really good at being an administrator and a politician. I don’t know why some historians believe he is NOT worthy of his title.
We need a comprehensive series of videos on the War of the Successors after Alexander's death.
We will have one, the script is written and will go into production after our Alexander series is done
@@KingsandGenerals Still waiting
@@JustaKhorne the first episode is up
@@KingsandGenerals I hope that in that video series, you will also mention the emergence of the Frataraka Kingdom. It was an independent Persian kingdom that appeared on the Iranian plateau at the same time as the Seleucid Empire. Unfortunately, many people d'ont know about it.
@@KingsandGenerals Also, I have started reading Xenophon's Cyropedia for some time now. I don't know if you're familiar with it or not, but it could be an interesting topic to make a video series about. Think about it
King of Asia?! Amazing again K&G, I never realized the Selucid empire was named after Seleukos, who was also Alexander's close friend. And it's interesting hearing more about the administrative and diplomatic side of Alexander's talents, truly fascinating!
Edit: I remember in another video, someone wondered what Alexander's further plans were for India & China during his recovery, after his Mallian campaign. And they were asking what namesake Alexander would need if he'd conquered more. Well, look no further fellow history nerds, our King of Asia Alexander had already expected this and chose one for himself!
He loved Persian women thats why he adapted to their culture 😉😎
Wise man this Alexander
If only he knew what persian women are going through today....... We need Alexander!!!
Yea bro was gay dude I think he loved persian men more
@@MiraakfIncorrect... at least as far as we know. PERHAPS he was bisexual or closeted. But we have no more direct evidence for him being secretly gay than we do for any other ancient figure. He really liked one of his male friends, had hundreds of wives, had at least one child, and kissed a eunuch once after being egged on by the crowd, but to call some of those acts overt signs of homosexuality is to overlay your modern culture onto antiquity, and to ignore evidence that doesn't fit with your theory.
If you took all the historical mentions of his attraction to each sex equally, there is much more talk of his like of women than his like of men. He certainly could have slept with men, there's just no direct evidence for it. We have barely any more reason to think that of him than any other historical figure you could pick at random, but people latch on to this little "factoid" without doing the research on how fragile the evidence is, and then repeat it forever, further influencing Alexander's image in pop culture.
Alexander had very good taste Persian women are some of the most beautiful women in the world
Wonderful video! I'm a sucker for all things related to Alexander of Macedon.⚔
Same I am also intrested in Alex
Magnificent video, as always. Any bibliographic recommendation about what the video talks? I am passionate about Alejandro and his time.
Excelent video! I cannot wait for more videos on the Hellenistic Period~! By far my favorite historic period~!
Waiting for Alexander Indian Campaign. One of the main reasons why ancient Buddhist statues looked classical Greek.
Was that a face reveal?! Also that hair XD
I get giddy like I just got a treat whenever Kings and Generals drop a video, especially about the Hellenistic era.
Had he not died so young, what an emperor he would have made. So active and hard working, so accommodating, but also commanding respect. Some writings suggest he had designs on resting for a year to manage the empire and allow his veterans to return home, and then he would campaign into western Europe. Made up mostly of fragmenting "barbaric" peoples, he would have marched through with ease, having multiple, fresh and/or replenished armies instead of one tired one. Had Alexander lived to the normal expectancy of Greek nobility in that day (65 or so years), Europe and Asia would have been changed in such a way that we likely never would have gotten a Roman Empire.
The Zoroastrianism explained in this video is the Mazdasena sect, which was created during the Sassanid era and was one of the seven Zoroastrian sects in old Iran. it certainly has differences with ancient Zoroastrianism, and it should be said that ancient Iranian rituals and religious also existed among the people of that time .
wasn't expecting the narrator face reveal haha, looking good man
This is why social studies are important, kids.
If you want to rule an empire, you must be one with the peoples.
Alexander the great was so great he was the soul reason why I got into history
I was named after the guy and got into history for the same reason lol
Wait,
The narrator's voice has an actual face?
I thought he was the Spirit of all Historians put together.😮
Fr lol
And he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer. I know the feeling
Lol
😂😂😂😂
Exactly how I feel when I eat all the Doritos.
Life is simple. When K&G upload, you stop everything, watch, and like.
Zoroastrian is such underrated religion.
One determinant factor of a religion’s greatness is it’s capacity to function as a guiding compass for great civilizations and empires. In this case, Zoroastrian was the center of civil, cultural and political life of the Empires that rose out of Zagreb regions - including the Persian Empire. It should not be left only to small number of experts to study and understand this great religion.
Zoroastrian is gaining more notice in recent years due to the internet and the easy available of historical sources. Zoroastrianism actually had a massive impact on the Jewish religion (and later Christianity and Islam) via its dualism and concepts such as angels, good vs evil, and similar mythologies such as the creation story.
@Jigger Jones I'm pretty sure Zoroastrian is an organized belief of previous Iranian religious beliefs prior to Zoroaster, though I may be wrong. But I do know with great certainly that Hindus worship a Supreme God under Monism, so your last statement is probably not true.
@Jigger Jones Vedic Hinduism and Iranian Zoroastrianism share the same origin, but none of them rose from the other. They are both descendants of the ancient Aryan religion. Aryans who settled in India kept the religion more pure and intact, while the Aryans who settled in Iran reformed the religion into what we now call Zoroastrianism. And keep in mind that the Avesta is as old as the Vedas if not older.
@Jigger Jones Zoroastrian is coming from Asuras such Aruna the Indians called him Varuna .and mitra and others ....
Could you please also do a series on Conquests of Cyrus the great in detail like Hannibal's? That would be a first time ever
He has done Hannibal Barca's infamous invasion in detail!!!!!!!!!! WHEREEEEEEE?????????
These uploads always make my day :) I'm looking forward to the next installment on the English civil war.
Thanks For The Video!
Alexander the Great died at the age of 33. No one can imagine what the world would be like if he had lived another 33 years.
Fantastic video keep it up your doing amazing job
Kings and generals should make/fund a total war style strategy game where you can play some of the famous battles or campaigns that they have covered, liek the 30 years war, great northern war, alexander the great, rome, japanese sengoku period, etc.. I would gladly pay for that
Most important Greek ever.
And he wasn't even Greek, but a Macedonian (Albanian)
@@vandare6913 But Philip The Macedonian spoke a non-Greek language they called "Macedonian," which was said to be mutually unintelligible to the Greek neighbors to their south. It's recorded in the Greek books. Macedonians were undoubtedly Hellenes though, being a part of the same Hellenistic cultural sphere as Greeks.
@@vandare6913 Greek was the lingua franca of all Hellenes, Greek or non-Greek. The Hellenistic cultural sphere included more than ethnic Greeks. (i.e. Lydians, Carians, Macedonians, Thracians, Illyrians, Cretans and even Ptolemaic Egypt & Southern Italy and subsequently the Roman Empire).
ALEXANDER THE GREAT and PHILIP -- M A C E D O N I A N S.
before 25 centuries PHILIP KING, ALEXANDER TSAR ON MAKEDONIJA ! ! !
@@Farrukhsiyar159you are do pathetic..
Thanks for the video
I usually watch these later, but I can't help but immediately at least click like when it comes up ☺️
I also thought Alexander went to become full native wherever he went . When he conquered egypt he became Egyptian , Same with Afghanistan and sindh province. That's shows he was genius military tactican , becoming embedded with natives will let you know their intolerance towards you and the perpetrators.
That's not true at all. He only had such a strategy in Afghanistan because he couldn't beat the local resistance there.
@@akiogood4712 cry more
@@akiogood4712 cry more
@@biancadietlof5941 the only one who's crying is you depressed loser with no partner. Stay crying you loser
It is very interesting that during 2000 years and until the 19th century, the people of Iran thought that Alexander was a Persian and that he was the brother of Dara, who rebelled against each other and caused the destruction of Kai Khosrow's government.
At 11:31 you say he broke religious artifacts at Persepolis but the actual reason was that was his way of retaliation to the burning down of the sacred temples of Athens by persians in 480 BCE.
Alexander is almost like an “anti-christ” in Zoroastrian/Avestan scriptures.
The whole period between the fall of the Achaemenid empire and rise of the Sassanian empire is seen as a dark age for Zoroastrianism and Arya people according to Sassanian period Avestan writings. He might have thought Iranian culture to be interesting but he absolutely did not do Iranian culture and Zoroastrianism any favors at all.
I’m a Zoroastrian and also very well studied in Iranian history and he is no friend of our legacy.
Part of the reason why Ardashir and the Sassanians destroyed the Parthians was literally to remove Alexander’s legacy from Iran and return the true spirit of Iran, which he did.
Alexander only becomes admired by Iranians much later when Iran is mostly Muslim and hates Zoroastrians and actual Iranian culture.
What a beautiful video! On top of being beautiful, it makes us Greeks so proud, as our love for this magnificent historical figure of our ancient past is rooted deeply.
Great work Kins & General 4 Life tatted on my face!
I demand video on Georgia/Colchis/Iberia! :D
Working on 2 right now. Demanding. :-)
Excellent
Alexander adopting Persian culture was the worst betrayal he committed against his country...and the Irish never forget a betrayal.
Irish?
@@demetriusstiakkogiannakes1326 It's a reference to his irish accent in the Oliver Stone's film
@@TetsuShima Also Alexander was blonde and a heavy drinker. Irish traits.
But the Irish also love a party, and getting drunk and then the burning down of Persepolis was one of the most famous parties in history!
It is better to say that he made the greatest decision for his country and even for Europe. Alexander learned a lot from Persian cultural aspects that not only influenced Greece but also shaped Western culture.
2:48 _Correction the emanations of Angra Mainyu aka Ahriman are called Devas or Divas_
I am from India and I started to see this entire Alexander campaigns playlist knowing that it will end up at Battle of Hydaspes. Eagerly waiting for the detailed account of the same. 👍🏻
Alexander invaded the land of what is now called Pakistan. He never invaded the land of what is now modern India
@@BananaConnoisseur potato puhtato
@@BananaConnoisseur ancient India, different timeline from modern national boundaries.
@@amlans5314 And Ancient India refers to the land now called Pakistan not the modern state of India
@Daniel Maudling That’s bs. The ancient IVC predate the IE migration. IE ppl settled after the Indus Valley collapse (Pakistan) after which they migrated to the Ganges valley (modern India). Pakistan name itself is an acronym of the ancient provinces of the Indus. Porus ruled in what’s now Punjab and modern Punjabis are not alien to the region. Obviously, cultures and religions change but the people still remain relatively the same. Ppl don’t argue to Greeks and Egyptians about this. India is also a modern nation state that only came into being in 1947, never were they one singular civilization.
Alexander the Great: *Conquers a great part of the World, creating a gigantic Empire and becoming an unstoppable living God*
Romans: "If we stay still, maybe he won't see us..."
Rome did not exist yet
@@thinkingagain5966 It already existed for 400 years when Alexander lived
@@thinkingagain5966 Roman empire didn't exist, but the Roman Republic was fully alive and well at that time.
@@thinkingagain5966 Rome existed during Alexander's time but as a republic not an empire.
@@xunqianbaidu6917 Pyrrhus didnt have the companions , alexanders bodyguard (argyraspides ) or his skirmishers. Phalanx and elephants were not the entire macedonian army .
There should be a broad way play about Alexander, it can be called The Great
Que paso con los videos que antes tenían subtítulos en casi todos los idiomas? Antes el canal era disfrutable por eso, pero ahora para los que no somos angloparlantes es imposible disfrutarlo como antes :(
I think a video of Alexander's relatives after his demise would be interesting. No body out lived him for long due to political intrigue.
short answer, no. But he had a good eye for a smart syncretist move, eg his visit to the shrine in Libya where the priest 'accidentally' called him a 'son of Zeus'
That's it, yeah. Although, that last one, might have been a one letter translation error, if the head priest called him 'paidios'(child of Zeus), instead of 'paidion'(child).
I guess, making every single culture of this massive empire feel important was an essential step to keep all those people united and avoiding endless revolts. I believe that if he was able to live longer and fully construct a stable and functioning state of this scale, the world, even today, would have been a different place.. His biggest mistake, in my opinion, was not naming an heir to the throne.
In Jewish thought, it is said that Alexander the Great converted to Judaism and so it’s why Alexander can be a Jewish boy’s name.
I have heard stories where he did it because he wanted to be part of every religion in his Empire or that he realized Judaism was the original religion etc.
Shalom Aleichem from Arabia.
Excellent. Everyone has to be inspected logically with evidence
every invader of the empire of the fertile crescent took on the local culture, from the Amorites and Akkadians right down to Alexander, then his generals kinda broke that long line.
What is the culture of the fertile crescent ?
@@meneither3834 semitic
@@meneither3834 Diverse, as it still is today
@Kings_and_Generals could you call the country by it's correct name, more than just a few mentions? Persia has been, up to today, only a province of Iran.
The country's name, back then, was Airiya Xshathra (Arian Shire/Country) which evolved into Ariyana Shahra, then Eeran Shahr, then into Iran Shahr and finally shortend to Iran.
@@Wasteland88yes bro, it is true
One small correction Deava not Asura is the enemy of Ahura Mazda
Can you please make a video on other Balkan Civilizations? Illyrians, Thracians and Dacians?
Also on the illyro-Shqiptarians and Dardano-Shqips
@@Askeladd_ srbski lad?
Alexander's father, Philip II of Macedon, famously put himself amongst the Greek gods, shortly before he was murdered. And considering that Alexander (allegedly) later believed himself the son of Zeus and had - to put it mildly - conflicted relationship with Philip and his memory. It is really interesting to see how he eventually went down the same path of living deification.
Coupled with Alexander's Herculean drinking (killing his bodyguard, Cleitus the Black who had saved his life, Macedonian officers drinking themselves to death, the burning of Persepolis), it is clear that he struggled a lot with his own actions.
There is no denying that he is an endlessly fascinating character, whom people have loved or loathed for well over 2000 years.
before 25 centuries PHILIP created KINGDOM MAKEDONIJA ! ! !
Absolute love you Alexander videos. The archaic Hellenic and Hellenistic Periods!
Very interesting video
Could you now please make a video about the persian succesors of Alexanders empire?
That's a proper heavy metal haircut.
the narrator is magnificent
14:51 The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Alexander the greatest Greek of all
🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷
Incoming confused Serbo-Bulgarians saying he was Alexadrofski from Makedofski, a proud slavoski.
Александар Македонски , за вас циганите од Грчка.
Macedonian
Timing of this video surprised me, do you know what is going on in Iran right now? Iranians are trying to get out of Islam and get back to their ancient roots. They've been trying to do that for 40+ years now. Majority in Iran aren't Muslims but the government tries to present them as Muslims. That's why they have mandatory hijab because if they don't nobody would wear hijab like real Muslim countries like Pakistan. I hope Iran gets back to its true form 🖤🖤🖤
As an iranain, Thank you bringing light to the fact that majority are not Muslim. Many people completely ignore this fact on both sides. Muslims don’t want anybody leaving their religion and Iranians have been a very significant part of Islamic history so it’s hard for them to accept that Iranians don’t want Islam anymore.
And I assume many people in the west do not want to make assumptions about the religious stance of Iranians so they choose to stay safe and categorize us as we have always been categorized, which is not accurate at all.
We support the revolution from the other side of the gulf. we don't consider Iranian government as Muslims and we don't believe in theocracy. your government been trying to destabilize neighboring countries with imported Shia insurgents. Iranian influence must stay within Iran and must focus on its internal affairs.
I seem to remember hearing, from film mainly, that T.H. Lawrence underwent a similar identity crisis when he operated in Persia during the first world war (I know it wasn't actually the first. Because of Napoleon).
@@fredflinstone6601 I'm transcending space and time when I say Persia. The Arab world was Persian in Alexander's time. In the early 20th century it was Ottoman more than Persian if you really want to give the geographic location a name.
As you can see from the maps of Alexander’s conquest of India corresponds with the borders of modern day Pakistan. To set the record straight, Alexander himself never invaded the modern nation state of India.
He was Persian'd by the wine.
The Greatest of the Greats
Alexander was great for sure, but the greatest of greats is undoubtedly Cyrus the great
Video idea:
Alexander the Great in Jerusalem!
Next video : Alexander the great in Afghanistan on 2 Oct.
@@Shahanshah.Shahin this is for real! I thought that you were covering Alexander's campaign in India!
@@alejandrosakai1744 Campaigns in India will drop later next month
@@Shahanshah.Shahin ok!
Even Alexander found Bactria, now much of modern Afghanistan, difficult to rule.
An episode on Magophonia?
@Kings and Generals seventy-two magi should have been forced by Ptolemy II Philadelphus to translate the entirety of the Avesta into Greek and then subsequently placed into The Great Library of Alexandria.
was there such thing as egyptiation of Alexander too? I remembee reading that he respected the old gods and religion of old
Egypt.
Does anyone know what were the policies between the dacians and the macedonians at that point in time?
Thanks
There are gods, there are us and there is Alexander
Can't wait for Hydaspes.
When is the battle of hydepes release
Which pronunciation of 'Persepolis' is the way those who named it would have used. I said it the same way it was pronounced in this video (I'm not trained in notating phonetics, but something like per-SEH-paw-lis, where lots of emphasis is on 'SEH' and 'paw' is farther back in the mouth) my entire life, but recently changed to per-seh-po-lis, where there's little emphasis at all and the entire word in in the front of the mouth.
Ma boi OffyD showing off his hair :D