Alexander the Great: Difference between revisions
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{{Era| | {{Era|Individuals}}{{WP-REAL}} | ||
{{WP-REAL}} | {{Otheruses|King of Macedon|[[Alexander (disambiguation)]]}} | ||
{{Quote|At thirty, he was a god with an empire stretching across the known world.|Julius Caesar on Alexander the Great, 48 BCE.|Assassin's Creed: Origins|Aya: Blade of the Goddess}} | |||
{{Character Infobox | {{Character Infobox | ||
|name = Alexander the Great | |name = Alexander the Great | ||
|image = Alexander the | |image = DTAE Alexander the Great Mosaic.jpg | ||
|birth = c. 20 July 356 BCE<br>{{Wiki|Pella}}, [[Makedonia|Kingdom of Makedonia]] | |||
|birth = 20 | |death = 323 BCE {{c|aged 32}}<ref name="ACI">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – Timeline</ref><br>[[Babylon]], Kingdom of Makedonia | ||
|death = | |species = [[Human]] | ||
| | |database = [[Database: Alexander the Great|Alexander the Great]] | ||
| | |affiliates = *Kingdom of [[Makedonia]] | ||
| | *[[Order of the Ancients]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Alexander III of Macedon''', commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''', was a King of | '''Alexander III of Macedon''' (356 BCE – 323 BCE), commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''', was a King of [[Makedonia]] who conquered the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. For this act, he is heralded as one of the most successful conquerors in history. | ||
==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
=== | ===Rise to power=== | ||
Alexander the Great's empire was backed by the [[Order of the Ancients]], who entrusted him with a [[Scepter of Alexander the Great|Staff of Eden]], explaining why Alexander was able to become so successful and undefeated.<ref name="Encyclopedia">''[[Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia]]''</ref><ref name="ACR">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[Abstergo Files]]: "File.0.02\Hst_Beginning"</ref> In addition to the Staff, which reinforced his rule, Alexander also wielded the [[Trident of Eden]] in battle.<ref name="ACLD">''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants]]'' – Chapter Twenty-Two</ref> | |||
During his successful conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander and his Macedonians entered [[Egypt]], freeing the land from Persian influence and being saluted as liberators by the population. During his time in Egypt, Alexander visited the [[Oracle of Amun]] in [[Siwa]], who prophesied his exploits and hailed him as Son of Ammon.<ref name="DT Alexander Ammon">''[[Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt]]'' – [[Tours: Siwa]]: "Alexander the Great, Son of Ammon"</ref> | |||
[[ | Alexander also attempted to conquer the region of [[Cappadocia]] in Central [[Anatolia]], but failed due to his lengthy military campaigns. Instead, an autonomous and independent kingdom was established, led by its own king outside of Alexander's empire.<ref name="Cappadocia">''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' – [[Database: Cappadocia]]</ref> | ||
Alexander | In October 331 BCE, after defeating the Persian king {{Wiki|Darius III}} at the {{Wiki|Battle of Gaugamela}}, Alexander entered the city of [[Babylon]] triumphantly and quickly captured it soon after.<ref name="Glyph 5"/> Around 330 BCE, Alexander discovered the [[Herat Temple]], an ancient structure built by the [[Isu]], in [[Herat]], [[Afghanistan]], and built the [[Herat Citadel]] atop its remains.<ref name="ACCI">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' – [[What Lies Beneath]]</ref> | ||
After conquering the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander set out to take over [[India]]'s [[Punjab]] region. In the area between the {{Wiki|Jhelum River|Jhelum}} and {{Wiki|Chenab River}}s, he encountered the prince [[Porus]] in what would become known as the [[Battle of the Hydaspes]]. Despite the Punjab force's numerical superiority, including 200 [[elephant]]s, Alexander's troops flanked Porus' left side. The maneuver caused the elephants to panic, and Alexander's highly mobile cavalry proved too strong for the Punjab force.<ref name="Battle of Hydaspes">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[Database: Battle of the Hydaspes]]</ref> | |||
Alexander | |||
Presumably impressed with Porus' military elegance and spirit, Alexander allowed him to retain his kingdom after the battle. Porus became an ally and subordinate ruler of Alexander until sometime between 321 BCE and 315 BCE, when he was assassinated by Alexander's general [[Eudemus]].<ref name="Battle of Hydaspes"/> | |||
Alexander | |||
===Death=== | |||
{{Quote|Ironically, Alexander will die by the poison of those whom he had vanquished in battle.|Iltani prior to poisoning Alexander, c. 323 BCE.|Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India|Database: Iltani's Story 5}} | |||
During his reign, Alexander had established one of the largest empires in the world, and created a new {{Wiki|Hellenistic period|Hellenistic}} civilization by leaving Greek colonists in his conquered lands. As he continued his conquest of Asia, a group that would later be known as the [[Babylonian Brotherhood]] realized that Alexander's success could not be caused by military prowess alone, suspecting that he held a Staff of Eden.<ref name="Fall of the Great">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[Database: Fall of the Great]]</ref> | |||
Thus, in 323 BCE, one of the group's members, [[Iltani]], infiltrated [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]'s palace in Babylon, where she used poison procured from a Persian alchemist<ref name="Iltani's Story">''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' – [[Database: Iltani's Story 5]]</ref> to assassinate Alexander.<ref name="AC2">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''</ref> Due to the slow-acting nature of the poison, Alexander withered away over several days until he finally succumbed to its effects,<ref name="Iltani's Story"/> and his empire began to crumble.<ref name="Fall of the Great"/> His body was interred alongside his Staff of Eden in a [[Tomb of Alexander the Great|tomb]] in [[Alexandria]], the city in Egypt that he had founded.<ref name="ACO">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]''</ref> The three prongs of his Trident of Eden were split after his death between his generals, including [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] and [[Ptolemy I Soter|Ptolemy]].<ref name="ACLD"/> | |||
=== | ==Legacy== | ||
Alexander was | {{Quote|Together, we can do more than Alexander did.|Cleopatra to Julius Caesar, 48 BCE.|Assassin's Creed: Origins|Aya: Blade of the Goddess}} | ||
In 48 BCE, [[Amunet|Aya]] and [[Bayek]] unlocked the entrance to Alexander's tomb, which had been blocked by debris after an earthquake struck Alexandria during the reign of [[Ptolemy XII Auletes]]. This allowed [[Cleopatra]] to show the tomb to [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Julius Caesar]] in an attempt to impress him, and also paved the way for the Order of the Ancients to take the ruler's Staff of Eden from his sarcophagus.<ref name="Aya">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Aya: Blade of the Goddess]]</ref> Following the [[Battle of the Nile]], Cleopatra was crowned Queen of Egypt and was given Alexander's Staff by the Order,<ref name="Battle of the Nile">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[The Battle of the Nile]]</ref> before the Ancients later took the artifact to [[Rome]].<ref name="Fall of an Empire">''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' – [[Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another]]</ref> | |||
By the 9th century CE, the [[Assassins|Hidden Ones]], the organization founded by Aya and Bayek to fight the Order's influence, had learned about Iltani's assassination of Alexander. Around 862, the Hidden One [[Tabid Al-Nubi]] was attempting to recreate Iltani's concoction that she had used to poison the ruler.<ref name="A New Begining">''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]'' – [[A New Beginning]]</ref> | |||
In 1841, the [[British Rite of the Templar Order|British Templars]] took over the Herat Citadel to explore the ruins of the Isu temple underneath. During their excavation, the Templars acknowledged Alexander's role in building the citadel and pondered whether the ruler had been aware of the temple's existence.<ref name="ACCI" /> | |||
Details of Alexander's life were later collected by the Assassin [[Clay Kaczmarek]] in 2012 while he was held captive by [[Abstergo Industries]] at their [[Animus Project laboratory]] in Rome. He then hid the information within the [[Animus|Animus 1.28]] in [[Glyphs|Glyph]] puzzles for his successor, [[Desmond Miles]].<ref name="Glyph 5">''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' – [[Glyphs|Glyph]] #5: "Instruments of Power"</ref> Sometime in early September,<ref name="Desmond Files">''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' – [[The Desmond Files]]</ref> Desmond solved the puzzle set titled "Instruments of Power", in which Alexander was included in a list of assassinated historic individuals revealed to have wielded a Staff of Eden.<ref name="Glyph 5"/> | |||
==Behind the scenes== | |||
Alexander the Great is a historical figure first mentioned in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' via the [[Glyphs|Glyph]] puzzles. He has since been mentioned in several succeeding titles, but to date has made no physical appearance in the series. In ''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'', he has his own [[database]] entry. | |||
The portrait of Alexander by Rembrandt used in the fifth Glyph puzzle of ''Assassin's Creed II'' is erroneously attributed to the Macedonian, as it is instead a portrait of ''Pallas Athene''. The false identification is a common occurrence by scholars.<ref>{{WP|Pallas Athene (painting)|''Pallas Athene'' (painting)}}</ref> Rembrandt's painting ''Man in Armor'', painted the same year 1655, bears the most resemblance to Alexander.<ref>{{WP|List of paintings by Rembrandt}}</ref> | |||
According to the semi-legendary ''{{Wiki|Alexander Romance}}'', he was described as having {{Wiki|heterochromia}},<ref>{{WP|Alexander the Great}}</ref> a common characteristic among [[Sage]]s of [[Aita]].<ref name="Sage's Buried Secret">''[[Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag]]'' – [[The Sage's Buried Secret]]</ref> | |||
==Gallery== | |||
<gallery captionalign="center" position="center" widths="180"> | |||
Rembrandt_alexander.jpg|''Alexander the Great'' by {{Wiki|Rembrandt}} | |||
AlexandertheGreat-Staff.jpg|''Entry of Alexander into Babylon'' by {{Wiki|Charles Le Brun}} | |||
alexander the great.jpg|''Alexander taming {{Wiki|Bucephalus}}'' by François Schommer | |||
ACIHydaspes.png|Alexander during the Battle of the Hydaspes | |||
ACIAlexanderFuneral.jpg|19th century illustration of Alexander's funeral | |||
ACO Alexander's sarcophagus.jpg|Alexander's sarcophagus in his tomb | |||
ACO Tomb of Alexander 2.jpg|Top view of Alexander's sarcophagus and his Staff of Eden | |||
ACO Tomb of Alexander 6.jpg|A painting on the northern wall depicting an infant Alexander being washed | |||
ACO Tomb of Alexander 5.jpg|A painting on the northern wall depicting an adolescent Alexander with [[Aristotle]] | |||
ACO Tomb of Alexander 3.jpg|A painting on the southern wall depicting Alexander standing triumphantly with soldiers | |||
ACO Tomb of Alexander 4.jpg|A painting on the southern wall of Ptolemy Lagos kneeling before Alexander | |||
</gallery> | |||
==Appearances== | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' {{1stm}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Revelations]]'' {{1st}} {{Io|Painting}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Initiates]]'' {{Io|Painting}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins – Desert Oath]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Origins]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
*''[[Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt]]'' {{Io|painting}} | |||
*''[[Echoes of History]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Mirage]]'' {{Mo}} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{ | {{Reflist}} | ||
{{ | {{Templars nav}} | ||
[[Category: | {{ACC}} | ||
[[Category: | {{ACO}} | ||
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[[Category:356 BCE births]] | |||
[[Category:323 BCE deaths]] | |||
[[Category:Individuals]] | |||
[[Category:Macedonians]] | |||
[[Category:Kings of Macedon]] | |||
[[Category:Pharaohs of Egypt]] | |||
[[Category:Kings of Babylon]] | |||
[[Category:Kings of Persia]] | |||
[[Category:Heraclidae]] | |||
[[Category:Argead dynasty]] | |||
[[Category:Order of the Ancients allies]] | |||
[[Category:Individuals who held Pieces of Eden]] | |||
[[Category:LGBT individuals]] | |||
Latest revision as of 00:17, 11 May 2026
Alexander III of Macedon (356 BCE – 323 BCE), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a King of Makedonia who conquered the Achaemenid Empire. For this act, he is heralded as one of the most successful conquerors in history.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Rise to power[edit | edit source]
Alexander the Great's empire was backed by the Order of the Ancients, who entrusted him with a Staff of Eden, explaining why Alexander was able to become so successful and undefeated.[2][3] In addition to the Staff, which reinforced his rule, Alexander also wielded the Trident of Eden in battle.[4]
During his successful conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander and his Macedonians entered Egypt, freeing the land from Persian influence and being saluted as liberators by the population. During his time in Egypt, Alexander visited the Oracle of Amun in Siwa, who prophesied his exploits and hailed him as Son of Ammon.[5]
Alexander also attempted to conquer the region of Cappadocia in Central Anatolia, but failed due to his lengthy military campaigns. Instead, an autonomous and independent kingdom was established, led by its own king outside of Alexander's empire.[6]
In October 331 BCE, after defeating the Persian king Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander entered the city of Babylon triumphantly and quickly captured it soon after.[7] Around 330 BCE, Alexander discovered the Herat Temple, an ancient structure built by the Isu, in Herat, Afghanistan, and built the Herat Citadel atop its remains.[8]
After conquering the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander set out to take over India's Punjab region. In the area between the Jhelum and Chenab Rivers, he encountered the prince Porus in what would become known as the Battle of the Hydaspes. Despite the Punjab force's numerical superiority, including 200 elephants, Alexander's troops flanked Porus' left side. The maneuver caused the elephants to panic, and Alexander's highly mobile cavalry proved too strong for the Punjab force.[9]
Presumably impressed with Porus' military elegance and spirit, Alexander allowed him to retain his kingdom after the battle. Porus became an ally and subordinate ruler of Alexander until sometime between 321 BCE and 315 BCE, when he was assassinated by Alexander's general Eudemus.[9]
Death[edit | edit source]
During his reign, Alexander had established one of the largest empires in the world, and created a new Hellenistic civilization by leaving Greek colonists in his conquered lands. As he continued his conquest of Asia, a group that would later be known as the Babylonian Brotherhood realized that Alexander's success could not be caused by military prowess alone, suspecting that he held a Staff of Eden.[10]
Thus, in 323 BCE, one of the group's members, Iltani, infiltrated Nebuchadnezzar II's palace in Babylon, where she used poison procured from a Persian alchemist[11] to assassinate Alexander.[12] Due to the slow-acting nature of the poison, Alexander withered away over several days until he finally succumbed to its effects,[11] and his empire began to crumble.[10] His body was interred alongside his Staff of Eden in a tomb in Alexandria, the city in Egypt that he had founded.[13] The three prongs of his Trident of Eden were split after his death between his generals, including Seleucus and Ptolemy.[4]
Legacy[edit | edit source]
In 48 BCE, Aya and Bayek unlocked the entrance to Alexander's tomb, which had been blocked by debris after an earthquake struck Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy XII Auletes. This allowed Cleopatra to show the tomb to Julius Caesar in an attempt to impress him, and also paved the way for the Order of the Ancients to take the ruler's Staff of Eden from his sarcophagus.[14] Following the Battle of the Nile, Cleopatra was crowned Queen of Egypt and was given Alexander's Staff by the Order,[15] before the Ancients later took the artifact to Rome.[16]
By the 9th century CE, the Hidden Ones, the organization founded by Aya and Bayek to fight the Order's influence, had learned about Iltani's assassination of Alexander. Around 862, the Hidden One Tabid Al-Nubi was attempting to recreate Iltani's concoction that she had used to poison the ruler.[17]
In 1841, the British Templars took over the Herat Citadel to explore the ruins of the Isu temple underneath. During their excavation, the Templars acknowledged Alexander's role in building the citadel and pondered whether the ruler had been aware of the temple's existence.[8]
Details of Alexander's life were later collected by the Assassin Clay Kaczmarek in 2012 while he was held captive by Abstergo Industries at their Animus Project laboratory in Rome. He then hid the information within the Animus 1.28 in Glyph puzzles for his successor, Desmond Miles.[7] Sometime in early September,[18] Desmond solved the puzzle set titled "Instruments of Power", in which Alexander was included in a list of assassinated historic individuals revealed to have wielded a Staff of Eden.[7]
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
Alexander the Great is a historical figure first mentioned in Assassin's Creed II via the Glyph puzzles. He has since been mentioned in several succeeding titles, but to date has made no physical appearance in the series. In Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India, he has his own database entry.
The portrait of Alexander by Rembrandt used in the fifth Glyph puzzle of Assassin's Creed II is erroneously attributed to the Macedonian, as it is instead a portrait of Pallas Athene. The false identification is a common occurrence by scholars.[19] Rembrandt's painting Man in Armor, painted the same year 1655, bears the most resemblance to Alexander.[20]
According to the semi-legendary Alexander Romance, he was described as having heterochromia,[21] a common characteristic among Sages of Aita.[22]
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Alexander the Great by Rembrandt -
Entry of Alexander into Babylon by Charles Le Brun -
Alexander taming Bucephalus by François Schommer -
Alexander during the Battle of the Hydaspes -
19th century illustration of Alexander's funeral -
Alexander's sarcophagus in his tomb -
Top view of Alexander's sarcophagus and his Staff of Eden -
A painting on the northern wall depicting an infant Alexander being washed -
A painting on the northern wall depicting an adolescent Alexander with Aristotle -
A painting on the southern wall depicting Alexander standing triumphantly with soldiers -
A painting on the southern wall of Ptolemy Lagos kneeling before Alexander
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed II (first mentioned)
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations (first appearance) (painting only)
- Assassin's Creed: Initiates (painting only)
- Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins – Desert Oath (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Origins (mentioned only)
- Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt (painting only)
- Echoes of History (mentioned only)
- Assassin's Creed: Mirage (mentioned only)
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Timeline
- ↑ Assassin's Creed Encyclopedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Abstergo Files: "File.0.02\Hst_Beginning"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Assassin's Creed: Last Descendants – Chapter Twenty-Two
- ↑ Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt – Tours: Siwa: "Alexander the Great, Son of Ammon"
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Revelations – Database: Cappadocia
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Assassin's Creed II – Glyph #5: "Instruments of Power"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – What Lies Beneath
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Battle of the Hydaspes
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Assassin's Creed: Initiates – Database: Fall of the Great
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India – Database: Iltani's Story 5
- ↑ Assassin's Creed II
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Aya: Blade of the Goddess
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Battle of the Nile
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Origins – Fall of an Empire, Rise of Another
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Mirage – A New Beginning
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Initiates – The Desmond Files
- ↑
Pallas Athene (painting) on Wikipedia
- ↑ List of paintings by Rembrandt on Wikipedia
- ↑ Alexander the Great on Wikipedia
- ↑ Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag – The Sage's Buried Secret
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