1-152-158 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), c336-c323 BC. In only 13 years, Alexander III of Macedon conquered a vast empire stretching from the Mediterranean to India. Alexander died of a fever in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, aged only 33, and his empire broke up rapidly after his death. In this excerpt from a Persian manuscript, Alexander, or Ishkandar as he was known to the Persians, is being told that, great conqueror though he is, he himself will be conquered by death. From the Bodleian Library, Oxford.