Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great
Alexander accomplished greater deeds than, not only any of the kings who had lived before him but also most of those who came after him. Alexander the Great was born at Pella Macedonia in 356 B.C.E. He spent his childhood years watching his father transform Macedonia into a great military power. His Father was King Phillip of Macedonia and his mother was Olympias princess of neighboring Epirus. She was a deeply spiritual woman who taught her son about his ancestors. From his earliest ages, he was conditioned for conquest and glory in being a king. He then focused on becoming a great ruler, which he soon became
As a young boy Alexander was fearless and strong. At the age of 12 he tamed a beautiful horse by the name of Bucephalus, a horse than no one else was able to ride. His father was so proud of him that he cried and told his son to find a greater kingdom because Macedonia was not great enough. Aristotle came to Pella in 343 B.C.E. to become Alexander’s personal tutor Alexander was taught by Aristotle at the Mieza Temple from the ages of 13 to 16. Alexander supposedly had a strong athletic build, but was shorter than the average Macedonian. He had fair skin, and was clean shaven most of the time. He had green eyes, and was said to be a very handsome man. When leading his army he would always wear something very recognizable from long distances by his enemies. Alexander wore two large white plumes in his helm to distinguish himself from the other soldiers during battle. While not in battle, Alexander usually wore Persian clothing, at least during his late twenties and early thirties. His silk Persian clothing had a long robe, cape, sash and headband in the royal purple and white colors.
Alexander the Great respected women, and treated them fairly. Aristotle's early teachings may have had something to do with Alexander's thoughts toward women. When taking young woman captive after overtaking a city, he would protect them from his troops, and treat them as if they were his daughters. Often, when talking to older queens, Alexander would refer to them as mother, showing his respect to them as if being a part of his close family. One of Alexander's finest acts was when he took his enemy Darius' mother and other family members when he conquered Persia: thinking that Alexander was going to kill them; Darius was much relieved to find that Alexander treated them royally and with respect as guests of his kingdom.
At the battle of Chaeronea Phillip defeated the allied Greek states of the Sacred Band of Thebes in 338 B.C.E. Alexander was leading the left wing at the age of eighteen. In this battle he demonstrated personal courage in breaking the Band of States. In 336 B.C.E Phillip, Alexander’s father was assassinated at the theater. Many thought he might have had something to do with the murder of his father, but this seems extremely unlikely
After his father’s death Alexander continued on and soon reached Thessaly in seven days and Boeotia five days later. He then took the Thebans by surprise, and in a few days the city was his. He then began a blitz campaigns against the Triballi and Illyrians, which took him across Danube. Alexander had a very large army which was much of the reason for his great success. His army was comprised of 30,000 foot soldiers, and 5,000 Calvary.
Along the span of his lifetime, Alexander the Great conquered many provinces in a short period of time. However his biggest military accomplishment may have been beating Persia the second and final time even though he was greatly outnumbered. Since he made it through all these battles uninjured he began riding in front of his army. This cost him, in the battle of Mallians when an arrow pierced his lung his soldiers went crazy and started killing everybody because they thought their leader had been killed. Like I said he was hit in the lung however Alexander made it through with only a splintered rib and a torn lung.
Alexander eventually began to lose some of his power and prestige. Many of his troops simply wanted to go home but Alexander kept pushing them to conquer more, losing more and more support along the way. During one incident while he was drunk, Alexander fought and killed his friend Clitus. After this he lost the trust from his already unhappy troops. Not only were some of his soldiers unhappy with him, but a lot of the Macedonians started to dislike him. This was caused by his adoption of Persian ways. Though he was pulling together this vast empire, the Macedonians felt they were losing their leader. Even after all this, Alexander still retained much of his power, but it would soon be taken away from him.
On June 10, 323 B.C.E. Alexander died. The cause of his death was unknown. Some stories tell how Alexander drank a cup of wine, which was poisoned, and he started gasping and choking, and died soon after. More than likely, he died from complications of the flu, or was struck by malaria while in Babylon. At the time of his decline, many soldiers still cherished their leader, and they all sat around outside his tent as his condition deteriorated. The day before he died, his soldiers marched past his death bed, honoring their great leader. With no successor named his empire went out to generals and officers who would then become governors of sections of his empire. Soon after, Alexander the Great's empire split and crumbled. His great character and values were two of the things that made Alexander the Great a well-known individual in history.