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Analyze alexander the great
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Sean Aguilar AC1404178 HS150-World Civilization Assignment 02- Alexander the Great 01/19/2015 Alexander the Great was indeed destined for military greatness. During his time, Alexander conquered nearly the entire known world. Taking who he conquered under his rule, he built perhaps one of the largest empires of its era. He commanded the Greek military from 336-323 BCE. At a young age he was tutored by Aristotle where he developed a love for Greek culture. Under Aristotle he studied literature and rhetoric. He was known throughout the world for his ruthless victories on the battlefield. Through his genius use of propaganda Alexander was able to excel his popularity and reputation amongst the masses. He promoted and preached Hellenistic …show more content…
culture in all of the regions that fell under his reign. In the year 356 BC Alexander’s father was Phillip II, was king of Macedonia until his assassination in 330 BC.
A 20 year old Alexander immediately moved to succeed the throne of the kingdom. Alexander not only gained the loyalty of his army but he killed all who questioned his right to the throne. When Phillips death had spread throughout Greece there was speculation as to if Alexander really was a true heir. States such as Thebes, Athens, and Thessaly were organizing into revolts. Alexander’s biggest implementation of securing his place on the throne was when he directed his army to attack the city of Thebes and destroy the organized revolts. Once the great city of Thebes was destroyed it brought the Greeks to their knees and forced them to recognize Alexander as successor to Phillip’s throne. Alexander was eager to begin his series of conquests of the world and he would start by resuming his late father’s plan of invading …show more content…
Persia. Alexander had his first victory in his campaign of Persia in 334 BCE during the battle of Granicus. Alexander accepted the first initial surrender of the Persian capital and treasury of Sardis. Alexander claimed that he was the champion of Greek culture. He believed that it was his duty to purge the Persian culture of its barbaric values and to overthrow Xerxes. What made Alexander a mighty conqueror was his respect for those killed in battle. After the battle of Granicus Alexander chose to show respect to those killed in battle. It didn’t matter if they were his men or Persian. The honor and respect that Alexander showed to his enemy made it that much easier for him to conquer fallen kingdoms. The people he conquered were appreciative of the respect he showed thus enabling them wanting to adopt Alexander’s way of rule. Alexander proceeded down the coastline taking control of major coastal cities to prohibit the Persian’s use of their Navy. Alexander then met with the Persian army again in 333 BCE in the battle at Issus. The Persian Emperor Darius III had and army doubling in size of that of Alexander and was a highly experienced and disciplined military leader. Even with the odds and factors against Alexander he was able to lead a charge through the Emperor’s bodyguard and cause the Emperor to retreat. Alexander had defeated the Persian army for without the emperor the Persian army had no organization thus it fell apart. Emperor Darius III recognized the magnitude of Alexander’s military conquests. Darius attempted to negotiate a first initial surrender of Persia but Alexander and continued his conquest. It was in 332 BCE when Alexander successfully destroyed Tyre. Alexander then began his conquest further into Egypt taking over Syria and Palestine. With this victory Alexander controlled the Mediterranean coastline with his domination of Egypt. This is when Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. Darius began to realize how ruthless Alexander was and that whatever Alexander wanted he could take. Darius offered Alexander all the remaining land of Persia Empire west of the Euphrates. This offering of surrender caused massive fear and panic amongst the leaders of the surrounding nations. Alexander entered Mesopotamia where he defeated the remaining Persian resistance and solidified his conquering of the once great Persian Empire. It had been almost nine years since Alexander’s men had been home and they refused to continue on toward the eastern sea as Alexander dreamed of conquering. Alexander returned to Persia to begin rule of his new empire. Alexander’s new strategy was to blend the Greek and Persian culture together. This in a sense was destined to fail in that Alexander had no appreciation for Persian culture. In order to gain the support of the Persians, Alexander appointed many Persians as political officials as well as Greeks. Yet while he was winning the hearts of Persians with this strategy Greeks were growing more in resentment toward Alexander for this. Alexander tried to develop a unified Greek and Persian Empire. He used Persian practices for governing, took Persian wives, and even encouraged his own Greek officials to follow him. Unfortunately Alexander had no desire to embrace the culture of Persia.
He had no desire to better peoples’ lives of his empire. Alexander was able to spread Greek culture throughout Southeast Asia. There was just one thing that he didn’t consider after conquering. That is unification. An identity for those he conquered. Without learning and accepting the cultures of those he conquered, Alexander created more division, loss of identity, and unrest amongst people of his empire. It could be argued that Alexander was selfishness, egotistic, and bitter attitude toward his soldiers’ refusal to continue toward the Eastern Sea played the role in his downfall. Alexander never established a new culture of what he conquered like previous leaders before him. Alexander never established diplomacy. So to say that Alexander was the Great Conqueror is very true. The true legacy of Alexander would have been the establishment of a new kingdom unified altogether with their own political, cultural, and economic system established. It seems that all Alexander wanted to do was lay waste to all around him. To essentially tear down and destroy other nations that had their own Cultural existence. Alexander selfishly engaged in his own agenda of celebrations and drinking until he died. At his death because he never truly established an “Alexander Empire” the kingdom became ruthless with each other and broke into civil wars. The achievements of Alexander’s conquered campaigns were that he created
connections between other nations such as Europe, Asia, and Africa. These very achievements would pave the roadway for the Roman Empire to rise to great power. References (2013), Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography, Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon) Biography, Retrieved from http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/ (2013), Alexander the Great, Wikipedia Wikimedia Foundation, Retrieved from http:///www.wikipedia.org Judge, E., & Langdon, J. (2012). Connections: A world history. (2nd ed.). Boston: Pearson.
In conclusion, Alexander the Great wasn’t great because he didn’t care for other people, didn’t show leadership or any smarts. Many may say that he was an amazing person who did incredible things with the support of the people. However, if you look closely at his actions you could clearly see his reasoning of greed and power. He killed many innocent people to make his dream of controlling the world come true. Before giving someone a title or name it’s important that we make sure it makes sense and fits their
One of the reasons for Alexander’s military success is because he was brought up by a great military leader. Alexander’s father was King Phillip II of Macedonia, a great military leader himself. When Alexander was a young man, around 16, his father realized his potential and pulled him out of school and put him out on the field to learn (McGill). He also got him a tutor, one of the best in all of history, Aristotle. Alexander’s young life will prove to be one of the largest reasons for his...
“There is nothing impossible to him who will try” (Anonymous, Google). Alexander was not willing to give up in his lifetime. Nothing satisfied him. He always wanted to keep building his empire. Alexander the Great became a king at the young age of twenty. He was a strong leader who expanded his empire from Italy to India for eleven years with little rest. Alexander the Great was really great because Alexander made remarkable achievements while king of Greece, and he was very intelligent. Some may argue the achievements weren’t well earned, however these achievements lead to great successes.
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...
In the archaeological world, a new controversy has been stirred up by King Philip II of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great’s father, and whether his skeletal remains are in Tomb I or Tomb II at Vergina in Macedonia.
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.
What’s in a name? If it is a name like Alexander the Great, then a lot. Alexander the Great is still synonymous with great achievement, and rightfully so. Alexander is the greatest military leader of all time, worshipped as a god by the Greeks, the Macedonians, and the Egyptians (Cartledge). One reason for that is that people taught him from a young age how to be a good king and leader. The man who gave him most of these teachings was his father, Philip II. Not only did he groom him into the man that he became, he helped him in other ways. The biggest of these was likely the army that Alexander inherited from his father. Philip revolutionized the army of Macedonia (Worthington). Alexander put that army to use across Asia and Africa. Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, a philosopher who is widely regarded as one of the finest minds of all time (Cartledge). Another influential man in Alexander’s early life was Leonidas, his first tutor. Leonidas taught him to be industrious and military
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...
Even though Alexander III of Macedonia, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, only lived to be 32 years old, his accomplishments were so vast it would be impossible to capture them all in a 3-hour Hollywood film. The well-known director, Oliver Stone, spent years studying Alexander and dreaming of making an epic film about his life. Stone's 2004 film, Alexander, was met with reviews that made it sound as if it was mediocre or disappointing, but the problem with it is that in the era of exciting action-driven Hollywood films, Alexander asks viewers to go deeper than they are accustomed. The length of the film was considered too long, but the history of Alexander is so huge that it is actually too short. Since Alexander lived more than 2300 years ago, and much of the information on Alexander's life has been lost over time, it seems to me that Alexander accurately depicts the historical era, Alexander's relationships, battle scenes and the different cultures involved in Alexander's conquests.
...here are few people in history that can claim the military prowess, uncanny political maneuvering, and the overall lasting effect of the dissemination of a particular culture such as Alexander. Alexander’s exploits led to the spread of the Greek culture throughout Asia and Africa. They even went so far as to impact the Romans who dominated Hellenistic Egypt. He left in his wake and expansion of territory and commerce, with expanded trading ports and the exportation of the Greek political system. Christianity emerged with the Hellenization of the Jews and spread throughout Hellenized gentile communities. It seems impossible to catalogue every impact of Alexander’s empire. In the end, I have to conclude that Alexander does ‘fully deserve’ the title of “the Great.”
He had inherited the finest army in the world from his homicidal father Philip II, Alexander also ‘inherited’ Philip’s outstanding Chief-of-Staff, the 64-year-old Parmenion. People say that he was just lucky to be general of an already great army. They also say that without this luck he wouldn't have been noticed for Great War tactics at all. It's easy for someone with everything to be great. Therefore he never made himself great. Also three of Alexander’s four great victories were achieved against the Persians, a nation that today we would be described as a paper tiger. A paper tiger is something that is weaker than it is portrayed. Persia seemed strong yet they were not. Therefore his greatest battles were against weak empires, making his achievements not so heroic after all. He killed millions of people during his lifetime as he spread his empire all through the eastern hemisphere. People who are great are able to expand without killing people or they just don't kill people in the first place. I can not think of many people who are considered great that have killed anyone. Finally, many of Alexander's policies were failures. He had made his generals marry Persian women to integrate the Macedonians and Persians, but once he died many of his successors exiled, banished, or divorced their Persian wives. His attempts to create a unified Macedonian empire ended
One of the greatest Empires that has ever existed is the empire that Alexander the Great had controlled for the majority of his life. He was able to conquer areas within Asia minor and defeat the Persian empire. The Hellenistic Empire stretched from Macedonia and Egypt till India. His legacy allowed him to be able to establish his Ephemeral empire mainly due to his charisma and his military expertise allowing him to be a pragmatic leader. However, till his death, Alexander the Great had showed great signs of weakness, which signified that his empire would collapse after his death due to his paranoia and the conflict of power he had with his underlings.
Countless historians and other scholars believe Alexander the Great really was great. Although, a number of historians think the exact opposite. There is a great deal of evidence to support both thoughts. I firmly believe that Alexander was in fact, great. He deserves the title. To begin with, Alexander was well educated as a child. From a young age, he was well-purposed and remarkably observant. In fact, he was able to train a horse no other man could. Alexander used his observant manner to do so. At the ripe age of sixteen Alexander managed to defeat Maedi while his father was away taking care of important business. He was actually the first to charge Thebans' band in the Battle of Chaeronea. At the youthful age of 20, Alexander became King.
In contemporary society, individuals consider Alexander the Great to be the greatest warrior in history. He was a Macedonian warrior at the age of 14, a general at the age of 18 and King at the age of 19. As king, he conquered lands and gained the support of many civilizations along the way for about 12 years (Encyclopedia of World Biography 1988). It is extremely apparent that Alexander the Great possessed numerous highly desired qualities, such as intelligence, ambition and determination. However, Alexander the Great also possessed various negative qualities, such as his brutality, greed and manipulative ways. Regardless of the character traits he has developed over time, it is extremely appalling, as well as impressive, that he was able to conquer and achieve so much, at such a young age.
He was also influential and clever. In each conquest, Alexander retained local officials who were loyal to him and he appointed Macedonian governors to the province capitals. He founded administrative capitals to control the regions. He founded Alexandria, Egypt which became the cultural capital of Mediterranean in the ancient world. Nevertheless, he also began to wear Persian clothing and he encouraged his soldiers to do the same in order to keep the peace. Therefore, he executed the men who resisted obeying his order. He married with a Persian and he encouraged his soldiers to marry with Persians to mix the culture. Persians loved Alexander and they respected him like he was a Persian like them. Even the Persian army joined with Alexander by will. That is why he controlled his massive empire without riots and this proves that he was very influential and clever.