Alexander the Great, also known as Alexander III and Alexander the Macedonian, a Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 336 to 323 BCE, is one of the most successful military commanders in history, and is undefeated in battle.

By the time of his death, he has conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks.Alexander had assumed the kingship of Macedon following the death of his father Philip II of Macedon.

Philip had united most of the city-states of mainland Greece under Macedonian rule (the so-called League of Corinth).

After reconfirming Macedonian hegemony by quashing a rebellion of southern Greek city-states, and staging a short but bloody excursion against Macedon's northern neighbors, Alexander sets out east against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, which he defeats and overthrows.

His conquests include Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria, and Mesopotamia, and extend the boundaries of his own empire as far as Punjab, India.Prior to his death, Alexander had already made plans for military and mercantile expansions into the Arabian peninsula, after which he is to turn his armies to the west (Carthage, Rome, and the Iberian Peninsula).

His original vision had been to the east, though, to the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea, as described by his boyhood tutor Aristotle.Alexander integrates many foreigners into his army, leading some scholars to credit him with a "policy of fusion."

He also encourages marriages between his soldiers and foreigners; he himself goes on to marry two foreign princesses.Alexander dies after twelve years of constant military campaigning, possibly as a result of malaria, poisoning, typhoid fever, viral encephalitis or the consequences of alcoholism.

His legacy and conquests live on long after him, and usher in centuries of Greek settlement and cultural influence over distant areas.

This period is known as the Hellenistic Age, and features a combination of Greek, Middle Eastern and Indian culture.

Alexander himself is featured prominently in the history and myth of both Greek and non-Greek cultures.

His exploits inspire a literary tradition in which he appears as a legendary hero in the tradition of Achilles.