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Conquest of Alexander the Great and analyze the legacy of his empire
Alexander has the greatest impact on the world
The impact of Alexander in ancient history
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Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, the great empire he had established was split amongst his successors. The most prominent of these, were the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucid Kingdom (see Fig 1.). Controlling such a vast expanse of territory, consisting of a wide range of cultural and political systems, was a major challenge for Alexander and his successors. Alexander dealt with this by assimilating foreign practices and culture from Asia into his own style of kingship (Welles 1965, 227). It seems that a majority of Hellenistic kingdoms did continue the methods used by Alexander to improve their legitimacy (Ma 2003, 181). Aspects such as coinage, religious cults, architecture and political strategies can be looked at to determine more closely the extent of this continuation. The style of …show more content…
He also adopted local customs in order to increase his legitimacy, and sought to combine Greek and Eastern cultures through religion and architecture. To a large extent this was continued by his successors. The Seleucids and Ptolemies in particular followed his mode of kingship, adapting to local cultures to consolidate their rule (Khurt and Sherwin-White 1993, 114; Ma 2003, 181;), by merging elements of architecture and the establishment of ruler cults. Coinage was also used to spread knowledge of a king and continue Greek traditions which were introduced by Alexander. However the extent to which Alexander's legacy lasted may be limited, with it being possible that with each generation within the successor dynasties, rulers may have become more accustomed to local cultures rather than the Greek legacy left by Alexander. Despite this, it is clear that the foundations of Alexanders kingship were continued throughout the period following his death, with rulers continuing his composite of Greek and Eastern cultures and creating the Hellenistic
Alexander adopted Persian governing practices, but he had little use for Persian culture. According to his Greek biographer Plutarch, he considered himself "a governor from God and a reconciler of the world." He hoped that Greek culture would, through his actions, permeate all of Asia, inspiring its peoples to pursue virtue, excellence, and truth. This heroic idealism blended with practicality in his plan to develop the Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus rivers as commercial waterways linking all of Asia These undertakings promised to be long and difficult, however, and Alexander was an impatient man. His soldiers' unwillingness to proceed past the Indus was a great disappointment to him, for which he compensated by throwing his own festivals and celebrations. Alexander showed early leadership qualities. When King Phillip invaded Thrace, he left Alexander in charge of Macedonia at the age of 16. During his father's absence, one of the Thracian tribes, the Maedi, rebelled. Alexander was able to mobilize an army and put down the rebellion. In 336 B.C, Alexander's father was assassinated, putting Alexander on the throne at the age of 20. Shortly after this, Alexander left Macedonia with his armies to put down rebellions in the countries of Illyria, Thrace and Greece, all of which had previously been conquered by King Phillip. Alexander then moved his armies into Asia Minor and began to conquer the peoples there. Among the countries conquered by Alexander were Syria, Phoenicia and
Alexander the III of Macedonia more commonly known as Alexander the Great might well be the greatest military leader of all history. “A great conqueror, in 13 short years he amassed the largest empire in the entire ancient world — an empire that covered 3,000 miles.” (“Alexander the Great”) (See Appendix D). His military feats were incredible. Alexander was able to accomplish these great military feats at such a young age is because he was brought up in a military family and led his group of soldiers at a young age, and because he was very passionate and full of courage in everything that he did.
Alexander began his military campaign and his rule much where his father left off. Whether or not it was his aim, this created a sense of normality for the men that was part of his father’s regime. Alexander’s position as a warrior-king who stood side-by-side among his men also served to create respect among his peers. Gradually, as Alexander conquered more Persian land, he began to adopt the policies of Persian rulers. Alexander’s change in policy extended beyond just political roles, he gave consideration to the local gods in many of the lands that he conquered. Eventually, Alexander brought people in from the conquered nations to serve under him.
Within different civilizations of the Greek City-States and the Hellenistic World, there were different values, power structures, and politics that made the societies powerful and successful. In the Greek City-States there was Sparta and Athens and in the Hellenistic World, there was different views and ideas for the few rulers of the Hellenistic society. Sparta was focused on the strength of the state and on their military readiness and discipline. Athens was a democratic state focused on the rights of individuals. The main differences between Sparta and Athens are their style and system of government, and their societal values. In the Hellenistic world, the most famous ruler, Alexander was focused on unifying the people and giving them a sense religion and morality. Under the rule of Antiochus, who took the kingdom when Seleucid died, they wanted people to focus on the Greek way of life. These
Between 334 and 323 B.C Alexander the Great and his armies conquered and created an empire that covered Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, Persia and India. The spoils of war included much Greek art, and encouraged the spread of Greek culture. Consequently, these influences are found in the architecture of the Parthenon and the Pantheon, and in other aspects of life at the time.
...ath the spread of Greek culture, language and art continued to modern day China, where Alexander never step foot on. This is a testament to how involved Greek culture was in Alexander’s vast empire . The universal language in Alexander’s empire was Greek, which lead to easy trading and easily fixed problems. Alexander dreamed to have a massive empire and to bring man together. Both of these were achieved in a decade. Even after his death the Greek language carried on and so did many other customs.
Alexander the Great obviously believed his traditions and ways were the best because he saw other cultures that he conquered as backwards and wished to convert all the races and cultures in the world to his own way of thinking. The quote “[he desired to give] all the races in the world... one rule and one form of government, making all mankind a single people” could be perceived as Alexander striving for unity of the world (Plutarch, Excerpt from writings). Alexander’s idea of unity comes from the standpoint that Alexander’s way to govern a country is the best way and wanted to standardize all of the nations of the world into his narrow perspective. This small-minded view of the world does not promote knowledge and learning but instead
As Cyrus the Great did with his conquests, Alexander gave cities an ultimatum between amnesty for submission or merciless battle when met with resistance (Cole and Symes). This choice allowed some regions to be spared from being ruined or burnt down while also demonstrating the assimilation and accommodations of some cultures as Alexander allowed some officials to hold title, as previously said. He was able to sustain a healthy order among his empire by blending and adopting court customs and traditions, using regional and local systems, as well as dividing power and leadership to his loyal followers. When conquering Persia and becoming the new Emperor after defeating Darius III, he was able to arrange mass marriages between his officers and Persian noblewomen, train Persian youths to fight in hoplite formation, adopt Persian dress, and encouraged the ritual of proskynesis, which had those of a lesser social status submit to the Great King (Cole and Symes). This interchanging of Greek and Persian culture, while meeting resistance from some Greeks, revealed how Alexander was able to maintain such a large empire, while having a strong presence in all the various regions of the known world (“Alexander the Great Biography”). This was significant because it maintained his vision of spreading Hellenic culture while also being flexible
Countries rise and fall, but within this chaos is the certainty that new leaders will emerge to fill the shoes of those fallen. What is it that separates the great leaders from the lesser? This question weighed heavy on the minds of many great Renaissance thinkers due to the power that derives from this knowledge. In the 16th century, Niccolò Machiavelli sought out to answer this time worn question. It was in his publication of The Prince, that Machiavelli spread his cold and practical formula of how to rule. In The Prince, Machiavelli clearly states what characteristics great ruler have. These Machiavellian traits show themselves in the life of Alexander the Great and some of the traits used by Machiavelli were taken from Alexander’s style of ruling. Even though he lived before the creation of The Prince, much of Alexander’s success stems from his Machiavellian principles of war, deception, and his ability to absorb the culture of conquered territories by limiting changes in their government.
Even though Alexander III of Macedonia, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, only lived to be 32 years old, his accomplishments were so vast it would be impossible to capture them all in a 3-hour Hollywood film. The well-known director, Oliver Stone, spent years studying Alexander and dreaming of making an epic film about his life. Stone's 2004 film, Alexander, was met with reviews that made it sound as if it was mediocre or disappointing, but the problem with it is that in the era of exciting action-driven Hollywood films, Alexander asks viewers to go deeper than they are accustomed. The length of the film was considered too long, but the history of Alexander is so huge that it is actually too short. Since Alexander lived more than 2300 years ago, and much of the information on Alexander's life has been lost over time, it seems to me that Alexander accurately depicts the historical era, Alexander's relationships, battle scenes and the different cultures involved in Alexander's conquests.
The conquests of Alexander the Great spread Hellenism immediately over the Middle East and far into Asia. After his death in 323 B.C., the influence of Greek civilization continued to expand over the Mediterranean world and W Asia. The wars of the Diadochi marked, it is true, the breakup of Alexander's brief empire, but the establishment of Macedonian dynasties in Egypt, Syria, and Persia (the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae) helped to mold the world of that day into a wider unity of trade and learning.
Alexander the Great (July 356BC – June 323BC) was King of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedon. By the age of thirty he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world. He remained undefeated in battle and is considered one of history’s most successful Military commanders. Historians’ have offered theories which could explain Alexander’s motivation to conquer so much of the known world. Some suggest that Alexander was an idealistic visionary who sought to unite the world, whereas others argued that he was a fascist whose hunger for power drove him. The Ancient Greeks were driven by love of honour (philotimaea) and their desire for greatness. They were competitive, always striving to better one another.
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
He had this idea of uniting the word. This idea motivated him to expand his kingdom, and fight against the Persian empire other kingdoms. He didn’t have a plan where he wants to stop the expansion,so he keeps going until his soldiers refuse to fight, because they were far from their motherland (Williamson Alexander the great). This time of the period Alexand builds houses, theaters and official building that promote Greeks culture throughout Asia, Europe and North Africa. In all Alexander 's generals the top leader and office all members were Macedon. If someone wishes to in these top officials, he needs to learn Greece language. That was the shows his loyal at the time. However Alexander didn’t had a chance to led his empire. He died at age of 33 from his war wounds and disease. Shortly after his death, there were no one fit to be a king in his family. As result Macedon generals start to fight to lead this huge empire as a whole. At the end, Generals like Antigonus Gonatas, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Attalus and Aetolian divide the empire and they name themselves asking the place, where they were generals. This was known as successor kingdoms (Williamson Alexander the great). This shows the achievement of culture and the failure of political because Alexander did get a chance to lead the empire after all the hard work he have done. The successor kingdoms were war each other to expand their empire even though their culture were
He was also influential and clever. In each conquest, Alexander retained local officials who were loyal to him and he appointed Macedonian governors to the province capitals. He founded administrative capitals to control the regions. He founded Alexandria, Egypt which became the cultural capital of Mediterranean in the ancient world. Nevertheless, he also began to wear Persian clothing and he encouraged his soldiers to do the same in order to keep the peace. Therefore, he executed the men who resisted obeying his order. He married with a Persian and he encouraged his soldiers to marry with Persians to mix the culture. Persians loved Alexander and they respected him like he was a Persian like them. Even the Persian army joined with Alexander by will. That is why he controlled his massive empire without riots and this proves that he was very influential and clever.