Kathryn Waterfield - Who Was Alexander the Great?

Pella, capital city of the kingdom of Macedon

It is a special day for King Philips son. His name is Alexander, and he is twelve. He is old enough now to go to the horse market with his father and the other men.

At the market a man walks up to Philip. He claims to have the best horse in the world, one fit for a king. He is an amazing horse, sleek and strong. He is black all over, except for a white mark on his forehead. The mark is shaped like the head of an ox. That is why the horses name is Bucephalas (say: Boo-KEH-fa-las). In Greek, Bucephalas means Ox-head.

Bucephalas is a very difficult horse to ride. Even King Philip cannot mount him. So he refuses to buy the horse and turns to leave. But young Alexander insists that he can ride the great horse. He wants the horse for himself.

Philip and the others dont take Alexander seriously. He is too young to ride such a dangerous horse. Alexander, however, wont take no for an answer. So the king lets him try. Maybe that will teach his stubborn son a lesson!

Is Alexander going to make a fool of himself in front of his father? No! He has noticed something that his father has not. The beautiful horse is afraid of his shadow. So Alexander walks slowly up to Bucephalas. Gently, he takes hold of the lead rope. He turns the horse into the sun, stroking his neck and whispering to him. Bucephalas cannot see his shadow now. The horse calms down. Alexander springs lightly onto its back and gallops off. Everyone is amazed!

This is Alexanders first conquest. Suddenly King Philip sees his son with new eyes. He tells Alexander that he needs to find a much bigger kingdom to rule. Macedon is too small for Alexander!

King Philip is right. Riding Bucephalas, Alexander goes on to conquer the known world. He leads thousands of soldiers thousands of miles across Asia. He becomes the richest and most powerful king alive. He builds many new cities throughout his empire. He does all this in just thirteen years! No wonder he becomes known as Alexander the Great.

Alexander was born in 356 BC in Macedon. Macedon lay to the north of ancient Greece. His father, King Philip II, had seven wives. But Olympias was Philips favorite. She gave birth to Alexander. One day, Alexander would become the next king.

AD and BC

The system used in much of the world for dating years was invented by Christian monks hundreds of years ago. To count years they used the birth year of Jesus as the starting point. That became Year One, or AD 1. (The monks spoke and wrote in Latin. In Latin AD stands for Anno Domini , or In the year of the Lord .) So today we are in AD times. But what about all those years before Jesus was born? Jesuss birth is still the starting point. The years before are counted backward. They are called years BC, orbefore Christ. Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC. This means that he was born 356 years before Jesus.

Even as a baby, Alexander was famous. Amazing stories sprang up around his birth. He was supposedly descended from the famous Greek heroes Achilles and Heracles. People even said that the god Zeus was really his father, not King Philip. Zeus was the most important of the gods.

Alexanders mother liked these stories and helped spread them around the kingdom. Alexander grew up believing them, too. He felt sure that he would do great things someday.

Ancient Macedon was a wealthy country. In the plains, crops and fruit trees grew beside wide rivers. The mountains were rich in gold and silver. Their slopes were covered with trees for timber and grazing land for sheep and goats. There were plenty of animals to hunt, too: deer, hare, birds, wild boarsand even lions!

Macedonians loved to hunt in the mountains. Hunting wild boars was extremely dangerous. But a highborn Macedonian was not considered a true man until he had killed a wild boar by himself, with just a spear.

There were other dangers in the mountains besides wild animals. Mountain tribes often raided Macedon. They stole animals, crops, and property.

In 359 BC Alexanders father became king. Philip was a great general as well as a great ruler. He wanted his people to live in safety. He made his army faster and stronger than any other.

Philips new army beat back the enemy tribes. And he allowed Alexander, at age sixteen, to lead troops against mountain men called the Maedi. At this young age, Alexander won his first victory! He built a town in the land of the conquered tribe. He named it Alexandropolis after himself. (In Greek,