Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BCE), known as Alexander the Great, was king of Macedon from 336 BCE until his death. The son of Philip II and Olympias, he succeeded to the throne after Philip’s assassination. Educated by Aristotle, Alexander led the Macedonian army in a series of campaigns that overthrew the Achaemenid Persian Empire and extended his rule from Greece and Egypt through Mesopotamia and into parts of Central and South Asia. He founded numerous cities, including Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, leaving a vast empire that soon fragmented among his successors.