Is Alexander "Great"? By: Josh Hall

Does Alexander deserve to be called "Great"?

Alexander does deserve to be called “great.” Most people know Alexander as a great general, as this is for what he is most-known. However, Alexander was a great king and ruler. Alexander was the king of Macedonia from 336-323 B.C. and was king of Persia from 330-323 B.C. (Adkins, 42) Alexander didn’t just conquer a city and leave it right away. He would sometimes stay and improve it. Alexander built many great cities in some of the lands he conquered. He named all of these cities Alexandria. (Loverance and Wood, 44) As a ruler, Alexander never lost a battle. Even though he only ruled for 13 years, it is still impressive that he didn’t lose one battle his entire life.

Growing up, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle. Aristotle inspired him with an interest of philosophy, medicine, and scientific education. He also prepared him for undertaking campaigns of the Persian Empire. Alexander was the son of Philip II. Philip was the king of Macedonia from 359-336 B.C. However, when Alexander was 20, Philip was assassinated, and Alexander became king. He stayed in Macedonia for two years before leaving the country to begin his conquest. His first goal was to liberate the Greek cities along the Ionian Coast from Persian control. After successfully doing this, he began conquering the Persian Empire. At the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander defeated the Persians, thus ending the Persian Empire. After Darius III was murdered by Bessus, Alexander became king of Persia. (Adkins, 44) After defeating the Persians, Alexander did not return home. He continued his conquest all the way to India. Along the way, Alexander founded eight cities named Alexandria, was named king of Egypt, and conquered Asia Minor. While Alexander was in Egypt, he made Alexandria the capital. Alexandria had a population of one million people, and it became busy and prosperous. The city also had many museums and libraries where some of the greatest philosophers studied. (Robinson and Greenberg, 55) Alexander’s empire grew to be one of the largest empires in the Ancient world.

Alexander died in Babylon in 323 B.C. after becoming ill with malaria. Alexander left behind one of the largest empires ever created. He had spread Greek culture across his empire, making it more well-known in the ancient world. Alexander is one of the greatest generals and rulers to ever live. Not only did he create one of the largest empires in the world, he improved cities and spread the Greek culture. These reasons are why Alexander does deserve to be called “great.”

What can one learn about the values of society based on their views of greatness?

The Macedonians considered Alexander “great,” even though he killed many people. This reveals that the Macedonian society was violent. Alexander conquered much land, and the Macedonians supported him. This reveals that the society valued having control over much of the land in the ancient world. The Macedonian society valued Alexander and his greatness. Many of the people in the ancient world also considered Alexander “great.” Some societies even began to worship Alexander as a god. (Levi, 178) Alexander, however, proved his greatness by building one of the largest empires ever. He spread the Greek culture all throughout his empire. For the societies that considered Alexander “great,” it reveals that their society was violent and that they valued land and power. 
There were some cities that did not view Alexander as a “great” ruler. These people did not think Alexander was as powerful as established. Some cities, such as Thebes and Athens, even revolted. However, they were both defeated. (Adkins, 43) These cities that revolted did not think Alexander was powerful enough to defeat them. The values of their societies based on their view of greatness is that they did not care about ruling a bunch of land. These cities valued the arts, government, and education more than they cared about having a large empire. As you can see, you can determine what a society’s values are based on its view of greatness.

Do time and distance impact a person's popular perception?

Time and distance definitely does impact someone’s popular perception. Today, there are some people who still consider Alexander great. Even after over 2,000 years have passed since Alexander’s reign, no one today truly knows who Alexander was as a person. As a result, we are very distanced from him. The people of Alexander’s time know more about Alexander. They knew if he was cruel to many people and if he truly was “great.” Some people who were close to him, like the Macedonians, did consider Alexander as a great general and great ruler. Alexander was named King of Egypt right when he arrived in the city. The people of Egypt obviously considered Alexander great because he was named king without a fight. Other cities, like Thebes and Athens, revolted against Macedonia and Alexander. (Adkins, 43) They were badly defeated. After he defeated Thebes, he killed 6,000 soldiers and sold the rest of them as slaves. Today, we view Alexander as a completely different person than the people of the ancient world did. Some people may think that Alexander was a ruler who only cared about how much power he had or how much land he owned. This is not a correct way to view Alexander because he did stop in cities that he conquered to improve them. If he was this ruler who only cared about his power and land, he would never have stopped in these cities. He founded eight cities on his campaign, and they were all named Alexandria. (Loverance and Wood, 44) As you can see, time and distance does impact someone’s popular perception. The way Alexander was viewed back then is not the same as how we view him today because our view is based on what we read, not what we see.

Works Cited

Adkins,Lesley, and Roy A. Adkins. Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece. New York: Oxford UP, 1998. Print.

"Alexander the Great." Britannica School.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2014. Web. 26 Sep. 2014. 

Emmons, Jim Tschen. "Alexander the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-Clio, 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.

Levi, Peter. Atlas of the Greek World. New York, NY: Facts on File, 1980. Print.

Loverance, Rowena, and Tim Wood. Ancient Greece. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Viking, 1993. Print.

Reynolds, Clark G. "Alexander the Great." Great Lives from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476 c.e.. Ed. A. Salowey Christina. 2 vols. Salem Press, 2008. Salem History Web. 24 Sep. 2014.

Robinson, Charles Alexander, and Lorna Greenburg. Ancient Greece. New York: F. Watts, 1984. Print.