Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon was known as Alexander the Great in Greece and the accursed Alexander in Persian Zoroastrian texts, the king of ancient Macedonia. He was born in 356 BC in the city of Pala and was taught by Aristotle until the age of 16. Before the age of thirty, Alexander was able to form one of the largest empires in the ancient world, extending from the Greek Sea to the Himalayas. He was invincible in battles and never lost. Alexander is credited with being one of the most successful military commanders in history.
After Alexander’s father, Philip II of Macedon, was assassinated, Alexander succeeded him to the throne in 336 BC. Alexander inherited a strong country and an experienced army from his father’s reign. He gained the title of General of Greece, and he made the most of this gift to realize his father’s military ambitions. In 334 BC, he invaded Asia Minor, which was under Achaemenid control, and launched a series of battles that lasted ten years. During a series of decisive battles, especially the combats of Asus and Gogmel, Alexander shattered Persian authority in the region. He subsequently overthrew Darius III, Emperor of Persia, and conquered the entire Persian Empire. At that time, Alexander’s empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.
In 326 BC, Alexander invaded India in pursuit of the “end of the world and the great outer sea” but was eventually forced to return at the request of his troops. Alexander intended to organize a series of battles that would begin with an invasion of Saudi Arabia but, before this series of fights that took place in 323 BC, he died of a fever in Babylon. After Alexander’s death, a civil war broke out between his survivors, leading to the disintegration of his vast empire and the emergence of governments ruled by his generals and successors, known as the Diadochi.
Alexander’s conquests caused a cultural dispersion in the world of those days. He founded twenty new cities named after Alexander, the most famous of which is Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander quickly became a legendary hero in the same image and horror of Achilles and played an exclusive role in the history and mythology of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the standard by which other military commanders compared themselves to him.