Mediterranean Conquests, 334–331 B.C.

Alexander's forces met a Persian army under Memnon of Rhodes at the Granicus River on the western tip of Asia Minor and routed it in a single day. The Macedonians lost few men, while the enemy suffered heavy losses. Thousands of Greek mercenaries fighting for Persia were cut down without mercy. The western Persian headquarters at Sardis was taken. Also, the Greek cities on the Aegean coast were freed, neutralizing the Persian fleet, which needed them as bases in order to maintain control of the Aegean. An inland campaign, in which Alexander seized Gordium and other Persian strongholds, completed the conquest of Asia Minor.

Macedonian governors and garrisons of soldiers were left to hold the conquered areas, while Alexander moved south toward the Phoenician coast. He defeated the forces of the Persian king Darius III at Issus in 333 B.C., and some of the Persian royal treasure, badly needed by Alexander, fell into his hands. Darius' offer to divide the empire with Alexander was refused. After a seven-month siege the Macedonians took Tyre, in southern Phoenicia, and after a two-month siege Gaza, in southern Palestine, gaining control of the coast.

Alexander moved on to Egypt, where he spent the winter of 332–31. The Egyptians accepted him as a deliverer from the Persians. Assuming the title of pharaoh, Alexander made sacrifices to the Egyptian gods and declared himself son of the god Ammon. (All pharaohs were supposed to be half divine.) He ordered the building of a new seaport city, to be called Alexandria (as were many other towns founded by him).