(opinion article)

From school I loved the lessons of world history, so when I heard that scuba divers supposedly found the sunken fleet of Alexander the Great near the shores of Lebanon, I began to study this information better.

What do we know about Alexander the Great? Alexander the Great was King of Macedonia, hegemon of Greece, and conqueror of the Persian Empire. He is one of the greatest military leaders of all time. Alexander was born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. Macedonia is the northern part of Greece. Alexander was the son of Philip II, King of Macedonia, and Olympias, the princess of neighboring Epirus. Alexander III of Macedonia is one of the world’s most successful and famous military commanders. Inheriting the crown of his country aged 20 in 336 BC, he proceeded on a decade long campaign of conquest, defeating the Achaemenid Empire and overthrowing its king, Darius III, before pushing even further east to Punjab in India. He formed one of the largest contiguous empires in history before his death in 323 BC. Alexander the Great was one of the most influential people in history. His military tactics are still being studied, while he brought Greek culture as far east as modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Some interesting fact — Alexander had a reputation as a big drinker. In one drunken incident, he argued with his friend and general Cleitus the Black, and killed him by throwing a javelin into his chest. There are some theories that alcoholism contributed to his early death.

Just days ago, a group of Lebanese divers who explored the bay where the ancient Phoenician city of Thira was located, found 11 sunken ships. “The ceramic form confirms that the findings are older than 332 BC,” said archeologist Dr. Jafar Fadlallah.

I think that this is an extremely important and valuable find for world history. We need to look more closely at this find and send out the best historians and archaeologists from all over the world, because there may be priceless historical monuments. So far, no one knows the cause of the death of Alexander the Great. Perhaps on one of these ships, there might be a solution to his mysterious death. Was he a drunkard or not? That is an important question for the whole world students` community.