Alexander the Great

Alexander was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through western Asia and northeast Africa. His legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism.

About Alexander the Great in brief

Alexander was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through western Asia and northeast Africa. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history’s most successful military commanders. His legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander’s settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic civilization, still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century AD. He died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He is often ranked among the most influential people in history. Alexander was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of Epirus. Although Philip had seven or eight wives,. Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.

According to the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, she dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread far and wide before dying away. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potcida on the peninsula of Ephesus. It was also said that on this day, the Seven Wonders of the World, the Temple of Artemis, burnt down to one of the seven wonders of the world, and that Alexander led his horses to victory at the Olympic Games. Alexander is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife’s womb with a seal engraved with a lion’s image. The story of Alexander’s birth is that he was born on the sixth day of the ancientGreek month of Hekatombaion, which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC, although the exact date is uncertain. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and won an important victory over the Pauravas at the Battle of the Hydaspes. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Beas River. He eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops, dying in Babylon in 323BC. In the years following his death, a series. of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexander’s surviving generals and heirs. In 323 BC he overthrew Persian King Darius III.

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