Alexander the Great An Introduction

Who was he? a Macedonian prince (father was King Philip II) born in Pella, in 356BC Alexander commanded cavalry during a battle when he was 18 King Philip built the Macedonian army to expand his kingdom Inherits the kingdom at 20 (336BC), when his father was assassinated Died at age 33, in 323BC

Where was he? Macedonia (present-day Thessaloniki in northern Greece), a mountainous area around 2 rivers: the Axios and the Haliacmon Macedonia was a great military & political power during the reign of King Philip Historical & Cultural Context: Find Macedonia on a map & read pg 253. What was the relationship between the Macedonians and the Greeks? How do they view themselves in relation to each other?

What was he? Highly-educated, tutored by Aristotle at 14 Deeply admired Achilles, the Trojan War warrior, and considered him to be his ancestor Prepared for kingship throughout his life A young successful military leader Made legendary strategic decisions on the battlefield

The Extent of his Empire Look at the map of his military campaigns on page 2 of “Study Notes.” Using an atlas, can you find the ancient locations on a modern map? What modern-day countries did Alexander conquer?

Alexander’s Family father = King Philip, mother = Olympias, sister = Cleopatra, many half-siblings from Philips’ other wives Olympias’ uncle, Arybbas, was the king of Epirus, an area near Macedonia Olympias was not Macedonian, but from Epirus so some people thought Alexander was not a legitimate heir to the throne (not pure Macedonian)

Phillip, Olympias & Alexander: a controversy? In 337, Phillip was to be married to a young Macedonian girl (Cleopatra), a niece of one of his generals (Attalus) This threatened Olympias’ position as Queen because if Cleopatra had a son with Phillip, he might become heir instead of Alexander Alexander & Olympias argue with Phillip and flee Later they return, but the relationship isn’t the same King Phillip is murdered in 336 Alexander becomes King