Alexander III of Macedon: King
of Macedonia
A truly enigmatic character in
world history, Alexander the Great opened the floodgates to the
Hellenistic era. He was a powerful, ambitious and cunning man who
conquered several territories in just over a decade. The legacy of
Alexander the Great is one that is widely disputed among historians,
who have varying accounts of the man's existence, but one thing is
for certain; Alexander of Macedonia was destined for greatness.
Alexander
of Macedonia was born around the time that his father, Philip II,
became king. This naturally set the young man up for greatness with
little work needed. He quickly proved to share the same militant mind
of his father; a chip off the old block, he was! This gave him the
opportunity to watch over Macedonia in his father's place when the
elder was scouting. At the young age of sixteen-years old, Alexander
conquered a ruthless tribe of Thracians,
opening the pathway to his life of achievement, and his legacy. In
place of the Thracian settlement, he founded Alexandropolis. This
was just one of the many settlements he founded.
By the age of twenty-years old,
Alexander the Great was king of Macedonia. His father had been
assassinated, leaving him the kingdom, the military, and all of the
power a twenty-year old man could muster. Alexander, being ambitious
like his old man, pursued the dream of conquering Persia. He marched
into Asia Minor with nearly forty thousand of his men in 334 B.C.E.
It only took a year before half of the region belonged to him. Within
a couple of seasons, Egypt was his. Alexander the Great didn't relent
in his endeavors and he soon conquered the capital of Persia.
Alexander the Great was either a
ruthless tyrant with a thirst for blood, or he was a man who did what
he needed to for his people. It's not important how he perceived
himself, because he died leaving behind far more than his actions in
life garnered for him to witness. He succumbed to blood loss and
infection from wounds when he was just thirty-two years old, but it
was because of him that the Hellenistic era came into place. He
probably didn't realize it then, but his legacy has lasted thousands
of years into modern times.
References:
“History
of Alexander the Great”;
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis /PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa02
Duiker,
W. J. & Spielvogel, J. J. (2010). World
history (6th
ed., Vol. I). Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.