20th July: Alexander the Great

On this date in 356 BC Alexander the Great was born. He is known as the military genius who conquered territories stretching from Greece to Egypt and through present-day Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.

1. His father was King Philip of Macedon and his mother was Olympias, was the daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of the Molossians, an ancient Greek tribe in Epirus. On the day Alexander was born, his father was away on a military campaign, preparing a siege on the Greek city of Potidaea. On the same day, he got the news that one of his generals had defeated the combined armies of Illyria and Paeonia, and his Horses had won at the Olympic Games. It wasn't an entirely good day for him, though. The Temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, burned down that day. One historian commented that this must have happened because Artemis was attending Alexander’s birth and left the temple unattended.
2. When Alexander was 13, his father hired none other than Aristotle as his tutor for the next three years. Alexander came out of this with a great love of and respect for philosophy, even saying he would rather be a philosopher than a warrior, if he'd had the choice. There is a famous story of how Alexander went to talk to Diogenes the Cynic, a philosopher who lived a life of severe austerity who slept in a clay jar. Alexander went up to Diogenes in a public plaza, and asked if he, with all the riches at his disposal, could do anything for the impoverished thinker. “Yes,” Diogenes replied, “stand aside; you’re blocking my sun.” Alexander wasn't angered by this apparently rude response - rather he was charmed by it. Later on, he'd pause his military campaigns to have discussions with Hindu or Jain philosophers. He also gained a love of the literature of the time and slept with The Iliad under his pillow. Achilles and Hercules were his favourite characters.
3. Another famous story about him is that when he was in Gordium, in Asia Minor, he was told about the prophecy of the Gordian knot, that whoever could undo the impossible knot would rule all of Asia. Alexander slashed it with his sword.
4. Alexander was a prime suspect in his father's death. As a child, he got on with him well but as he grew up the relationship soured. It all came to a head when Philip decided to take another wife, Cleopatra, from Macedonia. Any sons Philip had with Cleopatra would have been a threat to Alexander taking the throne. So when King Phillip was stabbed to death by one of his bodyguards in 336 B.C. at a wedding banquet, Alexander and his mother were suspected of having been involved. They definitely had a motive, and Alexander wasted no time after this in seizing the throne for himself.
5. In 15 years of conquest Alexander never lost a battle. In fact, Alexander the Great’s military tactics and strategies are still studied in military academies today. He won his first battle at the age of 18.
6. Alexander had a close relationship with his friend, general, and bodyguard Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble, and was devastated when the man died, possibly to the extent that his health suffered. This has led historians to speculate that the two had a homosexual relationship, although no contemporary sources suggest this. Alexander had three wives and at least one mistress. Two of his wives were Persian and he married them after he'd conquered Persia, because he thought he would be able to control the country more effectively if he integrated - adopting the Persian manner of dress and encouraging his generals to marry Persian women. He had no children with them, so possibly it was marriage in name only - but he did have a son with his wife Roxane, who was the daughter of a ruler he'd defeated. He spotted her while surveying the prisoners of war and allegedly fell in love (or lust) with her at first sight. He also had a son with his mistress Barsine. Both his sons were murdered before they reached adulthood.
7. Alexander had a habit of building cities wherever he conquered, and naming most of them after himself. There were at least 70 cities called Alexandria in the area. One of them is Egypt's second largest city today. There was one exception - he named one city Bucephala, after Bucephalus, his favourite horse. Bucephalus was bought at great price by King Philip, but proved impossible to train. Alexander, then aged 10, had noticed what the problem was - the horse was afraid of his own shadow. He offered to train the horse, and did so by having it face the Sun with his shadow behind him.
8. So what was he like? He is described in contemporary accounts as being strong and handsome, but not as tall or imposing as one might expect. He was short, and possibly had a deformity of the neck, to he'd always appear to be looking upwards at an angle. He went clean shaven because he couldn't grow a thick beard. His eyes were different colours - one Blue and one Brown. He took great pride in his appearance and would wash his hair in Saffron (which at the time was more costly than Gold) every day to keep it shiny (and Orange). According to Plutarch, he smelled amazingly good, too. Personality wise, he was competitive, always wanting to outdo his father; he had a violent temper and could be rash and impulsive, but at the same time was perceptive, logical and an avid reader. He may have been fearless in battle, but it is alleged that he did have one fear. He was afraid of Cats. He drank a lot - he had a drinking contest with his men and 42 of them died from alcohol poisoning.
9. It's possible it didn't do Alexander much good, either. He died at the age of 32, falling ill after drinking a bowl of Wine at a party. Nobody knows what he actually died of but there were naturally conspiracy theories, that he'd been poisoned. Experts have speculated that malaria, lung infection, liver failure or typhoid fever could have caused his death.
10. To this day, Alexander is regarded by many as the greatest Greek who ever lived. Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Augustus all made pilgrimages to Alexander’s tomb. In the modern era, Fidel Castro admired him so much that he named three of his sons after Alexander - Alexis, Alejandro, and Alexander.

See Also: Alexander the Great Quotes