Alexander the Great Biography

Born: September 20, 356

Babylon



Macedonian king

Alexander the Great was one of the best-known rulers in ancient history.
By the time of his death at thirty-two, he ruled the largest Western
empire of the ancient world.

Education by tutors

Alexander was born in 356

B.C.E.

to King Philip II of Macedon (382–336

B.C.E.

) and Queen Olympias (375–316

B.C.E.

). Growing up, Alexander rarely saw his father, who was usually involved
in long military campaigns. Olympias, a fierce and possessive mother,
dominated her son’s youth and filled him with a deep resentment
of his father. Nonetheless, their son’s education was important
to both parents.

One of Alexander’s first teachers was Leonidas, a relative of
Olympias, who struggled to control the defiant boy. Philip hired
Leonidas to train the youth in math, archery, and horsemanship (the
training and care of horses). Alexander’s favorite tutor was
Lysimachus. This tutor devised a game in which Alexander impersonated
the hero Achilles. Achilles was a heroic Greek warrior from a famous
ancient poem called the

Iliad.

Achilles became the model of the noble warrior for Alexander, and he
modeled himself after this hero. This game delighted Olympias because
her family claimed the hero as an ancestor.

In 343 Philip asked Aristotle (384–322

B.C.E.

), the famous Greek philosopher and scientist, to tutor Alexander. For
three years in the rural Macedonian village of Mieza, Aristotle taught
Alexander philosophy, government, politics, poetry, drama, and the
sciences. Aristotle wrote a shortened edition of the

Iliad,

which Alexander always kept with him.

Beginnings of the soldier

Alexander’s education at Mieza ended in 340

B.C.E.

. While Philip was away fighting a war, he left the sixteen-year-old
prince as acting king. Within a year Alexander led his first military
attack against a rival tribe. In 338 he led the cavalry (troops who
fight battles on horseback) and helped his father smash the forces of
Athens and Thebes, two Greek city-states.

Alexander’s relationship and military cooperation with his father
ended soon after Philip took control of the Corinthian League. The
Corinthian League was a military alliance made up of all the Greek
states except for Sparta. Philip then married another woman, which
forced Alexander and Olympias to flee Macedon. Eventually Philip and
Alexander were reunited.

Alexander as king

In the summer of 336

B.C.E.

at the ancient Macedonian capital of Aegai, Alexander’s sister
married her uncle Alexander. During this event Philip was assassinated
by a young Macedonian noble, Pausanias. After his father’s death
Alexander sought the approval of the Macedonian army for his bid for
kingship. The generals agreed and proclaimed him king, making Alexander
the ruler of Macedon. In order to secure his
throne, Alexander then killed everyone who could have a possible claim
to the kingship.

Although he was the king of Macedon, Alexander did not automatically
gain control of the Corinthian League. Some Greek states rejoiced at
Philip’s murder, and Athens wanted to rule the League. Throughout
Greece independence movements arose. Immediately Alexander led his
armies to Greece to stop these movements. The Greek states quickly
recognized him as their leader, while Sparta still refused to join. The
League gave Alexander unlimited military powers to attack Persia, a
large kingdom to the east of Greece.

Asian campaign

In October 335

B.C.E.

Alexander returned to Macedon and prepared for his Persian expedition.
In numbers of troops, ships, and wealth, Alexander’s resources
were inferior to those of Darius III (380–330

B.C.E.

), the king of Persia. In the early spring of 334 Alexander’s
army met Darius’s army for the first time. Alexander’s
army defeated the Persians and continued to move west. Darius’s
capital at Sardis fell easily, followed by the cities of Miletus and
Halicarnassus. The territories Alexander conquered formed the
foundations of his Asian empire.

By autumn 334 Alexander had crossed the southern coast of Asia Minor
(now Turkey). In Asia Minor, Alexander cut the famous Gordian Knot.
According to tradition, whoever undid the intricate Gordian Knot would
become ruler of Asia. Many people began to believe that Alexander had
godlike powers and was destined to rule Asia.

Then in 333 Alexander moved his forces east and the two kings met in
battle at the city of Issus. Alexander was outnumbered but used creative
military formations to beat Darius’s forces. Darius fled.
Alexander then attacked the Persian royal camp where he gained lots of
riches and captured the royal family. He treated Darius’s wife,
mother, and three children with respect. With Darius’s army
defeated, Alexander proclaimed himself king of Asia.

As a result of the defeat, Darius wanted to sign a truce with Alexander.
He offered a large ransom for his family, a marriage alliance, a treaty
of friendship, and part of his empire. Alexander ignored Darius’s
offer because he wanted to conquer all of Asia.

Campaign in Egypt

Alexander then pushed on into Egypt. Egypt fell to Alexander without
resistance, and the Egyptians hailed him as their deliverer from Persian
domination. In every country, Alexander respected the local customs,
religions, and citizens. In Egypt he sacrificed to the local gods and
the Egyptian priesthood recognized him as pharaoh, or ruler of ancient
Egypt. They hailed Alexander as a god. Alexander then worked to bring
Greek culture to Egypt. In 331

B.C.E.

he founded the city of Alexandria, which became a center of Greek
culture and commerce.

More fighting in Persia

In September 331

B.C.E.

Alexander defeated the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela. The Persian
army collapsed, and again Darius fled. Instead of chasing after him,
Alexander explored Babylonia, which was the region that Darius had
abandoned. The land had rich farmlands, palaces, and treasures.
Alexander became “King of Babylon,
King of Asia, King of the Four Quarters of the World.”

Alexander next set out for Persepolis, the capital of the Persian
Empire. To prevent an uprising, Alexander burned Persepolis. In the
spring of 330 he marched to Darius’s last capital, Ecbatana
(modern Hamadan). There Alexander set off in pursuit of Darius.

By the time Alexander caught up with Darius in July 330, Darius’s
assistants had assassinated him. Alexander ordered a royal funeral with
honors for his enemy. As Darius’s successor, Alexander captured
the assassins and punished them according to Persian law. Alexander was
now the king of Persia, and he began to wear Persian royal clothing. As
elsewhere, Alexander respected the local customs.

Iran and India

After defeating Darius, Alexander pushed eastward toward Iran. He
conquered the region, built cities, and established colonies of
Macedonians. In the spring of 327

B.C.E.

he seized the fortress of Ariamazes and captured the prince Oxyartes.
Alexander married Oxyartes’s daughter Rhoxana to hold together
his Eastern empire more closely in a political alliance.

In the summer of 327 Alexander marched toward India. In northern India,
he defeated the armies of King Porus. Impressed with his bravery and
nobility, Alexander allowed Porus to remain king and gained his loyalty.

By July 325 the army continued north to the harsh and barren land in the
Persian Gulf. The hardship and death that occurred after arriving
brought disorganization to the army. It was also at this time that
disorder began to spread throughout the empire. Alexander was greatly
concerned with the rule of his empire and the need for soldiers,
officers, and administrators.

In order to strengthen the empire, Alexander then made an attempt to
bind the Persian nobility to the Macedonians to create a ruling class.
To accomplish this goal, he ordered eighty of his Macedonian companions
to marry Persian princesses. Alexander, although married to Rhoxana,
married Stateira, a daughter of Darius, to solidify his rule.

When Alexander incorporated thirty thousand Persians into the army, his
soldiers grumbled. Later that summer, when he dismissed his aged and
wounded Macedonian soldiers, the soldiers spoke out against
Alexander’s Persian troops and his Persian manners. Alexander
arrested thirteen of their leaders and executed them. He then addressed
the army and reminded his soldiers of their glories and honors. After
three days the Macedonians apologized for their criticism. In a
thanksgiving feast the Persians joined the Macedonians as forces of
Alexander.

Alexander’s death

In the spring of 323

B.C.E.

Alexander moved to Babylon and made plans to explore the Caspian Sea
and Arabia and then to conquer northern Africa. On June 2 he fell ill,
and he died eleven days later.

Alexander’s empire had been a vast territory ruled by the king
and his assistants. The empire fell apart at his death. The Greek
culture that Alexander introduced in the East had barely developed. In
time, however, the Persian and Greek cultures blended and prospered as a
result of his rule.

For More Information

Briant, Pierre.

Alexander the Great.

New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Green, Peter.

Alexander of Macedon, 356–323

Rev. ed. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1974.

O’Brien, John Maxwell.

Alexander the Great.

New York: Routledge, 1992.