Describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and analyze the legacy of his empire

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Describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and analyze the legacy of his empire
Alexander was prepared to succeed his father Philip II through careful tutelage. By the time his father died, he had tutored him in numerous ways and he had also set the ground for his conquests. Alexander inherited an urbanized people, a well-organized military, and philosophical and martial education and he utilized his knowledge to conquer Persia and other parts of Asia. His legacy consisted of his autocratic monarchies and use of military force as part of his political legacy. Entrenchment of Greek culture as part of his cultural legacy survived until the Western Roman Empire took over his conquests in 31 BC.
When Philip II assumed kingship over Macedonia in 359 BC, the land did not have a centralized government. It was composed of minor villages and small urban centers. The Aegean was strategically located in Macedonia, southern Macedon was the intermediary between Greece and Persia and Macedonia had numerous mineral resources. King Philip utilized these resources and Macedonia’s strategic location to consolidate power of his government. Philip II and Alexander assumed ownership of all gold, silver, copper, iron among other mineral deposits. King Philip II also established a new coinage system and he eliminated all the dissident tribes and minor kings located around Macedonian Borders. He established a military of professionally trained persons for the service of the King of Macedon (Foster, 2005).
The army used a combination of two units with different tactics to conquer the Greeks namely the Phalanx and Calvary units. Philip brought the Macedonian highlands under his control because they were previously not inclined to central rule. He also managed to bring Greek mainland under his power leaving the Persian Empire as his greatest threat. Persia was a threat because it had constantly sought to control Greek affairs. Philip was set on conquering Persia to amass its wealth for maintenance of the large armies. Uniting Macedonia and Persia was also strategic in the sense that it would alleviate anti-Macedonian sentiments as the two had a common strategy against the Greeks. However, Philip was unable to implement his plan to conquer Persia because he was assassinated in 336 BC (Foster, 2005).
Alexander was 20 years old at the time of his father’s death and apart from his father’s tutelage he had also received knowledge from Aristotle a great Greek philosopher. He first assumed leadership at the age of sixteen in 340 BC as a Regent. He led a successful attack on the Maedi and captured their city. He also established a Greek colony and named it Alexandaroupolis. His next leadership position was that of a commander in the Macedonian Calvary unit. This unit was responsible for spying on the enemy’s weaknesses and plotting how best to launch an attack. By the time of his father’s demise, he had risen to the position of second in command after Philip II and he was an astute Calvary officer (Foster, 2005).
Before embarking on the pursuit for Persia, Alexander required containing unrest along Macedonia’s frontiers as part of his base power. He conquered the Thracians, Triballians, Getae, and the Pellium which was under the Illyrians rule. He also managed cowering Greek cities against revolting and assumed the status of the official hegemon of the Corinthian League (Foster, 2005). The league is composed of all the Greek states that Philip had conquered and consolidated before his assassination (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
Alexander’s invasion to capture Persia in 334 BC was in Asia Minor. He led a 37,000 army composed of Macedoni...