Ms. Wetzel
English II Honors, Period 3
20 October 2014
Alexander the Great: The Military Genius Imagine crossing thousands of miles of scorching desert, rugged mountains and endless plains on both foot and horseback while commanding and maneuvering an army. Throughout history, there have been legends of heroes facing impossible trials. Alexander the Great is a legendary figure that did the impossible. Leading thousands of men across a continent is challenging enough on its own, but Alexander the Great took this challenge even further. He took the most demanding and laborious paths possible during his campaign to expand his empire, and he succeeded (Romey). Alexander the Great created the largest empire the ancient world had ever …show more content…
David Sacks wrote, “...he [Alexander] had carved out the largest empire the world had ever seen, stretching 3,000 miles from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River.” He started outposts in large expanses of land. They were dotted throughout 3,000 miles, intermixing with thousands of other cultures. At the beginning of the Nile river, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria (Garland 27). The city of Alexandria is one of the most known cities that Alexander had founded. Since it was at the beginning of the Nile, many people flowed into and out of the city each day. Rivers were one of the fastest ways to travel and trade. After conquering Persia, he was named the King of Asia and King of Persia. He was also named Pharoh and King of Macedonia (Larson). His spread of Greek culture across much of the world created the Hellenistic Age, which would extend to until Cleopatra’s (Garland 30). The Hellenistic Age was anything of or pertaining to Greek Culture. The military outposts that he created, started pockets of Hellenism throughout his newly conquered lands. In many parts, aspects of Greek culture were taken into the already pre existing cultures (Garland 30). Importantly, Greek culture did not take over or destroy already standing customs and traditions. In other parts of his kingdom, mostly rural areas, Greek …show more content…
Alexander the Great in little more than a decade, redefined the ancient world. He proved that no matter how rigid and how permanent great civilizations seems to be, that everything is malleable, culture and languages will change. Today, over two thousand years later, the effects of his achievements can be seen in everyday life, not just while walking through a