Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in Macedonia and was tutored by Aristotle. He became king at age 20 when his father Phillip II was killed. Over the next 10 years, Alexander conquered the massive Persian Empire and established a huge empire stretching from Greece to India before dying at age 33 in Babylon, possibly from malaria or poison. His vast empire did not last as no single leader proved strong enough to succeed him, resulting in it being divided among his generals.