Alexander the Great
At the age of 20 Alexander came to power when his father Philip of Macedon was murdered.   Alexander marched for 11 years over 20,000 miles and never lost a battle.  He united an area of over 22 million square miles.  He was the most brilliant military leader in human history.

Early Age
Alexander was physically handsome, strong, and brave.
He school teacher was Aristotle.

Military Campaigns
Persia
In 336 BC, Alexander consolidated his power and set out to conquer the world.
In 334 BC, Alexander entered Asia Minor to begin his conquest of Persia.
His army numbered thirty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry.
Alexander did not have a navy.
He took scientists along who gathered information about the lands they conqurered.
Alexander began with a few victories, so he could gain money and supplies.
He took control of costal cities.
The Persians then would not have access to ports to use for their ships.
He conquered Asian Minor after defeating the Persian forces that controlled the territory,
In 333 BC, after seizing all the coastal cities, he turned inland towards Syria.
He engaged the main Persian army of King Darius at Issus.
He led a astounding cavalry charge and forced them to break retreat.
Darius and his army, ran inland towards Mesopotamia. 
Alexander went south and seized the coastal towns along the Phoenician and Palestinian coasts.

Jerusalem
When Alexander entered Jerusalem, he was hailed as a liberator.

Egypt
Alexander continued south and conquered Egypt.
The Egyptians called him king and the son of Re.
He proclaimed himself god-king in Egypt and in Greece to unite the two empires.

Darius III's Offer
Alexander conquered the city of Tyre.
Tyre was very importantl to the Persian navv.
Darius sent an offer to halt hostilities.
Darius would give Alexander all of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates River.
Persia would keep Mesopotamia, Persia, and the northern territories.
Alexander refused.

Defeat of Darius
In 331 BC, he crossed the Euphrates river into Mesopotamia.
Darius met him near the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh.
This would be the last battle between Darius and Alexander.
The Macedonian king was able to rout the larger Persian army.
In January of 330 BC, Alexander entered Babylon.
He had conquered Mesopotamia and now controlled its greatest and wealthiest city.
Alexander also controlled the Persian treasury.

Death of Darius
Darius, meanwhile, met his death at the hands of a conspiracy.
The Persian nobles no longer felt that Darius could lead them.
The nobles were led by his brother Bessus.
The nobles killed Darius and left his body for Alexander to find.
Alexander found Bessus and killed him and as many Persian nobles as he could.
The Persian Empire had officially ended.

Alexander's Empire
Used Greeks, Macedonian, and Persians in his administration.
Trained and used Persians in his army.
Adopted some Persian dress and customs.
He married Bactrian and Persian princesses.
He required thousands of his soldiers to marry Persian women.

Alexander Expands His Empire
Alexander and his army went east to Pakistan and India.
He had conquered Bactria at the foot of the western Himalayas.
He gained a  Bactrian army and married a Bactrian princess, Roxane.
His army grew tired when he tried to go on past Pakistan.
He abandoned the eastward conquest in 327 BC.

The End of Alexander's Empire
In 324 BC, Alexander returned to Babylon.
He the ruler of the world.
He began to plan cities and building works.
In 323 BC, at age thirty-three, he fell into a fever and died.
Alexander's Empire was divided up by his three generals.
They fought with each other until weakened the areas were absorbed into the Roman Empire. 

Accomplishments of Alexander
He setup a common monetary system of currency for entire realm. 
He made Greek the language of the Near East for government, learning and commerce.
He established many new colonies and cities.
Seventy of them were named Alexandria in his honor.