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Alexander The Great
Alexander III, known as Alexander the Great, is a king of Macedonian origin; he was born in 356 B.C. and he is the son of the king of Macedonia, Philip II and Olympus. He is the most celebrated kings who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
It is believed that Alexander was very brave, ambitious and fearless since he was a child; he succeeded his father to the throne after Philip II assassination in 336 B.C. and he became a ruler of a strong empire.
His reign was short, however, he led many campaigns, invaded many countries and introduced a new era in which the Hellenistic civilization spread all over the world and this lasted for centuries. He was known to be a powerful commander who was never defeated in wars. He succeeded in invading parts of Asia Minor, Egypt and other countries.
Alexander`s tutored was the famous philosopher Aristotle, they were given the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as a place for education. At this place, Alexander and his companions received there lessons in medicine, philosophy, science, religion, logic and other subjects.
When Alexander was at the age of 16, Philip II led a war against Byzantium and he left Alexander in charge of the empire as a regent. When the Thracian Maedi knew about Philip`s absence; they broke out a revolution against Macedonian rule. Alexander responded quickly; he subdued the rebellion, expelled them from their land to be a part of the Macedonian empire and he named this new city Alexandropolis.
After Philip returned back, he sent Alexander with a small army to stop revolts in south Thrace, then Alexander became one of Philip`s army.
Philip fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice, this marriage made Alexander`s position as heir to the throne less secure, since if Cleopatra Eurydice bore Philip a son, there would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half Macedonian. Cleopatra bore Philip a son whose name was Philip Arrhidaeus who was mentally disabled.
Philip`s death made many territories revolt, when Alexander knew, he went with 3,000 men from the army towards Thessaly which eventually surrendered.
Alexander the Great began a number of campaigns, he started to put an end to the Persian rule in the world, he defeated them in many battles, he took Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and other places, he wanted to take Gaza to be part of the realm but it was very strong city which was heavily fortified. Alexander, with his army, besiege Gaza and after some time, Gaza fell in the hands of Alexander after a long resistance. On the other hand, Jerusalem opened its doors to the invaders and surrender, after that, Alexander moved southward into Egypt.
Alexander entered Egypt in 331 B.C., after he invaded Egypt and took control of the whole Persian Empire; he went to Memphis city to be crowned as the new pharaoh by the priests of god Ptah.
Then he decided to ask god Amen at Siwa oasis, and to be acknowledged as Amun`s son, after he returned back from the temple of Amen at Siwa, he sent a letter to his mother Olympus telling her that she will be the first person to know the details of the oracle when he returned back to Macedonia.
While he was on his way to the temple of Amen at Siwa oasis, he followed the Canopic branch of the Nile River until he reached the Mediterranean Sea, then he began to head to the west to Marsa Matrouh in order to reach Siwa oasis.
At this point he noticed the strategic site of the Ancient Egyptian village for fishemen which was called Rakotes, it will be a good port between Egypt and Hellas, and it is surrounded by Lake Mariotes from the south, from the west, there is a desert so it is easy to defend, also, it is close to the Delta where the Egyptians exist and the Greeks will not live among them. He ordered his chief architect, Dinocrates, to plan the new city; the plan was vertical streets intersected by horizontal streets, like a chess board, and he took Alexandria to be the Capital of Egypt.
Alexander died in Babylon in 322 B.C. at the age of 32. In fact, he had no legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxana was born after Alexander the great`s death.
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