How did Alexander the Great manage to conquer so much territory in so quickly?

Essay by stebner95High School, 12th gradeA-, February 2013

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Ancient History

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In this essay, I questioned how it was that Alexander the Great managed to be so successful in his conquest of Persia and Greece, and if this success made him the greatest military leader of all time. I looked at the advantages that Alexander inherited, as well as those that he provided to his men. Some have claimed that the general actually contributed very little to his cause, merely riding on the coattails of others and taking the credit for himself; I investigated these claims as well. I discovered that Alexander's father, King Philip II, did in fact work very hard to hone his people into a fighting machine. This was one of the biggest considerations that caused some historians to jump to the conclusion that his father did all the heavy lifting, and Alexander was handed his victory on a silver platter. However, I also found that Alexander was an excellent tactician, politician, king, and soldier, leading me to the conclusion that this young leader was the reason for the Macedonian victories over Persia.

Alone, his leadership abilities and brilliance are already astounding, but when paired with the fact that he was very young when all of this was thrust upon him, makes for a legend. Throughout this paper, I detail the reasons the Macedonians were able to crush an enemy that outnumbered them greatly. For all of the reasons listed above, I also came to the conclusion that Alexander was not lucky, but was, in fact, the greatest military leader the world has ever seen.

Table of Contents

Alexander: Brilliant or Lucky? ….........................................................................4

Training..............................................................................................................4

Decisive in Battle and Politics............................................................................6

Tactician............................................................................................................9

Advanced Weaponry.........................................................................................10

Calculated Nature..............................................................................................12

Greatest Military Leader.....................................................................................15

Bibliography........................................................................................................16

Alexander: Brilliant or Lucky?

Alexander the Great is widely considered to be one of the more renowned...