Alexander the Great-ish

The life of Alexander III, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, was one of conquest and victory, and left a legacy that has influenced great empires to this day. But did he earn the title of “Great.” He led a powerful army, but often was unable to keep them under control. He grew an empire that reached the ends of the earth, but could not make it last. He conquered land, but almost never the people living there, as they constantly revolted against his rule. Perhaps his legacy has been romanticized and made him out to be the gold standard of leaders that in reality he was not. The reality is that he was Alexander the fairly less than great.

Alexander was unable to truly rule the people he conquered, and they never accepted his rule. This led to numerous rebellions and revolts and is also one reason why his empire fell so quickly. Augustus comments on this side of Alexander, “Alexander did not regard it as a greater task to set in order the empire which he had won than to win it" (Plut. Mor. 207d 8). Alexander’s obsession of conquest led to him to care more about the physical possession of land than actually governing it. This led to many of the cities he conquered to revolt and often times not conform to his rule. Alexander often times never ruled the regions he acquired, but “carved his narrow route of victories”(Green) around the area, and then claimed it as his empire. Aside from Egypt, the people he “conquered,” often never accepted his rule and way of life. Alexander was unable to win over his conquered people and keep law and order in his vast empire.

Alexander often time wents against the wishes of his people. This happened in more ways than one, as he would make decisions in war that proved more costly than if he had trusted his advisors, and also changed the way he ruled and acted against the will of his fellow Macedonians and Greeks. The ancient writer Diodorus Siculus said about the siege of Tyre, that even when “He found support in only one of his Friends… but turned again to the attack” (249). This is one of the earliest written accounts of Alexander and shows more of his irresponsible actions than the far more exaggerated and romanticized versions hundreds of years later that give him the title “Great.” While many of these risky calls paid off, they often left many more dead and were much more costly than what his advisors and the people he was meant to serve suggested. This is not a lone occurrence as he often times killed members of his own army in order to keep them from revolting, yet after doing this they still rebelled against him and finally won, causing him to turn back from the Indus Valley. He also went against the ways of his people, the Macedonians, by conforming to Persian culture and considering himself a god. The Macedonians and Greeks believed that no man should be regarded as a god, the Macedonians not even calling a man “king,”(Reames) yet Alexander became a Pharaoh (Egyptian Kings were regarded as deities) and believed he was blood related to Hercules. Even him wearing Persian robes and marrying a Persian and Bactrian wife (which was done to gain influence rather than integrate the races (Reames)), was found extremely offensive by his own Macedonian people, who wanted to implement their own culture, since it was their empire, rather than conform to others. Alexander often never respected the people he ruled originally and made decisions that were not best for the empire and put more people at risk.

The greatest empires of all time have lasted hundreds of years, yet Alexander’s lasted little past his death. He was not able to solidify his empire that was solely based on his military presence. One modern account of Alexander’s empire states that “the rapid disintegration of his empire was inevitable”(Worthington). The way his empire dissolved so quickly may be due to several reasons. One of the most obvious is that there was no an apparent successor to the throne. His wife was still pregnant with his son when he died so his generals ended up fighting for years over control over the empire (Worthington). No one came out completely victorious and the empire was split into various Hellenistic kingdoms. Another explanation is that he never ruled the areas but rather won a battle and left (Reames). This led to great confusion and disruption when he died, as these states were now free and did not see themselves as subject to any new leader’s commands. That would lead to more conflicts of empires trying to re-emerge from Macedonian rule. The empire’s “vast size” (Worthington) was also an issue just like the collapse of the Roman Empire. The size made it almost impossible for the time to be able to govern such a large area, especially when in such conflict and confusion over succession. While his empire did reach far lands, Alexander failed to keep it there and failed to make a lasting empire.

While in most cases Alexander III is regarded as a “great” empire builder and king, the reality is not so. While he was a brilliant general, he often made calls that would kill more of his men than necessary. He often acted against the will of his people and changed his way to the likeness of his enemies, causing distrust within his own fellow Macedonians. He was never a great king, as he never ruled or conquered the nations he acquired in his empire, which would ultimately lead to the disintegration of his empire. He never made a lasting empire, just a series of successful military campaigns. Alexander III might should never have been called Alexander “the Great.”

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