Alexander, the son of King Phillip was born in 356 BCE in northern Greece, or what is often called Macedonia. One of his most well-known biographers, Robin Fox, suggests that three most important personages in young Alexander’s life aside from his father were his mother Olympias, his horse Bucephalus (in Greek: Beautiful head), and the philosopher Aristotle his adult tutor.
His mother is reported to have often been violent and unduly emotional, and seems to have had little interest in Alexander. Alexander, for his part showed little affection for his mother, but loved and trained his horse himself. He was to be his constant companion for twenty years, all through his travels and wars of conquest. Although Aristotle spent several years educating Alexander, he seems to have had little specific influence on him. However, Alexander did send interesting specimens and artifacts back to his teacher during his travels abroad.
It is well-known that after conquering Athens by surprise with soldiers which alternated running and walking, Alexander turned his eyes southward and eastward, beginning the campaign of conquering the empires which had ravaged Greece in earlier times. With 50,000 foot soldiers and horsemen he made his way South to conquer Egypt in 330 BCE, Palestine and Syria in 330 BCE, and then turned East to conquer Babylonia, Persia, moving as far East as the Hindu-Kush mountain range, then South through India, and back to Babylon, dying there on his way home in 323 BCE.
Many of his troops revered him as a God. He was repeatedly wounded but never seemed to succumb to any illness deriving from his injuries. He insisted on leading the troops into battle every time they were going to engage the enemy. All along the way Alexander showed constant and deep interest in the culture and religion of those peoples he was conquering. He showed deep respect, even reverence, for their Divinities and religious customs, and at times he sought to wear the garments appropriate to their respective deities.
After having conquered and rebuilt the palaces of what we now call Iran, Alexander met is wife-to-be, the fabulously beautiful Roxane. They were married in a multi-cultural setting, thereby uniting the local nations with the Greek Empire. Alexander appears to have believed that he would find a passageway back to his homeland, thus revealing that he thought that the world was round, so he pressed on Eastward. Eventually, however, he realized that there was no Eastern passageway back to Greece, and he began to make plans to retrace his steps back to his homeland.

Along the way one of Alexander’s best friends, Hephaistion, had died along

the way. This called for a large and extremely extravagant funeral proceeding. Incidentally, the temple erected in Hephaistion’s honor still stands in large area containing the reconstructed Stoa and other buildings just below the Parthenon. After taking care of these matters, Alexander and his men began the long trek homeward. Surprisingly, after all the horrendous battles Alexander had endured, it was some sort of poison, perhaps planted, that led to his death shortly after a large banquet. It was never determined whether Alexander had been the victim of a crime or simply the effect of something he had eaten.
He took the Greek language and culture halfway around the world and established several kingdoms along the way. Famous cities like Alexandria, are named after him, and yet his “empire” soon dissolved amidst the infighting of those who inherited his kingdom. Still, he remains “Alexander the Great”. He died in 323 BCE at the age of 32. He has always been a special favorite hero of mine.