Few historical figures stand out in the same degree as that of Alexander the Great. He was a warrior by 16, a commander at age 18, and was crowned King of Macedon by the time he was 20 years old. He did things in his lifetime that others could only dream about. Alexander single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in just over a decade. There were many attributes that made Alexander “Great.” He was a brilliant strategist and an inspired leader; he led by example and was a conqueror at heart. In looking at his early childhood, accession to the throne, conquests, marriage, and death one can see why Alexander the Great is revered in historical contexts as one of the greatest figures of all time.
Alexander was born in Pella, the capital of Macedon, on July 20, 356 B.C. He was the son of King Philip II and his fourth wife Olympias, an Epirote princess. Alexander was bred to be a warrior; his father was a great commander and king, and his mom’s second cousin, Pyrrhus of Epirus, was a celebrated general. So there were noteworthy examples of military genius on both sides of his family. As a child, Alexander’s mother would tell him stories of how he was a descendant to Achilles and Hercules. Achilles was his favorite hero growing up, as he read of his adventures in Homer’s Iliad. From an early age Alexander was practically raised by everyone but his parents. He was originally educated by a strict teacher named Leonidas. Alexander’s father wanted Alexander to become a great man, so he acquired the famous philosopher Aristotle to become his tutor. Aristotle trained him in rhetoric and literature, and stimulated his interest in medicine, science, and philosophy. Aristotle is credited for Alexander’s fasci...
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... to develop a system of administration for his vast realm of power.
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Robinson, C.A. “The Extraordinary Ideas of Alexander the Great.” The American Historical Review 2 (January 1957): p. 53-72.
Alexander the Great has been considered for centuries as a military genius and influenced conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans Pompey, Caesar and Napoleon. Although, he inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army, Alexander was capable to display his leadership and military capabilities. In 338 B.C., his father, King Phillip II, gave Alexander a commanding post among the senior generals as the Ma...
The first matter to consider is what constitutes “greatness”. There are no set standards no checklist, to apply to a person, to determine it they are “great.” The simplest way that I could conceive to decide whether this title should apply to Alexander was to determine if he was, in some way, superior to the rulers that came before or after his reign. The most obvious place for me to start my consideration is with Alexander’s vast accomplishments as a conquerer.
Alexander the Great, son of Philip of Macedon took the throne at nineteen years of age in 336BCE and with this single event the Hellenic culture abounded. Philip did not want Alexander to be a course and boorish Macedonian so he gave Alexander a tutor, Aristotle. Between Philip and Aristotle, Alexander was raised in the Hellenic culture. The Hellenic culture’s aim was to...
Alexander was a smart man and there was one main person to thank for that, his father. Philip II, knowing that someday his son would be a powerful figure arranged for none other than Aristotle to be Alexander’s tutor. Alexander grew to love his tutor almost as much as his father. Alexander’s favorite book was the Iliad by Homer, it was a story about some of the things he hoped to do when he got older, such as fight in wars. As a youth Alexander also enjoyed hunting and martial arts. Alexander feared that by the time he became king there would be nothing left for him to conquer.
Alexander the Great was only 20 years when his father Philip of Macedon died. Even though he was a young man, he had an unusual talent for politics and military tactics. After his father’s death, Alexander moved to continue Philip’s invasion of Persia. In the ten years of his war campaigns, Alexander conquered a large portion of the then-known world. (Judge & Langdon, 2012.)
The year is 329 B.C. Alexander the Great is leading his army on a quest to conquer the known world. As he is preparing his army to cross the Indus River to attack the Indian Army, Alexander and all his troops watch in awe as two “great shining silvery shields spitting fire around the rims” seem to emerge from the heavens. These two “shields” dive repeatedly at his army until the war elephants, horses, and men all panicked and refused to cross the river where the horrendous incident occurred. The two “flying shields” disappeared into the sky as quickly as they had appeared. Seven years later, while attacking a Venetian city in the eastern Mediterranean, Alexander and both armies on either side of the conflict witness two objects materialize in the sky. Suddenly, one of the objects shot a beam of light at the city wall crumbling it to dust. The objects disappeared and Alexander’s army easily took the city with the wall gone (Sitchin 4-10). Most historians would consider these two incidents as false and dismiss them completely. But why would the ancients go through the trouble of documenting these events if they never actually happened? The answer is: they would not. The truth is, the events that Alexander the Great and his armies went through were not unique. There are countless accounts from the ancient world of objects appearing and disappearing in the sky (Sitchin 21). A lot of these accounts mirror modern day reports of UFO sightings. Obviously, extraterrestrial encounters are not a modern phenomenon. They have been around since the time of the earliest civilizations on Earth (Sitchin 58). All recorded accounts of extraterrestrial encounters throughout human history can be classified into one of eight categories.
Alexander is the son of King Philip of Macedonia and Queen Olympias. We see Alexander's daily life and the strained relationship between his parents. Alexander grows up with his mother Olympias and his tutor Aristotle, where he finds interest in love, honor, music, exploration, poetry, and military combat. Young Alexander impresses his father by taming an intractable horse, but both mother and son are banished from the kingdom, Olympias advising her son to seize the throne before Philip has him murdered. As things work out, Philip is murdered, and Alexander rules Macedonia. (BBC)
Have you heard of a man named Alexander the Great, the famous historical figure? There are many amazing stories about him explaining the courageous things he had accomplished. However, if you learn more about him and his accomplishments you will soon realized the real person Alexander was. Alexander the Great, ruler of his empire was in fact not great as his title states. The definition of great is a person who shows concern for others, has leadership and shows intelligence. Alexander didn’t show any of these characteristics therefore he doesn’t deserve the title of “great”.
Alexander the Great died about a month short of his thirty-third birthday. The exact cause of death remains a mystery. He was a strong man with an athletic build and said to be an Olympic quality runner. Many believe that he was a victim of poisoning. After he drank the tampered cup of wine, he began to gasp and expire soon after. The most probable cause of death is that he contracted malaria while in Babylon or suffered and finally succumbed to the complications of the flu virus. Due to the enormous decline of his popularity prior to his death, many were either relieved or unaffected by it. They no longer had to practice the common religion of which Alexander was god nor did they have to be forced to partake in intermarriages. Despite this downfall he still had many soldiers who respected, loved, and worshiped him. They remained outside his tent until his death.
In the countries who believed Alexander was the son of the devil or the devil himself, will say he is not ‘great’ but a demon who did evil. The countries who were on his side would say he was the greatest conqueror to live. He began as a Macedonian cavalry commander at eighteen, king of Macedonia at twenty, conqueror of Persia at twenty-six and explorer of India at thirty [Foner and Garraty]. The amount of large scale accomplishments he managed to finish in a span of six years is astonishing. Alexander’s tomb was the largest tourist attraction in the ancient world. The tomb was even visited by Julius Caesar, Pompey, Caligula, and Augustus. Alexander the Great’s accomplishments set a bar in which provided a standard that all other leaders would match their careers too. Many leaders after Alexander could not reach the standard left by him [Foner and
Alexander the Great is great because of his remarkable achievement which helped to create a long lasting legacy. Alexander started to build his empire in 334 BCE after taking the new role as the king. It only took eleven years to build an empire that was large and lasted several years. In addition, the empire Alexander created stretched over 2,200,000 square miles becoming bigger than the United States (Alexander’s Empire Doc. A) (Alexander’s Legacy Doc, E). This proves that Alexander the Great is great because although the process was eleven long years to make a strong empire, Alexander wasn’t willing to give up and
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
Alexander II has been considered “a great historical figure without being a great man, that what he did was more important than what he was.” ( W.E Mosse) For 26 years, Czar Alexander II ruled russia. During his reign, he made his mark on history by stepping outside of the box and going to extreme measures to help his people. He has been labeled as the “Liberator of tsar” for the ending of serfdom. Czar Alexander II of Russia has made an impact on history because of his interesting background, fatal assassination, and the changes made after his assassination.
Alexander is considered by many to be one of the greatest military figures of the ancient world. He was destined for greatness at an early age by his parents in which his father Philip II the wanted to unite all of Greece’s city states as one Greece. This was also prevalent by his education by the great Aristotle. When Alexander became king his army conquered most of the known world at that time. He was also very young when he died because of wounds suffered in his last battle.
There are many leaders in the world, but a great ruler is passionate, honorable and one who can inspire even in the most hopeless circumstances. Alexander the Great was a great ruler. Alexander the Great was a ruler that was not only inspiring, but he was fearless, smart, bold and courageous. Alexander the Great inspired his soldiers to crave more. He has inspired people since the day he started ruling. What is inspirational about Alexander the Great is that he inspired his troops to the point that they did not question him when they were outnumbered three to one in a battle, they trusted him with their lives and were willing to die for him (Alexander the Great: man behind the legend).