Alexander the great

Death

323

The day after that he just managed to have himself carried to his place of prayer, and after the ceremony still continued, in spite of his weakness, to issue instructions to his staff. Another day passed. Now very seriously ill, he still refused to neglect his religious duties; he gave orders, however, that his senior officers should wait in the court, and the battalion and company commanders outside his door. Then, his condition already desperate, he was moved from the park back to the palace.

Battle at Gaugamela

331

The armies of Alexander the Great and the Persian monarch Darius III, fought in 331 BC. The Persian defeat opened the East to the Macedonians. Alexander, with 40,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry, invaded Persia from Egypt. The Persian army assembled about 250,000 men on the plain of Gaugamela, in what is now Iraq. Alexander attacked the Persian left flank and then broke through their center. Darius fled and the Persians retreated. The Persians lost tens of thousands of men in the battle, and the Ma

Battle of Tyre

332

Storming defiant Tyre, Macedonian warriors charge through a breach in the island-cities high walls >in July, 332 B.C. Seven months earlier, Tyre looked impregnable. To reach it from the Phoenician shore, half a mile away, Alexander constructed a broad mole guarded by towers. But as the causeway neared the island, Tyrians bombaeded the workers with stones and arrows, forcing Alexander to adopt a knew plan. On ships collected from other Phoenician cities, his engineers mounted siege machines-catap

Battle of Issus

333

The engagement fought in 333 BC between Macedonian king Alexander the Great and Persian king Darius III during Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire. After invading northern Syria, Alexander left his wounded soldiers in a camp in the city of Issus, directing the remainder of his army southward in search of Darius's armies. Meanwhile, Darius moved his army up from the south. In a maze of Syrian mountains, the two armies passed each other. Darius discovered Alexander's camp at Issus and massa

Battle of Granicus

334

The battle between Macedonian king Alexander the Great and armies of the Persian Empire at the Granicus River in Asia Minor. When Alexander started his war against the Persians in the spring of 334 BC, he was met at the Granicus by an army of Persian soldiers and Greek hoplites. The Persian force stationed itself at the top of a steep bank on the opposite side of the river. The Persian plan was to concentrate their attack upon Alexander in the hope he might be killed, but Alexander led a success

Education completed

340

Alexander completed his education at Meiza in 340 B.C. A year later, while still just a teen, he became a soldier and embarked on his first military expedition, against the Thracian tribes.

Tutor

343

In 343 B.C., King Philip II hired the philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander at the Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza. Over the course of three years, Aristotle taught Alexander and a handful of his friend’s philosophy, poetry, drama, science and politics. Seeing that Homer’s Iliad inspired Alexander to dream of becoming a heroic warrior, Aristotle created an abridged version of the tome for Alexander to carry with him on military campaigns.

Born

356

Conqueror and King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great was born September 20, 356 B.C. in Pella, Macedonia. During his leadership, he united the Greek city-states and led the Corinthian League. He also became the king of Persia, Babylon and Asia, and created Macedonian colonies in Iran.