From there he continued heading west through Scythia, Bactria, Parthia, and eventually broke through to India.īy this point, Alexander's army began suffering from endless war and many of his generals pleaded for him to return home. After he rolled over Assyria and Babylonia, Alexander continued west through Persia and its ancient capital of Persepolis.
He first completed his father's plans to conquer Persia, pushed south through the Levant, Syria, and into Egypt.
In the next 12 years, Alexander would go on to conquer much of the known world at that time. Having been raised to believe he descended from Hercules and Achilles, Alexander also developed a higher than normal self-confidence and ego.Īfter his father was assassinated during his planned conquest of Persia, Alexander assumed his position of King of Macedon at only age 20. Alexander had the best of everything including being educated by the scholar Aristotle. Philip had already established himself as one of the better Macedonian kings, having saved the country from the brink of extinction and then conquering his neighbors Athens, Illyria, and Thrace. One of the greatest generals and conquerors in history was born to King Philip II of Macedon and his wife, Olympias.
