Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE)

An Impressive Inheritance

Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of Macedonia, as the son of King Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BCE, r. 359–336 BCE) and Queen Olympias, one of Philip's many wives. As a constitutional monarch, Philip was not just a figurehead, but also the chief statesman and military commander. Philip was an ambitious leader who used his skills at warfare and diplomacy to improve the fortunes of his declining kingdom. In the year of Alexander's birth Philip defeated a coalition of northern barbarians and set about uniting the Greek-speaking world under his command. He also taught his son the art of warfare in addition to the education that the young Alexander received between the ages of thirteen and sixteen from the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Alexander excelled at hunting and sport, and his favorite text was the Iliad by the Greek poet Homer. Alexander hoped to emulate the heroism of the Greek mythological warrior Achilles, to whom he believed he was related through his mother. At age sixteen Alexander won his first battle, against a tribe from Thrace (a region on the eastern Balkan Peninsula), and acted as regent while Philip was away fighting at Byzantium. Probably Philip's best-known victory was won in 338 BCE against an army of allied Greek states at Chaeronea, where Alexander, age eighteen, commanded the left wing of the Macedonian army as a cavalryman. After his victory Philip reformed the Greek army, combining the excellent cavalry of northern Greece with the disciplined and effective infantry of the southern city-states. This reformation gave him a formidable force that had both the mobility of elite horsemen and the attacking prowess of the hoplites (heavily armed infantry soldiers) in phalanxes (bodies of heavily armed infantry formed in deep, close ranks and files), armed with 4.2-meter pikes named sarissas.

However, the relationship between father and son deteriorated, possibly because of arguments about military matters and Philip's remarriage. Alexander made derisive comments about his father's abilities, and a rift grew between them. Some scholars have even suggested that Alexander was complicit in Philip's assassination at the hands of a disgruntled bodyguard named Pausanias in July 336 BCE. Certainly Alexander had become worried about his status as the legitimate heir, and his father's untimely death allowed him to grasp power ahead of other siblings. Although he was ambitious and hungry for power, it seems unlikely that he was directly involved in the assassination plot. After becoming Alexander III, he slaughtered the accused conspirators and any man who dared question his authority as the new king. A rebellion broke out among the Greek tribes and city-states at news of Philip's death, but Alexander quelled it ruthlessly. When the city of Thebes (in Egypt) left the Macedonian-led Hellenic League, he massacred the city's defenders, killing six thousand and enslaving thirty thousand. This violent action reunited the Greek people in fear of similar reprisals, paving the way for Alexander's later campaigns, although he later always treated the [Page 17]other Greeks with respect, recognizing their role in his plans.

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