How does
this man deserve to go down in history?
The truth is that, Alexander the Great is one of the most famous
people in history, but why do we know him as Alexander the Great? Is he
truly great? Yes, he is, but let me give
you some background information first.
Alexander was born in 365 B.C.E. in Macedonia. After conquering
nearby Greek city-states, his father, Philip, planned on attacking Persia. Philip was soon assassinated and Alexander
inherited the kingdom. Alexander conquered Persia and replaced Darius on
the throne. However, he still pushed on
and conquered even more land. Over the
years, he started to suffer severe wounds that had weakened his health and
became ill. Soon after, he died.
Since Alexander had not named an heir, the generals started to
fight. However, the generals split up
the land and the kingdom started to fall apart.
Reasons
why Alexander the Great is great:
- He
showed kindness to those whose lands he conquered
- He
was brave, dauntless, amd made many great achievements
- He
was generous to his followers and others
- He
was intelligent and used strategies to conquer a lot of land
Conquering land is tough… well… from what I’ve read. People
have to kill each other and try to win the battle that they are fighting.
However, sometimes people are lucky, and their enemies just surrender,
but that’s past the point. Very rarely, though, does the king, ruler, or
whatever they are called, keep some of their enemies safe, on purpose, when
everyone else is being killed. Well, that might not be that rare,
depending on what you’ve heard or read.
Nonetheless, Alexander the Great did exactly that, well, okay,
maybe not exactly, but you get the point.
According to an excerpt from the book Alexander of Macedon
by Peter Green:
“When the last organized
resistance was broken, Alexander’s [soldiers] ranged through the city on a
ferocious manhunt….Alexander had ordered that all [except] those who sought
sanctuary [safety in the temple] were to be slain, and his commands were
executed with savage relish.”
This shows that although he killed a lot of people, he still saved
lots of people as well, and it also shows that he was kind.
Sometimes a man
who thinks of himself as a god thinks of only himself, but not Alexander.
According to the Legend of the Helmet by Lucius Flavius Arrianus,
Alexander’s army was marching across a desert of sand. Alexander was
extremely thirsty, just like everyone else, but he continued to march. A small group of men whom had gone off
looking for water found some. They poured it into a helmet and gave it to
him. Alexander, in full view of his
troops, took the helmet and poured all of the water onto the ground. This proves that he was kind and not selfish,
for he had thought that if no one else could drink water, then he wouldn’t
either. This also shows that he was kind.
It took Alexander 11 years to build his empire, and in that 11
years, he made a lot of great and amazing achievements, according to Alexander’s
Legacy chart by the DBQ Project.
Let’s take a look at some :
- He
conquered most of the world that was known to him
- The
size of his empire was about 2 million square miles
- Alexander
spread Greek thoughts and idea
- The
length of the Hellenistic Period in the Middle East and western Asia was
about 300 years
- He
founded 70 cities
- Greek
remained the official language of Jordan for about 1,000 years
However, these are just a few of the
reasons why Alexander was amazing. Additionally, he was brave, dauntless,
and generous to his followers, as said in an excerpt of the book In the
Footsteps if Alexander the Great by Michael Wood.
Alexander was so successful was because he was a wise leader who
knew how to win battles. He knew that he should take out the people who
would be a threat to him.
According to The Campaigns of Alexander by Lucius Flavius
Arrianus:
“He realized that he could not cross at the point where Porus was
encamped
- his elephants were too numerous…. When Alexander saw this, he [decided to]
move his troops in all different directions so that Porus would keep puzzled….
At night he would take most of his cavalry to various points along the river
bank where he would create a clamour, raise the war cry and produce all other
such noises as would come from men preparing to cross the river.”
This proves that, if there was a problem, Alexander knew how to
get around it. It also shows that Alexander was intelligent and wise
because he used strategies to win a fight or battle when he knew that there was
an obstacle in his way.
You are truly great, Alexander.
