Warmatrix

Alexander attacking Darius at Issus, Roman copy of Greek original

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly called the Great, is known as one of the greatest generals of history. He conquered the vast Persian empire in just 11 years.
Alexander was probably born in 356 BCE in Pella, the capital of Macedon. There are several myths surrounding his birth, though all seem political-magical hero propaganda. One story that may contain some truth, is that at an age of 10 years he tamed his personal horse Bucephalas. According to the story the animal was wild and could not be tamed, until Alexander perceived that it was afraid of its own shadow. At the age of 13 his father Philip appointed the famous scientist Aristotle as his teacher for three years. It seems that Alexander was already more a noble and warrior than Aristotle could ever make him a scientist or philosopher, but he did manage to imprint a love for Greek culture on the young prince.
16 years old, Alexander fought together with his companions in the campaigns of his father. In the Battle of Chaeronea he was given command of the entire left wing and played a decisive role. Not all was well between father and son, though. When Philip married a second wife they got into a fight and Philip nearly killed Alexander, who went into temporary exile. In 336 BCE Philip was assassinated at a banquet. Some people suspect Alexander or his mother having a hand in it, though this was never proven. He was proclaimed king by the majority of the nobles and quickly had several potential rivals killed. News of Philip's death made many states revolt, but Alexander responded so fast that the rebels surrendered without a fight. In the next year he subdued Balkan tribes, put down another revolt by the city of Thebes and then was master of Macedonia and Greece.
The Greeks still remembered how they had fought with the Persians in the Greco-Persian Wars. Taking the fight back to the Persians was a long standing desire, for which Philip had already been preparing. Alexander, who saw himself as much as a Greek as a Macedonian, took up that same challenge. Building on the work of his father, he raised a large army and in 334 BCE crossed the Hellespont, stating his intent by throwing a spear into Persian soil upon landing. He proceeded to beat the Persians in three large battles, at Granicus, Issos and Gaugamela. Here he displayed great generalship. Alexander's style was to leave the enemy to pick the battlefield and put trust into terrain or other static defenses, but to seize the initiative for himself. He often relied on his tactical insight and ability to adapt to the situation at hand. The tactical and psychological impact of the companion cavalry charges, which he personally led and were always impeccably timed, proved decisive again and again.
Alexander realized that if he was not only to conquer, but also rule the Persian empire, he had to unify Macedonian and Persian troops, statecraft and culture. This did not go well with his companion veterans, who had a very strong sense of being a Macedonian elite. There were multiple arguments and even fights, often aggravated by alcohol. In one of them Alexander even killed his best friend Cleitus. Despite grave incidents like these and the way he pushed the army to its limits, he always managed to retain their loyalty. He had a great sense of theater, displaying unbreakable calm in the face of danger, showing the men that he was one of them and being generous to them when they needed it. Other examples are the famous cutting of the Gordian Knot, grieving the hardest of all after Cleitus's death and delaying his re-appearance when the rumor went round that he had died after receiving a heavy wound in India. He was handsome, charming, daring and successful; few could resist that. He could display a very bad temper, especially when drunk, which was all too often. But he also had a calmer side, perceptive and reasonable and eager for knowledge. He was very bold and ambitious; without that boldness he would never had reached as high as he did. It is hard to say how much of this trait must be ascribed to his upbringing and how much to his character.
In his later years, getting too accustomed to victories and submission, he began to show signs of megalomenia, believing himself to be the son of a god. It seems that when the campaign progressed into eastern Persia and India, he had less and less patience and relied more and more on bold personal assaults. At the siege of Multan this backfired. Impatient with the progress of the siege, he managed to scale the wall and jumped inside alone, only to find himself surrounded by enemies. He was seriously wounded in a lung and almost killed, but saved by desperate counterattacks from his troops. The wound was not fatal, but crippling; afterwards he could no longer lead the army from the front as he was used to do. The army was battle-weary too, mutinied and forced him to turn back. In 323 BCE, back in the capital, he suddenly fell ill and died after twelve days, only 32 years old. The cause probably was some disease, though might have been poison.
Alexander's stunning conquests set an example for many other generals in later history, but none have so far matched his achievements, except for Genghis Khan.