I.

Introduction

Alexander the Great (356-323 bc), King of Macedon (336-323 bc), known since Roman times as “Alexander the Great”. Alexander succeeded to the throne of Macedon following the assassination of his father, Philip II, in the summer of 336 bc. Macedon was the kingdom located in the region known in ancient times as Macedonia, which was roughly coterminous with the modern Greek province of Macedonia, but extended also into the southern parts of the present Balkan state of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Alexander quickly developed his father’s plan for the invasion and conquest of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. His expedition began in the spring of 334 bc and continued until his death in Babylon in the summer of 323 bc. He subjugated the whole empire to Macedonian rule, and also conquered (though only temporarily) the Indus Valley region. When he died he was engaged on plans for further conquests in Arabia. Though his empire was quickly divided after his death, he had, almost by accident, brought Greek culture to the whole of the Middle East and laid the foundations for a wider common culture that characterized what is called the Hellenistic Age. This Hellenistic culture provided the basis for the imposition of Roman rule on the Greek-speaking east of Alexander’s empire (see Roman Empire); and it was the Greek common culture that later enabled Christianity to spread so quickly. See also Ancient Greece.

Our knowledge of Alexander’s reign depends on several later historians—contemporary writers survive only in fragments—with very little help from inscriptions or numismatics (see below).