UNUSUAL FACTS ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT

ALEXANDER III OF MACEDON, BETTER KNOWN AS

ALEXANDER THE GREAT, WAS A KING OF THE

ANCIENT GREEK KINGDOM OF MACEDON AND A

MEMBER OF THE ARGEAD DYNASTY, AN ANCIENT

GREEK ROYAL HOUSE FROM PELOPONNESE

HIS NAME COMES FROM THE GREEK ALEXO, “DEFEND,”

AND ANDR, “MAN,” THUS HIS NAME MEANS

“PROTECTOR OF MEN.”

ALEXANDER’S FATHER, PHILIP II OF MACEDON, HIRED

ARISTOTLE, ONE OF HISTORY’S GREATEST

PHILOSOPHERS ALONGSIDE SOCRATES AND PLATO,

TO EDUCATE THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD ALEXANDER. HE

TUTORED ALEXANDER FOR THREE YEARS UNTIL AGE

SIXTEEN, WHEN ALEXANDER TOOK THE THRONE

OF MACEDONIA

ALEXANDER’S MOTHER, OLYMPIAS, WAS THE

DAUGHTER OF NEOPTOLEMUS I, KING OF THE

MOLOSSIANS, AN ANCIENT GREEK TRIBE IN EPIRUS.

ANGELINA JOLIE PORTRAYED HER SUCCESSFULLY

IN OLIVER STONE’S 2004 FILM ALEXANDER

THERE IS SOME CONTROVERSY CONCERNING

ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S SEXUALITY. HOWEVER,

ALEXANDER THE GREAT HAD THREE WIVES:

ROXANE, STATIERA, AND PARYSATIS.

IT IS BELIEVED THAT ALEXANDER HAD TWO CHILDREN:

HERAKLES, A SON WITH HIS MISTRESS BARSINE

AND ALEXANDER IV, HIS SON BY ROXANE.

UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER HIS DEATH BOTH CHILDREN

WERE MURDERED BEFORE THEY COULD REACH

ADULTHOOD

ALEXANDER FOUNDED MORE THAN SEVENTY CITIES AND

NAMED AT LEAST TWENTY AFTER HIMSELF, WITH

THE MOST POPULAR BEING ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT.

ADDITIONALLY, NEAR THE SITE OF THE BATTLE OF

THE RIVER HYDASPES (NOW KNOWN AS JHELUM

RIVER IN INDIA), ALEXANDER FOUNDED THE CITY OF

BUCEPHALA, NAMED AFTER HIS HORSE, WHICH WAS

MORTALLY WOUNDED IN THE BATTLE

HE WAS ONE OF THE MOST ADMIRED FOREIGN

HISTORICAL FIGURES IN ROME, EVEN MANY YEARS

AFTER HIS DEATH. MAYBE THAT’S WHY JULIUS CAESAR,

MARK ANTONY, AND AUGUSTUS MADE PILGRIMAGES

TO ALEXANDER’S TOMB IN ALEXANDRIA

CAN YOU GUESS WHAT ALEXANDER, GENGHIS KHAN

AND NAPOLEON HAVE IN COMMON? YOU’RE PROBABLY

THINKING WORLD DOMINATION BUT THAT’S NOT

THE CASE. THEY ARE ALL REPUTED TO HAVE

SUFFERED FROM AILUROPHOBIA—THE FEAR OF CATS