Was Alexander ‘Great’?

Can Great Exist Without Hate?

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, 

Few people from the ancient world capture the imagination more than Alexander the Great. With his flowing locks and piercing eyes, his unbelievably ambitious goals and lasting legacy through cities across a vast empire, it’s no wonder he gained the epithet he did. 

After all, of all the Alexanders throughout the history of the world, he’s the only one that gets to be Great. 

But... like all historical figures, there is more than meets the eye and no one (especially history making characters) can be categorized so simply as just ‘great’. There is nuance, complexities and of course realities when it comes to understanding a man like Alexander. While his legends and lore may inspire many in some places of the world, surely they invoke fear and horror in others. 

Moreover, and this is a question for the ages, can anyone achieve such renown and success without also cultivating hubris and ruthlessness? You can’t make an omelet, after all, without breaking eggs, just as you can’t conquer huge swaths of land without murdering tens of thousands... perhaps even millions of people...right? 

So, was Alexander great? Read part of one of our member’s in-depth articles to delve deep into this incredibly fascinating figure to see whether or not he deserves his reputation. First, we must understand where he came from to see how he got so far... 

Enjoy the history of Alexander and his family, below. 

All the best,
Anya Leonard
Founder and Director
Classical Wisdom

P.S. Classical Wisdom Members: please enjoy the full article and then join in today’s conversation below…Can ‘Great’ exist without hate? Can anyone in history achieve the status of Alexander without also hurting many? Is it a necessary cost to such renown? Have your say below! 

Was Alexander ‘Great’?

By Mary Naples

Widely regarded as one of the greatest military generals in Western history, Alexander the Great (Alexander III, King of Macedon 356-323 BCE) conjures up an iconic hero of mythic proportions. After his father’s assassination, he was made King of Macedon at the age of twenty. Then, at the age of twenty-five, he became King of Asia and the Persian Empire when he conquered the Persian Empire. But he was not finished conquering. At the age of thirty, he had established one of the most impressive empires in recorded history extending from Macedonia (in northern Greece) to Northwestern India. 

Photo by Nikos Vlachos on Unsplash

His long line of conquests started when he and his army crossed into Asia Minor (ancient Troy and modern-day Turkey) and continued apace through the eastern Mediterranean coast into Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia (Iraq), Persia (Iran), Bactria (Afghanistan), and right up to the Indus River into India. In total, he covered an astounding distance of 22,000 miles (35,000 km) in just over twelve years, and if it were up to him, he would have gone even farther. He would have driven his men deeper and broader into the Indian subcontinent and farther eastward into the absolute limit of the known world, if it were not for a mutiny of the rank and file in the summer of 326 BCE. 

Throughout the millennia, Alexander has been lauded by those who say that by moving the major centers of “civilization” eastward, his military excursions contributed to the advancement of science and geography. Moreover, spreading Hellenistic culture from Macedonia to India led to common links in language and currency allowing for cross-cultural exchange and extensive trading opportunities. In fact, many believe that Alexander’s accomplishments helped contribute to the ascent of the Roman Empire and the eventual proliferation of Christianity throughout much of the known world.

However, more and more, historians are reevaluating his contributions. Considered from another perspective, the dispersion of Greek culture throughout the East left a trail of death and destruction in its wake. His vast military expeditions were at the expense of native cultures, whose cities and populace were annihilated. In the East he was known as “the accursed one” and the “two-horned Satan,” a far cry from “Alexander the Great,” The Great Conqueror, who never knew defeat, was responsible for killing hundreds of thousands—by some estimates, up to a million—of those who crossed his barbarous path.

So what do we make of Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire and his single-minded focus on conquering all points east? What were some of the factors that may have driven this young king to wage war... to the exclusion of nearly everything else in his short life?