Alexander The Great: The First World War

Alexander should deserve his title as “Great” because he was a strategical and intelligent leader supported by the many battles he has won. The famous philosopher Aristotle taught Alexander which would support how Alexander was so intelligent; he was taught by one of the most intelligent people at that time in history. Alexander was merely 14 when he began to fight in his father’s army, 18 when he was general, and 20 when he became king. (Doc. 1) He had about six years of learning strategies and military tactics from his father, who took over Greece. In battles, he was heavily outnumbered but managed to still win each one. (Doc. 1) Each battle he won slowly expanded his empire until it reached from Greece to India (Doc. 3) In battles, Alexander led from the front of his army, inspiring his men to fight and to not be afraid. (Doc. 6) This movement from Alexander created a sense courageousness throughout the army if Alexander was not

One reason that Alexander the Great was such a Great, was because he was a really good military leader. Alexander knew how to give a motivation speech to his army and could take over any city, he had good strategies and was a good political leader. Alexander the great was born on July 20, 356 B.C., to his parents King Phillip the second and Queen Olympia. “In 336 B.C., Alexander’s father Philip was assassinated. Just 20 years old, Alexander claimed the Macedonian throne and killed his rivals before they could challenge his sovereignty. He also quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece. Once he’d cleaned house, Alexander left to follow in his father’s footsteps and continue Macedonia’s world domination” (History, n.pg.). Alexander wanted the throne right from the start, some say that Alexander hired someone to assassinate his dad and others say he did it himself. Anyways though we know that Alexander wanted the throne right away, and he was not afraid to kill and fight people for the throne by, he killed his rivals and he

Great men have lived on the face of the earth and left marks of their prowess and legacy that men of the present and even the future find it hard to emulate; a good example of such men is Alexander the Great. This paper seeks to explain further Alexander’s military genius and its positive impact on military impact over the past centuries. The paper also gives a well thought analysis why Alexander was so much successful in his wars and conquests. His big empire spread all the way from Gibraltar to the Punjab and in his leadership made Greek the lingua franca of his new World (Cary, M, 1932).

After crossing the Hellespont with an army of 35,000 men, he met his first Persian battle on the banks of the Granicus River. His cavalry charged across the Granicus and overwhelmed the Persians. From there, Alexander went on to conquer all of Asia Minor with little resistance (“Alexander the Great.'; 2). After recovering from a serious illness in 333 B.C., Alexander marched to Syria, where the king of Persia, Darius III, had fortified a riverbank near Issus with 600,000 men (Durant 544). Again Alexander attacked with his cavalry and defeated the Persians. Darius III managed to escape but left behind his family and a large amount of money.

In the fourth century BC, rapid cultural, economic, social, and political changes were occurring in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. In 337 BC, Alexander the Third inherited the Macedonian kingdom after his father, Philip the Second, died. Philip the Second has already taken control over all of Greece, and Alexander used the manpower and money from this to expand even further, into Persia. Beginning in 334 BC, Alexander started an intense campaign through Persia, concurring city after city. Eventually, Alexander had conquered all of Persia and forced the Persian king Darius the third to the city of Ecbatana, where he was killed. Instead of returning to Greece after his victory over the Persian

Alexander was a complex, inscrutable man of passion and iron-will . The King possessed a keen intellect, with an ability to make quick decisions. He had supreme courage and excellent leadership skills , which contributed significantly to his greatness as a

Greatness in a leader implies passion and integrity. Alexander spent his life fighting hundreds of battles all while having no respect for the army that fought by him,

Alexander the Great once said, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try,”(“Alexander The Great”). Alexander is fearless because he wasn’t afraid to do anything. An example of Alexander being fearless was that he kept trying to conquer more and more land which ties back to this quote. According to “Background Essay,” Alexander the Great was born in 356 BCE in a kingdom on the edge of Northern Greece called Macedonia. Alexander developed a rather high opinion of himself including the growing belief that he himself was a god. Alexander fought his way through lands controlled by Persia- across the Asia Minor, down the Mediterranean coast, into Egypt, and then east to Mesopotamia. There he created a huge Persian army at Gaugamela,”(“Background

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 was one of the greatest generals of all time, which was why I was interested in this book in the first place. I really enjoyed reading this book because it used great detail and talked about other important things in Alexander's life then what everyone knows him for. Hamilton reaches the reader by using such great description, and you actually can visualize what you are reading. You think you can see what the people look like or even see the battlefield. Hamilton also does a good job of breaking down each section so that everything isn't just thrown into a huge mess. However, sometimes in the book I found somethings and words hard to understand and Hamilton also got confusing once in awhile. Overall I really liked the book and it has increased my interest in the history of Grrk and Roman

very smart commander. In 334 bc him and his army attacked the Persians, the Persians had a much

Alexander the Great is remembered as a conquering man who built one of the largest empires. Some describe him as a man with a vision of world harmony. Others see him as a blood thirsty man with a mental illness. One thing that cannot be argued is that he and his empire are fascinating studies. From his rise to power to his mysterious death is interesting, but even after he died the story is fascinating. Due to his death, his empire was divided and a long power-struggle began starting with his generals. Each account has its own story of war and betrayal. These days must have been hard for those in power; they never knew who they could trust. Only the ones who were skilled in the strategy of war and ruthless enough to maintain their power

The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marks the beginning of the Hellenistic Period and covers 300 years to the invasion of Egypt by the Romans. The word Hellenic refers only to the Greeks, but the term Hellenistic refers to `the Greek-influenced societies that arose in the wake of Alexander's conquest' (Sacks, 105). The Hellenistic world extended from Greece all the way to Afghanistan and resulted in the beginning of the mass spreading of Greek culture. Its central characteristics were the mass empires created by Alexander and his successors, the mingling of Greek and other cultures and the diffusion of religions

Alexander grew up to conquer the world regardless the cost. Alexander’s military successes was beyond believe, because he conquered Asian minor and Egypt in a decade. The size of the army led by Alexander it vary in different books but according to Arrian (Ptolemy) , there was 32,000 infantry and 5100 cavalry, agree by Diodorus (17.17)(page 34). Even though with this small army Alexander the Great smashed the Persian with less difficulty. ”Alexander, therefore, while the enemy’s attention was engaged by the siege engines and the attempted assault within their sector , order the Guards, the archer, the Agrianes, and his personal guard to hold themselves in readiness, and himself, with a few men only, crept unobserved by the dried-up water-course, under the wall, into the town. Once inside he broke open the nearest gates and admitted the rest of the troops without difficulty” (Page 204). First, Alexander order to his siege engine was to build batter defense and force an entrance through the breaches, soon something has changed his tactics. There were a stream, under the bed, Alexander soldiers pass under the town and opened the gate. While the Cyropolis were engaged in the front. Alexander the great took the town and killed about 8,000, the rest surrounded. Alexander brought down the greatest empire in the world at that period, without difficulty and most

There were many events that lead to the death of Alexander, one including the passing of his best friend Hephaestion, which caused Alexander to fast and lay in grief for two days (Hammond 196). Before he died, he believed that if he gave thanks to the gods and prayed, they would hear his thoughts and grant him salvation. Because of this, he did not arrange a transition of power (Hammond 200). However, Alexander did not have the gods on his side as much as he thought he did because on June 10th, 323 B.C.E. he died at the age of thirty-two (Hammond 198). He had obtained a fever and later lost his power of speech (Hammond 197). Soldiers came into his room and “as the men filed past he was unable to speak but greeted them with his eyes” (Hammond 198). It was suggested that he died of malaria tropica, and other reports said he died of poisoning or alcoholism (Hammond 198).