Note 5 — ALEXANDER THE SON OF PHILIP

No. 5, Alexander the Great. Born 356 B. C., died in Babylon, 323 B. C. The most famous warrior and captain of antiquity. His father, Philip II of Macedonia, confided his education to Aristotle, the greatest philosopher of that age. Alexander, after his father’s death, succeeded in making himself general-in-chief of the Hellenes at Corinth, in 335 B. C., where he was surrounded by the most illustrious men of the nation. He crossed the Hellespont to penetrate into Asia with an army of 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse soldiers. He crossed the Taurus, penetrated into Syria, crushed the innumerable army of Darius, treating the vanquished king and his family with noble clemency. His many conquests would take far too long to enumerate. He always endeavoured to consolidate his conquests by good and wise treatment of the conquered provinces. At Babylon he received ambassadors from all points of the then known world. He was in the midst of new projects of conquest and exploration when he died in a few days of a fever (June, 323 B. C).