By the middle of the 4th century BCE, Macedonia was almost fully Hellenized, and gaining influence. By this time, King Philip II ruled Macedonia. His ancestors had been forced to make themselves a protectorate of the Persian empire, but by the time Philip assumed power, they had made themselves independent. Macedonia, therefore, had become one of a number of Greek states — city-states in the tradition of ancient Mesopotamia. Many mainland Greeks, however, still thought of Macedonia as a barbaric land, even though this was no longer true.
Philip was an ambitious king & clearly saw that his realm had a number of advantages over other Greek states. In particular, Athens — the pre-eminent Greek state at the time — depended on trade with northeastern Greece for staples, food in particular. Primitive invaders from the west were a problem for Philip, but he gathered his forces and subdued them. This left him with a good army, and he expanded his sphere of control to some of the ports that Athens relied upon. Macedonia became a threat to Athens, although it was a number of years before they came to blows.
The ambitious Philip wanted nothing but the best for his son, & arranged for him the best education that could be obtained — along with some other young Macedonian princes, the 13-year-old Alexander became a student of Aristotle, the greatest scholar of the day (& possibly of all time!). Alexander was a quick study & absorbed as much knowledge as Aristotle could provide.
In 338, Philip was "invited" by one of the Greek states to intervene on their behalf, in their struggle against the city of Thebes. Philip let Alexander command a wing of his army; they defeated Thebes, & its ally Athens, at the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip established himself as the undisputed "overlord" of Greece, granting each of the extant city-states a great degree of sovereignty, under his rule.
Alexander amazed everyone in his military performance, at Chaeronea. In that one battle, he seems to have realized the advantages of traditional Macedonian warfare — particularly the phalanx formation — & used it to his advantage, throughout his later career. Philip's and Alexander's success in this battle inspired Philip to plan an invasion of Persia, ostensibly to liberate the Greek towns & cities along the western coast of Anatolia.
In the meantime, barbarians to the west of Macedonia proved troublesome once more, and Alexander's first military campaign was a counterassault that brought him to the Danube valley. In a series of battles he defeated the Getae, a Celtic tribe, and the Illyrians.
Partly inspired by false rumors that Alexander had been killed on this excursion, & partly by their discontent under Macedonian rule, the city of Thebes rebelled. Alexander disproved the rumors of his death by marching quickly back south, destroying Thebes when it failed to surrender to him.
Having shored up his support in the rest of Greece, Alexander set out into Anatolia in 334. In short order, he recaptured most of western Anatolia. Darius II, king of the Persians, assembled his forces to halt this invasion. The two armies literally danced around each other for some time, until Alexander — to his dismay — discovered that Darius's army was at his back! Darius was equally surprised to find Alexander before him.
Affecting his decision was the fact that the Persians outnumbered him 8 to 1. This made his situation precarious. Being tailed or besieged by such a large force, were not attractive options. Attempting a well-coordinated attack — maneuvering his cavalry so as to break up the Persian army & take it on, piece by piece, required time that Alexander didn't have.
So, Alexander made what he believed was the only option open to him at that point. He ordered his army to reverse its track & immediately attack the Persians, en masse, while he still had the element of surprise in his favor.
Unable to take up a defensive position, Darius responded by organizing a series of charges. This worked in the favor of Alexander and his phalanx battle tactics. Darius's charges were split apart by the phalanxes, allowing Alexander & the Greek army to go after these "splinters" from behind. The Persians were decimated. Darius himself fled the battle, leaving his own family behind (his mother & harem), as well as a vast amount of royal treasure, which allowed Alexander to further finance his army.
In 331, at the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander triumphed. He marched into Babylon, which welcomed him as "Lord of Asia." He proceeded to defeat all the remaining Persian strongholds, including Susa, Persepolis & Pasargadae — thus, he earned the title that the Babylonians had given him.
After the death of Persian king Darius III in 330, Alexander assumed control of that empire, & treated the Persians now as partners in his further exploits. He sent much of his Greek army home, & proceeded now with a Persian contingent in his army. Together they subdued the Scythians & several other central Asian tribes, then turned south toward India. Tropical conditions proved to be an impediment, but Alexander was relentless. He reached the mouth of the Ganges River in 325 and forced most of India to accept his rule.
With no clear heir to his empire, it immediately fell apart. The military governors he'd appointed in various districts, became monarchs in their own right. Since he'd never managed to Hellenize India, it reverted to local control. The Medians eventually overthrew Alexander's military governors in Persia. However, regions such as Anatolia, Egypt, & Syria remained under the control of Greek monarchs, for centuries.
In many ways, Alexander paved the way for the Roman legions. If not for him, they would have had a much harder task — & in fact they might not even have been inspired to go on their own conquering spree.
Alexander also established an example for monarchs to follow — a model that few could live up to. He was a philosopher-monarch-general of a kind that which was exceedingly rare. Still, he inspired many rulers, including Julius Caesar & many Roman emperors, Byzantine Emperor Justinian, & Charlemagne, just to name a few.
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