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| Rule | Macedonian King: 332-323 B.C. |
| Predecessor | Persian Empire: 31st Dynasty |
| Father | King Philip II of Macedon |
| Mother | Epirote princess Olympias |
| Consorts | Roxanne, the daughter of a Sogdianus nobleman |
| Reign |
In December 332 BC., as part of the campaign against the Persian Empire of Darius III, the Macedonian army and navy reached Pelusium in Egypt
Persian governor Mazaces gave no resistance following the defeated Darius' departure back east to Persia,
Mazaces handed over the treasury of Egypt, and in return he was kept as part of the new administration.
Alexander left a garrison at Pelusium, and led his army to
Heliopolis, the most important places in Egypt's religious life
Egyptians, who were oppressed by the Persians, welcomed Alexander the Great.
Alexander visited the Oracle of Amun, at Siwa, where he was declared "the son of Amun."
He contacted Darius while he was in Egypt, and was offered a truce, with a promise to acquire some western provinces of the Persian Empire, but Alexander refused to make peace without getting the whole empire
He left Egypt in 331 BC. with Cleomenes of Naucratis as governor of the territory, and marched back to Persia to find Darius
He initiated the building of Alexandria under the design of his chief architect Dinocrates., but never lived to see the city.
He was inspired to choose its site by his personal interpretation of a scene from Homer's Odyssey
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| Successor | When Alexander died 323 BC., his half brother Philip Arrihidaeus and his son Alexander IV attempted to hold the empire together, but it eventually dissolved into a number of separate kingdoms ruled by generals and their descendants.
Ptolemy I Soter was initially as a general alongside Cleomenes, but after the death of Alexander IV he seized complete power and became the first Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. |
| Burial | The embalmed body of Alexander returned to Egypt for burial 10 years after his death, but the exact location of his tomb was not found by archaeologists.
The tomb in Alexandria was visited by important personalities and scholars.
His body was originally laid to rest in a golden sarcophagus, but Strabo, who visited Alexander's tomb in the first century AD, said that king Ptolemy IX replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with one made of glass, melting down the original gold
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| Wikipedia | Alexander the Great |
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