Alexander III (late July, 356 BC – June 10, 323 BC), King of Macedon (336 BC – 323 BC), known as Alexander the Great, was one of the most successful military commanders of the ancient world. Following the unification of the multiple city states of Greece under the rule of his father, Philip II of Macedon, Alexander conquered the Persian Empire, Egypt and many other smaller kingdoms in just 12 years. By the time of his death in 323 BC, his empire stretched from Greece to present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India. Alexander's conquests and the fusion of Greek culture with eastern cultures ushered in the age of Hellenistic Greece across much of Europe, Asia and northern Africa. Already during his lifetime, and especially after his death, Alexander's exploits inspired a literary tradition in which he appears as a towering legendary hero in the tradition of Achilles. After his death his kingdoms were split up into three main sections: the Ptolemids in Egypt, the Antigonids in Macedonia and the Seleucids in Syria, Asia Minor and the Middle East.