western civ day thirty-five

BIOGRAPHIES

Phillip II was born in 382 B.C in Pella, Greece. His parents were King Amyntas III and Eurydice. His brother took the throne and Philip was held hostage for 3 years in Thebes. After his brother was assassinated Perdicas III took the throne and broke Philip back from Thebes. In Thebes, Philip learned a lot about military power and became very educated on military strategy. Perdiccas was killed in 359 and Philip gained power using his military education he began building the Macedonian army. Philip and his army claimed many victories. As Philip was invading the Persian empire, because of the League of Corinth, his own people assassinated him in July 336 B.C when Philip was 46 years old.

Alexander the Great was born in Pella, Macedonia in 356 B.C. His parents were King Phillip II and Queen Olympias. His father, Philip II, was a great military man and always talked about conquering the Persian Empire. When he was 12, he trained Bucephalus and they became lifelong companions. Aristotle tutored Alexander at age 13. At age 16, Alexander was left in charge of Macedonia and he led a cavalry against the Sacred Band of Thebes on his own killing most of them. In 336 B.C. Alexander's father, Phillip, was assassinated and at age 20 he took the throne. Alexander led many battles in his father's legacy and he would too try to conquer the Persian Empire. In 333 B.C. he encountered Darius III's Persian army. Alexander's army was outnumbered but they were more experienced so Darius fled. Alexander was an excellent military leader and had never lost a battle. Alexander broke through the Tyre's walls and killed many of the citizens of Tyre. Alexander conquered Egypt and when faced with Darius again his own people assassinated Darius so Alexander became the King of Persia. Alexander the Great died in June 323 B.C. at age 32. He conquered many lands and was one of the most influential and powerful leaders in ancient history.

Darius III was born in 380 B.C. in Persia. He was originally named Artashata and the Greeks called him Codomannus. Darius was the son of Arsames and Ostanes. In 336 B.C he took the throne at age 43. In 336 BC Philip II was ordered by the League of Corinth to start a sacred war against Persia. Philip was then assassinated and the war was over. His empire was unstable and troubled with all of the rebellious leaders. In 334 B.C Alexander the Great began to invade the Persian empire and defeated them multiple times before destroying the Persian capital. The Persian Empire was now under control of Alexander the Great. Alexander pursued Darius until Darius's cousin, Bessus, killed him in July 330 BC at age 50.