Ancient History

Alexander the Great was so named because of his military achievements. From the age of about 16 on, he rode into battle with his father on a horse that no other man could tame. When his father died in 336 BC, it was the army that named Alexander as king. In an effort to continue his father’s dream of conquest, the young king began a 13-year military campaign that is still seen as unequaled.

He began with conquering the surrounding city-states of Greece, including Thebes and Athens. However, soon afterward, the Thebans revolted and fought against the Macedonians as fiercely as they could. This cause Alexander and his troops to completely decimate the city and selling all Theban civilians into slavery.

Once he had secured his place as king of the Greeks, he moved on to the prize he really wanted. To conquer Persia and defeat it’s king, Darius III. In 333 BC, Alexander and his men met the Persian army led by Darius himself. In the ensuing battle, Darius was forced to flee, leaving his entire family behind. Though Alexander had taken the family as prisoners of war, he treated them with all the hospitality attributed to royalty.

It would be another 2 years before Alexander and Darius would meet at what would be called the Battle of Gaugamela. This was a place of Darius’ choosing, thinking that the area would be to his advantage. He had also managed to gather an army of about 100,000 men from all over the Persian Empire. In the end, Darius was again forced to flee. Though Alexander tried to chase him down, Darius managed to elude the Macedonian army. Before Alexander had a chance to face him in battle again, one of Darius’ generals killed the king and had himself proclaimed the new Persian ruler, Artaxerxes V.

By 329 BC, both Artaxerxes V and his successor had been killed by their own men, leaving Alexander to claim the title of King of Asia. From there, Alexander turned his attentions to India. He invited tribal leaders to fall before him, but most refused. Though he conquered many regions rather quickly, in 326 BC he faced a new opponent at the Battle of Hydaspes in the Punjab region of the continent.

The Indian military, and their king, Porus, fought valiantly. They employed elephants in their ranks, in hopes of scaring the horses of the Macedonians. However, after a battle which caused serious casualties on both sides, the Macedonians surrounded the Indian troops, who surrendered almost immediately.

Because Alexander had come to admire the Indian king, he spared his life and allowed him to continue ruling the region. Though Alexander wanted to move further into the Indian interior, his soldiers had had enough. They knew that the armies in those areas were even stronger than the one they had just faced. Plus, it had been years since they had been home and wanted to again see their families. Alexander finally ceded and turned for home.

Though there were a few minor scuffles along the way, this was to be Alexander’s last major battle. On a stop-over in Babylon, Alexander the Great died just before his 33^rd birthday. There is much speculation as to how the Macedonian king died, but death was the one battle that Alexander could not win.

Throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, scientists have found the remains of a mighty creature known as the Mammoth. The mere sound of the name brings on images of enormous pachyderms covered in thick fur.

Fossils records have found these animals lived from as far back as 4.8 million years ago, to as recently as 4,000 years ago. Throughout the ages, several species of mammoth roamed the Earth. However, the mammoth we usually think about are the Woolly Mammoth of Siberia and the Columbian and Imperial Mammoths of North America.

The Imperial Mammoth of North America was the largest of all species. It’s range spread from Canada to Mexico, and several fossilized bones have been retrieved from the La Brea Tar Pits in California. This animal could stand as tall as 16 feet at it’s shoulders and had tusks so large that they would overlap. The Imperial Mammoth died out about 17,000 years ago.

The Columbian Mammoth was only slightly smaller than the Imperial, and roamed the same regions. However, the Columbian’s tusks did not overlap and the largest Columbian stood about 13 feet at the shoulders. However, the Columbian Mammoth didn’t reach extinction between 9,000 and 8,000 years ago. It was one of the last mega-fauna creature to go extinct.

The Siberian Mammoth, or better known as the Woolly Mammoth, is probably the most famous of all the species. This animal roamed the vast ice sheets of the Northern Hemisphere until about 12,000 years ago. However, there is evidence that some Mammoth survived in what is now Alaska as recently as 6,000 years ago, and on Wrangel Island near the Arctic Ocean as recently as 3,700 years ago.

In the last few years, scientists have found several Mammoth remains in the frozen tundra of Siberia. In May of 2007, a complete baby mammoth was found in Russia. The small Mammoth was in extraordinary condition, allowing experts to even distinguish the animals sex.

Oddly enough, there is a lot of talk about scientists cloning DNA found in many hair samples taken from various Mammoth specimens. Will we see a real, living Mammoth in our lifetimes? Or, do we even have the right to bring this ancient animal back to life?