Philip II was the king of Macedon. He assumed role of king in 359 BCE at age 23. At the time, his kingdom was unruly and he used bribery and warfare to secure his kingdom under his power. He was able to increase the size of his army, by more than doubling the original size. His army was now filled with professional soldiers instead of citizen-soldiers. He rebuilt his capital city, Pella, and invited people of the arts. Including poets, writers, adn philosophers (including Aristotle). During one of Macedonia's conquest of Greece, Philip took time away from his army to marry. He married and had a child with Olympias. That child would eventually grow up to be Alexander the Great. One of Philips old friends, Pausanias, had a personal conflict with Philip. That anger eventually led to Philip being stabbed to death by Pausanias.
Alexander the Great was son of Philip II. After Philip died, Alexander assume role of King of Macedon. Before that, during his youth, Alex was taught by Aristotle. Philip hired Aristotle to tutor Alex from age 14 to 17. Then at age 18, Alex's first military excursion was the Battle of Chaeronea. Macedonia won against the allied Greek city-states. Alex went on to conquer much of the world, at least the world as he knew it. Alex never pushed his beliefs onto his conquered people. Instead, he wanted them to support and not disagree with his rule. Those who did oppose him, he was ruthless to. Alex met Darius III on the battlefield at Gaugamela. Macedonia won against Durus, who fled the field after the battle. After conquering much of Peris, Alex adopted many Persian customs. many of his men did not like this. Alex ended up dying at age 32. It was due to a fever he had, probably from contaminated water he drank.
Darius III was King of Persia. He can constant unstable rule of Persia. When battling Alex, Darius underestimated the power of Alex and his army. Darius used bad battle tactics when facing Alex. This led to a Persian defeat. Darius was eventually murdered and that led Persia to being overcome by Macedonia. This conquering of Persia, by Alexander, led to Persia's downfall. Darius's unstable control of Persia could have never saved Persia against Alexander the Great's army. Overall, Alex and his army were more susantible than Darius and his empire could have ever been.
It was interesting learning about these three men and their connection to each other.
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