Alexander III of Macedon 4

Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. Polybiusbegan his Histories by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. Pompey the Great adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anatole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness.  Julius Caesar dedicated an Lysippean equestrian bronze statue but replaced Alexander's head with his own, while Octavianvisited Alexander's tomb in Alxenadria and temporarily changed his seal from a sphinx to Alexander's profile.  The emperor Trajan also admired Alexander, as did Nero and Caracalla.  The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of Macrinus briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewelry, or embroidered into their clothes.  

On the other hand, some Roman writers, particularly Republican figures, used Alexander as a cautionary tale of howautocratic tendencies can be kept in check by republican values.[213] Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as amicita (friendship) and clementia (clemency), but also iracundia (anger) and cupiditas gloriae (over-desire for glory).

Legendary accounts surround the life of Alexander the Great, many deriving from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself. His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in Cilicia as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, another participant,Onesicritus, invented a tryst between Alexander and Thalestris, queen of the mythical Amazons. When Onesicritus read this passage to his patron, Alexander's general and later King Lysimachus reportedly quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time." 

In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the legendary material coalesced into a text known as the Alexander Romance, later falsely ascribed to Callisthenes and therefore known as Pseudo-Callisthenes. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages,  containing many dubious stories,  and was translated into numerous languages. 

Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many cultures. Alexander has figured in both high and popular culture beginning in his own era to the present day. The Alexander Romance, in particular, has had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from Persian to medieval European to modern Greek. 

Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more so than any other ancient figure. The colloquial form of his name in modern Greek ("O Megalexandros") is a household name, and he is the only ancient hero to appear in the Karagiozis shadow play.  One well-known fable among Greek seamen involves a solitary mermaid who would grasp a ship's prow during a storm and ask the captain "Is King Alexander alive?". The correct answer is "He is alive and well and rules the world!", causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. Any other answer would cause the mermaid to turn into a raging Gorgon who would drag the ship to the bottom of the sea, all hands aboard.  

In pre-Islamic Persian (Zoroastrian) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet "gojastak", meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. In Islamic Iran, under the influence of the Alexander Romance, a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges.  Firdausi's Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") includes Alexander in a line of legitimate Iranian shahs, a mythical figure who explored the far reaches of the world in search of the fountain of youth. Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in search of immortality. 

The Syriac version of the Alexander Romance portrays him as an ideal Christian world conqueror who prayed to "the one true God".  In Egypt, Alexander was portrayed as the son of Nectanebo II, the last pharaoh before the Persian conquest. His defeat of Darius was depicted as Egypt's salvation, "proving" Egypt was still ruled by an Egyptian. 

The figure of Dhul-Qarnayn (literally "the Two-Horned One") mentioned in the Quran is believed by modern scholars to represent Alexander, due to parallels with the Alexander Romance.  In this tradition, he was a heroic figure who built a wall to defend against the nations of Gog and Magog.  He then traveled the known world in search for the Water of Life and Immortality, eventually becoming a prophet. 

In India and Pakistan, more specifically the Punjab, the name "Sikandar", derived from Persian, denotes a rising young talent.  In the medieval Europe he was created a member of the Nine Worthies, a group of heroes who encapsulated all the ideal qualities of chivalry. 

Apart from a few inscriptions and fragments, texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander were all lost.  Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life included Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes; Alexander's generals Ptolemy and Nearchus;Aristobulus, a junior officer on the campaigns; and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. Their works are lost, but later works based on these original sourceshave survived. The earliest of these is Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus (mid to late 1st century AD), Arrian (1st to 2nd century AD), the biographer Plutarch (1st to 2nd century AD), and finally Justin, whose work dated as late as the 4th century AD. Of these, Arrian is generally considered the most reliable, given that he used Ptolemy and Aristobulus as his sources, closely followed by Diodorus.