ALEXANDER THE GREAT
(356-323 BC)

Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, is one of history's foremost military leaders who established an Empire that extended from Greece to India.

Alexander III, who became the king of Macedonia at the age of 20, the first king to be called "the Great", conquered the Persian Empire and annexed it to Macedonia. He was taught for a time by Aristotle and acquired a love of Homer and an infatuation with the heroic age. The war horse of Alexander the Great was named Bucephalus.

In 334 BC his army moved onto Asia Minor. After defeating a Persian army at the Granicus River, he marched through Asia Minor with little opposition, then defeated a large Persian army under Darius III at Issus (near modern Iskenderun) in 333 BC. He occupied Syria and then entered Egypt, where he was accepted as pharaoh. After organizing Egypt and founding Alexandria, Alexander crossed the Eastern Desert, the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and in the autumn of 331 BC defeated Darius's grand army at Gaugamela (near modern Erbil, Iraq). Later he reached the Indian Ocean. In the spring of 324 BC, Alexander held a great victory celebration at Susa. He returned to Babylon, where he prepared an expedition for the conquest of Arabia. He died in June 323 BC without designating a successor. His death opened the anarchic age of the Diadochi, meaning "successors" in ancient Greek and his burial place is a matter of dispute. The cultural policy of Alexander the Great was very respectful and tolerant towards the Eastern World and he contributed to the unification between East and West. The suffixes -assus and -nd- are those used for hellenization of pre-Hellenic Anatolian ancient city names.