Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great or Alexandros III Philippou Makedonan

was born in July 356BC in Pella, Macedonia (Popovic intro). He conquered

what was in his time, most of the civilized world. “Alexander accomplished

greater deeds than any, not only of the kings before him but also of those

later to come later down to our time (popovic intro).” He was one of the

greatest military geniuses in the history of the world.

Both of Alexander’s parents always dreamed of him someday

being a great leader. Alexander’s mother was named Olympias, she was

princess of Epirus, a small provincial kingdom. She was the high priestess

of a religious cult. She believed that she was descended from Achilles

(Wepman 17). She was a jealous woman and very protective of her son

(Popovic intro).

Alexander’s father, Phillip II of Macedonia was also a great

leader and military strategist. When Alexander was young Greece looked

down on the Macedonians as barbarians. In twenty years Phillip made

Macedonia more powerful than any province in Greece. He bribed his

enemies so that he would only have to deal with them one at a time

(Townson 2). Alexander was very anxious to begin his career as ruler

the empire his father had created. Once he said,“My father will get to far

ahead and leave nothing for me to do.(Popovic origins).

“When Alexander was twelve he tamed a horse named

Bucephalus, that no one else was able to ride. Phillip was very proud of his

son for this accomplishment, he thought that this showed how strong and

brave he was. Once Phillip said to his son”seek out a kingdom worthy of

thyself, for the kingdom of Macedonia is to...

... middle of paper ...

...re were huge armies with elephants ahead. His men refused

to go any further. They headed back, but went a different way than what

they came and captured more cities. As he left the Greek rule was lost over

the land he had conquered. The garrisons he left behind were defeated

(Popovic end).

In Babylon Alexander got sick, and he died at the age of 32

(Cairns 91).”He had done enough to wear out the strength of a hundred

men, and now he was worn out (Cairns 91).”That night he had drunken

a lot of unmixed wine ; it is belived that this was the cause of his death.

Alexander left Greece with no heir to the throne(Popovic death).

As can be seen, from this paper Alexander accomplished more

than most conquerors in the history of the world. He was almost always out-

numbered, but he still came out of the battles victorious everytime.