Alexander the Great - Philip Freeman  ## Metadata - Author: **Philip Freeman** - Full Title: Alexander the Great - Category: #books ## Highlights - ALEXANDER WAS BORN ON THE SIXTH DAY OF THE MONTH CALLED HEKATOMBAION, THOUGH THE MACEDONIANS CALL IT LOÖS. ON THE SAME DAY THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS BURNED TO THE GROUND. —PLUTARCH ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm3jt8r4wwn40rh76a7yxt52)) ## New highlights added February 15, 2025 at 6:41 AM - Philip was fortunate to be assigned to the household of the Theban general Pammenes, who was a great friend of Epaminondas, the victor of Leuctra. While the other Macedonian hostages feasted and chased local girls, Philip spent every moment learning the latest techniques in warfare from the Theban generals. The Macedonian army before Philip’s time consisted of a peasant infantry led by undisciplined nobles on horseback. Like their counterparts in the Middle Ages, these Macedonian knights saw themselves as the epitome of heroic warfare and treated the lowly farmers and shepherds in the infantry as so much fodder for enemy spears. But Philip discovered a very different kind of army at Thebes. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm4y8n81jrk0gcf8saadtgn1)) ## New highlights added February 16, 2025 at 9:05 AM - Alexander rarely missed a chance to combine his genuine devotion to the gods with useful propaganda. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm7nx4z7qved6bf52anh3a22)) ## New highlights added February 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM - Like Darius, Alexander immediately recognized that the new situation seriously compromised the Persians. As with the great sea battle at Salamis in the previous century in which a smaller Athenian navy drew a larger Persian fleet into a narrow strait, the fight on the plain of Issus would diminish any advantage in numbers. Even so, it would be a very tough fight. The Persian lines might not be broad, but they would be deep and filled with proven soldiers the Great King had summoned from the many nations of his empire. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm86swcg8p623d4bxs23fzr4)) - Next to them were Macedonian cavalry, then thousands of infantry stretching almost a mile across the center of the battlefield, and finally the elite Thessalian cavalry next to the sea. Parmenion was in overall command of the left side of the line, while Alexander positioned himself on the right toward the center. It was a classic formation that he had used at the Granicus—swift-moving cavalry on the wings to encircle the enemy, and the mass of the infantry in the center to stab and slash their way through the Persian lines. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm871s0m6tj4gdnkc3c0nwpk)) - Ancient writers made much of the treatment of Darius’ women as an illustration of Alexander’s kindly nature. While this may well be true, his benevolence was also eminently practical. By protecting the women of the Great King’s household, Alexander took on the symbolic role of son, husband, and father in the eyes of his new subjects. As with his adoption by Queen Ada in Caria, the Macedonian king was using family ties to build power. He decked the queen mother with jewelry and assured her that her dignity would in no way be lessened under his rule. To the wife of Darius, who was also the Great King’s sister, he promised that she would enjoy all former benefits of her station as queen and would be touched by no one, least of all him. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01jm87hqsdymkn4fv3azdg7cxm))