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Alexander the Great
(356—323 bc) king of Macedon 336–323
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[Na]
Leader of the Macedonians. Born in 356 bc, Alexander was tutored in his early years by Aristotle before succeeding his father Philip as king of Macedonia and the mainland of Greece in 336 bc. Early in his reign he set about releasing the Greeks from Persian domination, but continued his campaigns into a programme of imperialist aggrandizement that eventually created a massive, albeit short‐lived, empire from India to Egypt. After his death from fever in 323 bc his hastily constructed dominion fell apart, the most lasting tribute to his achievement being the town of Alexandria, which he founded in Egypt in 331 bc.
