Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) was an ancient Greek ruler and the king of the state of Macedon (Cummings, 2004, p.54). He was a student of Aristotle, and established a vast empire by the time he was 30 years of age. The empire stretched from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas, and was a sign of his greatness. Alexander won every battle and expanded his empire by conquering smaller empires whose armies were not as powerful as his. He assumed the throne after the assassination of his father, Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC (Cummings, 2004, p.54). A well-established kingdom and a strong army were some of the reasons why he became so great. In his capacity as an army commander, politician, king, explorer and scholar, Alexander used several strategies to expand his empire that encompassed people from different ethnic backgrounds. He had immense influence on western civilization mainly because he introduced the Greek language, science and culture to the new empires that he conquered in an effort to expand his empire (Cummings, 2004, p.58). Discussion Alexander used his powerful army to conquer the world during his time. Whenever he conquered new empires, he introduced the Greek language, science knowledge and other aspects of Greek civilization (Noble, 2008, p.95). As an explorer, Alexander discovered that the world extended beyond the Indus River. He made this discovery with the aid of his geographers who helped him to explore new lands. In addition, he introduced certain aspects of different cultures that he felt were useful in conquering more empires and continuing his reign. One of the main influences of Alexander on western civilization was his policies on commerce. He established roads that facilitated commerce with the western world after conquering Persia (Noble, 2008, p.96). These roads were in existence before but inaccessible to the western world because they were under the control of the Persians. This monopoly diminished the chances of the western world of trading and conducting commerce with India, China, Bactria and many other countries that were famous for their trade acumen at that time. The opening of these roads established trade between the west and these countries. This led to the introduction of precious metals and stones, jewelry and jade to the west (Noble, 2008, p.97). For example, Silk Road is one of the many roads that Alexander the Great opened to the western world. These roads exposed the west to other parts of the world. Alexander combined his capacities as king and scholar to establish and develop his empires. In order to control the populations of the empires that he conquered, he adopted some of their traditions. This led to the establishment of an ideological king, a concept that ensured that the kingdom remained strong. However, it split into three empires after his demise due to bad leadership (Noble, 2008, p.99). Alexander had a significant influence because of his brilliant thinking. He envisioned a massive empire that constituted many states under his control. In today’s context, the empire that Alexander built can be compared to the United States of America. His extraordinary ideas enabled him to conquer other em