Alexander the Great. One of history’s most debated faces, legendary for all the lands he conquered. But what was he truly like? What legacy did he leave behind? Was he really, in other words, great? This is what I will be discussing today.
Here are some facts about Alexander III of Macedon:[1]
- He was born in 356 BCE
- His father, Philip II, wanted to invade Persia before he was assassinated
- During his childhood he had a growing belief that he was a god
- He was 20 years old when he inherited the kingdom
These facts are probably some of the most important to finding his motives as to why he began his conquest.
When he inherited the kingdom, he wanted to finish what his father had done. As mentioned, his father had wanted to invade Persia, so this is just what he did. And against all odds, against the #1 world superpower, he succeeded. But how could he do this? Well, to put it straight, he used an army. But not just any army. He used his father’s army, the Macedonian Phalanx (shown below).
The Phalanx was one of the most powerful infantry in the ancient world. With 256 men, each carrying a sarissa, or long spear, this was a truly powerful formation.
Anyways, he used this army and led it through conquer the entire Persian Empire, blah blah blah, and ended up with 2,000,000 square miles of land, and in the process he had killed about 100,000 soldiers.[2]
After conquering all this land, after 20 years of ruling, he died without an heir, but we are not concerned with what he did while he was living; it is what he left behind that will define him.
Alexander’s father had conquered the Greek city-states and, as you would expect, their culture had diffused.
So, in conclusion, Alexander was a great man for this reason: he was responsible for the spread of Greek culture across the world. This period called the Hellenistic period was so vast (300 years) and left a lasting impact on many nations. Alexander founded 70 cities. Buddhism was strongly influenced by him. Greek was the official language of Jordan for 1000 years. There are so many other effects he had on the world, and all of them make him great.
SOURCES:
1: The background essay of the How Great Was Alexander the Great Mini-Q
2: A chart of various sources compiling Alexander's legacy
