Weekly 6

Konnor Drewen

3/10/011

Was Alexander's adventure really worth it?

            In the great campaign of Alexander the Great he did many things. All we know of Alexander is from five manuscripts by Arrian, Plutarch, Curtius, Diodorus and Justin.  He conquered cities and towns. He fought and won most of the battles against the Persian Empire (Michael Wood). He destroyed the largest empire in the world and became king of the known world. But was it worth it? Was all the fighting and the sacking and destruction worth doing. He could have stayed in Macedonia and ruled there, but if he had he would not have gained such a large empire. He would not have avenged wrongs or made a name for himself. Above all history itself would not be the same. So yes, Alexander’s adventure was worth it because if he had not defeated the Persians, if he had not created a new empire, if he had not become ruler of a new world; then nothing today or then would be the same.

            While in Egypt, Alexander visited the oasis of Siwa. As he arrived he was treated as if he were a god. The people there did this because they told Alexander he was. He had entered the temple of Amun and the oracle greeted him with these words: "O, paidion" meaning "Oh, my son", but mispronounced the Greek as "O, pai dios" meaning "Oh, son of god" (Fletcher). When Alexander left the temple his friends asked him what had happened but he only said that he had been given the answer his heart desired. Over the remaining years of his life Alexander sent gifts to the temples priests with more questions (Fletcher). Because of what happened in Siwa Alexander had a new perspective; that perspective was of a god. If he had not gotten this oracle’s prophecy; would he have thought that he was more than human, and as a result, would he have been as successful in his campaign?

             One of his most powerful victories was at Gaugamela. He was able to face off against roughly 300,000 Persians while he had only roughly 50,000 (Warry). Fearing that there would be a night attack, King Darius kept his army standing in battle formation all night, probably only adding to fatigue and demoralization. Alexander, himself, had almost overslept and was awakened by the sound of his troops preparing for battle (Brouilette).  The battle progress of Gaugamela is far more complex than the earlier confrontations at Granicus and Issus. Darius tried everything in his ability to stop Alexander but there was nothing he could do in the end, he had already lost (Cartledge, 2011). Alexander, the King of Macedonia, facing Darius, King of the known world; it was like David versus Goliath and just like in the biblical story the small army won. 

            During his campaign, Alexander took the capital of Persia, Persepolis. While he was there he destroyed the city as a sign of power. Alexander described it to the Macedonians as their worst enemy among the cities of Asia, and he gave it over to the soldiers to plunder, with the exception of the royal palace (Brouilette). Alexander’s men rushed into the buildings killing all the men and taking any gold, silver, or any other valuables. The great royal palace, famed throughout the inhabited world, had been condemned to the indignity of total destruction (Brouilette). So he burned the palace to the ground. He knew that he was not yet king of the empire and it was too risky to leave all the treasure behind in case of the Persians trying to reclaim it.

            Towards the end of his journey Alexander went into Afghanistan while chasing Bessus, the man who betrayed and killed Darius his king. Always fearful of leaving his southern and eastern flank exposed in his pursuit of Bessus to the North, Alexander undertook a massive building campaign, erecting a series of fortresses in a giant arc from Herat in the west to Kandahar in the south to the Oxus River in the north and beyond into present-day Kazakstan and Tajikistan. At each one of these fortresses Alexander left a number of troops along with builders, craftsmen, tillers, and other kinds of workers that would help make a settlement (DDLRMP). Alexander followed Bessus into Bactria where Bessus was killed and brutally mutilated by Alexander. The type of guerilla-style fighting that Alexander faced during the Afghan campaign was described centuries later by the chronicler Plutarch. He said that they were like a hydra, kill one head and three more take its place (Lendering, 2011) Alexander’s Afghan campaign shows that the fruit of his acts far out way the costs, for he was able to kill Bessus, the last real controller of the Persian army.

            Alexander, the man who changed the world, will always be remembered by history, for if he was forgotten or had never existed the world would have lost one of its greatest. Yes, his adventure was worth it he conquered the world during his adventure. From Macedonia to Egypt, Egypt to Persia and through Persia until there was nothing in his way. He may have been known by many to be the “Two Horned One,” but more importantly he was the hero of Greece (Michael Wood).  As the philosopher Aristotle once said, "Man perfected by society is the best of all animals; he is the most terrible of all when he lives without law, and without justice." This was Alexander’s original goal, to bring justice to the Persians and because of it we will always know that he was the one, who fought the giant and won.

Sources: 

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great by Michael Wood (Michael Wood)

 Fletcher, . (n.d.). Alexander the great in egypt. Retrieved from http://www.arabworldbooks.com/new/alexander.html  (Fletcher)

Cartledge, . (2011, Febuary 17). Alexander the great: hunting for a new past. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/alexander_the_great_01.shtml (Cartledge, 2011)

Brouilette, . (n.d.). "the greatest legend of all was real". Retrieved from http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=alexander-the-great-2 (Brouilette)

Warry, J. (n.d.). Major battles of alexander the great. Retrieved from http://www.pothos.org/content/index.php?page=major-battles#gaugamela  (Warry)

Lendering, J. (2011, March 3). Alexander sacks persepolis. Retrieved from http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t12.html  (Lendering, 2011)

DDLRMP, Initials. (n.d.). Alexander the great (330-323). Retrieved from http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/afgh02-04enl.html (DDLRMP)