Alexander's Conquests. In many ways Alexander's conquest was the
most significant and far-reaching event in the history of Asia. The causes
of this great movement were, first, the fact that the limited territory of
Greece and Macedonia gave to the powerful Hellenic civilization little
opportunity for local expansion. Compelled, therefore, to break these
narrow bonds, it naturally spread in the direction of least resistance. In
the second place the decadent Persian Empire, with its fabulous riches and
almost limitless plains, was a loadstone that lured on Greek adventurers
to attempt feats that seemed incredible. The third reason was Alexander's
inherited lust for conquest. His father, Philip of Macedon, had long been
accumulating the resources which made it possible for his son to realize
his ambitious dreams. The fourth reason was Alexander's desire to make the
world more glorious by the diffusion of Hellenic culture, ideas, and
institutions and by binding all races together into one great, harmonious
family. His brilliant conquests are a familiar chapter in the world's
history. At Issus, at the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, he won,
in 333 B.C., the decisive battle which left him in possession of the
western part of the huge Persian Empire. By 332 he was master of
Palestine. Tyre, the commercial mistress of the eastern Mediterranean, and
Gaza, the key to Egypt, alone offered resistance. The Persian kings by
their onerous taxation and cruel policy had completely destroyed the
loyalty of their western subjects. In the symbolic pictures of the book of
Daniel Alexander is regarded as the "fourth beast, terrible and fearful
and exceedingly strong. And it had great iron teeth. It devoured and broke
in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet" (7:17,23, 8:5-8). Josephus
has preserved a popular tradition regarding the meeting between Alexander
and the white-robed Jerusalem priests and the homage paid by the conqueror
to the God of the Jews. It bears on its face evidence of its unhistorical
character. As a matter of fact, the first goal of Alexander's conquest was
the rich land of Egypt. Not being possessed of a navy, he entered it
through its one vulnerable point, the Wady Tumilat, that ran from the
Isthmus of Suez to the Nile Delta. By 331 B.C. he was master of the Nile
Valley, and thence turned eastward, conquering in succession the different
provinces of the great empire, until before his death in 323 B.C. his
empi