Alexander the Great - King Of The Ancient Greek Kingdom Macedonia ｜ Mini Bio ｜ BIO

Alexander the Great wanted to be both human and divine. He wanted to have a supreme power over other human beings that could never be questioned. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC to the Macedonian king Philip and one of his foreign wives Olympias. There are many myths behind Alexander's birth, one of which is that Philip had a vision that a snake was sleeping with Olympias. And it was these these visions that were confirmed by oracles that made Philip believe that Alexander was a son of one of the gods. Alexander grew up in Pella and was tutored by Aristotle. Macedonia at the time of Alexander's birth is still considered to be a rude rather barbarian by Greek standards sort of place. Bringing Aristotle in to tutor Alexander is like bringing culture to your rude barbarian society. In 336 BC, at a royal celebration, Philip was fatally stabbed by Pausanias, one of his guards. Once Alexander became king, he prevented the empire from collapsing and splitting by first going down to the Greek city-states and securing their allegiance. He burned the city of Thebes to the ground and dismantled it. He slaughtered all the male inhabitants and enslaved all the women and children. Over the next several years, Alexander and his army started east, conquering everything from Greece to India. Alexander's most impressive victory was at the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. Alexander faced odds of five to one against the Persians led by King Darius. What finally made him stop was his soldiers finally decided they had had enough. They were ready to go back to Macedonia. On his way back to Macedonia, Alexander had many of his officers marry Persian noblewomen in an attempt to solidify his reign over Persia. It was considerable opposition to Alexander's rule as king of Persia from his own Macedonians. The Macedonians saw him becoming less and less Macedonian and more and more foreign. After a sudden illness, Alexander the Great died in Babylon in 323 BC. No one knows what caused Alexander's death. I mean, whether or not he was poisoned, as many rulers were in that sort of mafia crime family-like existence, malaria has been thrown out as a possible thing. And a lot of battle wounds may have begun to take its toll too. It's one of the great murder mysteries of the ancient world. Alexander the Great would inspire future leaders like Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte. Alexander the Great is one of the most romantic figures throughout history. He's got one of those sorts of existences that is so compelling that people have been captivated by it for thousands of years.