Question

2. Whom did Alexander conquer first and how?
3. How was Alexander received in Egypt?
4. What was significant about the city Alexandria in Egypt?
5. Where did Alexander’s military campaigns end? Why was this the case?
6. What happened to Alexander in Babylon on his way back home?
7. What happened to Alexander’s empire when he died?
8. What was perhaps Alexander’s greatest contribution to history (even more so than his conquests)?
9. What was Hellenism?

Answer 1

2. Whom did Alexander conquer first and how?
- Immediately after becoming king (336 BCE) he first secured Greece by crushing a rebellion—most dramatically destroying Thebes (335 BCE).
- His first major foreign conquests began in 334 BCE when he crossed into Asia Minor and defeated the Persian satraps at the Battle of the Granicus. He combined Macedonian phalanx infantry, heavy cavalry (notably his Companion cavalry), bold tactical leadership and rapid maneuver to break Persian forces and then swept down the western Asian coast.

3. How was Alexander received in Egypt?
- He was welcomed as a liberator from Persian rule. Egyptians accepted him, he was crowned pharaoh, and the priests at the Siwa Oasis proclaimed him son of the god Amun/Zeus-Ammon, boosting his prestige. He founded the city of Alexandria and left Egypt largely stable under Macedonian rule.

4. What was significant about the city Alexandria in Egypt?
- Alexandria (founded 331 BCE) became a major economic, cultural and intellectual center: a great port linking Mediterranean and Red Sea trade, home to the famous Library and Museum, and the Pharos lighthouse. It was a key seat of Hellenistic learning and a lasting center of Greek-Egyptian cultural fusion.

5. Where did Alexander’s military campaigns end? Why was this the case?
- His eastward campaigns reached the Hyphasis (Beas) River in the Punjab (326 BCE). His troops, exhausted and unwilling to continue into further unknown lands, mutinied and forced him to turn back. His strategic limit therefore was the refusal of his army rather than a battlefield defeat.

6. What happened to Alexander in Babylon on his way back home?
- In Babylon (summer 323 BCE), while planning further campaigns and administrative reorganization, Alexander fell ill and died at about age 32. The exact cause is uncertain—fever from malaria or typhoid, pancreatitis, or poisoning have all been suggested—but historians consider natural disease the likeliest.

7. What happened to Alexander’s empire when he died?
- He left no clear adult heir with strong authority. His generals (the Diadochi) fought bitterly over succession, eventually dividing the empire into several Hellenistic kingdoms (notably the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in Asia, and the Antigonid realm in Macedonia). The unified empire fragmented within a few decades.

8. What was perhaps Alexander’s greatest contribution to history (even more so than his conquests)?
- The spreading and mixing of Greek culture, institutions and language across the Near East and beyond—creating the Hellenistic world. This cultural diffusion (Hellenization) fostered trade, urbanization, scientific and artistic exchange, and a common Greek-influenced lingua franca that shaped Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilization for centuries.

9. What was Hellenism?
- Hellenism (or the Hellenistic period/culture) refers to the spread and blending of Greek language, art, institutions, religion and ideas with local cultures after Alexander’s conquests (roughly late 4th century–1st century BCE). It produced cosmopolitan cities, syncretic religions, advances in science and philosophy, and a widespread use of Greek as a common cultural and commercial language.