Henry Freeman - Alexander the Great: A Life From Beginning To End: Volume 2 (One Hour History Military Generals)

2016 Copyright

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Alexander, the son of the Macedonian King Philip II, was born in the year 356 BCE. The day that the King received word of Alexanders birth was a happy one indeed: as the story goes, on the day that Alexander was born, Philip was away on a military campaign when three messengers bearing good tidings simultaneously burst in upon his tent one after the other.

The first messenger told him the encouraging news that one of his generals had just managed to overthrow one of his worst enemies, the Illyrians. Shortly after this encouraging word, another messenger appeared and to the Kings great pleasure notified him that, of all things, his favorite horse back home had just won a race in the Olympic Games. And then finally a third messenger rushed up to King Philips tent to declare the birth of his son, Alexander.

From an early age Alexander was a beloved child, but this didnt mean that his parents were overprotective or especially doting. His father Philip made it clear from the beginning that he wanted his son to work hard and to achieve his right to his fathers throne through hardship and abstinence from luxury. Aiding Philip in his desire to harden his son was the wizened old veteran of his court, Leonidas, who drilled Alexander like a soldier from the first day he could walk.

As early as two years old Alexander was instructed in the military arts of archery, swordplay, and horsemanship. And out of all of these martial practices, it was mounting a horse and tearing across the Macedonian countryside on a powerful steed that Alexander loved beyond anything else. It was this love of horses that would bring about one of the most powerful Alexandrian legends.

When Alexander was only 12 years old, a famous horse breeder from Thessaly arrived at his fathers court wishing to sell his horses to the King. Being a man who loved a good thoroughbred just as much as his son, Philip jumped at the chance to acquire another good steed. Yet when the breeder introduced to them to his best horse, a beautiful black stallion called Bucephalas, its behavior left a lot to be desired despite the horses majestic appearance.

Apparently the horse was a bit skittish and upon being approached it would rear up on its hind legs, neighing in fearful protest to anyone who attempted to ride him. Disgusted with the horses feckless behavior, the annoyed King ordered the horse to be sent away. Yet even though his father had given up on the cantankerous horse, the young Alexander had not; he pleaded with Philip to allow him to try his own luck with Bucephalus before he sent it away.

Alexander, always being a shrewd interpreter of events as they unfolded, had noticed that the horse seemed the most afraid when the sun was casting the horses shadow in front of it. Realizing that the horse was scared of its own shadow more than anything else, Alexander led the horse out of the sunlight until it no longer cast such a frightful shade. He then spent a few moments coaxing the horse, stroking its mane and talking to it gently until he thought it was relaxed enough that he could mount.

Alexander then led the horse slowly out in the grassland, keeping a careful grip on its reins. Once he had trotted the horse out into more open pasture, to the astonishment of the onlookers he let go of the reins completely and allowed the horse to take off like a bullet at full speed. The crowd was terrified and feared the worst, thinking that Alexander had lost control of the horse and would be killed or seriously injured by the wild beast.

Alexander had other plans though. To the joy of his father, the young prince returned a short time later with a much more docile horse under his command. Everyone present viewed Alexanders successful mastery of this wild horse as an important milestone for the young prince and a sure sign of his future greatness.

His father King Philip is said to have wept for joy, and declared, My son, you must seek out a kingdom equal to yourselfMacedonia is not big enough for you! So it was that yet another happy milestone was reached in the Macedonian kingdom, and the beginning of Alexanders coming of age was marked through the happiness of horses.

As Alexander quickly matured and embarked upon adolescence, his father realized that he needed a skilled tutor to instruct his son not only in the physical arena, but also in the theatre of the mind. For King Philip only one man was worthy of this task: the Greek Philosopher and prolific writer, Aristotle.

A student of Plato at the famed Academy in Athens, Aristotle had planned on taking over leadership of the school when his mentor died. However instead of taking charge, after Platos death Aristotle was sent fleeing for his life, ironically enough because of his connections to King Philip. Aristotle had known Philip since they were both children. Aristotles father was actually the court physician for Philips own father and from here Aristotle had developed strong ties to the Macedonian kingdom.

These strong bonds did not fare so well when a virulently anti-Macedonian wing of Athens took over the academy after Platos demise. It was Aristotles flight from the hostile political climate of Athens that led him right into his mentorship of the young Alexander. Always making a strong impression, what with his skinny legs, small eyes, stilted accent and flamboyant clothing, Aristotle could make Alexander laugh just as easily as he could produce thoughtful introspection.

Although at the time of Alexanders tutelage Aristotle had not yet composed his greatest works in philosophy, Aristotle was still a thought-provoking and far-reaching teacher nonetheless. He exhorted the young prince to immerse himself in studying logic, ethics, and even psychology. Yet despite Aristotles heavy push for Alexander to acquaint himself with these civic lessons, the young Macedonians favorite subject was always that of the epic poet Homer and his lore of daring heroes and great warriors.

The young Alexander, seeing a template for his own future exploits in the likes of Odysseus and Achilles, couldnt get enough of this mythology. Although Aristotle would have preferred his student focus on subjects of government administration rather than epic tales of conquest, he didnt discourage this interest, even going as far as to having a special copy of Homers work prepared for his student.

This was no small feat in the days prior to the printing press since all books had to be laboriously copied by hand. Alexander appreciated it however, and it quickly became his most prized possession. In fact, it is said that in one famous instance, when Alexander came across the crown jewels of Persia, he dumped out the Persian kings most prized possessions and filled the box with his own in turn, depositing his copy of the Homeric epic into the box!

However, until that day Alexander would carry this text of epic poetry and heroic legend with him in all of his battles, protected in a golden box. Alexander was a man who wanted to carry his passion with him wherever he went. This passion would serve him well when the anti-Macedonian uprising in Athens that had turned his teacher Aristotle into a refugee congealed into an all-out war.

As the political situation turned form bad to worse, King Philip sought to launch a preemptive strike against the troubling city-state by seizing their grain shipments and then capturing the nearby Greek city of Elatea. Philip hoped that by these bold strikes against Athenian interests he could provoke Athens into an attack. Philips wish was soon granted as the enraged Athenians whipped their populace into a frenzy and launched an immediate offensive against the Macedonians.