Alexander the Great the Life,

ALEXANDER the Great

The Life, Leadership, and Legacy of Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great, who was also known as Alexander III of Macedon, lived from July 356 BC until June 11, 323 BC ("Alexander the Great"), and was the hereditary King of Macedon from 336 B.C. until 323 BC (Plutarch). Alexander the Great was also, as the movie Alexander the Great (November 24, 2004) shows, an enormously successful military commander of his time, and for that matter, of all world military history (Alexander the Great). However, Alexander's death, which took place at Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon when he was just 32 years of age, reportedly on June 10-June 11, 323 B.C. (Plutarch), remains mysterious to this dayIn this essay, I shall describe the early life and education of Alexander, and also his military victories, his death, and his military legacy.

As a boy, Alexander, who was the son of King Philip II of Macedon and Philip fourth wife Olympias ("Alexander the Great"; Plutarch) was educated privately by the philosopher Aristotle, who had been Plato's student. Also, according to the article "Alexander the Great":

Aristotle was Alexander's tutor and he gave Alexander a thorough training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy... Aristotle gave him a copy of the Iliad which he always kept with him and read frequently.

Despite the excellent education that Alexander received from Aristotle, however, Alexander's major accomplishments and victories were in fact strategic military ones, and these occurred far and wide, which is extraordinary on its own: especially for a man who never even saw his 33rd birthday. As the article "Alexander the Great" states, for example, Alexander the Great is regarded as one of the greatest military strategists and tacticians who ever his conquest of the Persian Empire and the destruction of its capital

Persepolis. Following the unification of the multiple city-states of ancient

Greece under the rule of his father, Philip II of Macedon,... Alexander would conquer the Persian Empire, including Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea,

Gaza, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia and extend the boundaries of his own empire as far as the Punjab.

In today's terms, Alexander would likely also be considered a practitioner and strong supporter of multiculturalism and diversity, since he allowed non-Greeks into his army, including its administration. This was/is considered Alexander's "policy of fusion" ("Alexander the Great"), and arguably a very early precursor of today's emphases on inclusion, in areas like the military and higher education.