Philip decided to leave his 16-year-old son in charge of Macedonia while he was away on campaign, Cartledge wrote in his book ' Alexander the Great' (Overlook Press, 2004). Philip suffered serious wounds in battle, such as the loss of an eye, a broken shoulder and a damaged leg, according to Worthington. Philip remodeled the Macedonian army from citizen-warriors into a professional organization, wrote Ian Worthington, professor of history and archaeology at Macquarie University, in ' Philip II of Macedonia' (Yale University Press, 2010). The teachings of Aristotle him in the treatment of his new subjects in the empires he invaded and conquered, allowing him to admire and maintain these disparate cultures.'Īlexander watched his father campaign nearly every year and win victory after victory. He arranged for Alexander to be tutored by Aristotle himself … His education infused him with a love of knowledge, logic, philosophy, music and culture. 'Philip ensured Alexander was given a noteworthy and significant education. Nevertheless, King Philip II of Macedon was one of Alexander's most influential role models, Abernethy said. Nothing he had accomplished would have discouraged this belief,' wrote Guy MacLean Rogers, a professor of classics at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, in his book ' Alexander' (Random House, 2004).Īlexander's father was often away, conquering neighboring territories and putting down revolts. 'From his earliest days, Olympias had encouraged him to believe that he was a descendent of heroes and gods.

He was the son of King Philip II and Olympias (one of Philip's seven or eight wives) and was brought up with the belief that he was of divine birth.

Alexander was born around July 20, 356 B.C., in Pella in modern-day northern Greece, which was the administrative capital of ancient Macedonia.

Ancient empires total war