I, like most people, know of Alexander from school and school textbooks and it got me wondering, what primary sources exist that prove that this man existed thousands of years ago and did what we learned in school he did?
I imagine the list is endless, but what are like 5-10 pieces that you could use to prove it?
The primary sources which recorded the events of Alexander's life have all been lost (which is not unusual for the time period). Other secondary sources which supposedly based their accounts on the lost primary sources have given us their authors' names:
Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes, Alexander's generals Ptolemy and Nearchus, Aristobulus, a junior officer on the campaigns, and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman.
There are epigraphic sources which give primary evidence of the events of Alexander's life, for example a dedicatory inscription to Apollo from eastern Greece which records a list of priests who had fulfilled their duties from the time of "King Alexandros."