Basic Info:
Alexander III
Argead dynasty
Wives- Roxana, Parysatis II, and Stateira II
Born- 365 B.C.
Died- June 323 B.C.
Parents- King Phillip II and Queen Olympias

Early Years:
From a young age, Alexander displayed a great amount of bravery. When he was 12, he tamed a wild horse named Bucephalus. This horse became Alexander's companion for the rest of his life.
When he was 13, Aristotle became his tutor. The main encouraged the boy to take an interest in science, medicine, and philosophy.
Alexander's father left for the battle of Byzantiums, leaving the sixteen year old Alexander in charge of Macedonia. In 338 B.C., he led a cavalry against the Second Band of Thebes (a supposedly unbeatable army of male lovers), in the Battle Of Chaeronea. His cavalry won the battle.

Time as King:
Philip II was assassinated in 336 B.C. by his own bodyguard, Pausanias. The now 20 years old Alexander became king of Macedonia, then killed his rivals so he wouldn't be challenged.
There were rebellions in northern Greece, but Alexander quickly ended them.
He appointed General Antipater as regent and headed for Persia with his army. They crossed the Hellespoint (a narrow region between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara) where they faced the Persian and Greek armies at the Granicus river. Alexander's soldiers won.
Alexander took the city of Sardes next, but then they ran into problems in the cities of Miletus, Mylasa, and Halicarnassus. Halicarnassus managed to hold out long enough for King Darius III (king of Persia) to build a large army.
After Halicarnassus, he headed north to Gordium (home of the fabled Gordon knot. If someone untied it, they could conquer all of Asia. Stories say Alexander cut the knot with his sword).
In 333 B.C., Alexander and his men ran into King Darius III and his army near the town of Issus in Turkey. Alexander's armies were incredibly outnumbered, but they had better training and more experience, and they eventually drove Darius and his men away. Darius' mother, Sisygambis, was so upset that she disowned Darius and adopted Alexander as her own.
It was now clear that Alexander was a brutal and experienced fighter and he never lost a battle in his life.
Alexander took over Arcadia and Marathus next. King Darius plead for peace, but Alexander ignored it, taking the towns of Byblos and Sidon.
He laid siege to the island of Tyre in January of 332 B.C. after the Tyrians denied him entry.
Alexander had no navy, which made things a little difficult since Tyre was an island. He instructed his men to build a causeway so they could get onto the island. The people of Tyre shot down his attempts again and again until he finally realized hat he needed a navy. He finally made it past the city's walls that July, after gathering a massive navy. Once inside the city, Alexander had thousands of Tyrians executed and many others sold into slavery.
Darius sent him yet another plea for peace, and Alexander ignored it again.
He set out for Egypt next and held another city in siege. He established a new city there: Alexandria.
He traveled to the desert to consult an Oracle, an experience that he spoke little about.
He faced King Darius III yet again at Gaugamela on October 1, 331 B.C., and the battle resulted in Darius fleeing, into to be killed by his own men. Now that Darius was gone, Alexander named himself King of Persia. However, Bessus (another Persian leader), also claimed the throne. Alexander chased him down, caught him, then handed him over to Ptolemy (Alexander's good friend), and Bessus was mutilated and executed.
Alexander wanted to make a good impression on the people of Persia, so he took on many Persian customs, but the Macedonians weren't really happy about this. Alexander began practicing proskynesis (Persian court custom that involved bowing down and kissing he hands of others, depending on rank). Many of the Macedonians refused to practice this and hated how he tried to appear as a deity. Some people even began plotting his death. This made Alexander extremely paranoid and he even ordered the death of one of his best generals, Parmerio, in 330 B.C., after Parmerio's son was accused of plotting an assassination attempt against Alexander.
Cleitus was another successful general and a close friend of Alexander's. Cleitus got drunk one night and insulted Alexander's increasingly Persian-like ways. A furious Alexander, killed Cleitus with a spear.
The next region that Alexander went after was Sogdia. The people found a refuge and refused to surrender. He sent his men to scale the rocks where the Sogdians were hiding, taking the people by surprise. One of the people hiding out there was a woman named Roxane. People say that Alexander fell in love with her as soon as he laid eyes on her and they were married in 327 B.C.
Later that year he marched into Punjab, India. In 326 B.C., he met King Porus of Paurava at the Hydaspes river. There was a fierce battle, and Alexander won. It was during this battle that Bucephalus died (possibly from wounds, but possibly from old age). The loss of his horse greatly affected Alexander and he named the city Bucephala after him.
Alexander was determined to conquer all of India, but his men were exhausted so he decided to return to Persia, but was wounded during a battle with the Malli. After he recovered, he sent half his troops to Persia and the other half to Gedrosia (a desolate region west of the Indus River).

The Mass Wedding:
In 324 B.C., Alexander reached Susa (city in Persia). He wanted to unite he Macedonians and the Persians, so he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at one mass wedding. He also took two more wives for himself (because that was okay for some reason). The Macedonians resisted at first but they eventually backed down.

Death:
By 323 B.C., Alexander the Great was the leader of an enormous empire and had recovered from the loss of Hephaestion (one of his friends and possible male lovers).
He started plans to conquer Arabia, but died before it could happen. He died at the age of 32 in June of 323 B.C. Historians disagree on the exact cause of his death. Some say he died of malaria or other natural causes, but others say he was poisoned. Most people do agree that he was bedridden for a week with a fever before he died.
Alexander never named a successor (which resulted in a huge war that lasted forty years where many tried to fight for dominance over the empire). His death unraveled the empire he'd fought so hard to create. He is revered as one of the most powerful leaders in the ancient world.

Cool facts:
• many legends tell that his father was Zeus
• he was a an alcoholic. He even killed his friend, Cleitus, in a drunken rage. His alcoholism may have also caused his death
• Aristotle was his tutor
• Alexander's rise to throne was a struggle because he was only half Macedonian (his mother was from Epirus). One of his father's wives and her daughter were murdered, along with two princes.
• after fighting king Porus, his army mutinied against his attempts to lead them across the Hyphasis river
• he never lost a battle
• Cleitus saved his life once in a battle at the Granicus river. Cleitus managed to cut off the arm of a Persian soldier who was about to stab Alexander with a scimitar
• his lung was pierced by an arrow during his India campaign
• the location of Alexander's tomb is a mystery. After his death, his body was taken by Ptolemy and taken to Alexandria, where it remained a central site for centuries, but at the end of fourth century AD, all literary records of the tomb were gone.
• his dear friend (and possibly lover), Hephaestion, came down terribly ill and Alexander was summoned for. However, he didn't make it in time and Hephaestion died before he got there. His body was cremated and the ashes were taken to Babylon. Alexander's grief was "uncontrollable" according to Plutarch. He ordered the signs of mourning (Manes and risks of horses were shorn, music was banned, battlements of neighboring cities were demolished). He even reportedly flung himself onto his friend's body and cried there all day long, until he was forcefully dragged away. He cut his own hair the next morning. Hephaestion was given a lavish and expensive funeral. He even ordered the sacred flame to be extinguished, something that was only supposed to be done when the king himself died.
• Aristotle described the relationship between Alexander and Hephaestion as "one soul abiding two bodies"

Movies, Books, etc.
A movie called Alexander came out in 2004 and it's supposedly pretty good. Another movie was released in 1956 called Alexander the Great.
Theres plenty of nonfiction books about him.