One of the greatest men in history, perhaps the very greatest man in history, was Alexander the Great. His father was the King of Macedonia. Alexander studied as a student under Aristotle, one of the greatest teachers and philosophers of history.
When Alexander's father died, Alexander became the King of Macedonia. Soon, Alexander fought wars against the neighboring kingdoms, conquering them all.
Alexander then decided to conquer the rest of the world, which he believed to be much smaller than it really is. He took his army across into what is now Turkey, conquering and defeating the people there. Then, he went into Egypt and later into Persia, with the same result.
Although Alexander is regarded as a military genius, some historians say that this was not so. He was merely a lunatic, they say, who often led his troops into battle even when they were reluctant to follow. He engaged in hand-to-hand combat in circumstances in which it was a miracle that he was not killed.
Alexander reached a place called Balkh in a region called Bactra which is near the modern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in what is now Northern Afghanistan.
In all this time, Alexander the Great had been so busy trying to conquer the world that he had never bothered to take a wife, although he obviously could have had any women he wanted. Some historians claim that Alexander the Great was homosexual.
There was a beautiful young Afghan girl in Balkh named Roxanne. Her father was the King of Balkh. Alexander the Great conquered Balkh in 329 BC and killed Roxanne's father.
Roxanne decided to make the best of the situation. She presented herself to Alexander and offered to become his wife.
Alexander accepted and Roxanne became his wife. This was an era in which most kings had many wives, but Roxanne was the only wife that Alexander the Great ever had.
Alexander did not stay in Balkh for long. He moved down into what is now Pakistan and India, defeating the armies and conquering the people along the way. Finally, his own troops decided that there was no point to this and refused to go further. Alexander was forced to turn back. On the way back, Alexander became sick and died at the early age of 33.
Meanwhile, Roxanne had given birth to a child, a baby boy, the only child that Alexander the Great ever had. This child was the heir to the Empire of Alexander the Great, which included all of Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, parts of India and more. All this by right belonged to the son of Roxanne.
So, what do you suppose happened to that baby boy, the son of Alexander the Great? Right! You guessed it. They killed him!
Roxanne knew that she was in danger. She ran. Her journeys with her baby boy took her thousands of miles, all the time being pursued by the jealous generals who wanted to kill the boy so that they could divide the empire of Alexander the Great among themselves.
Finally, after years of chasing down Roxanne and her baby boy, they found them both. Roxanne and the child were both killed.
Had this not happened, all of world history would have been different. That child, the only son of Alexander the Great, and his descendants, would without doubt have become the rulers of the Empire of Alexander the Great. The world map, the languages and even the people who live in those places would have become different from what they are today.
Sam Sloan
Note: In history books, her name is spelled in different ways, including Roxane and Roxana.