Alexander the Great conquered lots of land, but land conquering is not enough to make someone great. Alexander the Great was born in 356 bc. His dad, Philip, was the ruler of Macedon and provided Alexander with the best of everything. Alexander’s tutor was Aristotle, who is one of the most famous philosophers, and he provided Alexander with basic schooling. He also tamed a wild horse named Bucephalus who became his war horse in battle.
Once he became the leader of Macedon, he had no interest in governing the land he had conquered, and his drinking problems led to terrible decisions. He claimed he wanted to unify nations however he destroyed cities and after he destroyed cities he would name them after himself. He was obsessed with glory and that made him a pretty egotistical man. History does not support this opinion. Many famous figures such as Plutarch and Napoleon say that he was one of the greatest war generals to ever live, and they have some validating points. However there are more negative aspects to Alexander than there are positive aspects, therefore he does not deserve to be called Alexander the great.
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| A mosaic picture of Alexander the Great. (Mosaic of Alexander the Great) |
While Alexander had some good aspects there were many more negative aspects to him. Alexander the so called Great was good at war strategies, however once the battle was over he did not focus on governing the land he had conquered. He would move on to building his empire. He never lost a battle, however “It has been said that Alexander died just in time, before he could see his empire collapse.” (Alexander the Great, David Sacks) Soon after he died his “empire” broke apart and was divided into three different nations. In regards to Hellenistic Culture Alexander tried to unify everyone, but he failed. He did not appreciate all of the different cultures. He took bits and pieces of different cultures, creating a blend that did not allow individuals to have their own practices and beliefs. People were forced into one mold. He also was a heavy drinker, and being intoxicated led him to many unfortunate decisions, such as murdering Cleitus. Cleitus was one of Alexander's greatest friends, and he had even saved Alexander’s life in battle. One night Alexander had had to much to drink, and Cleitus was questioning the adoption of Persian customs. This questioning led to Alexander murdering Cleitus, by stabbing him with a spear. Alexander also had a short temper and was known to fly off the handle rather quickly.
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| This map shows some of the larger cities Alexander captured and named after himself. (Campaigns of Alexander the Great) |
He claimed he wanted to unify different nations to form one great empire, however he destroyed Persepolis, Persia’s capital. Persepolis was a powerful city that could have been an asset to Alexander, however in order to fit his egotistical version of glory he destroyed it. He destroyed the city and burned down Acropolis. Some believe it was a huge accomplishment to capture Persia, however Persia had already lost in battle to Greece twice before. Alexander needed to capture Persia in order to create his large nation, but it was not some extraordinary feat. Alexander also got rid of Zoroastrian, Persians primary religion. Many people were attacked and killed over their religion, and Magi, who were the leaders, were killed in their own temples. Once he conquered a city he named it after himself. A pretty egotistical move. “He named over 70 cities after himself-and one after his horse.” (Facts about Alexander the Great, Nate Barksdale) He cared a lot about leaving a legacy behind that featured himself, and that he would go down in the history books.
Many historians do not support this opinion, Plutarch stated that he thinks Alexander is great, and with any of his shortcomings Plutarch has a way of turning them into positives. For instance, Alexander’s drinking issues. “The belief arose from the time which he would spend over each cup, talking than in drinking, always holding some long discourse, and this too when he had abundant leisure,” (Life of Alexander, Plutarch) Plutarch claims that there was more conversation than drinking, but it is known that Alexander would drink to excess. Napoleon also thought Alexander was great. Napoleon believed he was one of the greatest military generals ever, and wanted to live a lifestyle similar to Alexander's. Both of these two influential historical figures believed Alexander was one of the greatest generals to ever live, and he was a great general, however besides conquering land there is not much else to his leadership style.
Though Alexander was great in battle and built the largest empire of his time, he was more of a general than a statesmen. He did not govern the cities he conquered and tried to force a mold onto all of the people in his empire. He destroyed cities and murdered one of his closest friends just for having a different opinion than his on a certain issue. He was power hungry and wanted to make sure that his name was plastered across every victory or accomplishment he achieved. He was not Alexander the Great, he was Alexander the good at conquering land awful at everything else that came with being a leader.
Works Cited
“Alexander the Great.” New World Encyclopedia, 25 Apr. 2015. www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Alexander_the_Great. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
Ansari, Prof Ali. “Alexander the not so Great: History through Persian eyes.” BBC, 15 July 2012, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18803290. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
Barksdale, Nate. “8 Su[rising Facts about Alexander the Great.” History, 13 May 2014, www.history.com/news/history-lists/eight-surprising-facts-about-alexander-the-great. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
“Campaigns of Alexander the Great.” Bible History, www.bible-history.com/maps/alexander_campaigns.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016. Map.
Mark, Joshua J. “Alexander the Great.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, 14 Nov. 2013, www.ancient.eu/Alexander_the_Great/. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
“Mosaic of Alexander the Great.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/660319. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
Plutarch. “The Life of Alexander.” The Parallel Lives by Plutarch, 15 Sept. 2012, penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/3.html. Accessed 27 Sept. 2016.
Robinson, Charles Alexander, Jr. Alexander the Great. 2nd ed., Toronto, Macmillan Company, 1976.
Sacks, David. “Alexander the Great.” Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, Third Edition, Facts On File, 2015, Ancient and Medieval History Online, http://online.infobase.com/hrc/search/details/224479?q=alexander the great.
Savil, Agnes Forbes. Alexander the Great and His Time. 2nd ed., New York, Citadel Press, 1966.
Shally-Jenson, Michael, editor. Ancient World. Amenia, Grey House Publishing, 1992.
I thought it was interesting how she chose to show his egotistical personality.
ReplyDeleteMy research was very similar except, this blog goes more in depth on Alexander murdering Cleitus than my research did.
I wish this blog had mentioned how young Alexander was.
1. I found it interesting you did a more grey view than just saying he was good or bad, however, i wish you had been more strong about some of the opinions. And, in thought it was neat how you mentioned about bad things he had actually done because not many other people did that.
ReplyDelete2. No, all of my research had the same facts.
3. I wish you would have said more exactly what was good and bad about him.
Evelyn, I like the logic in your post, it was very explanatory and you did a good job with including all your details. My favorite part of your post was ‘Alexander was more of a salesman than a general…’, it really ties together your whole post. All my research lined up, except I did research how great he was. I think you should’ve included more about his early life but overall this was a very detailed and well written post.
ReplyDelete