Alexander the Great biography ks2
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He named an Egyptian city ‘Alexandria’ after himself. Hired by King Philip to teach the dark-eyed, curly-haired boy mathematics, archery, and horsemanship, Leonidas had trouble keeping control over his unruly student.
The next tutor King Philip hired to teach Alexander was a man by the name of Lysimachus.
He tried to get Alexander’s attention with role-playing.
A few years later, Alexander spread his campaign even further across Asia to the Indus river (which is in modern-day Pakistan and India). Pupils will look at sources that give clues about Alexander’s global impact and then they will act out the story of his crucial role in expanding the Greek empire.
He soon invaded North Africa and Asia, conquering more land for his Greek Empire with his powerful army. He conquered many places and spread Greek culture across thousands of miles.
At the age of sixteen Alexander completed his education and became a soldier.
His first military campaign was against the Thracians, a group of Indo-European tribes who had been allies of the Trojans when they fought against the Greeks.
In 338 BCE, Alexander helped his father in an important battle to defeat the Athenian and Theban armies.
Once Alexander’s father had succeeded in uniting all the Greek city-states with the exception of Sparta into the Corinthian league, Philip’s relationship with Alexander came apart.
He banished Olympia and Alexander and married Cleopatra Eurydice*.
Alexander Becomes King of Macedonia
During the festival following the wedding of Alexander’s sister, King Philip was murdered by a Macedonian noble.
Many people suspected that Alexander and his mother had plotted to have Philip killed, but no one knew for certain.
Only nineteen years old at the time, Alexander quickly obtained the support of the army.
To ensure that her son would be ruler, Olympia had the daughter of King Philip and Cleopatra Eurydice murdered, which drove her mother to suicide.
Even though Alexander was now king, he wasn’t put in control of the Corinthian league of Greek city-states.
Now that Philip was dead, the states were divided once again.
Although the city-states in Greece shared the same language, they had their own laws and cultures. Aristotle had given Alexander a fondness for Greek culture – in fact, some historians think that Alexander saw it as his mission to spread Greek culture as widely as possible.
How did Alexander the Great become king?
Alexander took control as king of Macedonia at the age of 19, when his father Philip II died in 336 BC.
Historians think that Alexander had the kind of personality to make a powerful leader. Among his conquests, Alexander began to gain a reputation as a mighty ruler. Alexander’s interest in all things military became clear during these lessons as he pretended to be the great warrior Achilles.
Aristotle Becomes Alexander’s Tutor
In 343 BCE, when Alexander was thirteen years old, his father hired the famous philosopher Aristotle to tutor him at the Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza.
Aristotle was a master teacher and in his classes, Alexander and his friends learned about science and politics.
Aristotle also taught them drama, literature, poetry, and, of course, philosophy.
When he was younger, Alexander had been taught by a famous philosopher and teacher called Aristotle. Alexander resented the fact that he rarely saw his father.
Young Alexander and his sister were raised in the royal court by their mother who was a strong role model.
Leonidas was one of Alexander’s first tutors. In November he captured King Darius and declared himself the King of Persia.
Alexander conquers Egypt
Next, it was Alexander’s goal to conquer Egypt.
He easily achieved this goal and in 331 he created the city of Alexandria, named after him, of course, which became an important Greek cultural and commerce center.
Later that year, he defeated the Persians again at the Battle of Gaugamela.
For a long time, the Persian Empire had been enemies with the Greeks. He had a powerful army and he dealt harshly with any city-states that made an attempt to rebel against his rule.
How did Alexander expand the Greek Empire?
After gaining control of all of Greece by the age of 21, Alexander invaded other countries nearby.
It was still separate from the other Greek city-states. However, Alexander sent his army south to the region of Thessaly and gained their support for his leadership.
At a meeting of the members of the league, Alexander worked for their support and received it.
With the exception of Athens, the other Greek city-states granted him full military power.
After making sure that Macedonia’s northern borders were secure, Alexander prepared to do battle with the Persian Empire, a large kingdom to the east of Greece.
Alexander’s Campaigns and Conquests
But before his conquest of the Persian Empire could occur, Alexander got the news that the Greek city-state of Thebes had forced out his Macedonian troops.
He was concerned that there would be a revolt of the Greek city-states, so he marched his huge army of over 3000 cavalry soldiers and some 30,000 infantry soldiers to the tip of the Greek peninsula.
He destroyed Thebes and this caused fear among the city-states.
In all, he named 70 cities after himself, and even one after his horse Bucephalus!
What brought Alexander's reign to an end?
By 323BC, Alexander was head of a large empire spanning across much of the known world. It seems that he was decisive (good at making decisions), ambitious (good at making big plans) and ruthless (willing to do whatever it takes to make his plans work). Some historians say that Alexander believed he was the son of a Greek god called Zeus and that he went into battles fearlessly, believing he could never be killed!
Very soon after he became king, Alexander conquered the rest of the Greek city-states too.
He engaged in battles with Indian kings and his empire reached as far as the Himalayan mountains. In 324 BCE they reached the city of Susa, now in Iran.
In order to unify Persia and Macedonia, he commanded that Macedonians marry princesses from Persia.
He recruited thousands of Persian soldiers and dismissed Macedonian soldiers.
This made his loyal soldiers very angry.