Alexander The Great Alexander the Great was a man with no equal in History. He was one of the most important forces known to man. Alexander the Great then crossed the Hellespoint, which is now called the Dardanelles and, as head of a Greek army undertook the war on Persia that his father had been planning. The march he had begun was to be one of the greatest in history. Alexander was one of the biggest influenced on people of all time and one of the most powerful personalities.
Alexander the Great was one of the most powerful and strong leaders of all time who conquered most of the ancient world, built a city in his name, and managed to always put his people first. “Alexander learned early in his youth that he was Crown Prince, and that some day he would inherit the Macedonian throne." From the beginning, he had a very determined streak. When he was twelve years old a courier let Alexander know that his father had been victorious in a huge battle and Alexander complained that there was not going to be any battles for him to win. He was not very fond of sports, even though he was quite good at them; he did however, enjoy hunting.
This type of forward thinking and tactically skills were what ensured his victory. During the battle, Alexander focused of the left flank of Darius army, he charged with great speed and frightened the Persian troops and the Persian left flank was overwhelmed. However, during this period a gap opened in Alexanders forces in the centre as the left flank could not keep up with Alexander and his right flank. The Greek mercenaries in the Persian army took advantage of the gap. Alexander quickly encircled the Greek mercenaries and cut them down.
One of the most powerful empires of the day, the Persian Empire threatened the Greeks in 499 BC. The Persian Empire ruled by Darius, at that time stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River Valley. Greatly outnumbering the Greeks, the Persians should have easily conquered them. The Greeks were able to defeat the Persians because they united for a sole purpose. This unification provided the strength they needed to win decisive military and naval sea battles.
One year later, the Battle of Issos occurred and once again, Alexander was able to win against the Persian army under King Darius. Over the thirteen years Alexander reigned, he conquered Aleppo, Syria, Egypt, Phoenicia, using many of the rhetorical methods Aristotle taught him to command his army. He also defeated and occupied the Persian Empire. Alexander’s own Empire was the most expansive and his military forces were the most intimidating at the
Nevertheless, Hannibal?s one and only defeat at Cannae does not detract from his greatness or his formidable strength. He was the greatest General with a distinguished military record of fighting against a powerful opponent. All great leaders have their moments of glory in time and soon fade away. Hannibal celebrated many shining moments as well moments of doubt and frustrations. As all great leaders do he continued to be an example for his men.
Perhaps his most recognized conquest was of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and its ‘King of Kings’ Darius III during the Battle of Issus 1. After defeating the Persians at the Battle of Granicus, Darius gathered an enormous army from his empire and moved through the Greek line of supply, these actions required Alexander to counter attack which staged the battle near the Pinarus River and south of the Village of Issus 2. Darius’ army outnumbered Alexander’s by a 2:1 ratio 3. Attesting to his title, he deployed superior battlefield tactics and practices that led his army to victory, causing the Persian king to flee, leaving his empire to Alexander. The phalanx was used throughout history as an effective battlefield maneuver from roughly 2500 B.C until around 200 B.C and altered and refined as time passed 4.
Alexendar shows great leadership and courage as he and his men take down the Persian men to claim their first major victory in Persia (Heckel 30). Darius, the king of the Persian empire at first believed that Alexander wouldn 't create to much trouble, but as he quickly realized, Alexander was a lot different from any other Greek he had ever encounter. Darius decides to try to put an end to Alexander and his men. Darius gather his army
Throughout Alexander´s journey he showed proof of being very courageous and one of his main traits was just his courage. As a king of Macedon and general of its army, Alexander did not merely inspire his soldiers from afar. He inspired them up close in the front line of the battle. This together with Alexander´s charisma made it possible for Alexander to achieve the greatness he did in such a short amount of time. Alexander created the greatest empire known by mankind by using his quick thinking and brilliant war tactics.
The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.