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 Alexander the Great is an ideal
character in the history of humanity.
There was no limit or impossible action
for him. In the modern age, military
defense thinks of him as the greatest
generals they have ever known. I got
curious about him because of several
reasons and some of them are his
leadership, alertness, knowledge on
using power of punishment, paying
attention to the affairs of the kingdom,
supervising the work of all the armies
by himself, strategic planning, leading
by example, his straightforwardness,
self- motivation and strong
determination !. These qualities might
have helped him to be Alexander the
Great.
Likewise, anyone who possesses these
qualities is feared by his enemies and
respected by them as well. Therefore,
several city-states and countries that
had fallen did not dare to fight even
when Alexander was outnumbered. I think
that 90 percent of a leader’s chance of
success or failure lays with his/her
character. Alexander was such a person
that his armies felt proud to march with
him even in the desert for many days.
They were ready to march with him
anywhere he wished. He was also
diplomatic as he obeyed local customs in
order to make locals happy and win their
hearts. Alexander’s armies were equally
concerned about him like when they were
marching in the desert and they ran out
of water. One of his troops gave him the
only water he had, but Alexander refused
to drink it and said, “If I am only one
to drink, the rest will lose heart”
(Plutarch, The Age of Alexander”). In
the meantime, his qualities are backed
by his strong determination. Alexander
never gave up, and he seemed as if
nothing could stop him. I believe that
the difference between possibilities and
impossibilities lies on his/
herdetermination and if you really think
you can, you can.
Alexander the great was born in 356 BC
on 20th of July in Pella of Macedonia.
He was the son of King Philip and
Olympia. Philip united many tribal
groups and became the king of Macedonia
in 359. Philip was a great leader and he
was a good organizer of his country and
the armies. He created a strong
Macedonian army that was probably one of
the strongest armies in the world during
that period. In addition to that, these
armies were also trained to march and
carry weapons for long distances. Which
was probably an advantage for Alexander
later when he conquers the world.
Alexander grew up in an environment
where there was war, celebration of
victories, unrest, rumors, and threats
to the nation from neighboring enemies.
Nevertheless, he would have understood
how brave his father was, when he
learned about the success of his new
victories.
On one of the occasions when Ambassadors
from Persia arrived in Macedonia, during
Philip’s absence, Alexander welcomed
them with warm hospitality and started
communicating in a friendly manner
asking them questions few good leaders
would have asked, such as how long they
traveled to reach Macedonia, Kingdom of
the Persian Empire, about the king’s
character, his experience in the war,
military strengths. I wonder if he had a
plan to invade Persia, even when he was
a kid. Likewise, on another occasion
when someone brought a wild,
uncontrollable horse called Bucephalas
to sell to Philip, nobody would dare to
control the horse, and then Alexander
showed the willingness to control it
before his father could send the horse
away. Alexander approached the horse,
calmed him with a gentle touch, adjusted
the bridle, and faced him towards the
sun. When the horse became calm, he rode
the horse. Philips felt proud to see his
son riding the horse and said, “My boy,
you must find a kingdom big enough for
your ambitions. Macedonia is too small
for you.” (Plutarch, The Age of
Alexander). Then Philip sent Alexander
to Aristotle (Arastu in Hindi), at the
age of thirteen, where he learned
Philosophy, science, principles of
politics and medicine. He remained there
until he was seventeen. Alexander had a
warm relationship with his teacher.
However, in later years, Alexander
seemed to be unhappy. He looked at
Aristotle with suspicion and found his
master wrong when he reached at the top
of the mountains of the Indus valley and
saw India far beyond. Aristotle had said
India was a small island. When Alexander
was nineteen, Pausanias, a young man of
Macedonia, assassinated his father. It
is still unknown why he killed Philip,
Some say that it was a plan created by
Olympias and Alexander to kill Philip.
When the murderer was trying to escape
one of Alexander’s friends killed him
immediately. After the death of Philip,
there was a great threat to Macedonia,
it was likely that the neighboring
rivals such as Greece, Persia and even
the domestic enemies of Macedonia could
attack them.
Keeping these factors in mind, the
people of Macedonia decided to declare
him the king of Macedonia. Alexander
acted very quickly; he started his
campaigns by defeating the enemies
within Macedonia and moved towards
Greece in a hope to build his empire
starting from Macedonia and then to Asia
and to the end of the world.
He started from Troy, marching with
troops of about 35,000. Alexander took
control of many city-states - the
Ankara, Tarsus, and then Issue. It is
believed that Alexander had about 43,000
infantry and 6,000 cavalry troops along
with geographers, astronomers,
historians, and zoologist. This is how
he started to invade Persia or modern
day Iran. The battle of Issue tookplace
in 336 BC against his greatest enemy,
Darius the great. Darius came with large
armies but due to courage and bravery,
Alexander won the battle and the king of
the Persian Empire fled. Alexander’s
solders captured his family. The victory
of Issue gave him access to Syria and
Phoenicia. Phoenicia surrendered after
the battle in Tyre. Then Alexander moved
towards Egypt and entered during 331 BC.
Here, the Egyptians welcomed Alexander
as a Liberator. Alexander demanded to
name the port into his name and today it
is known as port Alexandria of
Mediterranean. Alexander went to visit
the Egyptians sun god, whom the
Macedonians pray to as Zeus Ammon and
the earlier Egyptian pharaohs were
believed to be the sons of Ammon.
According to the legend, when Alexander
was making a trip to visit Zeus, the god
had mercy on him and there was rain
while he was crossing the desert. In
addition, when he reached the temple the
priest welcomed him and Alexander asked
the oracle of Amon, if he was the son of
god? The answer arrived and the priest
told him that he was the son of Zeus and
the ruler of the world.
After Egypt, he marched towards Persia.
At the river of Gaugamela, heavy
fighting took place Alexander also faced
heavy casualties. Then he moved towards
the Persian capital Persepolis. The
battle took place and great Macedonian
armies defeated the Persians and their
king Darius fled once again. Here in
Persepolis, Alexander finds a greatest
treasure. Historians believe that
Alexander might have found about 3,000
tons of gold. At the palace, he also saw
a great statue of ancient king
Ahuramazda, also known as a King of
wisdom. Moreover, 35 kings from
different parts of the world paid him
tributes. At this point, Alexander must
have been delighted to see the great
Persian Empire falling into his hands.
After some months, they had a party and
wine session. After they got drunk; one
of the women got bored and asked
Alexander if he would set the palace on
fire. Alexander agreed and gave order to
burn the palace and in no time the
palace is destroyed. Alexander is
considered by many to have a demons head
and they call him the two-horned one.
The Jonorastians, a religious group of
Persia still believes that Alexander had
not only burned the palace but that he
had burned their spiritual books
scriptures. He is the two-horned one
evil and called Sul-ta-mae (In the
footsteps of Alexander the great, video-vol
II) for them.
To the contrary, some Muslims believe
that prophet Mohammed gave him blessing
for his campaigns. The Persian told
Darius to abandon the kingship, because
they wanted a new leader who was brave
and could fight Alexander.
When Darius refused them, they tortured
and killed him. Alexander approached him
he saw dead body of the Darius.
Alexander moved across the Khawak pass
towards the Hindu Kush (20,000 ft) in
his fifth years of campaigns, in 326 BC
through Kabul. It would have been very
difficult for the soldiers to cross
these mountains and they might have
suffered from attitude sickness,
dizziness, dehydration, malnutrition,
and a lot more. After they had reached
the top of the Khawak pass, he marched
towards the desert of Tashkurgan where
he and his armies suffered due to
starvation for several days before they
moved ahead and finally found the river.
Alexander marched towards Balkh. He was
injured playing a local game called
Bujkashi and when he recovered, he
marched towards Tajikistan on a search
and destroys operation. He then marched
towards Uzbekistan. He saw Roxanne and
he fell in love with her at first sight.
He proposed to her and married her when
he was 29.
In 327 BC Alexander marched towards
India and invaded Punjab. King Porus
foght bravely against him with elephants
and armies but he was eventually
captured. Alexander was very impressed
with, the way Porus fought the battle,
bravely and allowed him to govern his
own country. In this battle, Alexander’s
horse Bucephalus was badly injured and
died. Later, Alexander founded a city
called Bucephalus in honor of his horse.
The army continued advancing to unknown
territories and then Alexander’s general
spoke to Alexander on behalf of his
armies and asked him not to advance
beyond this. Alexander agreed.
Alexander’s armies built thousands of
ships in order to sail the river on
their way back home. At the Indian
village of Malli, they stopped and a
battle took place. Alexander was
seriously wounded in this battle when an
arrow hit him.. The returning westward
route towards Persia was a mistake and
hundred and thousands of solders were
dead due to the heat and droughts in the
desert but finally they arrive in Susa.
In the spring of 324, Alexander held a
great victory and celebration took place
at Susa. Some of his nobleman married
Persian women. Little later, at Opis he
proclaimed the discharge of 10,000
Macedonians veterans to go to Macedonia
with general Craterus. In the same time
30,000 Persians, youths were recruited
in the Army. In a hope to create a new
royal army, which would be attached only
to him. In addition, at the end of the
year Alexander traveled to Babylon where
he got caught with fever and day after
another the fever got worse on 25 day of
his fever he slept a little, but fever
went bad and on the 28th day he died.
Nevertheless, it is still unknown what
caused the fever, whether he was
poisoned, or was it a plot by his
enemies. Some historian believe it was
Aristotle who was behind Alexander’s
murder, they think Aristotle arranged
someone to put the poison in Alexander’s
drink.
However, many historians disagree with
this idea what cause the death of the
great king, but it is still unknown. No
matter what the truth is, Alexander the
Great is one of the best examples of
great leadership and vision. He showed
the respect for the women when Thracian
troop leaders raped a woman called
Timocleia, she tricked him and killed
the rapist, then she was brought in
front of Alexander. Alexander let her go
because she was innocent. He treated
Darius’ wife and daughter with respect.
He showed gesture of love towards his
loved ones by sending gifts to them. He
was always ready for challenges, and
loved philosophy. He even read and
carried his books with him. He wasn’t
just “book smart” because he knew how to
use local guides to show the trails his
army used. More importantly, his
thoughts, words, and deeds were
harmonized and he became a trust worthy
leader and ultimately his lion-like
character led him towards success.
Truly, the story of Alexander the great
has given many people inspiration
including myself.
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Book Review
Movie Review
great
story line, hey wait that is not all.
Cruise is asked to find the rabbit's
foot, what it exactly is we're not told
apart form the fact that it's a powerful
explosive that could destroy the world.
Forgive me for telling me the non
-existent story so well. As it's not the
story but the action in the movie that
has the audience on the edge of seat.
The action packed scene where Cruise
jumps of the high building of the
Shanghai unhurt, firing bullets at the
flying helicopter, and doing plentiful
himself. A few dialogues with his
teammates lighten up the intense action.
