Alexander the Great

the 38d King of Macedon bearing the name which he made so famous; born in Pella, 356 B. c. Alexander first appeared on the stage of universal history in 339 B. o. At the age of 16 the regency of Greece was intrusted to him by Philip when he set out on an expedition against Byzantium; and in’ that capacity it fell to his lot to lead his first army against an Illyrian rising, to found his first Alexandria in the upper valley of the Strymon, and to receive a deputation of envoys from the King of Persia. In the year after his appointment to the regency Alexander showed eminent military capacity at the battle of Cheer one a (338), and, on the murjer of Philip, ascended the throne in 386, before he had reached his 20th year. In the autumn of 336 Alexander marched into Greece, and was confirmed in the chief command against Persia by the Amphictyones at Thermopyle. In 335 he advanced to the Hemus range (the Balkans), and showed great ability in his campaign against the Thracians, cro ing the Danube — apparently out of mere bravado—in the face of the enemy without losing a single man. He had no real friends among the Greek States. -The The bans, hearing a false report of his death, became overt enemies, proclaimed their independence, and slew some Maced on i an officers. Alexander appeared in Beotia with amazing dispatch, and took Thebes by storm on the third day of the siege.