Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), known as Alexander the Great, was king of Macedon from 336 BC and one of the most successful military commanders in history. The son of Philip II and Olympias, he was tutored by Aristotle and succeeded his assassinated father at twenty. After securing Thrace, Illyria and Greece—including the destruction of Thebes—he led a pan-Hellenic invasion of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 334 BC. Victories at the Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela broke Persian power, and he took Babylon, Susa, Persepolis and Ecbatana, claiming succession to Darius III. He then pushed through Central Asia to the Indus, defeating Porus at the Hydaspes in 326 BC; his army refused to cross the Beas, forcing a return through the Gedrosian desert. He died in Babylon in 323 BC, aged thirty-two. His empire fragmented among the Diadochi, but his campaigns created the Hellenistic world, founded cities such as Alexandria, and spread Greek language and culture from Egypt to Bactria. Ancient sources disagree on details, and modern assessments balance his military genius and cultural impact against the destruction and casualties of his conquests.