Alexander The Great: A Brief Biography Of Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon or as he is commonly known Alexander the Great was born 21 July 356BC in Pella the capital of Macedon. His father was Philip II of Macedon and his mother was Olympias a princess from a neighboring kingdom and one of Philips eight wives. He became King after the assassination of his father in 336BC and ruled until his own death in 323BC. Alexander conquered most of the known world at the time and is remembered as a military genius.

Alexander's childhood and education was befitting that of a prince and future king and from an early age he was told that he was a descendant of gods and heroes. His mother Olimpias even claimed that she was impregnated by Zeus and still a Virgin when he was born. He was groomed to become the future king of Macedon. Lysimachus of Acarnania was given the task to teach Alexander how to read, write and play the lyre. At age 12 he tamed his first horse, Bucephalus, a wild proclaimed "untamable" stallion. Bucephalus remained Alexander’s horse of choice in battle until it was wounded and died during the invasion of India in 326BC. Alexander was heartbroken and named a city after the horse that served him so well. When he turned fourteen his father employed the great Greek philosopher Aristotle to privately tutor Alexander. Aristotle made a great impact on the young boy and the influence of his teachings is evident throughout Alexander’s life. At age sixteen Philip left Alexander in charge of Macedon while he was away on a campaign. A Thracian tribe wanted to take advantage of Philip and the large Macedonian army being away and revolted against their Macedonia masters. They unfortunately underestimated the young Alexander. He quickly assembled an army which attac...

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... seem to be that he developed a high fever which got worse over the course of about fourteen days until he died. The cause of the fever is unknown but many at the time attributed it to foul play. Today it is speculated that it could have been Malaria or even Typhoid fever that caused his death.

Alexander’s body was placed in a golden sarcophagus which was filled with honey and which in turn was placed in a golden casket. Alexander did not specify who was to succeed him as king of Macedonia and had no heir at the time of his death. His son was only born after his death. Rivalry and infighting eventually destroyed the Macedonian Empire. Alexander was known as Alexander the Great due to the fact that he never lost a battle, his empire at the time of his death was approximately two million square miles and stretched from Greece to Egypt and into modern day Pakistan.