Biased Biography

Simeon Stakic

October 11, 2010

Alexander the Great

                One of the greatest conquerors and most well-known people of the past is Alexander III of Macedon, or Alexander the Great, as he later came to be known because of his great achievements. Recently many discussions have begun about whether Alexander really deserved that title and that he did many negative things. Some people say that he was an alcoholic or that he was ruthless killer. However, I believe that Alexander had many great achievements that shadow the few negative things he did. To me a person who has the title the “Great” has to be a courageous leader, who is both interested in conquering and in

                First of all, Alexander was a great military leader. When he was only 16, he was left in charge of the entire throne of Macedonia while his father, Philip left on a conquest. During that time, Alexander put down a very large rebellion with a swift reaction. This was one of the first signs that he would be a great military leader. Even at a young age, Alexander had great ambitions to become the leader of the largest empire of all time. He was also devoted to building his army and making it even stronger. Alexander was so devoted to his conquest that he gave all his land to the army to make it even stronger. “What” he was asked, “do you have left?” “My hopes,” Alexander replied (from the “Decline and Fall of Ancient Greece” by Don Nardo page 66). Alexander also had outstanding military tactics with which he defeated every enemy that he fought against. His army included very long spears with which the army could reach the enemy from a distance. As he conquered many civilizations, he included many of their soldiers as well. So, his army included Macedonian, Greek and Persian soldiers, which is how his army strengthened each time it conquered a civilization. Using all of his skill and knowledge Alexander managed to conquer the entire known world at the time, including Macedonia, Greece, Persia, Egypt, and India.

                Another major aspect that contributed o his success as a conqueror was the fact that he respected his army. He was a very courageous man that fought alongside his army in every battle, sometimes even without armor. He would often go through the same harsh struggles as them, as they went on the 20,000 mile conquest through very rough and harsh terrain. There is a story that when the army went through a desert with no water, a few soldiers found some water that collected in a helmet, and gave it to Alexander. He poured the water onto the desert sand refusing to drink if his men couldn’t. Alexander was also an excellent motivator to his army and managed to influence them to go into any battle. He managed to persuade them to go through harsh terrains and into hard battles when the men had barely enough strength to walk. There was one instance where he persuaded them to go through a long trek of 70 days through heavy monsoon rains and managed to keep their morals high. However, Alexander also knew when to listen to his people. After many years of conquering, his men became tired and longed to see their families. Alexander respected their decision and decided to go back when they reached the Ganges River.

                The last component that made Alexander so highly respected, was his love and respect of education and culture. When he was young his father Philip brought a Greek teacher, Aristotle to teach Alexander about life. Alexander would often say how his father gave him life, but Aristotle taught him how to live. Aristotle taught Alexander about science, philosophy and literature, and that is when Alexander’s love for these subjects began. Alexander gained a great respect for Greek culture, and decided to make it the foundation and to include it in the numerous civilizations he built. Wherever he would build new cities, they would be based on the cities in Greece. He would also bring in Greek aspects of life into cities that already existed. He would build many temples and building based on the ones in Greece. He also left Greek people in charge of the conquered cities which also lead to the Greek being adopted. However, he also had a respect for the cultures he conquered, adapting many aspects so the new way of life would seem less alien. For example, after conquering Persia he wore Persian cloths and included many Persian troops into his army.

                Overall, I believe that Alexander the Great had many very important achievements which earned him the name “the Great”. Even though there probably were some negative things about him, like his great ambition that sometimes got the better of him, he was overall an excellent leader, with the respect for literature and cultures. Since he managed to balance out keeping a large empire together, but also spreading literature and culture, I believe that he does deserve the title “the Great”.