Who Was Alexander the Great?

Alexander the Great was perhaps one of the most remembered figures in history. He was born the son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias in 356 B.C. and before his death in 323 B.C. he had conquered most of the known world. Taking his father's throne in 336 B.C., Alexander quickly united all of Greece and undertook the planned war that his father had surmised against Persia. Having never seen the Greeks united, Persia was defeated at the Granicus River and Alexander and his allied forces pushed on to defeat Miletus and Halicarnassus. The great warrior leader took most of Asia Minor and moved on to North Syria whose inhabitants fled before Alexander's army.

Alexander's grand plan began to spread as the general decided to conquer all of Persia, but the Persians would eventually fight back. It took considerable effort to take Tyre and Gaza, but they fell after over a year. He now had full command of Syria, and marched further on into Egypt. There he was given a god-like status as he was named the son of Amon-Ra, the king of the Egyptian gods.

Alexander was now in control of the entire Persian Empire. He had their king murdered, and crowned himself to be the new king of Persia. He erected Alexandria, a large monument to himself. Many of his soldiers began to grow contempt with his vanity and manner of taking on a Persian lifestyle. A plot against him was uncovered, and one of his general's sons was implicated. Alexander had them both killed.

At the age of 33, ruling an empire that was growing corrupt with conspiracy and hatred, the great warrior died of an intense fever. Alexander's legacy grows on. Many films and books have been written about him including the 2004 release about his life starring Collin Farell.