Alexander the Great

Macedonian kings dreamed of conquest of both Greece and Persia. The thought of themselves as Greeks but the Greeks looked down upon the Macedonians. Philip II used a 16x16 man phalanx to conquer Northern Greece at just 23 and prepared to move into the rest of Greece. Philip II conquered Greece after the city-states failed to unite themselves. Philip II was stabbed at his daughter's wedding and his son, Alexander took over power. Alexander was only 20 when he took over power and was a pupil of Aristotle. He put down a rebellion in Thebes and reassured that no more rebellions would follow after. Alexander led 35,000 soldiers to invade the Persian empire. Alexander won multiple battles in which he was greatly outnumbered due to his cunning plans. he conquered Egypt and Mesopotamia and drove Darius out of power. Alexander followed Darius east, but found him already dead. However, Alexander still moved West to conquer Asia. He reached the Indus valley but his soldiers wanted to return home after 11 years and marching 11,000 miles. Alexander became terminally ill at just 32 years old and died. His generals fought for control of the empire and it was eventually divided up between them. Antigonous controlled Macedonia and the Greek city-states, Ptolemy became pharaoh of Egypt, and Seleucus took the old Persian empire.