Alexander’s enemies underestimated him. At twenty, they dismissed him as a “mere boy.” Yet before dying mysteriously at thirty-two, he had built one of the ancient world’s largest empires.
A Young King
Alexander’s father was King Philip II of Macedonia, a frontier kingdom north of Greece. Philip trained him in warfare, and by sixteen, the prince was leading an army. Then, in 336 BCE, Philip was assassinated. At twenty, Alexander became king.
Philip’s armies had conquered many of the Greek poli. But after Philip’s death, many Greeks believed they could throw off Macedonian rule. They were wrong. The young king marched on the rebellious polis of Thebes, destroyed all but the house of the poet Pindar, and warned the other Greek poli not to challenge his rule.
Invading Persia
With the Greek peninsula under his control, Alexander turned east toward Persia, the longtime enemy of Greece and the mightiest empire in the world. In 334 BCE, he led 40,000 soldiers and 30,000 sailors across the sea into Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Every sword, shield, horse, and day’s food had to move with the army as it swept toward King Darius III.
Alexander’s army was less than half the size of the Persian forces, but he forced Darius to fight on a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea. The cramped battlefield prevented the Persians from surrounding the smaller Macedonian army. Alexander then led a fierce cavalry charge toward Darius himself. When the Persian king fled, much of his army fled with him. Alexander captured Darius’s mother, wife, and daughters, treating them with respect and keeping them with his court.
Egypt and Alexandria
Alexander then moved south to Egypt, where he was welcomed as a hero for freeing the people from Persian rule. They declared him a pharaoh and a god. The young conqueror founded Alexandria, which became the greatest center of learning in the ancient world. Its famous library collected hundreds of thousands of scrolls from across the Mediterranean, making it the intellectual capital of the Hellenistic world.
The Fall of Persia
Alexander marched east to face Darius again. The Persian king chose a wide, open plain where his much larger army could surround the Macedonians. Instead, Alexander tricked Darius into stretching his line too far. Spotting a gap in the Persian line, Alexander led his cavalry straight toward Darius. The Persian king fled once again, and his army collapsed.
Darius was murdered by his own advisers while trying to escape. Alexander marched to the Persian capital of Persepolis, where his soldiers carried away enormous treasures, making them wealthier than they had ever imagined.
Alexander the Leader
Although still a young man, Alexander was one of history’s greatest military commanders. His army was better trained and organized than the Persian forces, but that alone did not explain his victories. Alexander inspired fierce loyalty by leading from the front. Instead of directing battles from a safe distance, he charged into combat alongside his men, never asking them to face dangers he wouldn’t face himself.
As a child, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, who taught him that Greek culture was superior to all others. But conquering Persia changed his thinking. Instead of forcing the Persians to adopt Greek ways, he embraced Persian customs, wore Persian clothing, took the title “King of Kings,” and married a Persian noblewoman.
The End of the Journey
By 326 BCE, Alexander’s army had marched to the edge of the Indian subcontinent. He wanted to press east, but his weary soldiers refused. After years of constant marching, fighting, and heavy monsoon rains, they had reached their limit. Reluctantly, Alexander agreed to turn back.
Alexander was only thirty-two when he fell ill and died in 323 BCE. Having named no clear successor, the vast empire he built in under thirteen years broke apart almost immediately.
Alexander’s Legacy
Alexander changed the world far beyond the battlefield. His conquests mixed Greek ideas with local traditions across Egypt, Persia, and Asia. Historians call this blended culture Hellenistic civilization, from Hellas, the Greeks’ name for themselves. Long after his empire dissolved, Hellenistic civilization continued to drive advances in science, philosophy, mathematics, and art.
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Mr. Donn has an excellent website that includes a section on Ancient Greece.