- Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Egypt, but never considered conquering Rome
- His father, Philip II, had planned to attack Persia before being assassinated
- Alexander's focus on Persia was due to his father's promise and lack of knowledge about Rome
- After defeating Persia, he had to pacify the rest of the region and couldn't return to Macedon
- He spent the next 6 years putting down revolts in Persia and then went westward to Babylon
- He decided to conquer the afterlife, making it impossible to go westward and conquer Rome

Alexander the Great is most famous for conquering the Persian Empire but what drove him to go east instead of going west and conquering Rome or Carthage? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

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Alexander the Great is most famous for his conquests, and also naming cities after himself.

But a common question surrounding his empire building is why did he go east and never consider going west and say conquering Rome?

So to begin we have to look at Greece in the 4th century BC which at this point was a mess of city-states, petty kingdoms and shifting alliances.

To the north sat the Kingdom of Macedon, which was ruled by Philip II.

Philip had expanded his kingdom to the south, which was seen as a threat by Athens.

The Athenians built an alliance to check Philip's growing power and before long, war.

Long story short, Macedonia won and subjugated the rest of Greece.

Except for Sparta, that is, which was just there being difficult.

Philippe's next move was to get revenge on Persia for its previous expedition into Greece.

And so, he and his new… allies started to prepare.

Unfortunately for Philippe, before this could happen, it was time to get stabbed to death.

Alexander III succeeded him and like his father, wanted to expand his kingdom, but going west to Rome wasn't really an option at this point.

The first reason was that his father had promised to attack Persia, which was a unifying force in Greece.

And if Alexander wanted to keep them on board, it was important to keep this promise.

Furthermore, Alexander likely knew very little, if anything, about Rome at this point.

It wasn't a regional power and only held this much territory, and neither it nor its neighbours were really worth an expedition.

And with that, Alexander was off to attack Persia, which he did in 334 BC.

The Macedonians did well and Alexander defeated the Persian Shah Darius and took all of this land, thereby becoming Alexander the OK.

He then moved south into Egypt which he soon conquered, and this allowed him to found the city of Alexandria and also proclaim himself pharaoh.

Alexander the Pretty Good then advanced towards the Persian capital and defeated Darius again before taking it.

Darius fled but was soon murdered by his own men and Alexander took the title of King of Persia as well, thereby becoming Alexander the Notable.

So with Persia defeated, surely Alexander was free to return to Macedon and turn his attention elsewhere.

Even with Darius gone, Alexander still had to pacify the rest of Persia.

Now he'd previously written of his intent to conquer places like Carthage, and it's likely that he wouldn't have shied away from taking whatever else was in his way.

But again, there's no evidence he knew anything of Rome.

In fact, the Greeks had minimal contact with Rome and wouldn't have cared much until Rome's conquest of these Greek cities in the south of Italy, which happened about 50 years after Alexander died.

So anyway, Alexander wasn't able to return to Macedon because 1 of Darius' generals had declared himself king, and Alexander couldn't tolerate a rival.

Alexander spent the next 6 years putting down revolts across Persia, and after his realm was mostly secure, he went westward to Babylon.

It was here that he decided he was going to conquer the afterlife, which meant going westward was impossible, and Rome was safe in its cradle.

I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons...

Spencer Lightfoot, Gustav Swan, the McWhopper, Shuenin, Marvin Casale, Winston K.

Wood, Spinning 3 Plates, Andy McGeehy, Camoon Yoon, Calling Dr.

Howard, Todd Short, Copper Tone, Maggie Patskowski, Words About Books Podcast, Jim Strumberg, Miss Isette, and Charles I.


Speaker 0: Alexander the Great is most famous for his conquests, and also naming cities after himself. But a common question surrounding his empire building is why did he go east and never consider going west and say conquering Rome? So to begin we have to look at Greece in the 4th century BC which at this point was a mess of city-states, petty kingdoms and shifting alliances. To the north sat the Kingdom of Macedon, which was ruled by Philip II. Philip had expanded his kingdom to the south, which was seen as a threat by Athens.

The Athenians built an alliance to check Philip's growing power and before long, war. Long story short, Macedonia won and subjugated the rest of Greece. Except for Sparta, that is, which was just there being difficult. Philippe's next move was to get revenge on Persia for its previous expedition into Greece. And so, he and his new… allies started to prepare.

Unfortunately for Philippe, before this could happen, it was time to get stabbed to death. Alexander III succeeded him and like his father, wanted to expand his kingdom, but going west to Rome wasn't really an option at this point. The first reason was that his father had promised to attack Persia, which was a unifying force in Greece. And if Alexander wanted to keep them on board, it was important to keep this promise. Furthermore, Alexander likely knew very little, if anything, about Rome at this point.

It wasn't a regional power and only held this much territory, and neither it nor its neighbours were really worth an expedition. And with that, Alexander was off to attack Persia, which he did in 334 BC. The Macedonians did well and Alexander defeated the Persian Shah Darius and took all of this land, thereby becoming Alexander the OK. He then moved south into Egypt which he soon conquered, and this allowed him to found the city of Alexandria and also proclaim himself pharaoh. Alexander the Pretty Good then advanced towards the Persian capital and defeated Darius again before taking it.

Darius fled but was soon murdered by his own men and Alexander took the title of King of Persia as well, thereby becoming Alexander the Notable. So with Persia defeated, surely Alexander was free to return to Macedon and turn his attention elsewhere. Well, no. Even with Darius gone, Alexander still had to pacify the rest of Persia. Now he'd previously written of his intent to conquer places like Carthage, and it's likely that he wouldn't have shied away from taking whatever else was in his way.

But again, there's no evidence he knew anything of Rome. In fact, the Greeks had minimal contact with Rome and wouldn't have cared much until Rome's conquest of these Greek cities in the south of Italy, which happened about 50 years after Alexander died. So anyway, Alexander wasn't able to return to Macedon because 1 of Darius' generals had declared himself king, and Alexander couldn't tolerate a rival. Alexander spent the next 6 years putting down revolts across Persia, and after his realm was mostly secure, he went westward to Babylon. It was here that he decided he was going to conquer the afterlife, which meant going westward was impossible, and Rome was safe in its cradle.

I hope you enjoyed this episode with a special thanks to my patrons... Spencer Lightfoot, Gustav Swan, the McWhopper, Shuenin, Marvin Casale, Winston K. Wood, Spinning 3 Plates, Andy McGeehy, Camoon Yoon, Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr.

Howard, Todd Short, Copper Tone, Maggie Patskowski, Words About Books Podcast, Jim Strumberg, Miss Isette, and Charles I. First.

See all History Matters transcripts on Youtube

Why didn't Alexander the Great conquer Rome? (Short Animated Documentary)