some sources say that he did it in a fit of drunken excitement, while others say he did it to signify that the Persian invasion of Greece had at last been avenged. Alexander had already considered himself king of Persia, but his right to the throne was in question as long as Darius was still alive and at large. So in the summer of 330 B.C. he marched north in pursuit of Darius. Alexander had almost caught up to him but Darius was slain by his own men, finally brought to rebellion by their long resentment of his mismanagement of the Persian defense. When Alexander came upon Darius_s body he ordered it to be sent back to Persepolis to be buried in the royal cemetery of the Achaemenid kings. Now, at last, Alexander was officially the great king of Persia. In his new role he headed east to take possession of the remaining Persian provinces. After two years he reached and subdued Bactria and Sogdiana; he now controlled all that belonged to Darius. As the campaign of Persia was ending, Alexander_s plan expanded. Originally his purpose had been simply to destroy the Persian army. He had decided to take over the whole Persian empire, and he went on to achieve this without losing a single battle. If Alexander thought of the Persian empire at all, he thought of it simply as a source of wealth. However, as he took o ver more and more territory, he saw that he could not hold the empire without governing it. To govern it effectively, he had to merge it with the Greek world. _Alexander proved to be as skillful at statecraft as he was at military matters Since his main concern was to keep the empire functioning , Alexander tolerated many local religious, and social customs. He even, to some extent, permitted each country to keep its national institutions. At the same time he introduced Hellenic ideas. The most important being the Greek city state. As Alexander traveled and conquered he founded many cities, most of which bear his name (Alexandria) The...
