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Overview

Alexander the Great was a military genius and king of one of the largest empires in ancient times. He conquered most of Western Asia, as well as Egypt. His skill at warfare combined with his ability to get people to follow him allowed him to conquer so much land.

Alexander the Great was one of the most influential people in ancient times. He’s so well known that many people know his name, but do you really know anything about him? Or how he became so famous and powerful?

Alexander the Great was a king who conquered most of the world. His empire was massive, and it’s still one of the biggest empires in history. It stretched from Macedonia to Afghanistan, which is an incredible feat for any ruler. Let’s explore his life and how he became such a successful leader so that we can learn from him and become great ourselves!

This passage discusses the importance of Alexander’s campaign against Persia, how his time in Egypt changed him forever and what impact he had on Christianity.

Big Idea #1: Alexander the Great was born into a royal family in Macedonia, and his skills were noticed early on.

Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC. His father, Philip II of Macedon, was a great conqueror who managed to control all of Greece. He had an impressive horse that he refused to buy because it was too expensive and untameable. However, Alexander convinced his father not to pass up such a good opportunity by saying that it could be tamed with patience and training.

Alexander was very angry when Philip said he would buy the horse only if Alexander could mount it. However, Alexander realized that the horse became nervous only when it saw its own shadow. So, to calm down the horse and make mounting it easier, he led it into the sun so that there was no shadow on which the horse could focus.

This horse, Bucephalus, was named after a famous Macedonian general. There were many people who doubted that this horse could be trained to carry the young prince. But when Philip’s son came riding on him into battle and defeated the enemy, everyone was amazed. The king then said to his son: “You must seek out a kingdom equal to yourself – Macedonia is not big enough for you!”

Alexander was proud of his father’s accomplishments, but when he surpassed Philip in battle, Philip became jealous and began to feel threatened. To make matters worse, Alexander performed better than Philip at the wedding banquet because both men had been drinking wine.

When a guest offered to toast the happy couple and their future child, Alexander flew into a drunken rage. He threw his cup across the table at Philip, who was so drunk that he fell off of his chair onto the floor with his sword still in hand. To escape from this awkward situation, Alexander and Olympias fled to her homeland in Epirus. Luckily, however, after some mediation efforts were made by others involved in the wedding party, they returned soon thereafter without any further incidents occurring.

Big Idea #2: After conquering Greece, Alexander set his sights on invading Persia.

Alexander the Great came back from his campaign in Persia within a year. Philip, the king of Macedon was assassinated soon after Alexander’s return and he became the new king with help from his army.

Alexander was only 20 when he became king.

Eager to make a name for himself, Alexander the Great wanted to invade Persia. First, he had business at home: he needed to get rid of some rebellious Greek states. He did this by destroying Thebes and killing 6,000 people there in order to intimidate others into not rebelling against him. This was effective; all other Greek cities abandoned thoughts of rebellion. Then, with that taken care of, Alexander could focus on invading Persia.