Alexander III of Macedon, called the Great, was born in 356 BC at Pella, capital of the kingdom of Macedon, son of King Philip II and Olympias, a princess of Epirus. His mother told him he descended from Achilles, his father from Heracles: he grew up believing he was destined for heroic deeds.
Education
From 13 to 16 he was taught by Aristotle, who instructed him in philosophy, medicine, science and literature. Alexander always carried a copy of the Iliad annotated by his teacher, and kept a dagger under his pillow. According to Plutarch, as a boy he tamed the horse Bucephalus, whom no one could ride, by noticing it was afraid of its own shadow.
King at twenty
At 18 he led the cavalry in the victory at Chaeronea (338 BC), which gave Philip control of Greece. In 336 BC Philip was assassinated at a wedding feast at Aigai (Vergina) and Alexander, aged twenty, became king. He crushed revolts at once, destroying Thebes as an example, and took up his father's plan: to lead the Greeks against the Persian Empire.
Conquests
- 336 BCBecomes king after Philip II's assassination.
- 335 BCDestroys rebellious Thebes.
- 334 BCCrosses to Asia; victory at the Granicus river.
- 333 BCDefeats the Persian king Darius III at Issus; cuts the Gordian knot at Gordium.
- 332 BCSiege of Tyre; enters Egypt, where he is welcomed as pharaoh.
- 331 BCFounds Alexandria; visits the oracle of Amun at Siwa; decisive victory at Gaugamela.
- 330 BCBurns Persepolis; Darius is killed by his own men.
- 329-327 BCCampaigns in Bactria and Sogdiana; marries the princess Roxana.
- 326 BCDefeats King Porus at the Hydaspes in India; the army refuses to go further.
- 325 BCGruelling march across the Gedrosian desert.
- 323 BCDies in Babylon, perhaps of fever, aged 32.
| Battle | Year | Against | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Granicus | 334 BC | Persian satraps | Opens Asia Minor |
| Issus | 333 BC | Darius III | Darius flees, royal family captured |
| Gaugamela | 331 BC | Darius III | Collapse of the Persian Empire |
| Hydaspes | 326 BC | Indian king Porus | Victory against war elephants |
A new world
Alexander did not only want to conquer: he adopted Persian dress and ceremonies, brought Persians into the army and administration and staged mass marriages at Susa between Macedonian officers and Persian noblewomen. Many Macedonians rejected this policy and relations with his companions grew tense: at a banquet he killed his friend Cleitus with his own hands. He founded dozens of cities, many called Alexandria: the most famous, in Egypt, became the cultural centre of the ancient world.
Death and the fate of the empire
Alexander died in Babylon in June 323 BC after ten days of fever. The cause is still debated: malaria, typhoid, the effects of wounds and alcohol, poison. Asked who should inherit the empire, he is said to have answered "the strongest". His generals, the Diadochi, divided it in a series of wars, creating the kingdoms of the Hellenistic age. His body was taken to Alexandria, but the tomb has never been found.
Visiting
In Greece Alexander's places are in Macedonia: Pella, with its museum and mosaics, and Vergina (ancient Aigai), where in 1977 archaeologist Manolis Andronikos found the royal tombs attributed to Philip II, now in a spectacular underground museum. See Thessaloniki, the ideal base.