Alexander the Great Who is Alexander and why is he so great? Born in Pella in 356 BC (Central Macedonia, Greece) Alexander was one of the most successful military commanders in history, winning his first battle at the age of 16. By the age of 20 he was the king of his homeland Macedonia succeeding his father Philip II after he was assassinated. By 25 Alexander had conquered the known world (from Greece, Egypt to Pakistan). British Historian Tom Holland described him as ‘the ultimate conqueror’ The Film The film is based on Alexander the Great, the military commander and King of Macedonia, and his life experiences, hardships and triumphs. Directed by Oliver Stone, the cast included Colin Farrell, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Jared Leto and was shot in locations such as England, Morocco and Thailand. Overall the historical action film received poor ratings. 16% from Rotten Tomatoes, 2/4 from Roger Ebert, 5.5/10 from IMDb and 39% from Metacritic. Bucephalus Alexander commemorated his conquests by naming over 70 military forts Alexandria, after himself and 1 Bucephala for his horse Bucephalus. Bucephalus originally was strong and untameable by even King Phillips best riders however a 13 year old Alexander tames the stallion, realising the horse is afraid of its own shadow he turns it towards the sun. Bucephalus served Alexander in numerous battles but died due to fatal injuries at the Battle of the Hydaspes (June 326 BC). The film captures the taming and death of Bucephalus perfectly according to historical accounts in 344 BC. Ptolemy The film begins with Ptolemy as he narrates Alexander's story, reciting his memories to a scribe in Alexandria, Egypt. Ptolemy (367 BC – c. 283 BC) actually fought alongside Alexander in his conquests as a Macedonian general and became ruler of Egypt in 323 BC. In the film Ptolemy refers to the hero as “Alexander the Great,” however history shows that the “Great” was not added until much later, in Roman times. Alexanders Parents Stone recreated the scarred right eye of Alexanders father, Philip II as he lost his eye to a Greek arrow during the siege of Methone in 354B.C. Alexanders mother Olympias convinced Alexander that Phillip was not his father and that he was the son of Zeus himself, when one night in the form of a snake he impregnated her. Angelina Jolie’s portrayal is very historically similar to Olympias, who was the fourth of Philip's seven wives and was believed to kill Philip or hire someone to kill him in 336 BC. Battle Scene Alexander had to fight the battle of Granicus, Siege of Tyre, Issus and Gaugamela to eventually beat King Darius however the film only has 1 battle which is actually an amalgamation of two battles fought between the them (Gaugamela and Issus). The Macedonian military equipment seen in the battle was accurately reproduced due to the director’s historical consultant Fiona Greenland, an oxford graduate. However in the film, Alexander wore a lions-head helmet. According to Plutarch, Alexander wore a burnished iron helmet molded for him by the Greek craftsman Theophilus. Stone apparently decided to fashion a battle helmet based on later representation of Alexander as Heracles. Additionally there is an outstanding representation of t