[davedx]

Perhaps it was even like Shakespeare - how do we really know he even existed as a person at all? Perhaps "Alexander" was actually a collection of Macedonian Generals?! As was stated in the article, all the original sources are gone.

[coldtea]

Because we're not talking about some undiscovered pre-historic Atlantis, it's from a period with tons of historical evidence and records (including written ones) from multiple nations.

We have had records about rulers and events from that wider area (from Greece to India) for centuries before Alexander.

>As was stated in the article, all the original sources are gone.

Just the primary sources from contemporaries who directly worked with him. We still have histiographical sources about him referrencing and quoting those, and from very close chronologically times, epigraphs, whole cities established by him, coins, and so on.

It's not something that would "slip by".

[spaced-out]

We do know Shakespeare was a real person because he did a lot more in his life than just have his name appear on some plays.