Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great, according to the implication of his name, was indeed a great leader during his period. Alexander was born in 356 BC as a son of Olympias and King Phillip II. He became the King of Macedonia after his father got assassinated in 336 BC. During his days, Alexander the Great became recognized as the most outstanding military leader of his day because of his exceptional leadership skills and leadership. As a strategic leader, he thoughtfully and carefully planned his battle strategies before engaging in the actual war.
For this reason, the success of Alexander lay on his entire strategic tactics. Consequently, the phalanx technique became one of the most successful strategies because it allowed little openings for Alexander’s enemies to strike. He knew the significance of cavalry as a dangerous weapon, and he had tactics changing skills during the war on the battlefield. Having been taught by Aristotle, Alexander was very educated, and through this knowledge, he had the ease of ascending to the throne as he had significant preparation (Yenne, 2010). Also, he had some extraordinary characteristics as he made quick decisions, and Alexander could take risks because he had an excellent educational background. Alexander possessed an essential charismatic ability that aided him in inspiring and motivating hi army in fighting the numerous conquests battles attributed to his success. Also, one of the primary characters that enabled him to get into the wars included his desire to lead from the front, and he could get the same wounds his army received as the effect of war.
Nonetheless, having the strong will to overcome whatever obstacle came upon him and being forceful enabled him to achieve tremendous success. However, Alexander had some fete. The most significant defeat included the Greek and Persians defeat and his conquest of Asia Minor and Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea security, a considerable rout of trading during those days.
From the genesis of his reign, Persia became one of the countries that Alexander set to conquer. Persia has a wealthy and vast empire that stretched from Central Asia, India, the Mediterranean Sea, and Egypt. Alexander also desired the wealth of Persia to run and maintain the big army he had inherited. However, during these days, Persia had a very great army of over one million men who King Darrius III commanded. Even though Persia had these excellent skills and military welfare, Alexander’s army defeated Persian men by destroying Persia’s defense force at river Granicus (Briant, 2012, p. 7). Campaign cavalry, one of the troops that Alexander commanded got recognized as the most strong among the many forces.
Moreover, Alexander got awarded Greece generalship and with his authority that he had inherited from his father to launch a pan-Hellenic project of his father, leading the Greeks into Persian conquest. Accordingly, Alexander successfully routed out the Persian defense force in three decisive wars taking their empire, which comprised the Phoenician lands and Egypt. As a result of the conquest, major Mediterranean centers became part of his empire. In addition, after conquering Persia, Alexander commenced a campaign series that got to last over ten year period. Besides, following Anatolia’s conquest, Alexander broke Persian power, mostly the battles in Gaugamela and Issus. By conquering the Achaemenid Empire, Alexander’s empire stretched subsequently from the Beus River to the Adriatic Sea (Yenne, 2010).
Endeavoring and aiming to get to the Great outer Sea and the ends of the world, Alexander defeated India in 336 BC. It happened by Alexander’s army having the victory over the Pauravas at Hydaspes battle. However, he turned back eventually when his troops demanded to get back home because of developing homesick for overstaying in the Babylonian war, with some of them dying in the field in 323 BC. Nonetheless, Alexander had a plan to establish Babylonian City as his capital without planned campaign execution that would have started with the Arabian invasion. Yet, a series of civil wars significantly tore the army that Alexander had created and commanded apart following his death. It resulted in the emergence of many states that got ruled by Alexander’s heirs, his serving generals, and Diadochi.
The legacy of Alexander includes syncretism and the cultural diffusion which his conquests engaged in, including Greco-Buddhism. Alexander involved in the founding of twenty cities that bore his name, such as the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander’s Greek colonies’ settlements led to the spread of Greek cultural practices and customs in the region resulting in the new civilization of the Hellenistic. These aspects became evident in the Byzantine Empire traditions during the mid-15th century AD and the Greek speakers’ presence in far eastern and central Anatolia until the genocide of the Greeks by the Turks in the 1920s. Alexander essentially became legendary in the mould of Achilles as a classical hero as he prominently featured in the mythic traditions and history of both the non-Greek and Greek cultures. In the battles, he became the measure in which the military leaders compared themselves to because he was undefeated. To date, military academics globally teach his tactics besides ranking him among the world’s most influential people.
References
Briant, P. (2012). Alexander the Great and his empire: A short introduction. Princeton University Press.
Yenne, B. (2010). Alexander the Great: Lessons from history’s undefeated general. St. Martin’s Press.