359 BC Philip II is king of Macedonia
Philip II succeds his father Amyntas III on the throne of Macedonia, the northernmost kingdom of Greece

356 BC Alexander is born in Pella
Alexander the Great is born in Pella, the capital of his father Philip II, at the heart of the expanding Macedonian kingdom

343 BC Aristotle teaches Alexander
Aristotle is employed in Macedon as tutor to the 13-year-old heir to the throne, Alexander

343 BC Hephaestion a childhood friend of Alexander
Hephaestion, Alexander's closest lifelong friend, may have been among the small group taught by Aristotle

343 BC Alexander inspired by Iliad
Homer's Iliad becomes a profound source of inspiration to Alexander, who will keep scrolls of the text in his tent during his conquests

340 BC Alexander shows his paces
Alexander the Great, at the age of sixteen, conducts his first successful military campaign – against the Thracians

340 BC Catapult as siege engine
The Macedonians develop the catapult as a siege engine for the armies of Philip II and Alexander the Great

337 BC Philip II to lead Persian campaign
The League of Corinth resolves to launch a war against Persia, with Philip II in command of the confederate forces

336 BC Advance guard sets off for Persia
An advance guard of 10,000 troops sets off towards Persia in the spring, with Philip due to follow later with the main army

336 BC Philip II murdered at wedding feast
At a summer feast to celebrate the wedding of his daughter, Philip of Macedon is murdered by one of his courtiers

336 BC Alexander to lead army against Persia
The League of Corinth elects Alexander to take his father's place as leader of the campaign against Persia

335 BC Alexander destroys Thebes
Before departing for the east, Alexander destroys Thebes and enslaves the Thebans for rebelling against the League of Corinth

334 BC Alexander leads his army east from Macedonia
The 21-year-old Alexander the Great marches east with some 5000 cavalry and 30,000 footsoldiers

334 BC Alexander visits Troy
Indulging in a moment of romantic tourism, Alexander visits Troy at the start of his Persian campaign

334 BC Alexander runs naked to tomb of Achilles
Alexander, recreating a classic Greek ceremony, runs naked in Troy to the supposed tomb of Achilles to place a garland

334 BC Achilles is given a shield dedicated by Athena
Alexander is presented in Troy with a shield, said to have been dedicated by Athena to the Trojans, which will always accompany him into battle

334 BC Alexander wins batle at river Granicus
At the river Granicus, not far from Troy, Alexander defeats a Persian army employing many Greek mercenaries

333 BC Alexander defeats Persian emperor
At Issus, close to the Turkish border with Syria, Alexander defeats the Persian emperor Darius III, captures his family and treats them with courtesy

333 BC Alexander cuts Gordian Knot
At Gordium, in central Turkey, Alexander is credited with cutting the mythical Gordian Knot (identifying him as the ruler of Asia)

332 BC Alexander controls ports of east Mediterranean
Alexander moves south through Syria and Palestine, excluding the Persian fleet from their familiar harbours

332 BC Seven-month siege of Tyre
Tyre, the only coastal city to offer serious resistance to Alexander, is taken and destroyed after a siege of seven months

332 BC Alexander enters Egypt almost unopposed
Alexander the Great's army arrives in Egypt and the Persian governor of the province rapidly surrenders

332 BC Alexander crowned pharaoh
In Memphis Alexander sacrifices to Apis, a sacred bull, and is crowned pharaoh by the priests

332 BC Alexander founds Alexandria
While in Egypt, Alexander founds Alexandria – the best known of the many towns he establishes to spread Greek culture

331 BC Alexander is son of the sun god
Alexander travels far into the desert, to a famous oracle of the sun god Amon (or Amon-Re) at Siwah, where the priest recognizes him as the son of the god

331 BC Alexander defeats Darius at Gaugamela
Moving northeast into Mesopotamia, Alexander again defeats Darius III (at Gaugamela), leaving Persia open to his advances

330 BC Alexander destroys Persepolis
As a conclusive end to the long rivalry between Greece and Persia, Alexander destroys the great palace of Xerxes at Persepolis

330 BC Alexander presents himself as Persian emperor
Alexander adopts the ceremonial dress and court rituals of of his new Persian empire

330 BC Alexander surveys his empire
Alexander begins two years moving with his army through his vast new territories, establishing Greek settlements

327 BC Alexander marries Roxana
Alexander marries Roxana after subduing the territories of her father, a Bactrian chief in the modern region of Aghanistan

327 BC Alexander invades India
Alexander takes a major new step, leaving Persian territory and moving through the mountain passes into India

326 BC Alexander's horse is commemorated
Alexander's famous horse Bucephalus dies in India and is commemorated in the name of a new town, Bucephala

325 BC Alexander's troops demand a change of direction
In the Indian monsoon Alexander's Greek troops have finally had enough and threaten to mutiny unless he turns for home

324 BC Eighty Persian brides for Alexander's senior officers
Back in Persia, to emphasize that Greece and Persia are now one, Alexander marries eighty of his senior officers to Persian wives

324 BC Alexander and Hephaestion marry princesses
Alexander and his companion Hephaestion marry daughters of Darius III

324 BC Hephaestion dies
When the army reaches Ecbatana, Hephaestion dies of a fever and the grief-stricken Alexander erects shrines in his memory

323 BC Alexander dies in Babylon
Alexander, still only 33, dies in Babylon following a banquet

from 323 BC Alexander's legacy - the Hellenistic age
The spread of Greek rule by Alexander introduces the Hellenistic age, which will last for three centuries

323 BC Two token occupants for Alexander's throne
Alexander's generals decide that the joint heirs to his throne shall be his half-brother (Philip III) and his posthumous son by Roxana (Alexander IV)

323 BC Alexander's generals carve up empire
Real power will remain with the Macedonian generals, who after much dispute divide up Alexander's empire among themselves

323 BC Ptolemy rules in Egypt
In the carve up of Alexander the Great's empire, Ptolemy wins Egypt and founds the Ptolemaic dynasty – with himself as the pharaoh Ptolemy I

323 BC Ptolemy rules in Egypt
Ptolemy manages to acquire Alexander the Great's corpse, to lend authority to his rule in Egypt

323 BC Seleucus rules in the east
Seleucus wins control of a vast area, comprising the eastern part of Alexander's empire from the Mediterranean to India

322 BC Alexander's corpse in Alexandria
Alexander's corpse, hijacked by Ptolemy, becomes a sacred relic in Alexandria

317 BC Alexander's mother kills Philip III
Philip III is killed on the orders of Olympias, the mother of Alexander

310 BC Alexander IV and Roxana murdered
Alexander IV and his mother Roxana are murdered by order of Cassander (by now the self-proclaimed king of Macedonia)

301 BC Ptolemy wins control of Jerusalem
Some 20 years after the death of Alexander the Great one of his generals, Ptolemy, extends his rule from Egypt to include Jerusalem

300 BC Phoenicia in Hellenistic empire
Phoenicia is brought into the new Hellenistic empire, changing hands frequently between contending successors of Alexander

64 BC Seleucid dynasty ends
The Seleucid dynasty ends when Syria, the last remnant ruled by his family, falls to the Romans

30 BC Asp in Cleopatra's bosom
Cleopatra commits suicide, applying a poisonous asp to her breast,