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Alexander the Great
356–323 BC; king from 336 BC· Person· Europe
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Macedonian king who, before dying at 32, conquered an empire from Greece and Egypt to northwest India, spreading Greek culture across it.
See it on the History map →What happened
Son of Philip II of Macedon and tutored by Aristotle, he became king at 20 in 336 BC. In 334 BC he invaded the Persian Empire, winning at the Granicus and Issus, taking Egypt, where he founded Alexandria, and crushing Darius III at Gaugamela (331 BC). He pushed on through Iran and Central Asia to the Indus, until his exhausted army refused to go further in 326 BC. He died at Babylon in 323 BC, and his generals carved up the empire.
Why it matters
His conquests opened the Hellenistic age: Greek language, cities and ideas spread from Egypt to Afghanistan, preparing the ground for Rome, Christianity's spread and Greek-style Buddhist art.
Legacy and how we know
No full contemporary history survives. We rely on later historians, chiefly Arrian (2nd century AD), who used lost eyewitness memoirs, plus coins, inscriptions and the ruins of his cities.
Still debated
His cause of death (fever, poison, or illness worsened by heavy drinking) is still debated, and his tomb, once in Alexandria, has never been found.
Connections (4)
▸Ancient Egypt was conquered by Alexander the GreatWell documented
The connection
Egypt had been under Persian rule. After beating the Persians at Issus, Alexander entered Egypt in 332 BC and the Persian governor surrendered without a fight. Hailed as a liberator, he visited Amun's oracle at Siwa, which greeted him as the god's son, and founded Alexandria. His general Ptolemy later ruled Egypt; that dynasty ended with Cleopatra in 30 BC.
When and how
Egypt, 332–331 BC; Alexander, the Persian governor Mazaces, the priests of Memphis and the oracle at the Siwa oasis.
How we know
Accounts by Arrian, Plutarch and others, and Egyptian temple reliefs showing Alexander as pharaoh, such as at Luxor.
Debates and open questions
What the Siwa oracle told Alexander, and how far he came to see himself as divine, are unknown and debated.
▸Greek philosophy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle taught, through Aristotle, Alexander the GreatWell documented
The connection
Philip II hired Aristotle, Plato's star student, to tutor 13-year-old Alexander at Mieza from 343 BC for about three years. Aristotle taught him ethics, politics, medicine and Homer; Alexander reportedly kept an annotated Iliad under his pillow on campaign. His conquests later spread Greek ideas east, and he is said to have sent animal specimens back to Aristotle.
When and how
Mieza, Macedonia, about 343–340 BC; Aristotle and the teenage Alexander, with sons of Macedonian nobles.
How we know
Plutarch and other ancient biographers describe the tutoring. It is widely accepted, though details are thin and written centuries later.
Debates and open questions
How much Aristotle shaped Alexander is unclear; they diverged, since Aristotle saw non-Greeks as inferior while Alexander mixed cultures. The specimen story is doubtful.
▸Persian (Achaemenid) Empire was conquered by Alexander the GreatWell documented
The connection
The Persian Empire, the largest yet seen, had long been Greece's great enemy. Claiming revenge for Persia's invasion of Greece in 480 BC, Alexander crossed into Asia in 334 BC. He defeated King Darius III at Issus (333) and Gaugamela (331), burned the palace at Persepolis, and after Darius's own officials murdered him in 330, claimed his throne.
When and how
Anatolia, Syria, Mesopotamia and Iran, 334–330 BC; Alexander against Darius III.
How we know
Greek and Roman histories by Arrian, Diodorus and Curtius, a Babylonian astronomical diary recording Gaugamela, and burn layers at Persepolis.
Debates and open questions
Whether burning Persepolis was planned revenge or a drunken impulse is debated; Persian views of Alexander survive mainly in later, hostile traditions.
▸Alexander the Great invaded India just before the rise of the Maurya EmpireWell documented
The connection
Alexander's 326 BC campaign in the Punjab disrupted local kingdoms before his army turned back. Within a few years Chandragupta Maurya filled the vacuum, toppling the Nanda dynasty and taking the northwest. Around 305 BC he fought or bargained with Alexander's former general Seleucus, gaining territory for 500 war elephants and opening diplomatic ties with the Greek world.
When and how
Punjab and the Indus valley, 326–305 BC; Alexander, Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus I; the Greek envoy Megasthenes later lived at Pataliputra.
How we know
Greek and Roman writers such as Plutarch and Justin; Plutarch says the young Chandragupta even met Alexander. Ashoka's edicts later name Greek kings.
Debates and open questions
Whether the invasion enabled Chandragupta's rise or merely preceded it is debated; early Indian sources never mention Alexander.