Homer’s Iliad was a cultural phenomenon in those days and young Alexander knew the story by heart. Throughout his childhood, he always kept a copy under his pillow at night.
               When he was 16, his father put him in charge of the kingdom while he was away fighting in Byzantium. Instead of remaining idle, Alexander took action. The Thracian tribe of Maedi was considering rebellion. Alexander stormed their capital, fought the insurgents, and created a new colony in their region, calling the new settlement Alexandroupolis.
               In September 338 B.C., Philip defeated the allied Greek states of the Sacred Band of Thebes at the battle of Chaeronea. The 18-year-old Alexander was a cavalry commander and proved his bravery by leading the decisive charge himself. After the battle, Macedonia ruled all of Greece.
               At 20, Alexander was the new ruler and he didn’t waste any time in his duties. But the Greek cities were still disgruntled about being under a Macedonian emperor and they started to revolt. Alexander couldn’t afford this. He led his army on a 236-mile/14-day march to Thebes and took the rebels by surprise. When the Thebans refused to surrender, Alexander killed 6,000 men, wiped the city out, and sold the 30,000 survivors as slaves. Needless to say, from then on, the Greeks became docile.
               In 334 B.C., Alexander left for his quest for world domination. As promised, he started by conquering Persia, which then included countries now known as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. It took him less than two years. Next, he conquered Egypt and, following the Battle of Gaugamela, he occupied Babylon. After Media and Scythia, he captured Herat and Samarkand. Still on a mission to expand his empire, Alexander lost many men as they made their way east to India, which he invaded in 326 B.C. After the Battle of Hydaspes, he avoided a war with the ruling Nanda Empire, instead choosing to vandalize and pillage small kingdoms in the region now known as Pakistan.

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