When Alexander the Great defeated Darius III, he took over his palace.
And as he entered the palace, he decided he wanted to meet with the wives, daughters and the still-living Queen Mother of Persia, Sisygambis. Alexander was accompanied by his companion and best buddy, Hephaestion. Sisygambis then, much to Alexander’s amusement, sank to her knees in reverence before Hephaestion.
Alexander told the old Queen to get up — she had assumed Hephaestion was the great conqueror who had defeated her son in the field of battle… he corrected her, jokingly telling her: “He is Alexander, too!” The reason the Persian queen was confused and mistook Alexander’s pal for him, is because Hephaestion was significantly taller and more conventionally attractive than the Greek ruler. Alexander was very muscular, blond and had a slightly crooked spine. Although powerfully built, he was rather short of stature, requiring a little stool when sitting atop Darius’ throne so his legs would not dangle.
The average man in Alexander’s age would have been around 5′6″ or 5′7″. Alexander was not noticeably short compared to his soldiers, but as nobleman tended to have access to superior nutrition since birth, they tended to be taller than commoners. And by the standard of a king in his era, Alexander was on the shorter side. He likely was around 5′7″, but very buff.