Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great

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Born into royalty of King Philip II of Macedonia and Olympias , daughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus , Alexander was educated during his early teenage years by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (Stoneman 1 . Although tutor and pupil later differed on political matters such as Alexander 's decision to downgrade the importance of the city-state , Aristotle performed his assigned task of preparing his young charge for undertaking campaigns against the Persian Empire as well as inculcating in him a love

of learning so vital to Hellenic (that is , Greek ) culture (O 'Brien 27

In 340 , at age sixteen , Alexander 's formal training ended with his appointment to administer Macedonia while Philip was absent on a campaign . Young Alexander won his first battle against a force of Thracians and in 338 distinguished himself as commander of the left wing during Philip 's crushing victory over the combined Greek army at Chaeronea (Stoneman 17-18 . A break with his father over the latter 's divorce and remarriage led Alexander to flee with his mother to Epirus Although father and son reaffirmed their ties , Alexander feared for his status as successor . Philip 's assassination in 336 , along with the army 's support of Alexander , eliminated all doubt of his kingship , and he had the assassins and all of his apparent enemies executed (Stoneman 18-19

At the age of twenty , Alexander proceeded to fulfill Philip 's planned attack on Persia and thereby to free Greeks living under Persian rule in Asia Minor (Turkey . Soon , however , he determined to place himself on the throne of Persia . Anxious to represent all Greece at the head of a Panhellenic union , he first received the approval and military support of the Greek League at Corinth and the endorsement of the oracle at Delphi as invincible (The Romans later called him the Great (O 'Brien 30-31

In to consolidate his rear guard in Europe before crossing into Asia , he spent the year 335 subduing restive peoples north and west of Macedonia and crushing an Athenian-endorsed revolt of Thebes by taking and razing the city of Thebes , killing six thousand and selling the rest as slaves . His harsh policy had the desired effect of discouraging further attempts by the Greeks to undermine his authority . Alexander therefore had no need to punish Athens , center of Hellenic culture source of the largest navy available to him , and vital to the financial administration of the territories he would conquer . Nevertheless , he remained sufficiently suspicious of the Athenians to decline employing their fleet against Persia . The only Greek city-state openly disloyal to Alexander was Sparta , but it was isolated and later brought into line by Alexander 's governor of Greece

Alexander crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles ) into Asia Minor with his army of thirty-five thousand Macedonians and Greeks in the spring of 334 intent on humbling the Persian army and gaining spoils adequate to restore the strained Macedonian treasury . The army was a superbly balanced force of...