Alexander the Great or Alexander III, 356-323 B.C., king of Macedon. The son
of Philip II, he was tutored by Aristotle. Upon succeeding to the throne in 336 B.C. he won ascendancy over all of
Greece by putting down uprisings in Thrace and Illyria, and by sacking Thebes. As
head of an allied Greek army, viewing himself as the champion of pan-Hellenism,
he started east (334) on what was to be the greatest conquest of ancient Times. He defeated the Persians at the battles of Granicus (334) and Issus (333).
Tyre and Gaza fell after a year's struggle, and he entered Egypt (332), where
he founded Alexandria. Moving to Mesopotamia, he overthrew the Persian Empire of
Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela (331). Pushing on through eastern Persia
(330-327), he invaded northern India (326), but there his forces would go no
further. The fleet was sent back to the head of the Persian Gulf, and Alexander
himself led his soldiers through the desert, reaching Susa in 324 B.C. He died
of a fever a year later, at age 33. He was incontestably one of the greatest
generals of all time and one of the most powerful personalities of antiquity.