Alexander the Great
Born in July 356 B.C. Alexandros III Philippou Makedonon to King Philip II and Epirote princess Olympias, Alexander the Great, was a king of Macedon and the greatest military commander who ever lived in the ancient world. In the relatively short period of time he was at the helm of the kingdom of Macedon, he managed to conquer almost the entire civilized world before his untimely death (Alexander the Great, 2015).
When Alexander was very young, he proved himself to be capable of undertaking dangerous military conquests (Gascoigne, n.d.). For instance, when the boy was just sixteen, his father left him in charge of the kingdom when he went east on an expedition against the Byzantium Kingdom (Gascoigne, n.d.). During the time his father was away, Alexander managed to crush Thracians who were posing problems to the throne. As a reward, his father later allowed him to build a new town in the territory occupied by Thracians. The town is named Alexandropolis, the first of many more to be named after him (Gascoigne, n.d.). In his early years, Alexander had many teachers. There was Leonidas of Epirote, his mother's relative, who taught him how to ride horses and how to fight. There was also Lysimachus of Acarnania who taught him how to read and write and play musical instruments. Among the tutors hired to teach Alexander different subjects...
The lessons from different tutors enabled him to develop lifelong love for music and literature (Mark, 2013).
Aristotle's influence was great on young Alexander, in that when he managed to conquer territories for Macedon, he never forced the Greek culture on the conquered people. Instead, he just introduced the Greek culture as an alternative culture in the same way Aristotle taught him and his other students (Mark, 2013). Leonidas' work on the young prince was also seen in Alexander's lifelong stamina and physical resilience.
Military Campaigns
Alexander's skills and leadership was first seen in the Battle of Charonea (338 B.C.). In that battle, the young Alexander managed to deliver a decisive victory for the Macedonian army against allied Greek city states. When his father was killed two years later, the young prince assumed the throne and embarked on the conquest of the great Persian Empire (Mark, 2013). With a mighty army, Alexander crossed into Asia Minor, sacking several cities and liberating others from Persian rule. A year after crossing into Asia Minor, he was met by the force of King Darius, the Third at the Battle of Issos. Alexander defeated the mighty Persian army and went on to claim several Persian territories. He then…
