This song chronicles the history of Alexander the Great. He was King of Macedonia from 356-323 B.C. The city of Alexandria, Egypt was founded in his name in 331 B.C., and he was known as one of the most feared conquerors of all time. He became King of Macedonia when he was 19 and died of fever in Babylon according to the song at age 33. The cause of his death has many different theories to this day.
This is one of Iron Maiden's longer songs at 8:35. It is an elaborate arrangement with a killer guitar solo in the middle.
Iron Maiden performed "Alexander The Great" live for the first time when they kicked off their The Future Past Tour on May 28, 2023 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. During a radio interview conducted several years before the song's live debut, lead singer Bruce Dickinson was asked about the absence of "Alexander The Great" from Iron Maiden's setlists. He said it was because guitarist Adrian Smith couldn't remember the guitar solo. While Dickinson may have been joking, he then explained that when the song was initially composed, they used highly advanced music computer technology, which struggled to decipher the intricate time signature of the solo.
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