Preview

Alexander the great

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1411 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Alexander the great
HS-101-09
September 30, 2011

As Thomas R. Martin said in his book Ancient Greece, "When you look at the imagination that was necessary to be Alexander, the effect he had on other people's imaginations -- he was head and shoulders above them." Alexander the Great studied with and learned from his mentor Aristotle, and had great interest in the writings of Homer. Aristotle taught Alexander creative thinking and martial theory, which would come in handy at later points in his life. Alexander wanted to punish the Persians and gain control of all of the land stretching from Greece all the way to India.
Phillip the II was a great leader, who was succeeded by his son, Alexander. Carrying on his father’s legacy, Alexander set out with intentions of conquering the Persian Empire. He thought of himself as godly, because his mother had told him that Zeus, the most powerful god, was his father. From this moment on, he strived for immortality. He wanted to be praised by his people as a god, since he was so great and successful. He left from his land of Macedonia and traveled to Turkey in the hopes of defeating Darius’ Persian army.
After Alexander left Macedonia, he fought in the Battle of the Granicus in the pursuit of capturing Darius. Alexander won this battle, and was now in control of Asia Minor and the Persian military force he had captured. Three years later he approached the plains of Gaugamela and spotted the Persians. Alexander was a fair fighter, and did not believe it would be respectable to attack the Persians when they were caught off guard at night. The next morning, Alexander and his Macedonian army attacked the Persian army and defeated them. This was a great success by Alexander at the Battle of Gaugamela, although Darius escaped before Alexander could capture him.
One of Alexander the Great’s achievements, to the likes of defeating Darius III and the Persian Empire in the north was taking over Egypt in 332 BCE. At the time when Alexander the Great

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Alexander began his invasion of Persia in 334 BC and he had to leave a large amount of troops in Greece to maintain control over his city states, this caused Alexander to only have 35,000 fighters with him when he began to pillage and take over Persian land. Alexander was greatly outnumbered compared to his Persian foes, never the less, he was able to cut through them. He never lost a battle. Things that may have contributed to his success was Alexander was a strong leader. He was present for every battle and rode with the cavalry on the front lines, with his trusted horse,…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Admittedly after Alexander gained power, he put together his first conquest. He moved quickly to put forth the attack of the Persia in 334B.C.E. his army was completed with a mix of Macedonians and Greeks. Unfortunately for him, that was his very first victory. He justified his attack on Persia by claiming to be the champion of the Greek culture against barbarian values and the instrument of Greek revenge for Xerxe’s…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander, son of king Philip II and Olympias was born in 356 B.C.E, and at age 19, became king of Macedon. With a great army at his disposal and his brilliant military mind, he started his conquest. From 337-323 B.C.E Alexander conquered Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and a large part of Asia. Alexander ruled from Macedonia to the northern part of India. He defeated the Persians numerous times with his incredible military strategies, even when his armies were outnumbered by almost 200,000 Persian soldiers. The sheer size of his empire was unlike anything ever seen before but when he died in 323 B.C.E, the three main areas he conquered (Greece/Macedonia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia/ Asia) were split up and became their own kingdoms. The area that was once Greece and Macedonia became the Antigonid Kingdom, the Egyptian are became the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Asia/ Mesopotamia area became the Seleucid Kingdom.…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He was only stopped by his exposed men who forced him to return home. His military expertise can be found in the battle of Issus(333 B.C.E) against the persians. During the battle Alexander had started to lose and he almost lost, but in the chaos the king of the persians ran away and they all started to retreat. This gave Alexander the chance and he took it, And he crushed the persians. One of the strategies he would use was to split up his army into three groups and flank the enemy from almost all sides leaving then nowhere to run. Although he was a great military leader he did have his faults and one of them was he was ruthless. It is recorded that he slaterd all males, and enslaves 20,000 women and children, and also let his troops destroy what was left of thebes after he invaded…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When he was fighting the Persians he was heavily outnumbered but still managed to defeat the army because he had cornered them and scared the king into running which led to his victory. Also when fighting the Indian kings he used the monsoons and Indian elephants against the opposing militaries. He had his men kill the elephants riders so that they panicked and caused more damage to their own military than to Alexander's. These prove that he was very wise in his military tactics and a huge reason to earn him the status of great.…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander accomplished many feats thought to be unattainable. “Alexander and his army marched for 11 years over 22,000 miles and never lost a battle against the strongest foes of his time” (Smith 1). He gained so much land in such a short amount of time from the biggest and strongest empire at the time. Alexander made all of this possible by leading the army through many of these battles. People might say that the Persian Empire was already beginning to fall (Smith 1), but even though they might have begun to weaken they were still the most powerful empire at the time.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander shows more signs of maturity as he travels through Asia into India, where he battles Porus with his fleet of Indian elephants, which Alexander’s horses were not used to. Although the battle between Alexander and Porus was long and hard fought, Alexander comes out victorious. But before that Alexander rides up to the dying Porus and asks what the defeated king wants. He answers that he wants to be treated as a king and Alexander proceeds to give Porus’ kingdom back. Although Alexander showed some sense of mercy all throughout his life, this part…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Well, our opinion is that Alexander the Great is great. He was attacked by the Persian and he successfully defeated them. Alexander moved south along the eastern Mediterranean. Many cities surrender the Alexander the Great. Some of the men that was in the other armies that they were in, transferred to Alexander’s army. In 332 B.C.E Alexander entered the world of egypt, a country that had experienced on and off periods of Persian rule for two centuries. With Mediterranean and Egypt secured, the Persians were deprived of naval bases and Alexander was free to move inland to conquer the eastern half of the Persian Empire. Alexander had sources of 1 million troops to take over states and cities. Darius III on the other hand brought soldiers all over and even beyond his empire. Persian was on a rampage and Alexander continued to battle against them until they…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander The Great Dbq

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Alexander the Great like most heroes in history have traits that makes it possible for him to be able to do great things. Alexander of Macedonia was a 20 year old leader who got his empire from passed down from family, Macedonia and city-states in Greece. Alexander decided to attempt to conquer the entire Persian Empire, from Egypt to India, In this process he did things historians question made him great or not. Alexander the Great was great because of his intelligence, empathy for others and leadership.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander III of Macedon, also known as Alexander the Great, was born on July 20, 356 BC in Pella. He was the son of King Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia. At the age of 14, King Philip hired the Greek Philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander. For 3 years, Aristotle taught him eloquence and literature. Aristotle also sparked his interest in medicine, science and philosophy. At the age of 18, Alexander was in charge of the Companion Cavalry. Alexander’s father was assassinated in 336 BC. At the age of 20, he was dedicated to seize throne. He gathered his support from the Macedonian army and his mother. They helped him murder other potential heirs. He was the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia from 336 to 323 BC.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He had the courage and the will to do what no other king has done.His courage contributed greatly to his success hence the name, Alexander The Great. In the Background Essay, it claims that Alexander set off to conquer Persia almost right after he inherited the throne. Most people might think that he was stupid and that he was a madman to try and achieve that. But he did it, he took down the Persian army. Alexander The Great’s legacy spread Hellenization throughout the known world at the time. Hellenization is the spread of Greek culture and language, culture and population. It took a lot of courage and self esteem to be able to spread the Greek language among the conquered lands because he didn’t know if the people would hate it or not be he did it anyway. He could have faced rejection. At the end of it all, Alexander had courage like no other…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, Alexander was very smart because, he accepted the offer of Ada and established her as queen of all Caria and Halicarnassus to sustain his power. In 333 B.C, he fought against Darius in the Battle of Issus and defeated him in that battle and forced him to flee. Alexander keeps expanding his region based on his well-trained army and their support .In 332 B.C, he wins siege of Tyre and attacks Gaza and shows his dominance to other kings. By 331 B.C, Alexander found new city called Alexandria and won battle of Gaugamela against Darius. As a result, Alexander’s claim to be king of Persia was sealed with blood and iron (Roberts0). In between, there was tension growing in his empire, Cletius was military commander and saved Alexander’s life in battle of Gaugamela started talking inappropriate about Alexander’s family in drunk condition. Due to Claudius’s bad comment on Alexander’s mother, Alexander killed Cletius and felt regret afterwards.(Robert 86) . After Alexander’s capture in 327 B.C. of Sogdian Rock, a teenager daughter names Roxanne came there and he fell in love at first sight. Afterwards, Alexander and Roxanne had a traditional wedding. Furthermore, having conquered Persia heartland, Alexander goes eastward and fought for seven years. He kept expanding his region by not only pushing his army eastern parts…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    At only 32 years old, Alexander had created the largest empire the world had seen. He conquered land ranging from Greece to Egypt, and from Egypt to Asia and Persia. At just 20 years old, Alexander received the throne from Philip. Soon after, he began to build his empire. Alexander was very proud of his accomplishments, as one would expect. After defeating his close friend Dareius in battle, Alexander boasted, “What, pray? Dost thou not think that we are already victorious, now that we are relieved from wandering a vast and desolate country in pursuit of a Dareius who avoids battle?” (Plutarch…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Persian empire at its peak has long been seen as one of the largest wholes during the classical era, and few have rivaled its size. The land that Alexander the Great was able to conquer, however, was one of the few that served as an appropriate challenge. Around the time of 338 B.C.E through 323 B.C.E., Alexander's collected mass was a whole. Of a Greek origin, Alexander was taught by Aristotle, the great philosopher, and it can be inferred that he used the strategic methods learned, among other things, to assist him during his expansion. It was short lived, however, when he died of an unknown cause at an early age of thirty-three. Even though his empire crumbled, his legacy lived on. Multiple cities, strongly influenced by Alexander, erected,…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alexander the Great

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout history the actions, beliefs, and achievements of certain individuals have changed global history. One such individual is Alexander of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great. During the years of Aristotle came the military rule of Philip of Macedonia. Philip was a great conqueror, but not as great or as popular as his son Alexander. The main thrust of Alexander's reign was that it happened so quickly. With lightning fast speed, the greatest mortal hero of Greece conquered the entire known world. Those conquests would restructure the world order and unite East and West as a cohesive whole in a way beyond what anyone had, up to that point, dreamed of. While the immediate effects of Alexander's life may have seemed mind-boggling to those who lived in his time, the long-term changes wrought by this one man who strove to be a god are even more remarkable.…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays