This article concerns the period 329 BC – 320 BC.
Bessus or Bessos, also known by his throne name Artaxerxes V, was a Persian satrap of the eastern Achaemenid satrapy of Bactria, as well as the self-proclaimed King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 330 to 329 BC.
Roxana sometimes known as Roxanne, Roxanna and Roxane was a Sogdian or a Bactrian princess whom Alexander the Great married after defeating Darius, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, and invading Persia. The exact date of her birth is unknown, but she was probably in her early teens at the time of her wedding.
The wars of Alexander the Great were a series of conquests that were carried out by Alexander III of Macedon from 336 BC to 323 BC. They began with battles against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, then under the rule of Darius III of Persia. After Alexander's chain of victories against Achaemenid Persia, he began a campaign against local chieftains and warlords that stretched from Greece to as far as the region of Punjab in South Asia. At the time of his death, he ruled over most regions of Greece and the conquered Achaemenid Empire ; he did not, however, manage to conquer the Indian subcontinent in its entirety according to his initial plan. Despite his military accomplishments, Alexander did not provide any stable alternative to the rule of the Achaemenid Empire, and his untimely death threw the vast territories he conquered into a series of civil wars, commonly known as the Wars of the Diadochi.
The Battle of the Hydaspes also known as Battle of Jhelum, or First Battle of Jhelum, was fought between Alexander the Great and Porus in May of 326 BCE. It took place on the banks of the Hydaspes River in Punjab, as part of Alexander's Indian campaign. In what was possibly their most costly engagement, the Macedonian army secured a decisive victory over the Pauravas and captured Porus. Large areas of Punjab were subsequently absorbed into the Macedonian Empire; Porus was reinstated as the region's ruler after Alexander, having developed a newfound respect for the fierce resistance put up by Porus and his army, appointed him as a satrap.
The Anabasis of Alexander was composed by Arrian of Nicomedia in the second century AD, most probably during the reign of Hadrian. The Anabasis is a history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, specifically his conquest of the Persian Empire between 336 and 323 BC. Both the unusual title "Anabasis" and the work's seven-book structure reflect Arrian's emulation of the Greek historian Xenophon, whose own Anabasis in seven books concerned the earlier campaign "up-country" of Cyrus the Younger in 401 BC.
The pezhetairoi were the backbone of the Macedonian army and Diadochi kingdoms. They were literally "foot companions".
Attalus, son of Andromenes from Tymphaia, and one of Alexander's officers, was accused with his brothers, Amyntas and Simmias, of having been engaged in the conspiracy of Philotas in 330 BC, but was acquitted, together with his brothers. In 328, Attalus was left with Polyperchon and other officers in Bactria with part of the troops, while the king himself marched against the Sogdians. He accompanied Alexander in his expedition into India, and was employed in several important duties. During Alexander's last illness in 323, Attalus was one of the seven chief officers who passed the night in the temple of Serapis at Babylon, in order to learn from the god whether Alexander should be carried into the temple.
Stasanor was a native of Soli in Cyprus, who held a distinguished position among the officers of Alexander the Great.
Oxyartes was a Sogdian or Bactrian nobleman of Bactria, father of Roxana, the wife of Alexander of Macedon.
Philip, son of Machatas and brother of Harpalus, was an officer in the service of Alexander the Great, who in 327 BC was appointed by Alexander as satrap of India, including the provinces westward of the Hydaspes, as far south as the junction of the Indus with the Acesines. After the conquest of the Malli (Malwa) and Oxydracae, these tribes also were added to his government.
Nicanor, son of Parmenion, was a distinguished officer in the service of Alexander the Great. He is first mentioned at the passage of the Danube river, in the expedition of Alexander against the Getae, 335, when he led the phalanx. But during the expedition into Asia he appears to have uniformly held the chief command of the body of troops called the Hypaspists (υπασπισται) shield-bearers or foot-guards, numbering three units of 1,000 men. As his brother Philotas did that of the εταιρoι, or horse-guards. We find him mentioned, as holding this post, in the three great battles of the Granicus, of Issus, and of Gaugamela. He afterwards accompanied Alexander with a part of the troops under his command, during the rapid march of the king in pursuit of the king Darius III Codomannus in 330; which was probably his last service, as he died of disease shortly afterwards, during the advance of Alexander into Bactria. His death at this juncture was considered a fortunate event, as it prevented him from participating either in the designs or the fate of his brother Philotas.
Aornos was the site of Alexander the Great's last siege, which took place on April 326 BC, at a mountain site located in modern Pakistan. Aornos offered the last threat to Alexander's supply line, which stretched, dangerously vulnerable, over the Hindu Kush back to Balkh, though Arrian credits Alexander's desire to outdo his kinsman Heracles, who allegedly had proved unable to take a fort that the Macedonians called Ἄορνος Aornos : meaning "birdless" in Greek. According to one theory, the name is a corruption of an Indo-Iranian word, such as *awarana "fortified place". According to Arrian, the rock had a flat summit well-supplied with natural springs and wide enough to grow crops: it could not be starved into submission. Neighboring tribesmen who surrendered to Alexander offered to lead him to the best point of access.
Roshanak or Rowshanak is a Persian female name. This name has several meanings such as shining little star, lovely flare, and luminous beauty. This name is still popular and in common use in today's Iran. The diminutive form "Roshie" is sometimes heard.
Peithon, son of Agenor (Αγήνωρ) was an officer in the expedition of Alexander the Great to India, who became satrap of the Indus from 325 to 316 BC, and then satrap of Babylon, from 316 to 312 BC, until he died at the Battle of Gaza in 312 BC.
Boukephala and Nikaia (Νίκαια) were two cities founded by Alexander the Great on either side of the Hydaspes during his invasion of the Indian subcontinent. The cities, two of many founded by Alexander, were built shortly after his victory over the Indian king Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes in early 326 BC.
The siege of Gaza, as part of the Wars of Alexander the Great, took place in October of 332 BCE. Resulting in a victory for Macedon, it ended the 31st Dynasty of Egypt, which functioned as a satrapy under the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
The Indian campaign of Alexander the Great began in 327 BC and lasted until 325 BC. After conquering the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the Macedonian army undertook an expedition into the northwestern Indian subcontinent. Within two years, Alexander expanded the Macedonian Empire to include present-day Punjab and Sindh in what is modern-day Pakistan, surpassing the earlier frontiers that had been established by the Persian conquest of the Indus Valley.
The Cophen campaign was conducted by Alexander the Great in the Kabul Valley between May 327 BC and March 326 BC. It was conducted against the Aspasioi, the Guraeans, and the Assakenoi tribes in the Kunar valley of Afghanistan, and Panjkora (Dir) and Swat valleys in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The goal of the campaign was to secure the Macedonian line of communications so that the Macedonian army could proceed into India proper.
Cyropolis was the largest of seven towns in the region that Alexander the Great targeted for conquest in 329 BC. His goal was the conquest of Sogdiana. Alexander first sent Craterus to Cyropolis, the largest of the Sogdian towns holding out against Alexander's forces. Craterus' instructions were to "take up a position close to the town, surround it with a ditch and stockade, and then assemble such siege engines as might suit his purpose....". The idea was to keep the inhabitants focused on their own defences and to prevent them from sending assistance out to the other towns.
