Alexander (356–323 BCE) was the son of King Philip II, ruler of Macedon, a mountainous country in northern Greece. Between 357 and 338 BCE, Philip had succeeded in conquering all the other Greek states. After Philip was murdered, Alexander became king. In just thirteen years, he enlarged the empire so that it stretched some three thousand miles (4,828 km), from Greece to India. This achievement earned him the title by which he has been known ever since – Alexander the Great.
Early Life
Alexander’s early education gave special emphasis to physical skills: sword fighting, riding bareback, athletics, and hunting. From thirteen he was taught for four years by the Athenian philosopher Aristotle, regarded as one of the wisest men of his time. Aristotle encouraged his pupil to be inquisitive about the natural world, an interest Alexander took with him on his later travels. Aristotle also taught him a love of literature. Though he was to become a great warrior, Alexander would also be a highly cultured monarch.
At the age of twelve, Alexander mastered an impossibly nervous horse because only he noticed that it was frightened by its own shadow. He named it Bucephalus and loved it dearly until its death. At sixteen, while Alexander was in charge of the kingdom in his father’s absence, he put down a rebellion, leading the army himself.
Philip decided to marry a girl of about Alexander’s age and make her his new queen in place of Olympias, Alexander’s mother. At the wedding, a fight broke out between father and son, and Alexander and his mother left Macedon. Soon afterwards Philip was murdered, no one knows on whose orders, and Alexander was proclaimed king. He was twenty.
Conquering the Persians
Alexander soon improved his father’s already excellent army, brought the rebelling Greek states to heel, and then moved across the Hellespont into Asia Minor (now Turkey) to conquer Darius and the Persians. He would never set foot in Europe again.
He first met the Persian forces at the River Granicus. He was advised not to cross, as his men would have to struggle up the opposite bank under heavy attack. "But I should be ashamed of myself if a little trickle of water like this were too much for us," he replied, and then galloped ahead of his men to attack a Persian general. He broke his lance and nearly had his head cut off but was saved by one of his men, Cleitus. Alexander’s army was victorious.
At Gordium he was shown an impossibly complex knot on the yoke of a cart and was told that the one who untied it would conquer Asia. Alexander, it is said, cut through it with his sword.
There followed more battles against armies, against cities, often against seemingly impossible odds. Alexander was as brave as any in battle, fearless and leading from the front. He was an inspiration to his men, and they adored him.
In victory he was often generous to the defeated and allowed them to live on and thrive. He continued to found new cities, usually named Alexandria, the most famous of which was and is in Egypt.
