Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedonia or as he is commonly known Alexander the Great was born on 21 July 356 BC in Pella, the capital of Macedonia. His father was Philip II of Macedon and his mother was Olympias, a princess of a neighboring kingdom and one of Philip's eight wives. He became king after his father's assassination in 336 BC and ruled until his death in 323 BC. Alexander conquered most of the known world at the time and is remembered as a military genius. Alexander's childhood and education befitted that of a prince and future king and from an early age he was told that he was a descendant of gods and heroes. His mother Olympias even claimed to have been pregnant by Zeus and still a virgin when he was born. He was groomed to become the future king of Macedonia. Lysimachus of Acarnania was given the task of teaching Alexander to read, write and play the lyre. At the age of 12 he tamed his first horse, Bucephalus, a wild stallion declared "indomitable". Bucephalus remained Alexander's favorite horse in battle until he was wounded and died during the invasion of India in 326 BC. Alexander was heartbroken and named a city after the horse that had served him so well. When he turned fourteen, his father hired the great Greek philosopher Aristotle as Alexander's private tutor. Aristotle had a great impact on the boy, and the influence of his teachings is evident throughout Alexander's life. At the age of sixteen Philip left Alexander in charge of Macedonia while he was on campaign. A Thracian tribe wanted to take advantage of the absence of Philip and the large Macedonian army and rebelled against their Macedonian masters. Unfortunately they underestimated the young Alexander. He quickly gathered an army that attacked… middle of paper… he apparently developed a high fever that worsened over the course of about fourteen days until his death. The cause of the fever is unknown but many at the time attributed it to foul play. Today it is hypothesized that malaria or even typhoid fever may have caused his death. Alexander's body was placed in a golden sarcophagus filled with honey which in turn was placed in a golden casket. Alexander did not specify who would succeed him as king of Macedonia and had no heirs at the time of his death. His son was born only after his death. Rivalry and infighting eventually destroyed the Macedonian empire. Alexander was known as Alexander the Great because he never lost a battle, his empire at the time of his death was approximately two million square miles and stretched from Greece to Egypt and modern Pakistan.