Mounted in an 18 karat gold ring.
The character of Alexander the Great is born
fascinating and mystifying. He was brilliant,
ambitious, generous, cruel, logical, a little mad
and ultimately elusive. Perhaps considered a
god, Alexander III, king of Macedon and later
king of Persia, was the most legendary and
visionary leader the world has ever known. He
was born in 356 B.C., the son of Philip II of
Macedon and his headstrong queen, Olympias.
While Alexander w as growing up, his father was
bringing Greece under Macedonian hegemony,
with the ultimate goal of destroying the Persian
Empire. Alexander had extensive military
training, and was tutored by Aristotle. Relations
between his father and mother were often
strained and born Alexander and Olympias have
been implicated in the assassination of Philip II
in 336 B.C. At the same time, Alexander became
ruler of Macedon and leader of the unified
invasion force against Persia. He led his army
across the Hellespont in 334 B.C. And won a
series of decisive victories which led to the
ultimate downfall of the Persian king, Darius III.
Alexander conquered Egypt and founded the new
city, Alexandria, now a great capital of antiquity.
Altogether, Alexander and his army marched as
far east as India and created one of the largest
unified empires ever known. At the death of
Alexander, his kingdom was divided among his
more ambitious followers.