ALEXANDER THE GREAT (356-323 B.C.), Macedonian King

Alexander III became king of Macedonia at the age of twenty, and soon thereafter began his campaign to conquer the known world. He quickly subdued Greece, to the south of Macedonia, then pursuit of the immense Persian army, which he overwhelmed in 330 B.C. By the time of his death seven years later, Alexander had taken his campaign as far as India, deliberately mixing Greek culture with Asian culture, and Greek blood with Asian blood, as he went. For most of his life, Alexander's closest friend and colleague was Hephaestion, although there is no clear proof that their relationship was sexual. Alexander's sexual relationship with the young eunuch Bagoas is more clearly documented, and served as the basis for Mary Renault's novel The Persian Boy.