The History of Alexander the Great

The History of Alexander the Great

Once upon a time, at the majestic walls of the Macedonian empire, Alexander the Great was born. He was the son of mighty Philip II and Olympias. Their empire stretched far and wide, from Balkans to modern-day Pakistan. Since only greatness emerges from greatness, Olympias used to advise his son that he was a descendant of great men in their community. Alexander the Great embraced this belief with the much-anticipated zeal to such an extent that most of his undertakings were guided it. In short, nothing discouraged him (Reeser and Cutrules 401). While Alexander the Great was visionary, especially in planning and strategizing a war, his actions were full of contradictions to the extent that he lost the respect of his subjects.

Alexander was born on 20^th July, 356 B.C, in Macedonia. The father, King Philip II, was always away from home, conquering other cities, which would have an effect of extending the boundaries of his rule. The young Alexander was often left at home with the mother. Ironically, the father was always the critical role model of his young son despite spending time at home with his mother. Early life mentors play a crucial role in influencing the pathway of a child. King Philip II understood the wisdom of this practice and thus exposed his son to influential personalities to get the best from them (Sanford and Robinson 24). One of the critical tutors the king exposed his son to was Aristotle. Aristotle needs no introduction. He was an accomplished philosopher that made contributions in every aspect of human life, from logic to biology, ethics and aesthetics. It is through this education that Alexander the Great was infused with the love of music, arts, culture, and philosophy (Flower 423). Also, Aristotle’s teachings were of significance in the later stages of his life, especially in treating the new subjects he found in the conquered areas.

Alexander the Great used to watch his father return home every year emerging victorious from the battles he fought. This situation made the young Alexander motivated to take over the reign of his father. King Philip II was a different kettle altogether. He was not only a visionary but also a transformational leader. It was during his time that the army was remodelled from the citizen-warrior group to a professional army. In the battle, Philip was always the main actor- he never died. While he experienced severe injuries in most of the battles, such as losing an eye, he never gave up. Instead, he kept on fighting with the sole goal of expanding his empire. They say, like father like son. The trait mentioned above greatly influenced Alexander the Great. At the age of 16 years, Philip left his son in charge of his empire (Sanford and Robinson 24). Can you remember what you were able to do at that age?

Alexander the Great was extraordinary. It was during this time that he took advantage of the opportunity by wedging war against the Thracian people while his father was away. He ended up defeating the army and later renamed the city after himself to ‘Alexandropoulis.’ Let this sink in first, a 16-year-old leading an army and ends up defeating the enemy?  It was evident that Alexander was challenged by his father’s strength and committed pursuit and vowed to out-do him (Reeser and Cutrules 402). A true definition of like father like son adage. Alexander the Great disliked the polygamy practise of his father since he thought that his father bored were a threat to him ascending to the throne (Flower 406). Hence, in the later years, the two became estranged to each other, which led to Alexander’s mother being exiled to Epirus. As such, Alexander spent most of his teenage years with his mother in Epirus.

They say, those who live by the sword, die by the sword. King Philip II was assassinated in the year 336 BC when he was in a wedding celebration of his daughter, Cleopatra. There are different narrations on the mercenaries that stabbed the peaceful king. In one of the narratives, the person who stabbed him was one of his male lovers. Some historians suspect that the motive behind the killing was part of the larger plot that involved Alexander and his mother to consolidate power (Flower 403).

Upon the death of his father, Alexander returned to Macedonia to take over from his father’s rule (Reeser and Cutrules 404). This situation was like a prophecy that came true. The Macedonian army adequately supported Alexander the Great during the process of consolidating power (Sanford and Robinson 24). However, the Greek military refused to abide by his rule. I feared for the Greeks. How could they have refused to surrender to a king who won his first battle at the age of 16? Were they not served with the memo? After the invasion of Balkans and Thrace, Alexander redirected the army to Thebes, a city in Greece that had rebelled against his rule, and had it conquered and destroyed. Every opposition was neutralized. The once beautiful city whose decorations attracted visitors from far and wide was now a shadow of its former self. The Greeks did not have an idea of who they were dealing with. With the support of Balkans, Thrace, and Greece assured, Alexander was ready to attack the Persian Empire.

According to ancient accounts, it is reported that Alexander the Great was not in good terms with the Persian King, Darius III. Hence, Alexander the Great often looked for a reason to attack the Persian Empire. He often used the Persian invasion of Greece as the reason for his desire to invade the empire. However, ironically, Alexander used to fight the Greek while at the same time campaigning against Darius III (Reeser and Cutrules 406). On the other hand, a city by the name of Sparta, whose king and 300 warriors were killed in the battle of Thermopylae during an invasion to Persia, also waged war against Alexander by seeking help from the Persian Empire (Flower 403). The King of Sparta was provided with money and ship by the Persian Empire to build fortifications that would prevent invasion by the army (Reeser and Cutrules 409). They say the enemy of your enemy is your friend. Without distorting the logic, the friend of your enemy is your enemy. Despite the resistance from the Spartans, Alexander was able to conquer Persia successfully. Alexander was victorious in the “Battle of Granicus,” which was fought in present-day Turkey. In the battle, Alexander was able to defeat an army of 20,000 Persian horse riders and an equal number of foot soldiers (Sanford, and Robinson 23). He later proceeded to the coast of present-day Turkey to destroy the small towns and take over the naval bases of the Persian Empire.

It seemed that Alexander was destined for greatness. He extended his reign of emerging victorious in future battles further. Alexander was also victorious in the battle of Issus, which was fought in the year 333B.C. In the struggle mentioned above, Darius III, whom he disliked, was the leader of the army. It is estimated that Darius had collected a total of 600,000 troops, which was strategically positioned to destroy Alexander’s army effectively(Flower 404). This was a large army that could scare away even the mightiest and skilled military leaders. It seemed like a test to ascertain and grade how great Alexander was?

Alexander needed to be strategic, decisive and prepared. With the hesitation of Alexander to fight back in the plains, Darius III left his wing and marched towards Alexander’s army. On the contrary, when Alexander decided to battle the king, it was established the Darius had been led in a spot where his superiority was compromised (Sanford, and Robinson 407). The toughest opposition was from the Greek mercenaries who tried their best to push the Macedonian army to the river in order to recover from their army, which was fleeing. However, they were overwhelmed, which later made Darius III and his army to flee (Flower 403). A whole 60,000 army was running away from the great Alexander! Honestly, the king deserved suffix ‘great’ in his name. While fleeing, Darius left his family behind, including his wife, two daughters, and an infant son. What suffix was appropriate for Darius III? Your guess is as good as mine. Applying the wisdom learnt from Aristotle’s classes, Alexander requested that they should be treated honourably and addressed like royalty.

Alexander later moved along the eastern Mediterranean to drive further the Persians away from the naval bases. Alexander envisioned that taking over the naval bases would fortify their rule. Along the way, most of the cities surrendered to Alexander and his army while those, which resisted, such as Tyre, forced the troops to lay siege and conquer them forcefully (Sanford, and Robinson 409). In 332 B.C, Alexander was able to enter Egypt. Egypt was a country that was still under Persian rule (Flower 404). While in Egypt, Alexander founded Alexandria, which was one of the most prosperous cities he had ever built. While in the country, Alexander the Great developed an interest in the development of temples and the gods to which the structures would be worshipped to. The design of the city was done to simulate the rising and setting of the sun.

With the eastern side of the Mediterranean in the bucket, the naval bases were taken from the Persians, and the Macedonian army was free to move through Egypt to take over the remaining part of the empire. During the battle of Gaugamela, it is believed that Alexander faced an army of close to 1 million troops (Flower 404). Darius III, the commander of the military, collected soldiers from different parts of the empire to eliminate the Macedonian army (Sanford, and Robinson 409). However, he was defeated with the Macedonian army (Flower 405). Alexander was unhappy when Darius’s body was brought before him. While he regarded himself as the higher authority, Alexander viewed Darius with a lot of respect since he was the leader of the Persian Empire. It stated that once a king, always a king.

Summarily, Alexander the Great was an all-time conqueror and leader of Macedonia. Alexander’s intentions of out-doing his father were realized since he managed to extend further the territories under his rule.  One of the most notable legacies is the establishment of the city of Alexandria that is now home to more than 4.5 million people.

Works Cited

Flower, Michael A. “Not Great Man History: Reconceptualizing a Course on Alexander the Great.” Classical World, vol 100, no. 4, 2007, pp. 417-423. Project Muse, doi:10.1353/clw.2007.0056.

Reeser, Robert E., and Alexander James Cutrules. “Invictus: A History of Alexander the Great.” The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol 17, no. 4, 2013, p. 400. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/40023636.

Sanford, Eva Matthews, and Charles Alexander Robinson, “The History of Alexander the Great.” The Classical Weekly, vol 47, no. 2, 2012, p. 23. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/4343490.

“The Extraordinary Ideas of Alexander the Great.” 2011. Oxford University Press (OUP), doi:10.1086/ahr/62.2.326.