Alexander the Great CLAS-2330

Painting of Alexander the Great on a horse

Alexander the Great (356-323), the king of Macedon, is justifiably one of the most celebrated figures of antiquity. Conquering all of the Greek world and Asia from the Mediterranean to the Indus River in Pakistan by the age of 30, he unquestionably changed the world, bringing Greeks, Macedonians, Persians, Egyptians and Jews into close contact and exchange. But who was the historical Alexander? Was he a charismatic strategist, a genius and visionary? Or a paranoid, alcoholic, and violent megalomaniac who brought about the end of his dynasty and left his empire, and much of the world, in chaos? What were his aims and aspirations? The problematic nature of the ancient sources presents serious difficulties in reconstructing an account of the ‘historical’ Alexander.