ime. The great philosopher Aristotle taught him. Aristotle taught him about literature, and introduced him to science, philosophy, and medicine which he became interested in.His favorite work of literature was The Iliad, by Homer. Every night he slept with it and a dagger under his pillow (Townson 3). Soon he would be able to put all of his drive, ambition, and education to work. Phillip was assassinated in July 336BC on the way to the theater with his brother-in-law, Alexander of Epirus, by a Macedonian soldier, (Popovic death of Phillip). After this event , at the age of twenty Alexander quickly and firmly took charge of his fathers army, faster than anyone had ever thought possible (Popovic death of Phillip). Alexander quickly executed all of his enemies and people that had any chance of claiming the thrown; among these were Attulus, a general who claimed that his nephew was the rightful heir and Phillips other wife and child. There are stories that Olympia, Alexanders mother tortured them to death (Wepman 37).After Phillips death Sparta and Thessaly claimed independence from Greece. Alexander quickly marched 30,000 men into Thessaly and caught them off guard. When Greece saw how strong Alexanders army was he gained their support.With the support of Greece, Alexander didnt waste any time to finish what his father had begun. When Phliip died he left his land far in debt. Alexanders plan was to conquer more land to get the money to pay off the debts his father had accumulated (Townson 4). He would begin by marching to the Danube River. Along the way Alexanders army encountered Thracian tribes. Alexander knew that they would try to crush the Macedonian phalanx by pushing their wagons down the slope at them.Alexander told his men to quickly open up the phalanx so that the wagons would roll harmlessly by. The Tracians only had weak weapons to defend their selves with. After Alexanders army got past the wagons they easily conque...
