Alexander was a prince, the son of the king of Macedonia.

He was born in Macedonia in July

356 BCE. Macedonia was not a Greek city-state. It was a country in the north of
Greece. (Macedonia is pictured in gold in the map below.)

One of Alexander's teachers was Aristotle. Aristotle was also born in Macedonia, but he lived
for a very long time in ancient Greece.

It was Aristotle, more than any other teacher, who taught Alexander to greatly respect the Greek
way of life. Alexander spoke Greek. He knew Greek history. He believed in the Greek gods.
When he was a boy, Alexander dreamed of teaching everyone, everywhere, about the wonderful
Greek culture he knew and loved so well.

But Alexander was also trained to be a ruler - a ruler and a warrior and a leader of men. He was
taught that his job was to expand the Macedonian empire, and to rule at all times with a firm
hand.

Alexander's father had conquered most of the Greek city-states before Alexander came to power,
including the city-state of Sparta. The Greeks were bitter about the treatment they had received.
They hated Alexander's father. When Alexander became king, even though Alexander allowed
the Greeks to manage their own city-states, they hated him as well. They fought him at every
turn. They lost, but the outposts and colonies especially put up quite a battle. The very people
whose culture he loved were Alexander's worst enemies.

Except for the Greek colonies, Alexander conquered other cultures in the Mediterranean rather
easily, including Egypt. Everywhere he went, Alexander introduced Greek literature, myth,
dance, language, money, medicine, art, and theatre. As he did with the Greeks, he allowed
conquered people the opportunity to run their own country as long as they were loyal to
Alexander. Those people who refused were killed.

Alexander never lost a battle. Before his death, he had built over 70 cities, and had conquered the
ENTIRE known world in the Mediterranean region. His empire stretched all the way to the Indus
River.

He probably would have pushed on, perhaps even to China, but Alexander died young. One day,
he was out boating. He became quite ill and died shortly after. He was only 32 years old.
Alexander died in June 323 BCE, about a month before his 33rd birthday.

Although Alexander was not a Greek by birth, scholars today sometimes refer to him as
Alexander, the Great Greek. Without Alexander, the Greek culture, which so enriches our lives
today, might not have survived or spread to early Rome and beyond.

Alexander The Great

A young Macedonian prince by the name of Alexander was taught for four years by his teacher,
Aristotle. Aristotle instructed Alexander in politics, war, and in critical thinking.
Than at the age of 16, Alexander was made a captain in the Macedonian armies where he gained
the respect of his soldiers for his bravery, and battle strategies. When Alexander was 20 years
old, his father was murdered. After the death of his father, Alexander became the king of
Macedonia. The capital of Macedonia was the city of Babylon.

Having been tutored by Aristotle, Alexander admired the Greeks. He thought that their culture
was refined, and that it had many things to offer. Alexander also admired the Persian culture,
seeing many things that he thought were note worthy.

Alexander determined to conquer both Greece and Persia, and combine them into an empire that
would equal any other empire, anywhere in the world. For the next 13 years, Alexander, now
known as Alexander The Great marched his troops from battle to battle, conquering more and
more territory.

At the age of 33, Alexander The Great contracted a fever, which quickly took his life. The
empire he had worked so hard to build was divided among three of his generals, whose
decedents ruled these three territories as separate empires.

Alexander Spreads Greek Culture

Upon his death, the empire that Alexander The Great had built fractured into three separate
kingdoms. These kingdoms later fractured into yet more smaller states. However, even though
his kingdom did not last long, his influence did. The conquests of Alexander The Great spread
the Greek culture throughout much of Europe and Asia.

The Greek culture mixed with other cultures, forming a new type of civilization which is today
referred to as Hellenistic. These Hellenistic cities spoke Greek, and practiced many of the
religious and other culture practices first introduced by the Greeks.

Greece as a nation was gone, but as a culture, it had been spread throughout the known world. In
Egypt a new city was founded, by the name of Alexandria. In Alexandria the first museum was
founded in the history of the world. This museum included a zoo, a botanical garden, and a vast
library. Scientists and scholars from around the world traveled to Alexandria to study the works
collected there.

Even today, many thousands of years later, the Greek culture continues to influence many
aspects of western culture. This small nation has become one of the most influential cultures in
the history of the world.