Alexander the Great deserves to be called great because he had many great accomplishments and also was a very good leader. Even though he was an alcoholic, he was still a great leader in the military and government. “Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times.” (www.historyofmacedonia.org) Alexander never stayed in the back of his army and watched, he would always lead from the front and fight. Because he did this, his troops had more confidence and it made him look strong and fearless.
Many people believe that Alexander’s father created the powerful army and government and Alexander just took over and didn’t do anything. That may be true but Alexander still conquered so much land and his army just got better and better. “Perhaps the greatest military genius of the ancient world, the warrior-king Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 B.C.) conquered territories stretching from Greece to Egypt and through present-day Turkey, Iran and Pakistan.”(Nate Barksdale) He used a special battle tactic called the Phalanx which was a group of men and they would use sixteen foot long spears and it proved to be unbeatable. In one battle, the battle of Issus in 333 BCE, Alexander and his troops were outnumbered and he still defeated them. That was the second time Alexander defeated Persia, the first was the battle of Granicus in 334 BCE. Alexander kept attacking Persia and in one battle, the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BCE, he defeated the Persian army once again and captured the Persian treasury. After the battle of Gaugamela, Darius III was killed by one of his generals and Alexander was furious because he thought that it took away his ability to say that he had defeated him. After that, Alexander became the ruler of Persia.
Alexander was a great leader in Persia and had great intentions for his new empire but he died at age 32 so he couldn’t fulfill those intentions. Today, we still do not know how Alexander died but many people think it was from malaria. There are a lot more conspiracies to how he died but we still have no clue which is the actual way he died. Alexander intended for Persia to become a Greek empire and to have a unified culture. After he defeated Darius III, Alexander captured Darius’ mother and daughters but didn’t harm them and then later he married one of the daughters.
Alexander has had so many accomplishments in his life which makes him deserve to be called great. When he was a boy, there was a horse that no one could tame called Bucephalus. At age 11 or 12, Alexander tamed him and rode with him all over the ancient world. “Greek culture undoubtedly penetrated into western Asia as the result of his conquests, and western Asia, up to the Mesopotamian frontier, became for the first time a part of the Greek world. This is Alexander’s most certain, though unintended, historical achievement.” (History.com Staff) Alexander conquered so much land and created over 70 cities which he named most of them after himself and one after Bucephalus. A lot of people think that naming over 70 cities after yourself is very egotistical which may be true.
In the end, Alexander deserves to be called great because of his accomplishments and his leadership skills military and government wise. He created a huge empire and had an unbeatable army. Even though Alexander had some flaws, he was a great leader and will be remembered through all of time.
Works Cited
“Alexander the Great. Philip II and Rise of Alexander.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1185179?cid=140&sid=1877942. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
“Alexander the Great. Alexander’s Career and Conquests.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO,2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1185179?cid=140&sid=1877943. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
“Alexander the Great. Spread of Greek Culture.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1185179?cid=140&sid=1877944. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
“Alexander the Great. Division of Alexander’s Empire.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1185179?cid=140&sid=1877945. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
“Alexander the Great.” Changing Minds, changingminds.org/disciplines/warfare/commanders/alexander_great.htm. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
“Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography.” Alexander the Great, www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.html. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
Barksdale, Nate. “8 Surprising Facts about Alexander the Great.” History.com, A+E Networks, 2014, www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
History.com Staff. “Alexander the Great.” History.com, A+E Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/alexander-the-great. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
Plutarch. “Plutarch, the Parallel Lives.” penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/3.html. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
Watts, Tim J. “The Hellenistic Age.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/15. Accessed 29 Sept. 2016.
1. I thought it was interesting that you really drove home the point that Alexander had a lot going for him to show that he was great. You also addressed the negatives without ignoring them, but showed that they did not ruin his overall achievements.
ReplyDelete2. My research yielded very similar results, so yes I don't doubt any of your research, considering that I had mostly the same sources.
3. I think that you should also have a more specific goal of the second paragraph; it mainly just states theories of how he died and his treatment of Darius II's daughters.
1. I found it interesting that you talked about Alexander's achievements, like taming Bucephalus and founded all these cities.
ReplyDelete2. My research didn't show anything different compared to yours
3. I wish you had talked a bit more about the Hellenistic culture in detail.
1. I thought it was interesting that you mentioned some of Alexander’s flaws. This really shows his human side and I found that very interesting. I also found it interesting that you went into lots of detail about Alexander’s death, that was really cool!
ReplyDelete2. We had mostly the same information because we were both arguing that Alexander was great.
3. I wish you had mentioned more about Alexander’s childhood because this is one of the most interesting things about him. Other than that, you did a really good job!
1) I think it’s interesting how much information you found and included in your post. You talked a lot on Alexander’s life and his accomplishments and his intentions, I like that you added that much and clearly showed you thought he was great.
ReplyDelete2) There was nothing in your reading that was different than what I had found.
3) I think you could have added a little background, like Alexander’s parents and their role in his upbringing and how he spread the Hellenistic culture. Right now you were kind of fixed of talking about Alexander his experiences.