When people hear the name Alexander the Great, they just assume he was a great person who did great things. But remember the saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Well now it just turned into, “Don’t judge a person by his title.”
Here is what describes who Alexander the “great” really was:
- Greedy
- Vain (thinking he was a god - yeah right)
- Uncaring
- Superstitious
- Short-sighted in the sense of time
Sure, he conquered 2,000,000 acres of land.1 But how did he do it? He used an army! You’re thinking,”Of course he used an army, what else would he use?” But what kind of army did he use? Ding ding ding! His father’s. It was his father that turned the Macedonian army into a deadly fighting machine (see picture).2 It was this army that Alexander used to conquer his empire. Since he didn’t train the army that helped him take over his empire, at least half of his greatness diminishes into… notsogreatness.
When a fellow soldier of Alexander saved his royal hat band for him and even kept it dry by wearing it while swimming to his boat, Alexander thanked him.3 Then he ordered for the soldier’s head to be cut off because his superstitious beliefs compelled him to not allow anyone that had worn the royal hat band to be safe.3 What kind of person does that!
And for the people he conquered. If people accepted his rule, he treated them kindly. If they refused, he:
- burned the place down 5
- killed almost everybody 5
- sold the rest into slavery 5
Not convinced yet? In the city of Tyre, they were able to hold him off for 7 months, which made Alexander really mad.4 When he finally broke down into the city, he killed 7,000 people, while 15,000 were saved by bitter rivals of Tyre that had taken pity.4
Alexander didn’t even bother to think of the future like every single ruler should do and name a successor.2 His father, King Philip, on the other hand, gave Alexander the really really really famous philosopher Aristotle for a teacher and named Alexander his heir.2 Because Alexander didn’t name an heir, his empire collapsed only 10 years after his death. 5
Alexander The Great? I think not.
_____________________________________________________
1 Chart of Alexander’s Legacy compiled from various sources
2 The Mini Q: How Great Was Alexander the Great?
3 The Legend of the Hat Band, The Campaigns of Alexander by Lucius Flavius Arrianus
4 Alexander of Macedon by Peter Green
5 History Alive! The Ancient World
