ALEXANDER III,

born 356 BC, Pella, Macedonia died June 13, 323, Babylon byname Alexander The Great, or Alexander Of Macedonia king of Macedonia (336323 BC), son of Philip II. One of the greatest generals in history, he overthrew the Persian empire, carried Macedonian arms to India, and laid the foundations for the Hellenistic world of territorial kingdoms. In the process he became a legendary hero. A brief account of the life and works of Alexander III follows; for a full biography, see Alexander the Great. From age 13 to 16, Alexander was taught by the philosopher Aristotle; he came to the Macedonian throne in 336, liquidated potential rivals, and consolidated his political power in Greece. In spring 334 he set off on his celebrated Persian expedition; in the winter of 334333 he conquered western Asia Minor, and in July 332 stormed the island city of Tyre in his greatest military victory. He then consolidated his hold on the Mediterranean coast and entered and subdued Egypt (332331). Returning to Tyre (spring 331) he advanced across Mesopotamia and occupied Babylon, city and province. In spring 330 he marched north into Media and occupied its capital, setting out in midsummer on his campaign eastward, to central Asia. Resistance of Scythians and others was strong, and not finally overcome until 328. In early summer 327 Alexander set out to invade India, crossing the Indus in spring 326. He then set about consolidating the empire thus won, dealing with conflicts between Macedonians and Persians, and attempting to solve the problem of wandering mercenaries (summer 324). He died 10 days after being taken ill after a prolonged banquet and drinking bout, and his body, diverted to Egypt, was eventually placed in a golden coffin in Alexandria. born c. 1105, , Siena, Tuscany died Aug. 30, 1181, Rome original name Rolando Bandinelli pope from 1159 to 1181, a vigorous exponent of papal authority, which he defended against challenges by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa and Henry II of England. Additional reading Hugh Seton-Watson, The Russian Empire, 18011917 (1967), massive information clearly organized and objectively presented; The Decline of Imperial Russia, 18551914 (1952), good factual record with little attention to personalities; M.T. Florinsky, Russia: A History and an Interpretation, vol. 2 (1955), a compact, detailed account, factual and analytical. Additional reading A brief and useful account of the pontificate of Alexander III in English may be found in Marshall Baldwin, Alexander III and the Twelfth Century (1966). The standard biography is Marcel Pacaut, Alexandre III (1956), in French. Pacaut's views are also available in his study of Frdric Barberousse (1967; Eng. trans. 1970). Of fundamental importance is A. Fliche and V. Martin, Histoire de l'glise, depuis les origines jusqu' nos jours, vol. 9 (1953).