Alexander The Great

Alexander inherited from his father the Kingdom of Macedonia, his armies, his treasury, his love of Classical Greek culture and his ambition to unite the world under a single leader.

At age 17 Alexander marshaled his own army to put down an uprising by a northern tribe. At age 18 he led the cavalry charge that decided the final battle in the war that won his father all of Greece.

By the time of his death at age 33 Alexander of Macedon had conquered the kingdom of Egypt, the Greek states, the Persian Empire and the rest of the known world.

Alexander went from being healthy to dead in the span of three days. One theory is that Aristotle poisoned him because Alexander had begun executing people who disagreed with his decisions.

Alexander’s tactics, strategies, leadership, application of force, use of surprise, and other methods of war are still studied today in military academies like West Point.

Alexander’s companion cavalry was made of about 1800 horsemen. He would routinely ride into the thick of the enemy ranks– sometimes numbering in the tens of thousands.