Shows Videos News Topics Games Shop

This Day in History Ask HISTORY HISTORY Lists HISTORY Blog Hungry History Speeches & Audio
HISTORY MOBILE GET EMAIL UPDATES
Like HISTORY Lists on
Facebook
1.8k Like Like
RSS
May 13, 2014
8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great
By Nate Barksdale
Perhaps the greatest military genius of the ancient world, the warrior-king Alexander III
of Macedon (356323 B.C.) conquered territories stretching from Greece to Egypt and
through present-day Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Combining battlefield successes with
kingdom-building strategy, Alexander spent his 13-year reign working to unite East and
West through military force and cultural exchange. Alexanders reputation grew so
quickly that by the time of his death at age 32 he was viewed as having godlike aspects.
It isnt always possible to separate fact and fiction from the stories told about Alexander
over the centuries, but here are eight great nuggets from Alexanders life.
1. He was taught by Aristotle but had famous run-ins with other philosophers.
Alexander and Diogenes (Credit: Getty Images)
Alexanders father, Philip II of Macedon, hired Aristotle, one of historys greatest philosophers,, to educate the
13-year-old prince. Little is known about Alexanders three-year tutelage but presumably by the end of it
Aristotles wise but worldly approach had sunk in. According to legend, while still a prince in Greece, Alexander
sought out the famed ascetic Diogenes the Cynic, who rejected social niceties and slept in a large clay jar.
Alexander approached the thinker in a public plaza, asking Diogenes if there was anything he in his great riches
could do for him. Yes, Diogenes replied, stand aside; youre blocking my sun. Alexander was charmed by
Diogenes refusal to be impressed, stating, If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.
Years later, in India, Alexander paused his military conquests to have lengthy discussions with the
gymnosophists, naked philosophers from the Hindu or Jain religions who eschewed human vanityand
clothing.
2. In 15 years of conquest Alexander never lost a battle.
7
Advertisement
Page 1 of 5 8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great HISTORY Lists
8/2/2014 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great
Alexander the Greats military tactics and strategies are still studied in military academies today. From his first
victory at age 18, Alexander gained a reputation of leading his men to battle with impressive speed, allowing
smaller forces to reach and break the enemy lines before his foes were ready. After securing his kingdom in
Greece, in 334 B.C. Alexander crossed into Asia (present-day Turkey) where he won a series of battles with the
Persians under Darius III. The centerpiece of Alexanders fighting force was the 15,000-strong Macedonian
phalanx, whose units held off the sword-wielding Persians with 20-foot-long pikes called sarissa.
3. He named more than 70 cities after himselfand one after his horse.
Alexander commemorated his conquests by founding dozens of cities (usually built up around previous military
forts), which he invariably named Alexandria. The most famous of these, founded at the mouth of the Nile in 331
B.C., is today Egypts second-largest city. Other Alexandrias trace the path of his armies advances through
present-day Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan. Near the site of the battle of the river
Hydaspesthe costliest victory of his Indian campaignAlexander founded the city of Bucephala, named for his
favorite horse, which was mortally wounded in the battle.
4. When Alexander met his future wife Roxanne, it was love at first sight.
After his spectacular capture in 327 B.C. of Sogdian Rock, a seemingly impregnable mountain fortress, the 28-
Page 2 of 5 8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great HISTORY Lists
8/2/2014 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great
year-old Alexander was surveying his captives when Roxanne, the teenage daughter of a Bactrian nobleman,
caught his eye. Soon after, in a traditional wedding ceremony, the king sliced a loaf of bread in two with his
sword and shared it with his new bride. A few months after Alexanders death, Roxanne gave birth to the
couples only son, Alexander IV.
5. Alexander even smelled great.
Plutarchs Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, written 400 years after Alexanders death, reports that a
most agreeable odor exuded from Alexanders skin, and that his breath and body all over was so fragrant as to
perfume the clothes which he wore. The olfactory detail was part of a tradition, begun during Alexanders
lifetime, of ascribing godlike attributes to the conquering king. Alexander himself openly called himself Son of
Zeus during a visit to Siwah in 331 B.C.
6. After defeating the Persians, Alexander started dressing like them.
After six years of ever-deeper incursions into the Persian empire, in 330 A.D. Alexander conquered Persepolis,
the longtime center of Persian culture. Realizing that the best way to maintain control of the Persians was to act
like one, Alexander began to wear the striped tunic, girdle and diadem of Persian royal dressto the dismay of
cultural purists back in Macedonia. In 324 he held a mass wedding in the Persian city of Susa, in which he
forced 92 leading Macedonians to take Persian wives (Alexander himself married two, Stateira and Parysatis).
7. The cause of Alexanders death remains one of the greatest mysteries of the
ancient world.
Page 3 of 5 8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great HISTORY Lists
8/2/2014 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great
Previous Next
In 323 B.C. Alexander the Great fell ill after downing a bowl of wine at a party. Two weeks later, the 32-year-old
ruler was dead. Given that Alexanders father had been murdered by his own bodyguard, suspicion fell on those
surrounding Alexander, most notably his general Antipater and Antipaters son Cassander (who would eventually
order the murders of Alexanders widow and son). Some ancient biographers even speculated that Aristotle, who
had connections with Antipaters family, may have been involved. In modern times, medical experts have
speculated that malaria, lung infection, liver failure or typhoid fever may have done Alexander in.
8. Alexanders body was preserved in a vat of honey.
Plutarch reports that Alexanders body was initially treated in Babylon by Egyptian embalmers, but leading
Victorian Egyptologist A. Wallis Budge speculated that Alexanders remains were immersed in honey to stave off
decay. A year or two after Alexanders demise, his body was sent back to Macedonia only to be intercepted and
sent to Egypt by Ptolemy I, one of his former generals. By controlling Alexanders body, Ptolemy aimed to be
viewed as the successor to his empire.
Did You Know?
Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian (the future Augustus Caesar) all made pilgrimages to Alexander
the Greats tomb in Alexandria. In 30 B.C. Octavian viewed Alexanders nearly-300-year-old mummy and
laid a ceremonial wreath. The last recorded visitor to Alexanders tomb was the Roman emperor Caracalla
in 215 A.D. The tomb was destroyed and its location forgotten during the upheavals of the final centuries of
the Roman era.
Categories: Alexander the Great, Ancient History
More HISTORY Lists
7
Page 4 of 5 8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great HISTORY Lists
8/2/2014 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great
6 Legendary Mercenary
Armies 6 Famous Places that
Never Existed
7 Unusual Ancient Medical
Techniques
6 Mythical Monsters
Page 5 of 5 8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great HISTORY Lists
8/2/2014 http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great