When Alexander III of Macedon died inBabylonat just 32 year older , he ruled a territorial dominion that sweep three continents and coverednearly 2 million straightforward miles(5 million hearty kilometre ) . Not only was he the Billie Jean Moffitt King of his aboriginal Macedonia , but he was also rule of the Greeks , the power of Persia and even an Egyptianpharaoh .
So , did he merit the title Alexander the Great ? Absolutely .
" It ’s hard to imagine another human being whose personal option had an impingement on more people ’s lives for many centuries than Alexander , " says historiographer Elizabeth Carney , an Alexander bookman from Clemson University in South Carolina .
" Because of the decision Alexander made , hundred of thousands of people died , any numeral of political entity disappeared or were replaced . And perhaps most significantly , he avail launch this Brobdingnagian cultural enterprise that combined facial expression of the Hellenic and Macedonian reality with aspects of the various worlds he stamp down . "
With that in thinker , here are some other boastful things about him .
1. Aristotle Was His High School Teacher
OK , there was no such matter as high school day in the fourth century B.C.E. , but young Alexander was splendidly tutored from the ages of14 to 16 by none other than Aristotle , one of the male parent of Western philosophy and arguably the sterling noetic mind of Ancient Greece .
Aristotle would have been around 40 eld old when he was lease by Alexander ’s powerful Church Father Phillip II as a court philosopher . Aristotle , a pupil of Plato , was n’t yet a philosophic superstar and would have instruct the prince skill and maths in addition to lit and philosophical system .
What on the nose was Aristotle ’s influence on the man Alexander would become ? Historians can only guess . One clue is that Alexander loved the work of Homer and is rumored to have sleep with a written matter of " The Iliad . " And Alexander did n’t leave his geography lessons when he marched his army across the known world .
" Great cash advance in skill , especially in geographic knowledge , were made as a solvent of Alexander ’s movement , " wrote Michael Tierney in a1942 sketch of Alexander and Aristotle , " and that they were potential is unquestionably due to Aristotle . "
But both Tierney and Carney are unconvinced that Aristotle ’s political teaching on good authorities and good citizens shape the elbow room that Alexander operated as a leader .
" Is Alexander ’s political thought process affected by Aristotle ? " ask Carney . " I would tend to say not at all . "
2. His Father Was Pretty Great Too
The Kingdom of Macedonia was a political backwater before Alexander ’s father Phillip turn it into a military superpower . Tired of being pushed around by Greek city - states like Athens and Thebes , Phillip transformed the ragtag Macedonian army into a well - oiled fighting simple machine .
The pride of the Macedonian military was its well - train horse cavalry and an unbreakable foot formation called theMacedonian phalanx . Armed with elongated hunting spears calledsarissas — 18 - metrical unit ( 5.5 - metre ) wooden poles with iron crest — Phillip ’s infantry would march in tight formations of eight men across and 16 deep . Each row would lour its lance in chronological succession , impaling charge armies and gymnastic horse .
When 20 - class - old Alexander took the throne after Phillip was assassinated in 336 B.C.E. , he inherited his father ’s US Army that had already beat out Macedonia ’s rivals on the Greek mainland and was rolling toward Persia .
Phillip is best remembered as the sire of Alexander the Great , but Alexander may never have attain his greatness if not for Phillip ’s huge head start . Historians still contend to figure out who deserves the most credit for Macedonia ’s dominance .
" Rarely in story does somebody so capable and famous have an evenly able and celebrated successor , " says Carney . " It make it very surd to pull a note . "
3. Alexander Knew How to Crush a Rebellion
After Phillip ’s death , several Ithiel Town and territories under Macedonian control prove to let out destitute . While young Alexander was meddling getting the northern kingdom of Thrace and Illyria back in line , the Greek leaders of Thebes heard a rumor that Alexander had actually been kill in struggle .
No such luck . When Alexander received word that the Macedonian fort in Thebes was under attack , he and his army fly to the fight , supposedlycovering 300 mi ( 482 kilometers ) in just 12 days . In the ensuing Battle of Thebes , Alexander decided to send off a clear-cut message . Anyone who queer Macedonia will not only be defeated , but obliterated .
grant to the Hellenic historian Diodorus of Sicily , 6,000 Theban soldiers and citizen were drink down and 30,000 captured before the metropolis was burned to the terra firma . He wrote :
The tactics were cruel , but the message was received . Alexander was the undisputed new swayer of the Greeks .
4. He Stomped the Persian Empire
The Persian Empire had ruled the Mediterranean for two centuries when Alexander march his 50,000 - man army across the Hellespont to face King Darius III , who reportedly command a entire Persian army ofmore than 2.5 million serviceman .
The pivotal conflict come up near the Persian town of Gaugamela , where Darius had the land flattened and cleared to give advantage to his horse - drawn chariots . The Persians number 250,000 at Gaugamela , a seemingly insurmountable five - to - one reward over the Macedonians , but Darius ended up play right into Alexander ’s hand .
In what ’s fuck as a " pawn ritual killing , " Alexander sent in thousands of troop to draw Darius ' resources to the right flank . The sacrificed troops were able to distract Darius long enough for Alexander to launch a cavalry attack through a weak link in the substance of the Iranian ancestry . Darius turned and fled as the noted Macedonian cavalry , led by Alexander , steamrolled through the Iranian vindication .
After Darius was off by one of his cousins ( and his head presented to Alexander ) , Alexander was crowned the new king of all of Persia , gallop the Macedonian empire from advanced - day Israel through Iraq , Iran and Afghanistan .
5. He Was a Globalist
Alexander ’s conquering , not only of the Persian Empire , but also Egypt and part of India , launched the Hellenistic stop , during which factor of Hellenic civilization and politics were scatter throughout the vast Macedonian Empire .
Alexander was n’t a Hellenic nationalist , wrapped on inflict Greek customs on every country he capture . or else , hefolded foreign usance and religious beliefsinto the material of his get imperium , winning the loyalty of his freshly conquered subjects . The effect was a Greek - address meshwork of trade wind and military power that ruled the Mediterannean and Near East for three century .
6. Alexandria Became the Intellectual Capital of the World
Alexander set up more than 70 cities during hiseight - yr , 11,000 - mile ( 17,703 - kilometer ) marchthroughout the Middle and Near East , but none compare to the magnanimousness that was Alexandria in Egypt .
Although Alexander choose the spot for the coastal city that behave his name , he did n’t contrive it nor live long enough to see it thrive . After Alexander ’s death , the Macedonian Empire was chopped into three and rule by each of his superior general . Egypt fell under the command of Ptolemy and became jazz as the Ptolemaic Dynasty .
The Ptolemies speak Macedonian Greek and fulfill Alexandria with Greek - style public buildings , including the famous library , which once keep an estimated700,000 scrolls , the peachy repository of knowledge in the ancient world .
The glorious Greek mathematicians Euclid and Eratosthenes call Alexandria home , and the Ptolemaic navy commanded a vast fleet that pushed Alexandria ’s discoveries out into the wider world .
When Alexander died suddenly in Babylon from a fever at just 32 years old , the Ptolemies intercepted his funeral procession on the path back to Macedonia andbuilt a glass sarcophagusin Alexandria where subjects could pay tribute to Alexander ’s mummy for centuries .
7. He May Have Been the World’s First Action Hero
Alexander ’s heroic were write up in a series of fictionalise adventure stories call the " Alexander Romance " , some of which engagement back to within a hundred of his death in 323 B.C.E .. gothic interpretation are wedge - full of sexy escapades , minute escapes and colorful illustration .
Next to the Bible and Quran , it ’s arguedthat the " Alexander Romance " traveled further and was translate into more languages than any other ancient collection of stories .
Fourteenth - C texts include the tale of Alexander explore the sea depths using adiving bell . But when Alexander settles on the ocean floor , his kept woman double - crosses him , eloping with her devotee and bequeath him ground in the deep .
For Carney , the popularity of the " Alexander Romance " reflects the enduring allure of this mankind - changing figure .
" Alexander grabbed multitude ’s imagination , " says Carney . " That he was so unseasoned ; that he was n’t defeated in a major battle ; that things happened so quickly ; he was such a risk taker and he went to all these places that seemed alien . "
