They were teacher and student, and lived around 300 B.C. in Greece. One was possibly the greatest soldier of ancient times, the other was possibly the greatest thinker. Who were they?

In an extraordinary pairing of mind and might, the philosopher Aristotle served as the tutor to the young prince who would become Alexander the Great (Review). Around 343 B.C., Philip II of Macedon sought out the most brilliant intellect of the time to educate his thirteen-year-old son. For several years, at a rural estate in Mieza, Aristotle instructed the future conqueror in a wide range of subjects, including ethics, politics, logic, and the natural sciences, profoundly shaping the young man's intellectual development. This education instilled in Alexander a lifelong appreciation for Greek culture and knowledge, which he would later spread across the vast territories he conquered.

Their paths diverged as Alexander embarked on his unprecedented military campaigns, which began in 334 B.C. Leading a formidable army, he overthrew the Persian Empire, and by the age of thirty, had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. His strategic genius and undefeated record in battle have led many historians to consider him one of the greatest military commanders of all time. While his former student was conquering the known world, Aristotle returned to Athens and founded his own school, the Lyceum.

At the Lyceum, Aristotle formalized a system of logic that would dominate Western thought for centuries and made groundbreaking contributions to a staggering array of fields, from biology and zoology to metaphysics and ethics. His writings, many of which were lecture notes, formed the bedrock of Western philosophy and science for millennia. Though their later relationship may have grown distant, the union of the world's greatest conqueror and one of its most profound thinkers in a teacher-student bond remains a unique and pivotal moment in history.