Does Alexander III deserve the title the great?

When Alexander was 13 years old, he became the pupil of Aristotle. He was always eager to learn. Aristotle inspired the talented youth with a great love for literature. He took part in sports and daily exercise to develop a strong body. Aristotle also inspired in Alexander a keen interest in other countries and races of people, and in animals and plants. Alexander's education was not all from books. He talked with ambassadors from many foreign countries, and with other noted persons at his father's court. When he was only 18, he commanded part of Philip's cavalry. Alexander also acted as his father's ambassador to Athens. Alexander never got along well with his father. Alexander had always been closer to Olympias than Philip and everybody knew it. Philip and Olympias also did not get along

"Here is the man who was making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and who cannot even cross from one table to another without losing his balance."

Alexander then moved Olympias back to Epirus, and he went to Illyria. He only returned when Demaratus of Corinth, a close friend of Philip, asked how Philip could care so much for his troops abroad and so little for his family at home. From then till the assassination of Philip, they remained a family in name only. Some think that Olympias may have even had a role in Philip's murder. Philip was hosting a massive banquet as a going away party before he left for Asia. Leading the procession into the theater on the second day, were thirteen statues, twelve of the Olympian gods and one of Philip. Philip wanted his march into the theater to be triumphant, and so he asked his bodyguards to stand back and out of the way to show to his people that he had nothing to fear. At that very moment, however, a man named Pausanias rushed forward from the crowd and stuck a dagger in Philip's chest. During his escape, Pausanias tripped and fell and was killed on the spot. Philip II of Macedonia ruled from 359-336 B.C.E. Philip's work with the Macedonian army and establishment of alliances with the Balkan peoples gave both himself and Alexander the resources necessary to carry out such conquests. Were it not for the innovations of Philip, the Macedonian army would have had a heck of a time conquering an entire continent. Philip made the military a way of life for many Macedonian men. In the past, soldiering had only been a part-time job, something the men would do during the off peak times of farming. When the fighting season ended at the start of the harvest, the men would return to the farms. Philip made the military an occupation that paid well enough that the soldiers could afford to do it year-round. By making the military a full-time occupation, Philip was able to drill his men regularly, building unity and cohesion within the army. Alexander fought with the finest military machine that Asia or Greece had ever seen, primarily because of the amount of time and effort spent on maneuvers. In addition to the basic phalanx, Philip and Alexander used light auxiliaries, archers, a siege train, and a cavalry. With all of these work

Some topics in this essay:
Indus July, India Greek, Philip Philip, Philip Macedonian, Alexander III, Athens Thebes, Zeus Ammon, Earth Macedonians, Philip Alexander, Persian Empire, 323 bc, philip philip, persian empire, philip alexander, modern historians, aristotle inspired, macedonian army, army alexander, alexander iii, philip military,