Analysis of The Leadership of Alexander The Great

Alexander the Great was a general and a king, he made lots of changes to the ancient world, but was he a great leader. Alexander expanded the advanced technology of the Greek culture by invading city-states and other cultures. Alexander made his army extreamly smart and advanced by utilizing engineers and introducing longspears into his army. Alexander was very tactile and managed to conquer much of the known world at that time and very quickly as well. Alexander was not great because he was power hungry, greedy and very pampered.

Alexander was a very power hungry person. He took over land all the way to India, and most likely would have taken over more if his army did not refuse to continue on, he would force his culture onto other conquered civilizations by building large mock city-states of his own while also making large libraries with his cultures information all inside of them. Alex also would kill those who did not believe in what he believed or agree with him, Ian Worthington writes “Thus in 330 he gave the execution order for two senior generals (Philotas and Parmenion) who had a history of challenging Alexanders growing favoritism of Oriental Practices”. This quote proves my statement that Alexander would not let people challenge his beliefs. Everything shown above are all characteristics of a power hungry individual.

Alexander was greedy. Alex wanted to control everything, he wanted everyone to know who he was and what he believed, and where he came from. Alex would abuse his military to the breaking point, Alex pushed his soldiers onward, conquest after conquest, his soldiers had enough and just quit, leaving Alex with no other option than to drop out as well, all of Alex’s conquest was then followed by the creation of mock cities and construction of vast libraries, this was known as the Hellenistic Era. Alex was also giving everything he needed from his father Philip II before his death in 336, Alex had all he needed from his city, so without anything to challenge him and make him more popular he sets on a campaign to spread his Hellenistic Era to the Eastern world leaving hundreds of dead citizens and soldiers in his path, Ian Worthing Writes “Gave pursuit and massacred so many one source writes of them crossing a Bridge of Corpses”, this shows how Alex did not care who he had to slaughter to get what he wanted.

Alexander was Pampered. From his father Philip the Second’s death in 336, Alex was handed everything he needed, A United, Economically stable, war ready army and loyal citizens, with his father already having dealt with the struggles of growing and protecting a civilization Alex was kinda, just there, waiting for problems to arise and grow his already feared military without the worry of his city’s well being. Alex was nothing without his dad, it’s believed that without Philip II, Alex could not rise to power and start the Hellenistic Era, Ian Worthington writes “Without Philip the II, there would be no Alexander The Great”. This statement is very accurate, Alex’s lashed out ways would most likely not make him the ideal leader that people would want in a unstable city, but again, Alex did not have to worry about any unstable city when he rose to power, another piece of evidence to support this is as you learn about Alex, you clearly see he cared much for his military and not for his city-state, often executing others who did not agree with him it’s obvious even if Alex was not pampered and managed to rise to power, Macedonia would not last very long.

In conclusion Alexander was not a great leader because he was power hungry, greedy and pampered. Alex could not deal with opposing opinions and wanted to control everything, Alex was greedy by wanting his culture everywhere and building mock cities and libraries showing off what his culture did. Alex was pampered by his father even after his death by giving Alex a ready to go civilization. When considering Alex as a king and a leader, many people skip over the evil and terrible things he did and his negative characteristics, Alex, was not a great person he was a somewhat a maniac who had everything he needed from the beginning.

Works Cited

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