Download 6 julius caesar-alexander the great

Julius Caesar (100BC - 44BC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/caesar_julius.shtml
Caesar was a politician and general of the late Roman republic, who
greatly extended the Roman empire before seizing power and making
himself dictator of Rome, paving the way for the imperial system.
Julius Caesar was born in Rome on 12 or 13 July 100 BC into the
prestigious Julian clan. His family were closely connected with the
Marian faction in Roman politics. Caesar himself progressed within the
Bust of Julius Caesar
Roman political system, becoming in succession quaestor (69), aedile
(65) and praetor (62). In 61-60 BC he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain.
Back in Rome in 60, Caesar made a pact with Pompey and Crassus, who helped him to get
elected as consul for 59 BC. The following year he was appointed governor of Roman Gaul
where he stayed for eight years, adding the whole of modern France and Belgium to the
Roman empire, and making Rome safe from the possibility of Gallic invasions. He made
two expeditions to Britain, in 55 BC and 54 BC.
Caesar then returned to Italy, disregarding the authority of the senate and famously
crossing the Rubicon river without disbanding his army. In the ensuing civil war Caesar
defeated the republican forces. Pompey, their leader, fled to Egypt where he was
assassinated. Caesar followed him and became romantically involved with the Egyptian
queen, Cleopatra.
Caesar was now master of Rome and made himself consul and dictator. He used his power
to carry out much-needed reform, relieving debt, enlarging the senate, building the Forum
Iulium and revising the calendar. Dictatorship was always regarded a temporary position
but in 44 BC, Caesar took it for life. His success and ambition alienated strongly
republican senators. A group of these, led by Cassius and Brutus, assassinated Caesar on
the Ides (15) of March 44 BC. This sparked the final round of civil wars that ended the
Republic and brought about the elevation of Caesar's great nephew and designated heir,
Octavian, as Augustus, the first emperor.
Cleopatra (c.69 BC - 30 BC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cleopatra.shtml
Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty,
ruling Egypt from 51 BC - 30 BC. She is celebrated for her
beauty and her love affairs with the Roman warlords Julius
Caesar and Mark Antony.
Cleopatra was born in 69 BC - 68 BC. When her father Ptolemy I
died in 51 BC, Cleopatra became co-regent with her10-year-old
brother Ptolemy XIII. They were married, in keeping with
Egyptian tradition. Whether she was as beautiful as was claimed,
she was a highly intelligent woman and an astute politician, who
brought prosperity and peace to a country that was bankrupt and
in split by civil war.
Cleopatra of Egypt
In 48 BC, Egypt became embroiled in the conflict in Rome between Julius Caesar and
Pompey. Pompey fled to the Egyptian capital Alexandria, where he was murdered on the
orders of Ptolemy. Caesar followed and he and Cleopatra became lovers. Cleopatra, who had
been exiled by her brother, was reinstalled as queen with Roman military support. Ptolemy
was killed in the fighting and another brother was created Ptolemy XIII. In 47 BC, Cleopatra
bore Caesar a child - Caesarion - though Caesar never publicly acknowledged him as his son.
Cleopatra followed Caesar back to Rome, but after his assassination in 44 BC, she returned
to Egypt. Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously at around this time, and Cleopatra made her son
Caesarion co-regent.
In 41 BC, Mark Antony, at that time in dispute with Caesar's adopted son Octavian over the
succession to the Roman leadership, began both a political and romantic alliance with
Cleopatra. They subsequently had three children - two sons and a daughter. In 31 BC, Mark
Antony and Cleopatra combined armies to take on Octavian's forces in a great sea battle at
Actium, on the west coast of Greece. Octavian was victorious and Cleopatra and Mark
Antony fled to Egypt. Octavian pursued them and captured Alexandria in 30 BC. With his
soldiers deserting him, Mark Antony took his own life and Cleopatra chose the same course,
committing suicide on 12 August 30 BC. Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.
Augustus (63 BC - AD 14)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/augustus.shtml
Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. He replaced the Roman Republic
with an effective monarchy and during his long reign brought peace and
stability.
Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on 23 September 63 BC in Rome. In 43
BC his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated and in his will, Octavius,
known as Octavian, was named as his heir. He fought to avenge Caesar and
in 31 BC defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. He was now
undisputed ruler of Rome.
A bronze head
of Augustus
Instead of following Caesar's example and making himself dictator, Octavian in 27 BC
founded the principate, a system of monarchy headed by an emperor holding power for life.
His powers were hidden behind constitutional forms, and he took the name Augustus
meaning 'lofty' or 'serene'. Nevertheless, he retained ultimate control of all aspects of the
Roman state, with the army under his direct command.
At home, he embarked on a large programme of reconstruction and social reform. Rome
was transformed with impressive new buildings and Augustus was a patron to Virgil,
Horace and Propertius, the leading poets of the day. Augustus also ensured that his image
was promoted throughout his empire by means of statues and coins.
Abroad, he created a standing army for the first time, and embarked upon a vigorous
campaign of expansion designed to make Rome safe from the 'barbarians' beyond the
frontiers, and to secure the Augustan peace. His stepsons Tiberius and Drusus undertook
the task (Augustus had married their mother Livia in 38 BC). Between 16 BC and 6 AD the
frontier was advanced from the Rhine to the Elbe in Germany, and up to the Danube along
its entire length. But Drusus died in the process and in 9 AD the annihilation of three
Roman legions in Germany (out of 28 overall), in the Varian disaster, led to the
abandonment of Germany east of the Rhine.
Augustus was determined to be succeeded by someone of his own blood, but he had no sons,
only a daughter, Julia, the child of his first wife. His nephew Marcellus and his beloved
grandsons Gaius and Lucius pre-deceased him, so he reluctantly made Tiberius his heir.
Military disaster, the loss of his grandsons and a troubled economy clouded his last years.
He became more dictatorial, exiling the poet Ovid (8 AD), who had mocked his moral
reforms. He died on 19 August 14 AD.
History of Iran
Cyrus The Great
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/cyrus/cyrus.php#sthash.ZHyZKxgl.dpuf
Cyrus II, Kourosh in Persian, Kouros in Greek
Cyrus (580-529 BC) was the first Achaemenid Emperor.
He founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian Tribes
- the Medes and the Persians. Although he was known to be
a great conqueror, who at one point controlled one of the
greatest Empires ever seen, he is best remembered for his
unprecedented tolerance and magnanimous attitude
towards those he defeated.
Upon his victory over the Medes, he founded a government
for his new kingdom, incorporating both Median and
Persian nobles as civilian officials. The conquest of Asia
Minor completed, he led his armies to the eastern frontiers.
Hyrcania and Parthia were already part of the Median
Kingdom. Further east, he conquered Drangiana, Arachosia,
Margiana and Bactria. After crossing the Oxus, he reached
the Jaxartes, where he built fortified towns with the object of
defending the farthest frontier of his kingdom against
nomadic tribes of Central Asia.
Artistic portrait of Cyrus the Great
The victories to the east led him again to the west and
sounded the hour for attack on Babylon and Egypt. When he conquered Babylon, he did so to
cheers from the Jewish Community, who welcomed him as a liberator- he allowed the Jews to
return to the promised Land. He showed great forbearance and respect towards the religious
beliefs and cultural traditions of other races. These qualities earned him the respect and homage of
all the people over whom he ruled.
The victory over Babylonia expressed all the facets of the policy of conciliation which Cyrus had
followed until then. He presented himself not as a conqueror, but a liberator and the legitimate
successor to the crown. He also declared the first Charter of Human Rights known to mankind.
He took the title of "King of Babylon and King of the Land". Cyrus had no thought of forcing
conquered people into a single mould, and had the wisdom to leave unchanged the institution of
each kingdom he attached to the Persian Crown. In 539 BCE he allowed more than 40,000 Jews to
leave Babylon and return to Palestine. This step was in line with his policy to bring peace to
Mankind. A new wind was blowing from the east, carrying away the cries and humility of defeated
and murdered victims, extinguishing the fires of sacked cities, and liberating nations from slavery.
Cyrus was upright, a great leader of men, generous and benevolent. The Hellenes, whom he
conquered regarded him as 'Law-giver' and the Jews as 'the annointed of the Lord'.
Prior to his death, he founded a new capital city at Pasargade in Fars. and had established a
government for his Empire. He appointed a governor (satrap) to represent him in each province,
however the administration, legislation, and cultural activities of each province was the
responsibility of the Satraps. Accoding to Xenophon Cyrus is also reputed to have devised the first
postal system, (Achaemenide achievements). His doctrines were adopted by the future emperors of
the Achaemenian dynasty.
History of Iran
Cambyses (Kamboujyeh)
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/cambyses/cambyses.php#sthash.W2dO0EHU.dpuf
On the death of Cyrus the Great the Achaemenid Empire passed to his son, Cambyses
II (529–522 BCE). There may have been some degree of unrest throughout the empire at
the time of Cyrus' death, for Cambyses apparently felt it necessary secretly to kill his
brother, Bardiya (Smerdis), in order to protect his rear while leading the campaign against
Egypt in 525 BCE. The pharaoh Ahmose II of the 26th dynasty sought to shore up his
defenses by hiring Greek mercenaries, but was betrayed by the Greeks. Cambyses
successfully managed the crossing of the hostile Sinai Desert, traditionally Egypt's first and
strongest line of defense, and brought the Egyptians under Psamtik III, son and successor of
Ahmose, to battle at Pelusium. The Egyptians lost and retired to Memphis; the city fell to
the Persians and the Pharaoh was carried off in captivity to Susa. Three subsidiary
campaigns were then mounted, all of which are reported as failures: one against Carthage,
but the Phoenician sailors, who were the backbone of the Persian navy, declined to sail
against their own colony; one against the oasis of Amon (in the Egyptian desert west of the
Nile), which, according to Herodotus, was defeated by a massive sandstorm; and one led by
Cambyses himself to Nubia. This latter effort was partly successful, but the army suffered
badly from a lack of proper provisions on the return march. Egypt was then garrisoned at
three major points: Daphnae in the east delta, Memphis, and Elephantine, where Jewish
mercenaries formed the main body of troops.
In 522 BCE news reached Cambyses of a revolt in Iran led by an impostor claiming to be
Bardiya, Cambyses' brother. Several provinces of the empire accepted the new ruler, who
bribed his subjects with a remission of taxes for three years. Hastening home to regain
control, Cambyses died—possibly by his own hand, more probably from infection following
an accidental sword wound. Darius, a leading general in Cambyses' army and one of the
princes of the Achaemenid family, raced homeward with the troops in order to crush the
rebellion in a manner profitable to himself.
Cambyses has been rather mistreated in the sources, thanks partly to the prejudices of
Herodotus' Egyptian informers and partly to the propaganda motives of Darius I. Cambyses
is reported to have ruled the Egyptians harshly and to have desecrated the irreligious
ceremonies and shrines. His military campaigns out of Egypt were all reported as failures.
He was accused of suicide in the face of revolt at home. It was even suggested that he was
mad. There is, however, little solid contemporary evidence to support these charges.
Gaumata (521 to 522 BC)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaumata
Gaumata (Old Persian:) [1] or False Smerdis (Bardiya) was a
magus in the Achaemenid era. According to the Behistun
document, when Cambyses was fighting in Egypt he
impersonated Cambyses's brother Bardiya. He reigned
approximately one (521 to 522) year as Smerdis in Persia.
Gaumata led the oldest Persian uprising, which is well known as
the Gaumata movement.
According to the Behistun Inscription, the Magian imposter
arrogated the Achaemenid throne by professing to be Bardiya
(Smerdis), the son of Cyrus the Great. No case has been more
plentifully recorded and further bitterly discussed in the plentiful
history of the Achaemenids than the conversion of administration
from Cambyses II to Darius I. After his accession to the throne,
Gaumata under Darius I's
boot engraved at Behistun
Inscription in Kermanshah.
Darius I had the official version engraved on the rock of
Behistunin three languages (Elamite, Old Persian, and Babylonian) and distributed in all
the languages of the empire (a fractional Aramaic counterpart has been discovered in the
back of a papyrus from the Egyptian island of Elephantine (Darius II era).
As maintained by Darius I, Cambyses had his half-brother Bardiya assassinated, after a
dream where Bardiya was on his throne, and kept it a secret. When Cambyses shipped on
his Egyptian military expedition (525), the revolt developed in Persia, Media, and other
territories; it was in these situations that a man, referred to in the writings as a Magian by
the title of Gaumata plotted a coup d’état in Persia and claimed to be Bardiya, Cyrus’s son
and Cambyses's brother, as he resembled him. He was helped by his brother, the Magi
Patizeithes. However, a Persian noble called Otanes suspected this was an imposter and told
his daughter Phaidime, who was married to Smerdis. According to Herodotus, Gaumata had
had his ears cut off by Cyrus, so Otanes told his daughter to feel for the King's ears as they
slept together. When she told him the King had no ears, Otanes realised he was an imposter.
With six others he slew the King and Patizeithes. Darius then became King.
Darius The Great
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/darius/darius.php
Darius I, Darrioush in Persian, also known as Darayarahush
D
arius I Hystaspes, or Darius the Great, king of Persia [522-
486 BCE]. Through his father Hystaspes, Darius belonged to
the Achaemenid family, as did Cyrus The Great and his son
Cambyses II, but to a different branch of this family. When
Cambyses was in Egypt, during the last year of his reign, a certain
Gaumata usurped the throne by pretending to be Bardiya,
Cambyses' brother, who had been assassinated secretly before
Cambyses started out for his Egyptian campaign in 525 BCE.
When Cambyses learned of this usurpation he immediately set out
for Persia, but on the way, while in Syria, he died in July, 522 BCE,
as the result of either an accident or suicide, leaving no heir.
Darius, a distant cousin of Cambyses, at once set out to gain the
throne for himself. With some helpers he slew
the Smerdis/Gaumâta or false Bardiya in September, 522 BCE,
and assumed the kingship. However, he had to fight against a
number of other pretenders and rebels. It took more than a year
(522-521 BCE) of hard fighting to put down revolts associated with
Bardiya's claim to the throne. Almost every province of the empire
was involved in the conflict, including Persia and, most
particularly, Media. He finally emerged from the struggle the
Darius The Great
undisputed ruler of the Persian Empire. The story of his successes
was engraved in three scripts and languages (Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite), accompanied by a
sculptured relief, into a high rock wall of the Bisitun Mountain, a few miles east of modern Kermanshah.
Darius proved to be a strong and wise ruler. He was tolerant toward other religions and cultures, promoted
learning, agriculture, forestation, and the construction of highways. He also built the great palace cities of
Susa and Persepolis.
Such activities, however, did not prevent Darius from following an active expansionist policy. Campaigns to
the east confirmed gains probably made by Cyrus the Great and added large sections of the northern Indian
subcontinent to the list of Persian-controlled provinces. Expansion in the west began about 516 BC when
Darius moved against the Hellespont as a first step toward an attack on the Scythians along the western
and northern shores of the Black Sea. The real strategic purpose behind this move probably was to disrupt
and if possible to interrupt Greek trade with the Black Sea area, which supplied much grain to Greece.
Crossing into Europe for the first time, Darius campaigned with comparatively little success to the north of
the Danube. He retreated in good order, however, with only limited losses, and a bridgehead across the
Hellespont was established.
By 492 BCE Darius made his son-in-law (Mardonius) special commissioner to Ionia. Mardonius had
recovered Persian Thrace and Macedonia, first gained in the campaign against the Scythians and lost
during the Ionian Revolt. There followed the Persian invasion of Greece that led to Darius' defeat at the
Battle of Marathon late in the summer of 490 BCE. The "Great King" was forced to retreat and to face the
fact that the Greek problem, which had probably seemed to the Persians a minor issue on the western
extremity of the empire, would require a more concerted and massive effort. Thus began preparations for
an invasion of Greece on a grand, coordinated scale. These plans were interrupted in 486 BCE by two
events: a serious revolt in Egypt, and the death of Darius.
History of Iran
Xerxes (520-465 BCE) (Khashayar Shah)
http://www.iranchamber.com/history/xerxes/xerxes.php#sthash.8u2QtBDv.dpuf
X
erxes (Khashayar) was born around 520 BCE in the southern
province of Persis (Fars). He was a powerful king who
ruled Achaemenid (Persian) Empire from 486-465 BCE. Xerxes
was Darius The Great's eldest son by Queen Atosa (daughter
of Cyrus The Great). He had been designated official heir perhaps
as early as 498 BCE, and while crown prince he had ruled as the
King's governor in Babylon.
The new king quickly suppressed the revolt in Egypt in a single
campaign in 485 BCE. Xerxes then broke with the policy followed
by Cyrus The Great and Darius of ruling foreign lands with a fairly
light hand and, in a manner compatible with local traditions,
ruthlessly ignored Egyptian forms of rule and imposed his will on
the rebellious province in a thoroughly Persian style. Plans for the
invasion of Greece begun under Darius were then still further
delayed by a major revolt in Babylonia about 482 BCE, which also
was suppressed with a heavy hand.
Xerxes (Khashayar Shah)
Xerxes then turned his attention westward to Greece. He wintered in Sardis in 481-480 BCE and thence
led a combined land and sea invasion of Greece. Northern Greece fell to the invaders in the summer of
480 BCE, the Greek stand at Thermopylae in August of 480 BCE came to nought, and the Persian land
forces marched on Athens, taking and burning the Acropolis. But the Persian fleet lost the Battle of
Salamis, and the impetus of the invasion was blunted.
Xerxes, who had by then been away from Asia rather long for a king with such widespread
responsibilities, returned home and left Mardonius in charge of further operations. The real end of the
invasion came with the Battle of Plataea, the fall of Thebes (a stronghold of pro-Persian forces), and the
Persian naval loss at Mycale in 479 BCE. Of the three, the Persian loss at Plataea was perhaps the most
decisive. Up until Mardonius was killed, the issue of the battle was probably still in doubt, but, once
leaderless, the less organized and less disciplined Persian forces collapsed. Time and again in later years
this was to be the pattern in such encounters, for the Persians never solved the military problem posed by
the disciplined Greek hoplites.
The formation of the Delian League, the rise of Athenian imperialism, troubles on the west coast of Asia
Minor, and the end of Persian military ambitions in the Aegean followed rapidly in the decade after
Plataea. Xerxes probably lost interest in the proceedings and sank deeper and deeper into the comforts of
life in his capital cities of Susa, Ecbatana, and Persepolis. Self-enjoyment was steadily sapping the
strength and vitality of the Achaemenid Empire, led to the assassination of the Great King in 465 BCE probably upon order by one of his sons, Artaxerxes, who succeeded him-.
Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml
Alexander III of Macedon, better known as
Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the
nature of the ancient world in little more than a
decade.
Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of
Macedonia in July 356 BC. His parents were Philip
II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Alexander was
educated by the philosopher Aristotle. Philip was
assassinated in 336 BC and Alexander inherited a
powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with
his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian
power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the
massive Persian Empire.
Alexander the Great in battle
on his horse, Bucephalas
Against overwhelming odds, he led his army to victories across the Persian territories of
Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt without suffering a single defeat. His greatest victory was at the
Battle of Gaugamela, in what is now northern Iraq, in 331 BC. The young king of Macedonia,
leader of the Greeks, overlord of Asia Minor and pharaoh of Egypt became 'great king' of
Persia at the age of 25.
Over the next eight years, in his capacity as king, commander, politician, scholar and
explorer, Alexander led his army a further 11,000 miles, founding over 70 cities and
creating an empire that stretched across three continents and covered around two million
square miles. The entire area from Greece in the west, north to the Danube, south into
Egypt and as far to the east as the Indian Punjab, was linked together in a vast international
network of trade and commerce. This was united by a common Greek language and culture,
while the king himself adopted foreign customs in order to rule his millions of ethnically
diverse subjects.
Alexander was acknowledged as a military genius who always led by example, although his
belief in his own indestructibility meant he was often reckless with his own life and those of
his soldiers. The fact that his army only refused to follow him once in 13 years of a reign
during which there was constant fighting, indicates the loyalty he inspired.
He died of a fever in Babylon in June 323 BC.