Alexander The Great was one of the greatest emperors and leaders of the world. In fact, he was the only emperor to be called, "The Great." He had studied under a great Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, who taught Alexander literature, science, medicine, philosophy and to speak and write well. Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedonia. Philip became king of Macedonia in 359 B.C., but died in 336 B.C. He left his kingdom to Alexander.
Alexander ruled for only thirteen years but he succeeded far beyond what his father had planned. After his father's death in 336 B.C., Alexander became king of Macedonia. He strengthened his claim of king by quickly stopping revolts by Athens, which tried to break away from Macedonia, by destroying the city of Thebes, and by defeating neighboring lands for breaking away from his rule. Alexander united Greece.
In 334 B.C. Alexander led his army into Persia and, By an invasion of the Persian dominions, Alexander took up the interrupted campaign of his father. The army was concentrated and certain forces had already been sent on to occupy the opposite shore of the Hellespont. He also needed the Persian wealth to maintain the army built by his father and pay off the 500 talents he owed to the ten thousand Greek professional troops, and to Agesilaus of Sparta. Alexander's army in its successful campaign in Persian territory had demonstrated the weaknesses of the Persian Empire. With the Companion Cavalry he could expect to preside over any Persian army. The reason for the invasion of Asia was to liberate the Greek cities taken by the Persians some years before. In the spring of 334, Alexander crossed the Dardanelles,(i.e. Hellespont), with an army of 30,000 men, Macedonians, Illyrians, Thracians and the contingents of the Greek states, int ...