Alexander III of Macedon saw very little of his father during his boyhood, but received much inspiration from his mother that influenced him later in his life. Alexander was born in 356B.C. to King Philip and Queen Olympia. He spent a lot of time with his mother at her palace at Pella, the capital of Macedonia, where she often told him that a god fathered him and that someday he would be a great leader and conqueror, and perhaps this is why he believed this later on in his life. Alexander never saw much of his father who was getting involved wi

Alexander's major victory in his first battle against the Persians at the River Granicus set the tone for his campaign in Persia. The Persians were prosperous and well ordered, but made many crucial mistakes which led to their defeat. Alexander brought his army of 30,000 soldiers and 4,000 cavalry to the river near Hellespont in 334B.C., where they crossed (Gunther pg 72). At seeing this great concentration of force, the Persians feared for their lives and began to break up and flee. The Persians lost the battle for a number of reasons. They let the Macedonian army cross Hellespont into Persian territory without resistance. They didn't take Alexander seriously thinking he was just an inexperienced boy. And most important, Darius III, the Persian King, didn't go to battle personally to motivate his troops while Alexander led his troops. As a result of Alexander winning his first major victory against the Persians, many states in Asia Minor submitted to Alexander's rule. According to the Chronicles, the Persians lost 20,000 infantry and 2,500 horsemen where as the Macedonian casualties were 34 (Gunther pg 83). Alexander defeated the Persians at the Battle of The Granicus, which was his first key victory against the Persians, but more victories were still to come.

Alexander's army was very organized and made up of several sections, which worked together to achieve the same goal. The first part of the army was the "Companion Cavalry" (Peach pg 75). The "Companion Cavalry" were eight squadrons of Macedonian Noblemen. The cavalry was used to break up the enemy phalanx (infantry formation). Next were the archers who hovered the flanks. Last and most importantly was the celebrated phalanx. The phalanxes were groups of infantry shield-to-shield, in rows with spears sticking out. The phalanx moved as a unit attacking the enemy weak points. The cavalry swooped along the flanks breaking up the enemy formations while archers shot arrows overhead into the breaking formation, and the phalanx was moved to where they were needed. Alexander improved and used Philip's invention of the catapult and made it into effective artillery. Alexander learned to use them with great tactical effect. The organized army worked together to win battles. The organized army won battles by working together. Alexander could now spread Greek Culture to the co

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Approximate Word count = 1576
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)