The Early Life of Alexander the Great

Alexanders life began in 356 B.C. in the Kingdom of Macedonia to King Philip the ll and the Queen Olympia. While his father Philip was absent during most of his childhood due to military affairs Alexander was very close to his mother and she had a very big impact on his character and development.

Alexander and Aristotle

While Alexander had many tutors the most famous of all was Aristotle. Aristotle taught philosophy, politics, science, and even drama to Alexander in 343 B.C. When Aristotle taught Homer's Iliad to Alexander it had a huge impact on him wanting to be a memorable hero and so Aristotle created an smaller abridged version of the tale so that Alexander could always carry it with him.

Rise to Power

When Alexander was 19 his father Philip the ll was murdered by a Macedonian noble and the throne was open to new heirs. Despite being the son of the king and queen Alexander did not have direct right to the throne and so he allied himself with the Macedonian army and killed off anyone who could take his place including the daughter of Philip and Cleopatra. While he did now have the throne he did not have control of the Corinthian league. City states like Athens began to celebrate the death of Philip the ll and divided interest's among themselves. They also led rebellions for a democracy but Alexander quickly reacted and sent his armies to make sure the city-states new that he was their new leader.

Conquests

'As Alexanders Northern campaign drew to an end he was notified that Thebes had expelled soldiers of his army that were stationed there and he feared a revolt. In order to prevent the revolt he sent his army to Thebes and within a mere three days he had swiftly conquered Thebes. With this he hoped to put an end to any future revolts and make an example of Thebes. This was but the beginning of his armies many triumphs. In 334 B.C. Alexanders armies faced the Persian king Darius the thirds armies near Grancius River but they were quickly defeated and his armies continued their march. The armies met again in 333 B.C. and while they where outnumbered through Alexanders superb military tactics and strategies they won and with King Darius captured Alexander declared that he was the new king of Persia and added it to his growing Empire. Alexander continued on with his conquest and added Egypt, Iran, and India to his vast empire all by 324 B.C.

The Death of Alexander

When Alexander was just 32 years old he died in Babylon on June 13th 323 B.C. of malaria. After his death his empire crumbled and fought for power and his years of conquest and war where undone.