IN 336 B.C., A 20-YEAR-OLD ROSE TO THE THRONE OF MACEDONIA,
A KINGDOM TO THE NORTH OF GREECE IN SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE.
WITHIN 13 YEARS,
ALEXANDER III CREATED THE MOST POWERFUL EMPIRE
THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN
AND EARNED THE TITLE ALEXANDER THE GREAT.
WHEN ALEXANDER WAS A BOY, HIS FATHER, KING PHILIP II,
BROUGHT ALL OF GREECE UNDER HIS CONTROL.
ALEXANDER LEARNED MILITARY SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP
FROM HIS FATHER.
BUT HE ALSO HAD ANOTHER TEACHER --
ARISTOTLE, THE LEGENDARY GREEK PHILOSOPHER.
ARISTOTLE GAVE ALEXANDER A CLASSICAL GREEK EDUCATION
AND TAUGHT HIM THE IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING AND THE ARTS.
WHEN HIS FATHER WAS ASSASSINATED,
ALEXANDER SUCCEEDED TO THE THRONE
AND BEGAN TO PLAN THE FULFILLMENT
OF HIS FATHER'S MOST AMBITIOUS DREAM.
ONE OF ALEXANDER'S FIRST ACTIONS AS KING
WAS TO PUT DOWN A GROWING REVOLT IN THE GREEK CITY OF THEBES.
HE SACKED THE CITY
AS A WARNING TO ANYONE WHO QUESTIONED HIS LEADERSHIP.
THE NEWS SPREAD QUICKLY.
WHEN ALEXANDER'S TROOPS ARRIVED IN ATHENS, FEW OPPOSED THEM.
ALEXANDER OFFERED THE GREEKS A SHREWD PROPOSAL --
IF THEY GAVE HIM MEN AND SUPPLIES FOR HIS ARMY,
HE WOULD MARCH AGAINST THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
AND LIBERATE THE LANDS
THAT THE PERSIANS HAD TAKEN FROM GREECE.
IN 334 B.C.,
WITH HIS ARMY OF 35,000 GREEK AND MACEDONIAN SOLDIERS,
ALEXANDER BEGAN
ONE OF THE MOST SUCCESSFUL MILITARY CAMPAIGNS IN HISTORY.
HIS TROOPS WON THEIR FIRST VICTORY
OVER THE PERSIANS AT THE GRANICUS RIVER.
THEY THEN SWEPT ACROSS ASIA MINOR,
TAKING CITY AFTER CITY.
IN 333 B.C.,
ALEXANDER MET THE FORCES OF THE KING OF PERSIA, DARIUS III,
IN ISSUS IN NORTHERN SYRIA.
ALTHOUGH ALEXANDER'S ARMY
WAS SIGNIFICANTLY SMALLER THAN THE PERSIANS',
SUPERIOR TACTICS ALLOWED HIM TO CLAIM VICTORY
AND SEND DARIUS RUNNING.
AT THE AGE OF 23,
ALEXANDER COULD HAVE RETURNED TO GREECE A HERO.
INSTEAD, HE SET HIS SIGHTS
ON CAPTURING THE REST OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
HE NEXT TOOK CONTROL OF SYRIA,
AND THEN TURNED HIS TROOPS TOWARDS EGYPT.
THE EGYPTIANS WELCOMED ALEXANDER.
LIKE THE GREEKS IN ASIA MINOR,
THEY HAD SUFFERED YEARS OF OPPRESSION UNDER THE PERSIANS.
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE NOW COVERED
ABOUT HALF A MILLION SQUARE MILES.
IN 332 B.C., THE EGYPTIANS MADE ALEXANDER THEIR PHARAOH,
A TITLE THEY GAVE TO RULERS
THEY BELIEVED DESCENDED FROM THE GODS.
FROM EGYPT, ALEXANDER DROVE EASTWARD
AND WON VICTORY AFTER VICTORY.
IN 331 B.C., HE CAPTURED THE PERSIAN CITY OF BABYLON.
OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS,
HIS ARMY CONQUERED THE EASTERNMOST PROVINCES OF PERSIA.
HE THEN PUSHED EVEN FURTHER EAST OVER THE HINDU KUSH INTO INDIA
BEFORE RETURNING TRIUMPHANTLY TO BABYLON.
WHEREVER ALEXANDER AND HIS ARMY WENT,
THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF GREEK CULTURE.
THEY BUILT A NEW CITY ON THE BANKS OF THE NILE -- ALEXANDRIA.
LIKE CITIES IN GREECE,
ALEXANDRIA'S STREETS WERE LAID OUT ON A GRID.
THEATERS, STADIUMS, TEMPLES, ASSEMBLY HALLS,
AND A GREAT LIBRARY WERE BUILT, ALL REMINDERS OF GREECE.
ALL ACROSS HIS EMPIRE, ALEXANDER FOUNDED NEW CITIES,
MOST OF THEM NAMED AFTER HIM.
IN EACH, GREEK SOLDIERS AND MERCHANTS SETTLED DOWN TO LIVE.
IN THESE CITIES, GREEK CULTURE MIXED
WITH EGYPTIAN, HEBREW, PERSIAN, AND INDIAN INFLUENCES
TO FORM THE HELLENISTIC CIVILIZATION.
ALEXANDER AND HIS SUCCESSORS
SUPPORTED THE WORK OF SCHOLARS AND ARTISTS.
THE PALACES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS OF THE HELLENISTIC WORLD
WERE OFTEN LARGER AND GRANDER THAN THOSE OF GREECE.
ALEXANDER ENCOURAGED THE BLENDING
OF EASTERN AND WESTERN CULTURES.
HE MARRIED A PERSIAN WOMAN AND ALLOWED PERSIAN GOVERNORS
TO ADMINISTER PORTIONS OF HIS EMPIRE.
ALEXANDER ADOPTED MANY PERSIAN TRADITIONS.
HE WORE LAVISH PERSIAN ROBES
AND DEMANDED THOSE APPROACHING HIM
TO BOW IN THE PERSIAN MANNER.
ALEXANDER HAD MARCHED 11,000 MILES
AND TRAVELED FARTHER EAST THAN ANY EUROPEAN BEFORE HIM.
IT'S SAID HE WEPT
BECAUSE THERE WERE NO WORLDS LEFT TO CONQUER.
BUT IN 323 B.C., THE MAN WHO HAD NEVER LOST A BATTLE
WAS STRUCK DOWN BY A FEVER AT THE AGE OF 33.
ALEXANDER DIED, AND SOON HIS EMPIRE CRUMBLED.
BUT THE MEMORY AND CULTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS
OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT LIVED ON.
ALEXANDER'S CONQUESTS SPREAD GREEK CULTURE
AND LED TO THE CREATION OF HELLENISTIC CIVILIZATION.
THIS MIXTURE OF WESTERN AND EASTERN CULTURES
ENDURED AND THRIVED.
THE LATER ROMAN, BYZANTINE, AND ISLAMIC CIVILIZATIONS
WOULD ALL BE FUNDAMENTALLY INFLUENCED
BY THIS HELLENISTIC WORLD,
A WORLD FORGED BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT.