Alexander the Great Essay
Introduction
History shows that Alexander the great was the greatest commander of his time. The evidence of his greatness is revealed by the massive conquests he made. Alexander succeeded in conquering many kingdoms, thereby presiding over the greatest empire in recorded history.
It is reported that he succumbed to a fever while planning another conquest on the expansive Babylonian kingdom. He took over leadership of Macedonia after the demise of his father and initially focused on stabilizing his reign before rolling out expansion schemes. He was an astute student of Aristotle, the great philosopher. His talents were discovered early in his lifetime, prompting his father to seek specialized education for him. Some of his most notable conquests are discussed below (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009).
Alexander is crowned King
He exploited the weakness arising from continued infighting among the Greeks. Traditionally, they waged wars against each other to determine who was superior among them.
Phillip II, Alexander’s father was able to unite the Macedonians into a formidable force, prompting the Greeks to seek allies in neighboring tribes. After trouncing the Greeks, Philip convinced them to join in his conquest to attack Persia. He was assassinated in the process, and Alexander took over the throne. Initially, he focused his attention on quashing upheavals in Greece, before taking on his predecessors dream(Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009).
Persia
He led a united army to Persia and engaged them in a battle that almost became fatal. His troops later savored the victory, especially after capturing Asia Minor. This prompted a reaction from the Persian king, leading to a battle waged at Issus.
Despite having a numerical advantage, king Darius was beaten comprehensively by the Macedonians once more (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009). He took over vast tracks of land stretching into Egypt. He established Alexandria as the hub of his operations, making it the Greek capital of commerce and science. He also crowned himself the grand Pharaoh of Egypt.
Babylon
Babylon was his next target, leading a march into Susa and Persepolis. He captured the cities, plundering their treasury in the process. A rebel murdered king Darius in the process prompting him to declare himself the grand king of Persia. Even though he marshaled the entire coastline of the Mediterranean Sea, he desired greater lands.
He assailed more kingdoms, consequently assuming leadership over every empire his army vanquished. After making it to the present Pakistan, his troops criticized his zeal (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009). They revolted when he informed them of his intention to take on Indian empires. On the journey back home, most of them died due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Death
His demise ushered in the Hellenistic era, where nations attempted to imitate Greeks. Most of his followers exploited the defeat of the Persian kingdom to establish new governance systems. These operated as monarchies, a system that had been abolished by the Greeks long before. Intellectuals, administrators, merchants and soldiers exploited opportunities presented to them. Military might was employed to counter any resistance faced when setting up autocratic monarchies (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009).
Conclusion
Alexander’s conquests facilitated the spread of Greek culture in enormous magnitudes. This changed the way natives associated with each other, religious practices and social lifestyle among many more. Natives were exposed to the Greek curriculum. All in all, as they spread their culture eastwards, they were also influenced by the natives of these lands. It can be said that Alexander’s main achievement outside the battle field was to facilitate the blending of various cultures (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2009).
References
Duiker, W. J. and Spielvogel, J. J. (2009). World History, Volume 1. 6, revised. Massachusetts: Cengage Learning, 2009
