Alexander The Great Tactics Essay

Alexander The Great was a powerful military leader and a king. His reign lasted 11 years, during the time of ancient Greece. Within those 11 years he conquered land from Macedonia to the Hindu Kush mountains with an army of 40,000 soldiers. Alexander the Great was great for these reasons, his military strategy, leadership, and his achievement and persistence.

Alexander went to Corinth for the assembly of the Greek league and was named the supreme commander of all Greece. At that time the Thebans’ revolted; he destroyed everything in their city except the temples. This served as a reminder to the other communities and tribes in Macedonia respected and honored Alexander. He proceeded to conquer the Asia Minor, and used his knowledge to plan and organize the army. During the Persian expedition Alexander had in his army more than 100 000 but only a few fought. Alexander honored veterans; he left them in charge of cities. He was a military genius and could change his army within seconds and used to make decisions as fast as possible. He could even change his plan of action if the enemy changed plans. To him it was not about numbers but leadership and plan in battle. The first commander to have backup reserves was Alexander; this affected the way wars were staged and fought in the coming years. Alexander defeated the Persians; he was an unwavering fighter and fought with his soldiers. He conquered the Phoenician coast, Syria and Egypt (Louis, W. R, 1984).

Later on in his life, Alexander continued to show his ability to accomplish many difficult tasks. "After three grueling years of warfare and three decisive battles, Alexander smashed the Persian armies at the Tigris River and conquered the mighty Persian Empire, including the legendary city of Babylon" (“Alexander the Great” ushistory.org). This was a great victory that proved Alexander had what it took to be a great leader. Defeating the Persians was something many leaders could never do, but Alexander

     Alexander then turned to Tyre, a small island about a half a mile offshore, where a large group of Phoenicians were assembled to defend Persia. Unable to conquer by sea, Alexander’s men built a causeway to the island and attacked on land. Tyre resisted for seven months, so long that when captured, Alexander had his army slay 8,000 men and sell the other 30,000 into slavery (“Alexander the Great.'; 2). Jerusalem surrendered and was spared, but Gaza fought for three months until every man in the city was dead (Durant 544).

His Coup D’œil in battle gained him great victories on the Granicus and at Issus. He was then able to aptly transition these victories into his campaign objectives which supported his clear goal of conquering all of Persia with as little bloodshed as possible. He won decisive victories at key points to ensure that he would be able to operate his sieges against the Persian cities that were hesitant to surrender to him. Simply put, Alexander, one of history’s greatest military geniuses, utilized all the aspects of his Kingdom to wage a highly effective war against the Persian King Darius that eventually resulted in the creation of one of the largest empire’s in

When Alexander conquered Persia he moved past the land they owned into unknown land conquering it all the way to India. (Doc A) He conquered the eastern bank of the Hydaspes River in India, fighting an army with men riding elephants. (Doc B) Alexander also conquered the island of Tyre,and it wasn’t a part of the mainland cities. (Doc C)

Alexander the so-called ‘Great’ was a legendary conqueror who in his short lifetime was able to overthrow the Persian Empire, the most powerful kingdom at that time. He was born in 356 BCE to King Philip and Queen Olympia of Macedonia. Alexander’s warring career jumpstarted at the age of 20 in the year 336 BCE, due to the assassination of his father in which he inherited his father’s kingdom. Over the span of 11 years, Alexander and his small fleet of men of about 40,000 took over and ruthlessly conquered the Persian Empire. Sadly, this conquest was short-lived by Alexander’s sudden death in the year 323 BCE, in which his unstable kingdom with a lack of a structured governmental system quickly broke apart in the period of 10 years. Therefore, because of the cruel and the disorganized nature of the way Alexander the ‘Great’ conquered and maintained the Persian Empire, he does not deserve to be referred as ‘Great’.

Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that

Alexander the Great was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders of all time. Alexander’s strategy was to use terror and kindness to conquer an empire. The towns and cities that resisted him would burn to the ground and their people sold into slavery. The towns and cities that surrendered would keep their government officials, and Alexander would help them rebuild damaged property. This strategy allowed him to never lose a battle.

Did you know that Alexander The Great was so powerful he never lost land while he was living? Alexander the Great was born in July 356 BC, and died June 323 BC. He was a Macedonian ruler and he established one of the greatest and largest empires ever known to mankind. Alexander the Great was great because he was intelligent, accomplished many things, and was a high quality leader.

Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Even at an early age, Alexander had the promise to become a great leader. Through all his victories and conquests, he has become a great hero and has had a large impact on history. That is why I chose he book Alexander the Great, by J.R. Hamilton for my review. Hamilton does a very good job with the story of Alexander the Great.

had heard of his skills in battle. He surrendered without a fight. In 332 bc, Alexander

During the course of his life and reign, Alexander had fought and won many battles and wars, defeating many kings and warlords throughout the ancient world. Perhaps his most recognized conquest was of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and its ‘King of Kings’ Darius III during the Battle of Issus 1. After defeating the Persians at the Battle

Alexander the Great left him home in Macedonia in 336 BC with the goal of conquering all of Persia after the death of his father. Alexander the Great traveled north and defeated the Persians who were led by Memnon a Greek mercenary at the Battle of River Granicus. He defeated Memnon another time at Halicarnassus along the coast of Asia Minor. The kIng of Macedonia, Darius, constantly underestimated Alexander's skill in battle causing Alexander to have upset wins. He was winning so many battles and was making progress towards his goal. This made

(tactics) Many others followed from all over the empire. Also, the infantry was still clearly inferior to Macedonian foot troops but they had better weaponry. The number of Persian troops are often exaggerated by Macedonians historians and it goes from 200,000 infantry and 45,000 cavalry to 1,000,000 infantry and 400,000 cavalry. Darius understood that the limited space against Alexander at Irus was a factor against him. So,he chose a defensive tactic by setting camp between the river Bumelus and the Jabal Maqlub, the highest hill of many that intersect the Tigris and Zagros plain. He flatten the battlefield in order for his cavalry and chariots to have optimum maneuverability. But Alexander obtained a tactic advantage before the battle when he could occupy the slopes surrounding the plains of Gaugamela. He performed a detailed survey of the battlefield. Darius placed the Bactrian cavalry on the left, supported by Daae, Arachotians and a mix of cavalry and infantry. Further was the Susian and then the Cadusian forces. On the right, were the forces from the Lowland Syria, the Parthians, Sacae, the Tapurian, the Medes and the Hyrcanian. (site sur alex long) The center was composed of the King, , his elite squadron and the royal guard. The tactic was to create gaps in the Macedonians lines. Alexander forces were formed in the usual pattern forming a compact line. Alexander knew he would be outflanked