Even though Ancient Greece produced such figures as Plato and Aristotle, Alexander the Great remains the eminent man of the age, posits Richard Billows, who nonetheless cautions that the conqueror needs to be seen in context. Without the foundation laid by his father, Philip II of Macedon, Alexander would not have had the resources or influence he needed. Alexander's early death didn't really create a power vacuum that none could fill, but as Billows suggests here, there were many capable leaders eager to carve out kingdoms for themselves. Billows also makes the case that Alexander's empire wasn't the achievement of one man, but the culmination of several generations of aggressive expansion toward a unified purpose.