Alexander the Great

Joshua Eastin

9/26/2016

Alexander the Great Blog

Alexander was one of the greatest generals and leaders being honored by future leaders such as Caesar and napoleon. His accomplishments varied from the spread of the Macedon borders and culture to the overwhelming military strength. This made the empire one of the most feared and respected empires through Alexander's military genius and political presence.

Alexander The Great Mosaic
Naples National Archaeology Museum

Alexander was sometimes thought to not care about the good of the Macedonian empire and only cared to expand its borders although this is not true. When Alexander had left on his conquest he had left power to trusted satrafs and when he had found that some of these satrafs had abused this power he was outraged that they would wrong the empire and executed many of them. Alexander had rebuilt the tomb of Cyrus and offered to rebuild the temple of Artemis. Writer Joshua J. Marks writes that Alexander was very skilled "in handling the various populaces of the regions he conquered." This is shown in his integration of some Persian cultures to create a more refined Macedonia.

Philip II of Macedon had planned to take down the Persian empire but before he could follow up with this plan he was assassinated in 336 BCE. This is when the reign of Alexander III of Macedon began. When Alexander was 18 he was in the battle of Charonea 338 BCE where he had rallied the Macedonian soldiers and won the battle. This is the first battle that he was recognized as a military genius. Alexander went on to show that any army was powerful with a great leader even quoted as saying "I am not afraid of an army of lions led by sheep; I am afraid of sheep led by a lion" Alexander went on to conquer all of the Persian empire and had planned to continue into eastern Asia but only was stopped by his armies refusing to march. Alexanders military genius would continue to be honored by other leaders for generations.

Alexander along with being one of the greatest military leaders of all time he had also created a new era of culture through his acceptance of other cultures of the lands that he had conquered. Alexander had never forced any religious or cultural beliefs to his conquered people. This paved the way for Hellenistic culture. Alexander had encouraged the adoption of Persian culture had not cared about past nationality under his mind they were Macedonians and would be treated as such. Alexander had integrated Persian soldiers in his army.

Alexander is a leader who had accomplished so much in his short rule from one of the greatest and most know conquest of ancient history. He had redefined a generation from the culture that he had created through his conquest and was honored and praised by people to this day for his military and political genius during his rein. This is why so many today call him Alexander the Great.