Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great (Greek: Megas Alexandros; July 20, 356 BC – June 10, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, was an ancient Greek king (basileus) of Macedon (336–323 BC). He was one of the most successful military commanders in history, and was undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks.Following the unification of the multiple city-states of ancient Greece under the rule of his father, Philip II of Macedon (a labour Alexander had to repeat because the southern Greeks rebelled after Philip's death), Alexander conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire, including Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia and extended the boundaries of his own empire as far as the borders of Punjab. Before his death, Alexander had already made plans to also turn west and conquer Europe. He also wanted to continue his march eastwards in order to find the end of the world, since his boyhood tutor Aristotle had told him tales about where the land ends and the Great Outer Sea begins. Alexander integrated foreigners into his army, leading some scholars to credit him with a "policy of fusion." He encouraged marriage between his army and foreigners, and practised it himself. After twelve years of constant military campaigning, Alexander died, possibly of malaria, West Nile virus, typhoid fever, viral encephalitis or the consequences of heavy drinking.[9][10]His conquests ushered in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence over distant areas, a period known as the Hellenistic Age, a combination of Greek and Middle Eastern culture. Alexander himself lived on in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. After his death (and even during his life) his exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appears as a legendary hero in the tradition of Achilles.Born in Pella, capitol of Macedon, Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedon and of his fourth wife Olympias, an Epirote princess. On his mother's side, he was a second cousin of Pyrrhus of Epirus; thus, there are notable examples of military genius on both sides of his family. According to Plutarch, his father descended from Heracles through Karanus of Macedon and his mother descended from Aeacus through Neoptolemus and Achilles.[11] Plutarch relates that both Philip and Olympias dreamt of their son's future birth. In Philip's dream, he sealed her womb with the seal of the lion. Alarmed by this, he consulted the seer Aristander of Telmessos, who determined that his wife was pregnant and that the child would have the character of a lion.[12] Another odd coincidence is that the temple of Artemis in Ephesus was set afire on the night of his birth. Plutarch's explanation is that the Gods were too busy watching over Alexander to care for the temple.After his visit to the Oracle of Ammon at Siwa, according to five historians of antiquity (Arrian, Curtius, Diodorus, Justin, and Plutarch), rumors spread that the Oracle had revealed Alexander's father to be Zeus, rather than Philip. In support of this, Plutarch (Alexander 3.1,3) claims that Philip avoided Olympias' bed because of her affinity for sleeping in the company of snakes. In his early years, Alexander was raised by his nurse Lanike, who was Cleitus' older sister. Following this, Alexander was educated by a strict teacher: Leonidas, a relative of his mother Olympias. Leonidas thought Alexander narcissistic and silly, and was equally disliked by Alexander. Reportedly, when Alexander threw a large amount of sacrificial incense into a fire, Leonidas harshly reprimanded him, telling him that when he had conquered the spice bearing regions, he could waste as much as he wanted. Years later, when Alexander had conquered Gaza, a city directly on the Persian spice trade route, he sent back over 15 tons of myrrh to Leonidas as a sort of ultimate retort. Aristotle, however, was Alexander's most famous and important tutor since he gave Alexander a thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy. Aristotle gave him a copy of the Iliad which he always kept with him and read frequently.When Alexander was ten years old, a Thessalian brought a black horse to sell to Philip. The horse turned out to be wild and no man could mount him. The young Alexander went to the horse, and turned him towards the sun, for he had noticed that the horse was just afraid of his own shadow. He was then able to mount and ride it. His father and other people who saw this were very impressed, and when the young Alexander returned and dismounted the horse Philip kissed him with tears of joy and said "My son, seek thee out a kingdom equal to thyself; Macedonia has not room for thee." This line probably had as much paranoid fear in it as pride. Philip II knew perfectly well what happened to Macedonian kings with ambitious sons.The horse was named Bucephalus (which means "ox-head"). Bucephalus would be his companion and one of his best friends for the next two decades until the horse died (according to Plutarch due to old age, for he was already 30; other sources claim that Bucephalus died of wounds sustained in a battle in India). Alexander then named a city after him called Bocephia.

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