Alexander the Great: Military Genius

Alexander the Great, son of King Philip II of Macedonia was born in 356 BCE in Pella. Although Alexander would soon become one of the world's fiercest military conquerors he still had much to learn. At the young age of thirteen, Alexander began his studies. His father, Philip II decided to hird Aristotle to tutor his young son. Under the tutelage of Aristotle, Alexander began to learn Religion, morals, philosophy, and art. Through the teachings of Aristotle Alexander developed a passion for the writing of Homer, and it is said that he carried a copy with him at all times. At age sixteen Alexanders studies with Aristotle ended, and he was forced to take command of Macedonia as his father was conquering Byzantion. However, the studies of Aristotle left a lifelong impression on who Alexander was as a person, and what he believed. In 336 BCE Philip II was assassinated by a member of his king's guard. In the book The Anabasis of Alexander, written by Arrian, he discussed the assassination of Philip II by stating “It was suspected that both Olympias and her son Alexander were implicated in the plot”. If this is true the assassination most likely occurred to secure Alexander's place in the line of succession. The assassination of Philip II thrust Alexander into kingship and he never looked back.

Shortly after he became king, many people believed that Alexander could not live up to his father. Ralph Mathisen writes “ In 335, several Greek cities including Thebes and Athens immediately revolted. Alexander stormed, sacked, and razed Thebes… Alexander hoped that a severe example might terrify the rest of Greece into obedience”. This show of utter domination against a revolting city was the beginning of the reign of Alexander. Alexander the Great was one of the smartest, and bravest military leaders in history through his use of military strategy and desire to be known by all. This ambition to conquer the Mediterranean world, coupled with his strategic brilliance in warfare proved to work so well that Alexander never lost a battle.

In 334 BCE Alexander set off on a quest his father could only dream of, he wanted to conquer the Persian Empire. The only issue that Alexander faced was the difference in size between his army and that of Persia. The Persian army could muster up around two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, which was much more than the Macedonian army. Because of this Alexander strategically timed his attack. One of the problems with the size of the Persian army was that it took up to two years to fully mobilize. Alexander attacked during a time that the army was not fully mobilized, and the Persian empire was facing dynastic pressure from Egypt. Because of his timing, Alexander easily won the battle of Granicus River. Alexander was known to be in the front lines of almost all of his battles and suffered many wounds because of this. He was a brave warrior who inspired many of his soldiers.

Alexander was involved in the fighting during the next battle against the Persians, the Battle of Issus. The Macedonians defeated the Persians once again and made Darius flee the Battlefield. When writing about the Battle of Issus author Ralph Mathisen states “After the battle, Darius offered to make peace, to surrender all the territory he had occupied… Alexander kept this offer secret… He had a much greater ambition- the conquest of the whole Persian Empire”. Alexanders ambition was another reason that he was a great military leader. He strived for everything and settled for nothing. Even though the surrender of Persia would have made his father proud, Alexander was not finished with his conquest.

Soon after, in 331 BCE, Alexander won the Battle of Gaugamela. Ralph Mathisen writes that the Battle of Gaugamela was similar to that of The Battle of Thermopylae because Alexander and his army were trapped in a narrow pass called the Persian Gates. The army was stuck there for thirty days before a Persian traitor showed Alexander a secret path behind the defenders. Shortly after this battle, Alexander made it his mission to defeat Darius and killed him in 330 BCE. This marked the end of the Persian conquest and Alexander claimed the succession of the Persian empire.

Because of Alexander's ambition he was never satisfied with the defeat of the Persian empire, he wanted to push for more and soon set his sights on invading the foreign land of India. India was relatively unknown to the Mediterranean world at this point and was thought to have magical creatures such as Griffins. Nevertheless, Alexander began to march his men into India in 326 BCE. During his Indian invasion, Alexander did not know what to expect because he had never been to India, he along with almost everyone else, had only heard stories. This invasion proved to be different from the Persian invasion because of the differences in army size, and location. The Indians did not have a massive army ready to close in at any second. However, the Indians did have one element to their warfare that Alexander's army had never seen before, the use of elephants. In the book, Alexander The Great A Reader, Editor Ian Worthington writes “After his victory against Porus’ elephant corps, he (Alexander) incorporated elephants into his own army”. By incorporating elephants into his army Alexander was not only using a new strategy but was creating a military tactic that no one had ever used in Greek warfare at that time. In 326 BCE Alexander met with Indian forces at the Hydaspes river and engaged in his largest victory in India, the Battle of the Hydaspes River. As always, Alexander came out victorious. However, after the Battle of the Hydaspes River, Alexanders tides began to turn.

Being the imperialist that he is, Alexander wanted to push his forces further into India in an attempt to conquer the whole empire. His soldiers, however, did not want to continue as they had been away from home for seven years. When discussing the Battle of the Hydaspes River and the toll it took on the Macedonian soldiers, Worthington writes “ The battle of the Hydaspes was the high point of Alexander's campaign in India...Soon after the battle the men had had enough, and led by Coenus they refused to go further.” Because his army refused to go further, Alexander was forced to turn around and head back to Macedonia. Although Alexander's very high ambitions to conquer India were eventually his downfall in the Indian invasion, it is no short feat that the Macedonians were able to go seven years without losing a battle. The return from India marked the last conquest of Alexander the great before his untimely death in 323 BCE. After a grueling trek back from India Alexander returned home in 324 BCE. When writing about Alexander's return home and all that he accomplished Ralph Mathisen states “In only ten years he (Alexander) had created the largest empire the world has ever known”. Shortly After his return in 323 BCE Alexander died. While the exact cause of his death is unknown it did occur after a drinking party and his death has been attributed to alcoholism and war wounds. However, ancient historian Arrian writes in his book The Anabasis of Alexander “It is also asserted that the poison was procured for Antipater(Macedonian general) by Aristotle, who was now afraid of Alexander on account of Callisthenes(Aristotle's great nephew)”. At the time of his death Alexander was known globally as a fierce military commander who could seemingly conquer anything.Even though Alexander had no children to which he could leave his empire, the Macedonians made sure it did not crumble. After his death his empire was divided up by his generals, eventually certain families established Hellenistic kingdoms that survived for hundreds of more years. Looking back on all of the sources it is very clear to see how successful Alexander was with his military campaigns. His unmatched ambition for territory and military prowess propelled him to one of the best military leaders in the history of the world. Even though Alexander died early, at the age of thirty three, he will never be forgotten. His accomplishments still continue to baffle historians around the globe today. Alexander is the topic of books, papers, articles, and is even taught about in high school classrooms around the United States. In an article on History.com discussing Alexander's legacy, unknown author’s state “Many conquered lands retained the Greek influence that Alexander had introduced- some cities that he founded remain important cultural centers in the world today”.