Alexander the Great

(18 July 356 BC - 9 June 323 BC)

Reign of Alexander III, known as the Great, king of Macedon from 336 BC and conqueror of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia, marked the beginning of the Hellenistic age.

Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great.

Antipater, general of Macedonia, as regent from 334 BC to 323 BC governed the empire during his military campaigns.

In the battle, fought at Gaugamela but sometimes given the name of Arbela, eighty kilometers away, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III in 331 BC.

Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, king of Persia, in several battles.

In ancient times, Amu Darya, formerly Oxus, a river of central Asia, figured significantly in the campaigns of Alexander the Great.

The philosopher instructed the youth until the age of 16 years in 340 BC.

He at the age of 20 years succeeded the assassinated Philip II, his father, to the throne. He inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced Army. Awarded the generalship of Greece, he used this authority to launch military expansion plans of his father.

In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid empire, ruled, and began a series of campaigns that lasted a decade. Alexander broke the power in a series of decisive battles, most notably of Issus and Gaugamela. He subsequently overthrew Darius III, the king, and conquered the entirety of the empire. At that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.

He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through northeast Africa until he created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to Egypt and into present-day Pakistan, before the age of 30 years in 326 BC. Undefeated in battle, he most successfully commanded of history.

Seeking to reach the "ends of the world and the great outer sea," he invaded India in 326 BC, but the demand of his troops eventually forced him to turn back.

Alexander died in Babylon, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns to begin with an invasion of Arabia. Following his death, a series of civil wars in the years tore his empire apart and resulted in several states that the Diadochi, surviving generals and heirs of Alexander, ruled.

Legacy of Alexander includes the cultural diffusion that his conquests engendered. He founded twenty cities, most notably Alexandria, which bore his name in Egypt. Settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of culture in the east resulted in a new civilization with still evident aspects in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century. Legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, he features prominently in the history and myth of cultures. Military leaders compared against this measure, and academies throughout the world still teach his tactics.