How can you use this document to argue that Alexander was not great?

Answer 1

Why was Alexander III of Macedon called 'Great'? The answer seems relatively straightforward: from an early age he was an achiever, he conquered territories on a superhuman scale, he established an empire that until his times was unrivalled, and he died young, at the height of his power. Thus, at the youthful age of 20, in 336, he inherited the powerful Kingdom of Macedon, which by then had unified Greece under Macedonian Hegemony and had already started to make inroads into Asia. In 334 he invaded Persia, and within a decade he had defeated the Persians, subdued Egypt, and pushed on to Iran, Afghanistan and even India. As well as his vast conquests Alexander is credited with the spread of Greek culture. language and civilization in his empire, not to mention being responsible for the physical and cultural formation of the Hellenistic kingdoms -- some would argue that the Hellenistic world was Alexander's legacy. He has also been viewed as a philosophical idealist, striving to create a unity of mankind by his so-called fusion of the races policy, in which he attempted to integrate Persians and Orientals with all things Greek and into his administration and army. Thus, within a dozen years, Alexander's empire stretched from Greece to the west to India in the far east, and he was even worshipped as a god by many of his subjects while still alive. On the basis of his military conquests and unrivalled military genius contemporary historians, and especially those writing in Roman times, deemed him great.

However, does a man deserve to be called 'The Great' who prefers constant warfare over consolidating conquered territories and long-term administration? Or who, through his own recklessness, often endangered his own life and the lives of his men? Or whose violent temper on occasion led him to murder his friends and who towards the end of his life was an alcoholic, paranoid, megalomaniac, who believed in his own divinity? These are questions posed by our standards of today of course, but nevertheless, they are legitimate questions given the influence which Alexander has exerted throughout history -an influence which will no doubt continue.

Alexander died in 323 BCE, and over the course of time, stories and myths of the King and his exploits sprang into being. Alexander himself was not above embellishing his own life and romanticizing his achievements. He very likely told the court historian Callisthenes of Olynthus what to say about his victory over Darius III at the battle of Issus in 333, for example. Contemporary Attic oratory also romanticized his vast achievements, and so within a generation of his death, exaggerated stories of his deeds and adventures were already being told.

Answer 2

i do not know yet

Answer 3

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