22 Facts About Alexander

1. Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more so than any other ancient figure.

2. Alexander has figured in both high and popular culture beginning in his own era to the present day.

3. Ancient authors recorded that Alexander was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he forbade other sculptors from crafting his image.

4. Outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled.

5. Thus, in Bactria and Sogdiana, Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the center.

6. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming.

7. Alexander earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a military commander.

8. Alexander's will called for military expansion into the southern and western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations.

9. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate in modern Tajikistan.

10. Alexander viewed Bessus as a usurper and set out to defeat him.

11. On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days.

12. From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa, one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury.

13. In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed the Taurus into Cilicia.

14. From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases.

15. Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth.

16. Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne.

17. Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and army at the age of 20.

18. Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona, capital of the Molossians.

19. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures.

20. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia.

21. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his father's pan-Hellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia.

22. Alexander is a male given name, and a less common surname.