3 thinkers, books, and ideas connected to this field.
King of Macedon — who conquered Persia, Egypt, and the borders of India in 13 years before his death at 32 — creating the largest empire the ancient world had seen — whose conquests spread Greek culture (Hellenism) across three continents.
Persian king who founded the Achaemenid Empire — conquering Media, Lydia, and Babylon — and who was celebrated in the Hebrew Bible as the anointed of God for releasing the Jews from Babylonian captivity and permitting the rebuilding of the Temple.
Ancient Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism — the first monotheistic or dualistic religion — teaching that the world is a battlefield between a supreme good deity (Ahura Mazda) and an evil principle (Angra Mainyu), that humans have free will to choose between them, and that history will culminate in the triumph of good.