Favorable omens and miracles that were interpreted for him by his own people also encouraged him. By stating this, his own people would never dare give a bad omen because their head would not be connect to their body very long. He had several specific goals in Asia. He was suppose to be leading a Panhellenic invasion of the Persian Empire to rid the world of oppression. He also sought revenge on the Persians for their invasion on Greece in 490 B.C. The land that he conquered outside the Persian Empire was a personal longing to see the Ocean that was believed to encircle Europe and Asia at the edge of the world. One of his goals that seemed ridiculous was to seek revenge on the Persian invasion of Greece. The Macedonians never fought, but actually just surrendered. Also the Persians were eventually defeated decisively by the Greeks and would never again invade Greece. You would think that the Persians would be seeking revenge for their defeat at the hands of the Greeks. I believe that Alexander used this as a ploy to unite the Greek city/states even more. The army that assembled at Amphipolis in North Greece: 32,000 men with another 12,000 in the advance guard, had already crossed over to Persia the previous year. It was one of the toughest and most professional armies in the ancient world. There were also units from non-Macedonian Greeks. For Alexander, the presence of troops from southern Greece helped to justify his claim to be the "General in Chief of the army of the Hellenes." In his army, there were many specialized units. Such as engineers, bridge-builders, sappers, surveyors, along with a supply corps. They also carried a siege train, had mobile siege towers, stone-throwing catapults. They even had medical supplies being sent to the front lines. He was ready to cross the Hellespont, the great divide between Europe and Asia. The world would never be the same again. When Alexander crossed the Hellespont with his army in 334 B.C., h...
