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Alexander the Great

King of Macedon, 336–323 BC356 BC – 323 BCAlso: Alexander III of Macedon

King of Macedon who overthrew the Persian empire and carried Greek rule and the Greek language from Egypt to India. His conquest of 332 BC put Judea under Greek kings, and he founded Alexandria.

Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedon (1 Maccabees 1:1). Arrian, following Aristobulus, says that he died in the archon-year that corresponds to 323 BC, aged thirty-two years and eight months, after a reign of twelve years and eight months (Arrian, Anabasis 7.28). In that time he defeated Darius III of Persia, took Tyre (Arrian, Anabasis 2.24) and Gaza (Arrian, Anabasis 2.27), and founded Alexandria in Egypt (Arrian, Anabasis 3.1).

1 Maccabees begins its history with him and says that his officers ruled after him, took crowns and “multiplied evils in the earth” (1 Maccabees 1:1–9). Daniel’s visions speak of a king of Greece whose kingdom is broken and divided to the four winds (Daniel 8:21–22) (Daniel 11:3–4). Josephus, more than four centuries later, tells of his visit to Jerusalem and his respect for the high priest (Josephus, Antiquities 11.325–339); see Alexander the Great Conquers the Near East.

In the timeline

  1. 332 BC, firm date
    Alexander the Great Conquers the Near East

    Alexander of Macedon defeats the Persian king, takes Tyre and Gaza by siege and founds Alexandria in Egypt. Judea passes from Persian to Greek rule. Josephus, centuries later, tells of a visit to Jerusalem.

Primary sources

Scripture

Links open the passage in the NRSVUE at BibleGateway.

The Anabasis of Alexander

Arrian · 2nd century AD · Greek

Jewish Antiquities

Flavius Josephus · AD 93–94 · Greek

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