Alexander the Great was the King of Macedonia, the ancient kingdom of Northern Greece, and the conqueror of the Persian Empire. In his short life span he had conquered many empires and thus he was considered as one of the greatest military geniuses to have ever lived.
Macedonia was ruled by Alexander’s father, King Philip II. Alexander was born in July in356 B.C in Pella. Alexander was raised by a nurse and a strict tutor and learned how to read, play the lyre, ride, fight and everything that a son of a noble family would do. At the age of 13 Alexander was tutored by the famous philosopher and scientist Aristotle. He taught him medicine, philosophy, logic, morals, religion and it was through his teachings that Alexander developed a passion for the wars of Homer and the Iliad. These stories were the ones that inspired him to become a war hero.
Alexander – The soldier and king
Alexander became a soldier at the early age of 16. At that young age, Alexander helped his father in an important battle to defeat the Athenian and Theban armies. Alexander became king when his father died. He had gained support of most of the army. Though King Philip succeeded in uniting all Greek-city states, after his death the states were divided once again. Alexander worked towards getting the support of the Greek city states. With the exception of Athens, the Greek city states supported Alexander with full military power.
Alexander now turned east to conquer more of the civilised world. First he moved and conquered Asia Minor, which is Turkey today. Next he took over Syria, defeating the Persian Army. He then set to conquer the Persian Empire, the largest kingdom to the Eats of Greece. In 334 B.C Alexander broke the power of Persia and defeated the kingdom in a series of decisive battles. After defeating the Persian King Darius III, Alexander became the king of the Persian Empire. Alexander’s empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He then conquered Egypt and declared Alexandria as its capital. He then moved to Babylonia, including the city of Susa.
Alexander conquered many kingdoms and even grew his empire to occupy Punjab in Northern India. He defeated King Porus in India but was very impressed by his bravery and tactics and made him an ally. He gave Porus his Kingship back and also some land that he did not own previously.
Death of Alexander
Alexander had just come to Babylon and captured it when he suddenly fell sick and died. Many people suspect he was poisoned as the reason of death is unknown. He died at the age of 32. Some say he died of a fever, maybe malaria or typhoid. He was sick for 12 days before he succumbed to his illness.
4 Facts about Alexander the Great
- Alexander never lost a battle, not even one.
- He named more than 70 cities after him and one after his horse, Bucephalus in India.
- After defeating the Persians Alexander started dressing like them.
- After his death, Alexander’s body was immersed in honey by the Babylonians to save it from decoy. Many years later it was placed in Alexandria’s communal mausoleum.