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Who was Alexander the Great?
The son of a king, Alexander was a brilliant military leader who conquered most of the known world, but he wasn't much of a diplomat.
The vast Eurasian empire that Alexander the Great (356–323 B.C.) forged was not long-lasting, but his heroic deeds were legendary. Alexander was the son of King Philip II of Macedonia, a realm north of Greece. When Athens was left unstable by the interminable Peloponnesian War, Philip saw an opening and took it; he subdued Greece around 339 B.C.
While Philip was at war, Alexander studied math, archery, and other subjects with tutors, including the renowned philosopher Aristotle. According to Greek author Plutarch, Alexander kept a copy of Homer’s Iliad, annotated by Aristotle, “with his dagger under his pillow, declaring that he esteemed it a perfect portable treasure of all military virtue and knowledge.”
The precocious Alexander was already a seasoned
