Alexander The Great, was he great? Well we wouldn’t still call him that if he wasn’t. Duh. In my opinion, if I was a little village in the middle of nowhere, I think I’d be glad there’s, oh, this huge empire to protect me. And this little village gets to keep most, if not all, of their customs; their leader stays the leader; and free protection? Sweet! So really, what’s the problem?
Alexander (The Great) obviously deserves his title, because he showed three traits that
make my definition of great!1
- LEADERSHIP
Alexander showed leadership many times while on his conquest; during battles, hard traveling, or just giving a pep-talk. But, one remarkable time was when he united the Greeks and Macedonian armies and led them all the way to Persia, then led them all into victory over Persia. He knew that they both had Persia as their common enemy; and knowing this, he was able to go to Persia and beyond, uniting people and cultures along the way, and always leading his army the right way.2
- CONCERN FOR OTHERS
Alexander, despite what many other unaware people think, and maybe you are one right now, despite that they (and/or you) think he was some scary, horrible, ruthless guy, no. He was actually, yes, actually capable of showing a humane, good amount of concern. One great (pardon the pun) example was Alexander’s last major battle against a prince named Porus, at the Hydaspes River in India.3 When the battle was said and done, the Indians had lost, but, Alexander was impressed with the prince’s bravery, and, as far as he was concerned for Porus, why, he let him keep ruling. How nice was that?
- INTELLIGENCE
Now, you might not know it (if you still think he was bad), but Alexander was intelligent. So let me ask ask you this: Could a big blundering idiot have conquered two million square miles of land?1 In less than a lifetime? Not likely. At all. Well, he was kinda smart, in many situations, but let’s focus in on one journey he and his army had to make. It was in the desert, the crossing had been rough, and there was not a drop of water to be found...until a party that had gone out out searching and had managed to find just a little, little bit of water. They poured it in a helmet and gave it to Alexander. He knew he could drink it himself, or give it to a lucky one in the army of thousands. Even if he did that, they would all just become thirstier. So, he simply poured the water on the ground, all his army watching.3 “So extraordinary was the effect of this action that the water wasted by Alexander was as good a drink for every man in the army.” (The Legend of the Helmet” by Lucius Flavius Arrianus, page 257) That was a really smart move on Alexander’s part. Now they could continue on, satisfied, with new hope.
So good job Alexander THE GREAT.
1. Mini-Q; How Great Was Alexander The Great?
2. History Alive! The Ancient World
3. Lucius Flavius Arrianus, The Campaigns of Alexander
