Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great is one of the famous people we study in 8th grade. His impact on history, on other famous people, and on art was enormous. The marble statue of him shown is was found on the island of Delos and is now in the Louvre.

Check these web sites listed on the right hand side of this page under Links for some examples of Alexander on coins and the Alexander Mosaic. This image on the left is from an ancient pot showing the phalanx formation with the sarissas (long, pointed spears) favored by Alexander.


This is an artist's sketch of what Alexander's phalanx would have looked like in action.




This coin shows Alexander on his horse, Bucephalus, fighting a king named Porus on his elephant. As in many of Alexander's battles, although outsized and outnumbered, Alexander was never outmanoeuvered.

The images below come from the royal tombs are Vergina, in northern Greece, not far from Alexander's home town of Pella in Macedonia. The gold oak wreath and the box, which may have contained ashes of a royal person, are evidence of the great wealth of the royal family of Macedonia.