Laura Kamelchuk: Alexander the "Great"

"Great" is a very controversial term, meaning something completely different to almost everyone in the world. "Greatness" means to leave an impact on the world, good or bad. One's "greatness" does not have to be because of how kind they were, but can be because of their immense power too. Alexander the "Great" had a vast amount of power, and also had a strong army. Alexander impacted the world in many ways, but his intelligence, accomplishments, and his unique leadership skills are the reasons why I think Alexander deserves the title of being a "great" leader. During his time, Alexander and his army never lost a battle, and built an empire larger than any in ancient history. Based on this, Alexander's ways of leadership are proved as acceptable and successful during his time, especially by Julius Caesar, a well known general who led Rome after Alexander's time.

Aristotle mentoring Alexander

Intelligence is crucial for a leader to make an impact on an empire, especially when they are in succession to a previous "great" leader. Alexander the "Great" was very intelligent, which was essential to the empire he built upon following his father's death. "For my hope is that, under your education and instruction, he will be worthy of both of us, and of the succession to the government of this empire." King Philip II of Macedon states this in a letter written to Aristotle at the time of Alexander's birth. Aristotle was an extremely wise philosopher, and spread his intelligence through Alexander. Aristotle's teachings taught Alexander not only education, but life morals too. Both these aspects of learning assisted Alexander in leading his empire successfully. While under his guidance, Alexander was given a book called The Art of Rhetoric. This taught Alexander about motivation and persuasion, which he used much during his time of leadership. Furthermore, Julius Caesar was a Roman general whose army would not have been as successful if it weren't for Alexander. Caesar led his army based off of the successes of Alexander's army. Alexander led by his intelligence and strategies, as did Caesar. By reason of this, Alexander not only led a great empire during his time, but influenced empires after his time by his immense success.

The Phalanx formation

"Seek another kingdom, my son, that may be worthy of thy abilities; for Macedonia is too small for thee." This was told to Alexander by his father, King Philip II, after Alexander trained  Bucephalus, the so-call “untrainable” horse, at the young age of ten. From this, Alexander’s perseverance and charismatic personality was exhibited. From this great accomplishment at such a young age, the ancient world became quickly aware of Alexander's immense potential as a future leader. If his perseverance was not shown enough when he trained Bucephalus, it surely was following his father’s death. While given his kingship at only twenty years old, Alexander lived up to his high expectations as a leader. This was proved by his making of many great accomplishments, the main one being that he never lost a battle while in power. Almost all of these battles would not have been successful without the phalanx and cavalry, which Alexander strategized and build up over his time of reign.The phalanx was a method where each soldier in battle would each have a very long sword. The soldiers would march in multiple lines, primarily to impale oncoming enemies without coming too close to danger. This method resulted in many won battles, and was proven successful because of it. In contrast, Alexander was also incredibly adept at interpreting his enemies motives, which resulted in him foreseeing planned attacks. This doubtlessly benefited his leadership, as well as, his army significantly.

Alexander's father, King Philip II of Macedon

Alexander’s father, King Philip II, initiated a lot of Alexander’s greatness by building a very strong empire before Alexander’s reign. Though considering this, Alexander was an even stronger leader than his father because he  lived up to his father’s potential, and turned his father’s hopes into reality. Alexander had big “shoes” to fill following Philip’s death, and he definitely filled them. This is proven by how he expanded his empire, and by the different cultures he spread throughout the ancient world. Some may say that spreading culture was not Alexander’s main intent, but without him the Hellenistic culture would not have been possible. Alexander’s main intent was to conquer land, and the spread of culture was a result of this. Furthermore, Alexander knew the value of his army. When in battle, if his soldiers went hungry and thirsty, he went hungry and thirsty. Moreover, if his soldiers’ horses died and they had to walk, he walked with them. He knew that he was higher than them in ranking, but treated himself like he was one of them. By doing this, Alexander exampled true leadership. In “Great Lives from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476 c.e.”, Clark G. Reynolds states that “As one of the greatest generals in history, Alexander obtained victory with skillful tactics, flexibility, a keen sense of logistics, and superior leadership, followed by an effective system of garrisons with divided commands. His charismatic personality and vision combined all these elements into the final one—firm, dynamic, political rule.” In this sentence, Reynolds sums up the primary reasons why Alexander was truly “great”. Alexander acquired many useful traits that made him an excellent leader, and with these traits he acquired the resignation as a “great” leader today.

Even considering his marvelous accomplishments, many people today believe that Alexander does not deserve the name "great". Most of these people focus primarily on Alexander's mistakes, rather than his successes. Yes, he did make mistakes, but so does everybody else in the world today, and so did everybody in ancient history. Hugh Mackay states that "Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational." Alexander was not perfect, but even so, he still made an impact on the world. Alexander developed a quite serious drinking problem, resulting in him killing some of his subordinates. This not only was unstable, but also altered his soldiers respect and trust in him. Given this, Alexander definitely was irrational, but regardless, he still managed to spread culture across the world that still exists to this day. Not only did he do this, but he also influenced future leaders by his unique battle strategies and ways of leadership. Alexander was a "great" leader not because he was a perfect leader, but because he is a memorable leader.

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