Alexander the Great
Many historians debate over question, was Alexander the Great really all that great? Many people, including me, think he was not great after all. Alexander, if you are reading this, I want to ask you why:
- You are so careless for your men
- You have such a big head (figuratively, not literally)
- You are so insensitive
Alexander was careless for his men, as shown in “The Legend of the Helmet.” It tells that Alexander dumped out water in front of hundreds of people dying of thirst.1
Alexander was very big-headed. First he dominated the Greeks so he decided he was better than the biggest empire at the time, the Persians.2 Second, he named more than 11 cities after himself.3 I think that is over-kill.
Finally, he was very insensitive. As said by Peter Green, “Alexander had ordered all except those who sought sanctuary to be slain.”4 Great? I think not.
Sources
1: Lucius Flavius Arrianus, The Campaigns of Alexander, circa 130 BCE
2: Alexander the Great Mini-Q
3: Map of Alexander’s Empire compiled from various sources
4: Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press, 1991
