How great was Alexander the Great? Many people argue about this simple question, to me, it’s a flat-out not at all! There are so many reasons why Alexander was more-so terrible than great, but I chose the three that support my claim the strongest.
- He’s a big headed 20 year old
- He killed many many people
- He forced his officers to marry a different race/ethnicity
First off Alexander was a super big headed. At the age of 20 Alexander inherited his father’s kingdom and set out with the army to conquer Persia1, at the time Persia was probably the most powerful kingdom in the world2. Good for him to want to conquer one of the biggest empires, but I don’t believe he realized that this is so incredibly dangerous! He’s a new king and decides that he wants to take about 40,000 soldiers3 with him on a dangerous conquest, i’m speechless. Not only is he putting the lives of these men in danger, but he is also putting so many others lives in danger as well. This next fact will truly convince you that Alexander was full of himself. Alexander founded 12 towns with his followers, out of the 12 towns Alexander the “Great” decided to name 10 of them Alexandria!4 He couldn’t have been more creative? Oh, and less full of himself! Apparently not.
www. explorthemed.com
Let’s talk more about how many people Alexander killed. When the last organized resistance was broken they rummaged through the city on a man-hunt! Alexander the “Great” ordered that all except for people that sought sanctuary in a temple were to be slain. Ultimately 7,000 Tyrians died. The survivors were then sold into slavery.5 I don’t know how anyone could classify this as being a caring and good act. This just shows how cruel Alexander really was.
The final listed bullet point states that he forced his officers to marry a different race/ethnicity, this may not seem all that harsh and bad, many people these days are married between different races, but back then this was a big no-no. He tried to unify his empire by marrying Darius’s daughter, then ordering his officers to marry Persian women. Many people didn’t like Alexander joining the two races.6 This as I mentioned was a BIG no-no, he also did this so he could stay in power. I hope you also picked up on the word ordered for his officers to marry.
Alexander was the antithesis of great, the reasons I just explained showed why and how.
Sources:
Alexander the Great Mini-Q1
Alexander the Great Mini-Q2
Map of Alexander’s Empire Note3
Map of Alexander’s Empire4
Peter Green, Alexander of Macedon, University of California Press, 19915
Alexander the Great Mini-Q6
