Alexander the Great

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 1 October 2015

⏱️ 47 minutes

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Summary

Alexander the Great is one of the most celebrated military commanders in history. Born into the Macedonian royal family in 356 BC, he gained control of Greece and went on to conquer the Persian Empire, defeating its powerful king, Darius III. At its peak, Alexander's empire covered modern Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and part of India. As a result, Greek culture and language was spread into regions it had not penetrated before, and he is also remembered for founding a number of cities. Over the last 2,000 years, the legend of Alexander has grown and he has influenced numerous generals and politicians. With: Paul Cartledge Emeritus Professor of Greek Culture and AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge Diana Spencer Professor of Classics at the University of Birmingham Rachel Mairs Lecturer in Classics at the University of Reading Producer: Victoria Brignell.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for downloading this episode of In Our Time for more details about In Our Time
0:04.0	and for our terms of use please go to bbc.co.uk slash radio for.
0:08.9	I hope you enjoy the program.
0:11.0	Hello, Alexander III of Macedon.
0:13.1	Better known as Alexander the Great is one of the most famous figures from the ancient
0:16.7	world.
0:17.7	Born in 356 BC he became King Age 20 after his father Philip had been murdered.
0:23.3	Alexander then went on to kill all his rivals and secured the throne.
0:27.2	For the next 12 years he marched his army in 12,000 miles as he conquered the Persian
0:31.4	Empire and defeated his king derives the third.
0:34.4	He spread Greek culture through Central Asia and found his cities among them Alexander
0:38.7	in Egypt.
0:39.7	At its peak his empire stretched from Greece in the west to modern day Pakistan in the
0:43.6	east taking in what we know as Iran, Iraq and Egypt and Afghanistan.
0:48.5	He is widely regarded as one of the most skillful and influential leaders and military commanders
0:52.8	of all time.
0:53.8	With me to discuss that as Alexander the Great are Paul Cartilage, emeritus professor
0:57.4	of Greek culture at agey, the Ventus Senior Research Fellow at Claire College University
1:01.9	of Cambridge, Downer Spencer, professor of classics at the University of Birmingham and
1:06.6	Rachel Mayer's lecturer in classics at the University of Reading.
1:09.9	Paul Cartilage, what was the status of Macedon in the Greek world at the time when Alexander
1:15.3	was born in 356 BC?
	...

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