Alexander the Great

Born at Pella, Macedonia in 356 B.C.E. His father was King Phillip and his mother was Olympias, from the smallest age, Alexander became focused on becoming a great ruler. When Alexander was thirteen he’s father Philip hired Aristotle to be Alexander’s teacher. In Aristotle’s teaching he got an interest in philosophy, medicine and science. In 340 B.C.E, when Philip assembled a huge Macedonian army and fought with Thrace, he left Alexander his 16 year old son with the control to rule Macedonia, even at a young age Alexander was known as quite capable. But as the Macedonian army went deeper into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia fought and made a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and defeated the Maedi, captured their area, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropoulos. After two years 338 BC, Philip Alexander’s father wanted to take over Greece; all this was done to expand an empire. And in the war Alexander was leading the army to take over Greece, He destroyed the Greek elites.

What Forced Him

But not so long after Alexander defeated the Greeks, the family tore apart when his father Philip Married Cleopatra a Macedonian women. Alexander soon was banished from Macedonia; because of Cleopatra’s uncle Attalus, he said that Alexander was not the legitimate son of Philip. This made Alexander angry and he threw his cup at Attalus. Philip got up and tried to stab Alexander, only to trip and fall because he was drunk. Right then Alexander said “Here is the man who was making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and who cannot even cross from one table to another without losing his balance.” He then took his mother and fled to Epirus. In 336 BC, with Philip’s Persian invasion already set, he gets assassinated by a woman named Pausanias. Why Pausanias killed Philip is still unknown to historians in ancient times and in modern times. This affected Alexander, and he had no choice but to take over his father’s throne and conquer Persia.

Main Accomplishments

Alexander’s main accomplishments are taking over the Persian Empire; he took over countries like Egypt, India, Babylon (Iraq), Ariana (Afghanistan and Iran), and Turkey. The first place he tried to take over was Asia Minor (Turkey); he threw his spear from inside the ship and stuck it in the ground. He stepped onto the shore, pulled the spear from the ground, and declared that all of Asia would be won by the Macedonian spear. The Macedonians defeated the Persians, and the Greeks held their ground and fought, the battle ended in Macedonian victory. Almost the entire Greek’s that were fighting with the Persians were dead. 18,000 Greeks destroyed on the shores of Granicus and the 2,000 survivors were sent to Macedonia. The Macedonians lost only 120 men. Alexander entered Egypt in of 331 BC. The Persian surrendered and the Macedonians were welcomed by the Egyptians as liberators, they despised living under Persian rule for almost two centuries. Alexander ordered a city to be made and in his name at the river Nile, He never lived to see it built. In 327 BC, Alexander and his army went into India taking over Punjab. He was fighting against king Porus, one of the most powerful Indian rulers. In 326 BC, Alexander’s army crossed the heavily blocked river during a violent thunderstorm to meet Porus’ forces. The Indians were defeated in a fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants, which the Macedonians had never seen before. Porus lost and was captured, Alexander allowed him to continue to rule his territory.

Opinion

My Opinion about this person’s life and accomplishments are, he must have had guts to take over the Persian Empire and actually do it successfully but the smartest thing would be to take over more of Europe the go and take over the Persian Empire.