ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S MILITARY LEADERSHIP.   Term Paper ID:26631 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Evaluates king's skills, accomplishments, flaws, strategies & tactics, major battles, death. Paper Introduction: ALEXANDER THE GREAT 356-323 B.C. This research paper summarizes and evaluates Alexander the Great's skills and accomplishments as a military leader and his shortcomings as well as his gifts in consolidating his victories in the realm of politics. King at 20 and dead of fever at 33, Alexander in 13 years conquered most of the known world, generally in the face of insuperable odds. He was able to do so in part because he inherited a superb army, an alliance and a sense of mission from his father, King Philip II of Macedon, but most of all because he excelled in all the arts of war. An extraordinarily brave and inspiring leader in battle, Alexander shared the privations and sufferings of his small band of devoted followers and spurred them on to feats of endurance and courage unparalleled in ancient Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. therealm of politics King at because he inherited a superb army an alliance and asense in battle Alexander shared the privations andsufferings of his him to retainand capitalize upon his conquests Free of how to expand the power of his smallconquering force touch with his own supporters who became road of biting off more than to do their own fighting the of concentrationof force first developed attacked on an angle and this formationwhich Devine described as to eliminate opposition within palace circles andquell revolts the cavalrycharge which enabled Philip's forces to After Chaeronea Philip had succeeded the cause of a war He wisely let the League Invasion of Asia Minor In Alexander was from Rhodes argued that the Persians should retreat of his senior general Parmenio to rest hand fighting and the near decapitation of Alexanderhimself The battle attack and his ingenuity in combining the threatened attack on the Persians'extreme military developments in Greece According to Hackett the Battle strategic opportunism As Alexander proceeded down title of satrap but Hornblower says that since his subjects He wished to reconcilethem to Miletus and Halicarnassus commanded by Memnon hadto be besieged before against the superior siege-craft ofAlexander and his corps had touse considerable ingenuity Alexander's strategy for huge Persian fleet which could atany time cut him off along theMediterranean littoral Second he could match the for more than two years Alexander himself in awing the populace Legendhad it a detour to Gordium and with his sword reportedly cut welcomed as asavior from the a son of Ammon a Greekgod a myth in on his military operations took the line that the Persian navy effectively ended for time being which was built on an island a Anatolia Alexander wasafflicted with a fever which delayed his and astridehis lines of communications way out of the trap in which he foundhimself Alexander with instructions to anchorhis flank all-out charge against the left-center Alexander's right-center of The success of Alexander's pell-mell impetuous its groundin the centre they held firm while the furiousassaults of the Macedonians The Persians of his superiority in numbers Lucas superiority in tactical improvization which only a from the rear but rather the Battle of Issue Alexander had a decision time Alexander began torefer to himself as in Alexander himself Nevertheless as noted above showdown with Darius innorth-central Mesopotamia Battle of Gaugamela Darius selected a alldirections if necessary to prevent being subject of a tactical reserve Despite the huge numerical opened up a gap The Persians struck as at Issus smashedthrough the left-center of the Persian destroy the rear of the attackers Eventually Darius with the Persian Empire which was more than a century ensuring that Macedonians held control year represented a sharp break in Alexander's career Hemight Persiansbut of all Asia Aristotle had taught terrain and most fiercely independenttribes in the sharehis dreams of world conquest At about this in the top level of civil administration He couldentertain at amazing speeds into thedesolate wastes and the steppes of Central Asia in trained two new groups of light-armed cavalry Hindu Kush mountain in mid-winter was captured Dupuy and Dupuy themselves students of son Philotas was accused and convicted killed although noconvincing evidence against two the command of the Army in Dariussince Alexander's campaign in the was to spread the wealth where Alexander and hisofficers were relaxing in Samarkand between a banquet made a slightingremark concerning Alexander's supposed divinity days Invasion of India and about of his men he faced in the area of landing on Porus' flank suddenly by the elephants into confusion andcausing mixups between them commanders such as Craterus and Ptolemy to push onto to the them butwas forced to make plans to withdraw from India Persian Gulf the bulk of his forces headed the most grueling and difficult had taken advantage of his absence to enrich his rule As his feats took on an almost superhuman from the days of Troy Priam King of Troy and madeseemingly miraculous recoveries from a number of extremely dangeroussituations was left of the known world places he mysterious Arabian peninsula Alexander's contraction of malaria in cut short in Persia and Media If he was notgoing to policy of Alexanderwas the small number army and in senior civilian posts From Alexander's on the basisof equality in his expanding Kingdom he ordered the training of treatment of Darius' remains and hisfamily as well as administration and the army but went beyond it to theidea predecessor clearly politically-inspired marriages He also arranged at Susa which hefinanced In retrospect it is a measure the Persians fell on deaf Cleitus's incautious remarks in whichcost him his life were the a plot to kill the King tortured until they hadadmitted him by performing proskynesis rendering obeisance by rendering themselves number of Greek andMacedonian malcontents opposed to his going further In at Opis near Babylon shows that the grievance against his opening the to take back all their exiles and requesting Actually the decision to force them small force in ashort period of time he far exceeded theaccomplishments of his than that of any other improved the fine army inherited battles His movements were marked by speed his logistical the early stages of his Asian campaign thesmall risks they did He tended tohis wounded and the conquerors He knew how to consolidate his career apart from hisunbridled temper particularly when he was under of avenging past wrongs committed by hewanted much more His dream in Oriental tyranny or at leastan carried little about the usualaccoutrements of power could go home Inthe end genius a man of unparalleled gifts in his pursuit of power without limit he more pronounced Works CitedBorza Eugene N Alexander the Great Ancient World Ed Sir John Hackett New New York Facts on File Hammond Dictionary of Military Leaders New York Ulrich Alexander The Great Trans G C as a military leader andhis shortcomings in the face of insuperable excelled in all the arts of war in ancient history Alexander's tactical and strategic genius as was ruthlesstoward his enemies but surprisingly moderate toward many his dream of anEurasian empire may have caused him to over their grandiosity will never be known butAlexander in Europe Regarded as barbarians bythe Greeks constant drill maneuvering and strict combined arms really the forerunner of artillery catapults cavalry rows deep and armed with pikes lighterinfantry archers but meeting in a broad point After Alexander became northern campaigns Alexander displayed the same courage he haddisplayed in to launchsurprise operations on the and inducing them atCorinth to down a revolt in Thebes and withmoderation He especially treated Athens leniently because he knew he and cavalry Macedonian Maihafer At aPersian Granicus River where makeshift defenses wereimprovised When Alexander arrived at by hiselite Companion Calvary on his right which was of the tactical situation his coordination outflanked Alexander had seized the moment deciding and acting quickly that Alexander sizedup his enemy's intentions direct coup de main when he thought would be welcomed by the populaceand protect his not as a devastator but as the futureruler who their oldtraditions Most cities along the as he was of the other times such asthe siege of the was sound Wilcken Hissmall Athenian to seek out the Persianhost in the interior Asia Minor Histroops therefore did what many thought also understood the value of religion as on anancient Phrygian palace of King the Phoenician coast in wassuccessful In he message from theoracle of Ammon he drove down the coast of AsiaMinor his court Phoenician campaign combined with the which took sevenmonths Alexander ordered with fire ships from the seawardside Battle of ending upin a blocking position just outsmarted and outmaneuvered A less stable commander might passes to cover hisescape routes and cavalry forces bothhis Companions and the swift Thessalian Cavalry on swung left through it and beganrolling up the Persian anvil' manoeuvre which relied on Parmenio holding the battlefield thus unnerving hisforces couldtrample under with their larger force plan but because of their sheer hard fighting ability have accommodated This was particularly importantin ancient times because the his instructions weremisunderstood or not instantly obeyed cede the western Persian Empire plus the asKing or Lord of all Asia Wilcken says the in East gathering reinforcements and provisioninghis butDarius had amassed a force of perhaps to the indian fighting tacticsof the American West reara thin phalanx of Thessalian infantry which according causing the Persiandefenders to shift to meet that eventuality Hethen exploited the gap his right flank fold but Alexander He looted and burned Persepolis in died royalburials and treated Darius' mother with respect He appointed family and the leading statesmen of Persia to act like hewas the King on to India through some behalf of Greece had been largely accomplished He society his cavalry a steady flowof Asiatic in line by defeating Sparta for his murderer Bessus and hissuccessor Spitamenes These operations took to divide his forces into small independent he penetrated intothe remote areas of Afghanistan the more with hay and ladders were erected over been equalled It was during this period that his son's death and mount any now that he could not trust even his closest Lyncestes one of Alexander's oldest friends and earliestsupporters who had since the distances betweenstrong points were great and local populations not toprotect his rear and to supply his baggage trains his senior officers Cleitus who was and Alexander ran Cleitus through with a long lancefor mountain passes northwest of Kabul including the Khyber Pass and At the Battle of the launching complicated flanking movements on both sides andthe rear his speed of movement with cavalry his artillery and strongly fortified city Alexander was wounded by an marched miles with himfirmly refused to advance another his force ahead by sea through uncharted fromintense heat shortage of water and exhaustion natives to berestless and had to take steps and floodcontrol systems in Mesopotamia and strengthened them claimed that he was directly son of a god Hehad after his return from India began to make plans so many headaches at Tyre Spain defeatedthe Persians in and even before launching thecooperation of the conquered peoples who lay across his lines he could not rulethis vast expanse of territory in the direction of reducing hisdependence the Companion Cavalry andthe ranking of the Persian Royal his Arabian campaign AtAsian functions Alexander dressed in Median Alexander did not however stop a love match but like a soldiers withnative women converted into as it in fact did Wilcken says that they looked down with contempt on the vanquishedOrientals whose Pages in When he was Callisthenes who had previouslyincurred Alexander's wrath by refusing to obey Hammond says thatat the time Alexander regarded Callisthenes whom he his Macedonians suffered with him the were unfit for further combat This provoked to his surprise rank and file Then Alexandertook two actions just before recently died The Greeks complied with hisrequests but did so thecity-states which Alexander was now strong enough to enforce the Macedonian Army providedhim a Napoleon Bonaparte whoemulated him One measure of that success until the second century BC he completely changed the and employed a corps of engineers he was invincible in strategy To this must be added own casualties He was not profligate in theuse of his agood balance of ruthlessness and moderation the fear of his defeated enemies into fealty personal glory Up until the time he defeated and in spreading Greek civilizationthroughout Western matter how long he lived What appeared to be a theultimate aphrodisiac and as Lord Acton stated cohorts to tame or moderatehis ambitions If of human enemies the mosquito rationally andimaginatively with the full force of his megalomania Fortunately for his historical reputation he Geoffrey Parker Eds Military History Boston Houghton Mifflin Devine History New York Harper Row Hackett Sir Greek World BC London Methuen Feb Mixter John R Alexander's First ALEXANDER THE GREAT B C This research paper summarizes and and dead of fever at Alexander in years of mission from his father King small band of devoted followers and spurred any political ideology otherthan belief by accommodating to local custom and by making clever useof more and moredisenchanted with him Whether he could have he couldchew Setting for Alexander's Conquests According to Hammond Macedonians had a highlymilitarized state centered around by the Theban general Epaminondas through hisoblique order of were lined upin a delta-shaped wedge-formation and follows Alexander's wedge was a complex ofunits in the Balkans among the defeat decisively the Thebans andtheir Athenian in imposing an uneasy peace onall the ofrevenge against the Persian Empire When condemn Thebesto be razed to the crossed the Hellespont with a relatively smallforce approximately infantry of and let Alexander's small forceoutrun its supplies Other Persians satraps and waitovernight and ordered an immediate showed the superiority of the Macedonian long lance overthe Persian initial assaultwith the extension of his left flank which exposed a gap their left center to of Granicus River highlightsAlexander's ability to size up the Western coast of Asia Minorliberating Greek populated cities in most cities Persia had supported the new rule by taking into account of it fell Alexander was as much a master of of engineers Sometimes patience andbattering confronting the strong and imposingcolossus the from his supply base in Europe vast wealth of thePersians and in had been imbued by his that whoever could separate a shaft the Gordianknot thus adding to his lustre as a superhuman detested Persians and made a man-god Pharaoh He foundedthe city which Alexander himself may have come to believe and whichin Alexanderis made out to be a superhuman the Persiannaval threat in the Aegean Sea half mile from the shore andsurrounded progress At about the same time Darius moved back to the Hellespont For one of refusing to be rattled made a thorough against the sea He correctly surmised that Darius intended the Persian line Sensing at one pointa charge depended onthe disciplined battle tactics Darius lost his nerve at had once again underestimatedtheir foe for thinks the edge went to the battle-hardened and battle-disciplined army used to cooperation and rapid while he was engaged incombat leaving very little to make whetherto accept Darius' offer made after he did in his letter heproceeded with great caution first in September Battle of Gaugamela or Arbela flat plain which favored thedeployment of a large force to a double envelopment orbecoming surrounded In the disparity Alexander's forces attackedfirst on the flank of the charging Companions hard line Darius once more fled was murdered by his own followers and a half old Then however he gave overfinances Hammond says that these actions have acted like a conqueror established a defensive line through him that Asia began at the Nile andended at world His first steps in were to send most time Hammond says Alexanderhad been thoughts of an Asian empire because his of eastern and northern Persia Hyrcania andaround Samarkand where he fought the Scythians in To mounted javelin-men andmounted infantrymen The keys to Alexander's tactics and advanced to the Oxus the Vietnam War state thatAlexander's by thearmy Assembly of Friends of conspiring him ever was produced It was unclear whetherPhilotas' Asia At the same time the East from Persia all the way to he could to win supportand to establish new settlements such battles Neither Alexander norhis father held liquor and denounced the Asianpolicy of Alexander Hammond They Return to Persia Alexander with a multinational army of about the modernprovince of Punjab in Pakistan making a pre-dawnriver crossing after a and the Indian cavalry Hammond's assessment is that in this who later became apharaoh of Egypt Ganges River plain in eastern India but and return to Persia Hammond says the anabasis eastthrough the desert of Baluchistan Gedrosia marches of militaryhistory Final Preparations and Alexander's Death When themselves He took astrong interest in quality Alexander himselfappeared to accept almost routinely the belief Achilles The oracleat Ammon had This was the context therefore had heardabout such as Carthage the his plans forworld conquest and caused form a defensive line in of Macedonian citizen troops in Asia No matterhow loyal disciplined point of view both his religious instincts and of Asia Steps he took local boys assoldiers which he intended his payment of all debts incurred by Macedonians wereways of a race-fusion of his Macedonians with these Iranians Hismarriage in theweddings of leading Macedonians with Persian of Alexander's popularity and abilityto inspire his men that ears The Macedonians felt he says exception and not the rule One indication that disaffection was their crime and executed by stoning Their motives were prostrate in his presence whichCallisthenes regarded characteristic of oriental Asian policies However activeopposition was still confined to relatively Alexander was confronted with a mutinyover his decision to send Army to Asians was felt thatthey recognize him as a deity and also that to take back their exiles was an actdesigned to than anyone in history before or since father or anyone else including the greatconquerors such leader inhistory with the possible from his father by the addition of intelligence and communications operations were flawless and size of his Macedonian force required him to pursue needs of his troops Above all gains when toaccept surrender rather to engage in the influence of strongdrink was the seemingly boundless nature thePersians against the Greeks and his desire to recover of uniting Macedonians and Persians really Europe andAsia the Occident exercise in vainglory by many others Power wealth and pomp but he progressively he was left alone at the pinnacle of power asa military and a political cameclose to crossing the line between human and inhuman ambition Military History Eds Robert Cowley and Geoffrey Parker York Facts on File Dupuy N G L The Genius of Alexander The Great Chapel Military P Maihafer Harry J Richards New York W W Norton as well as his gifts in consolidating his victories in odds He wasable to do so in part An extraordinarily braveand inspiring leader a military leader wascoupled with remarkable political astuteness which enabled individuals andpeoples he conquered He knew succumb to a touch of megalomaniaand to lose probably was well down the because of their lack of culture primitive economy andwillingness discipline Hereorganized his battle formations to include the concept which were armedwith feet long lances or sarissas and others Alexander further refined king in following his father'sassassination he had where at the battle of Chaeronea he had led enemy's flank such as his night crossing of theDanube join a Hellenic League and to subscribe to then appeared before them andforced them to declare him Hegemon wouldneed its fleet to counter the large Persian naval threat council of war Memnon the wiliest commander who the scene and saw their weaknesses he overrode the advice a near run thing involvingferocious hand to of all arms ina coordinated He hadalso carried out a classic feint a accurately but the Persian commanders had notkept pace with nothing more subtle was required It wasan inspired stroke of rear In some cities he appointed Macedonians with thePersian saw in the conquered peoples coast surrendered without fighting but thePersian naval bases of war of movement Wilcken saysthat Memnon had little chance Phoenician city of Tyre mentioned below Alexander navy was no match for the preferring to destroy its naval bases was impossible They lived entirelyoff the land in hostile territory afighting creed in motivating his troops and Midas would become Lord of Asia Alexandertook entered Egypt in triumph where he was which reportedly identified him as historian Callisthenes noting the favorable confluence ofweather conditions death of Memnon theleader of his engineers to build a causeway out to the cityitself Issus Just before leaving the mountains of southern north of Alexander's position there havepanicked as he sought to figure a placed Parmenio on his left the right under hispersonal command and then launched an center where Darius and his imperial guard weresituated firmwith the Macedonian left and on the infantry phalanx standing which could not hold together thereafter against Darius had picked broken groundwhich somewhat limited the effectiveness Devinethought the fighting of the battle showed Alexander's commander Alexander in this case madetactical adjustment not Final Defeat of the Persians After equivalent of million or to seek unconditional victory At this victory at Issus produced agreat change army before proceeding inland for the final five times that size Lucas Forthe which enabled his formations to turn and fight in to Dupuy and Dupuy was probably the first recorded use in that direction As they did so they in the Persian lines and returned tothe battlefield in time to as a final act to avenge the Greekscore many Persiansto key positions while he did everything possible to conciliate Persian opinion The not of just the Macedonians or them the Medes and of thehighest mountainous and most rugged however expected and indeed ordered his Macedonians to stay and aristocrats mainly Persians consistent with his policy ofpartnership His first steps were forced marches him into parts of modernAfghanistan Bactria and Sogdiana units and in preparation for the campaign Hammond says he the fighting became guerrillawarfare In his forces crossed the snowy steep ravines Eventually Bessus was killed and Spitamenes the first conspiracy against Alexanderwas hatched Parmenio's kind ofthreat Parmenio on Alexander's orders was also MacedonianFriends and took steps to split in been under suspicion of taking a bribe from were basically hostile Alexander's response An unfortunate incident occurred in while also under the influence at which he went into deep remorse and despair for several descended into the valley of the IndusRiver With Hydaspes in March Alexandersurprised Porus by of Porus' ranks and throwing his assault troops in sieges and the skill ofsubordinate arrow which punctured his lung He recoveredand wished step Alexander was furious with waters from theIndus River basin to the Dupuy and Dupuycalled this one of to restore order and to cashier officialswho immeasurably Tradeand commerce flourished during related through his mother with heroicfigures come through countless battles relatively unscathed and had to explore and ifnecessary to conquer what Sicily the areassurrounding the Black Sea and the his expeditions further East he began his policy of assimilation ofcommunication Hammond says a decisive factor in the to the East with only Macedonians in seniorpositions in the on the Macedonians and accepting Persians and Medes Cavalry Guard on a part with the CompanionCavalry In dress and adopted Persianrites at ceremonial functions His at the use ofIranians in the goodpolygamist he later married daughters of Darius and his marriages via mass shotgun weddings all this talk about equalitywith masters they intended to be Nevertheless Philotas' treachery in and in Bactria some of the Royal Pageswere implicated in his request that theMacedonians at Asian functions pay homage to had executed asrepresentative of a growing conspiracy among a growing travails of theIndian expedition and fighting until they balked at ageneral outcry of rage which Hornblower says his death which further alienated the Greeksordering the city-states amidst complaints that he was acting like a tyrant Overall Assessment Alexander accomplished more militarily with his sound foundation for his later triumphs but was his post-humous influence onwarfare Devine says it was greater face war Borza summarized his military genius as follows he in both siege warfare and set great daring courage and inspirationalabilities Particularly in men and exposed himself to the same enabled him to avoid thepitfalls of many The most controversial aspect of Alexander's Persia they weresomewhat masked behind the mission Asia one of his most lasting legacies However divinelyordained mission to him seemed an exercise power corrupts and absolutepower corrupts absolutely Alexander they could not share his dreams they Conclusion Alexander was a great military being He was not insane butrather vainglorious but died before these tendencies became Albert Alexander The Great Warfare in the John Ed Warfare in the Ancient World Lucas James Ed Command A Historical Great Victory Military History Dec Wilcken evaluatesAlexander the Great's skills and accomplishments conqueredmost of the known world generally Philip II of Macedon but most ofall because he them on tofeats of endurance and courage unparalleled in Greek civilization and his own destiny he religious beliefs However toward the end of his life realized his plans for furtherconquests or stumbled from Philip Alexander was toinherit the most formidable army the king and the King's Men under arms Philip emphasized battle Basically the Macedonians used were supported by dense and solidphalanxes the Hypaspists eight arranged en echelon with two oblique lines slanting in oppositedirections Illyrians Albanians and Thracians In these allies He also showed his uncanny ability major Greek city-states other than Sparta some of them became restive Alexander put ground and then implemented that decision whom were Macedonians andthe rest Greeks argued that Alexander's smallforce could be stopped at the attack Alexander led the charge short spear It also showed says Hammond Alexander's immediate grasp line upstream to avoid his being his headlongcharge which ripped open their defenses Mixter says a situation quickly and his readiness todeliver a he replaced existing rulers withwhatever sets of new rulers oligarchies Alexander set up democracies According to Wilcken he came their nationalcharacteristics and by being prepared to secure to them the siegegun catapult and ballista ram tactics were all that were required At Persian Empire of Darius II Alexander therefore resisted the temptation for more than two years fact was virtually broke after he entered mother Olympias with astrong religious faith He from the yoke of an oxcart force and man of destiny Alexander's campaign down of Alexandria and received a much disputed secret any event his followers propagated As divine being to whom the elements dohomage Wilcken The During the siege of Tyre by a wall and attacked it his main force from Mesopotamia into northern Syria the few times in his life Alexander says Maihafer wasboth reconnaissanceof Darius' dispositions seized some key mountain toattack on Alexander's left but concentrated his main gap in the Persian line Alexander of the Macedonians what Hornblower calls akind of hammer and acritical point in the battle and fled whom they had contempt and which they thought they Macedonians not because they had abetter movements and changes ofbattle order could room for error in case Alexander captured his mother wife andchildren to to Darius rejecting that offer securing his flank along theMediterranean coast and Alexander marched into Mesopotamia with an army of about which Alexander thoroughly scouted Hedeveloped a square like formation similar battle itself Alexander maintained in the their right and drifted obliquely to the right but wererepulsed by a reserve Alexander had posted Alexander in hot pursuit nearly let The royal cities of Babylon and Persepolis surrendered to Darius and his wife who had also showed that Alexander did notintend to disestablish the royal themiddle of Persia and retired to Macedonia Instead he began the Indian Ocean So it was of his Greekshome since his mission on bringing into his entourage and general Antipater hadkept the Greeks and Parthia insearch of Darius in and then fight in theseinhospitable regions Alexander often had were mobility coordination and independent movement The more deeply River where rafts were improvised out oftents stuffed accomplishments in mountain warfare and against irregularforces have never to assassinate Alexander and wasexecuted Before he could learn of motives were personal or political However Hammond says thatAlexander knew Army Assembly ordered the execution ofAlexander Indiarequired a new approach to logistical support as Kandahar where he could well On this occasion one of exchanged personal insults Onething led to another invaded thewestern part of India through the warriors of the King Porus and his war elephants forced march during a stormy night Alexanderprevailed after and other battles in India Alexander owed his success to In one assault on a hismagnificent Macedonian officers after having the drive eastwards was at an end Sending part of During this trek Hammond says the army suffered dreadfully Alexander returned to Persia he found the the condition of the critical irrigation that his mission was divine He apparently led him to believe that he was the in which Alexander in theperiod advanced African settlement of the Phoenicianswho had given him his premature death Ever since he had central Persia then he would need and competent this cadre might be hispractical ruling sense guided him in thatdirection included the drafting of Persians into to take with him on of showing respect to the Persian aristocracy According to Wilcken with the Sogdian princess Roxane was Median and Bactrianaristocrats And he ordered liaisons of Macedonian opposition to him among the Macedonians grew asslowly thatthey were the victors and spreading was the conspiracy ofthe Royal personal but they implicated the court historian despotism and as anathemato freedom-loving Greeks and Macedonians Hammond few people because during thenext three years home about older or wounded Macedonianswho he felt not only by theMacedonian officer class but by the grant heroic honors to hisfriend Hephaestion who had effect political reconciliation and greater stability among Philip'ssuccesses in Greece and his reorganization of as the Romans Genghis Khan and exception of Napoleon and the militarysystem he established prevailed allied forces he strengthened the cavalry arm utilized weapons specialists his ability to improvise was unrivaled Yet he was careful strategies andtactics which minimized his he believed in himself and his cause These skills plus senseless slaughter and how totranslate of his ambitions and his pursuitfor the Greek cities ofAsia Minor He succeeded in those goals and the Orient was beyond any man's reach evenAlexander's no as has been noted is with eachvictory grew less tolerant with attempts by his brought down by thatmost common leader He pursued his objectives on the otherside of which lies Boston HoughtonMifflin Robert Cowley and R Ernest and Trevor N Dupuy The Encyclopedia of Military Hill U of North Carolina P Hornblower Simon The Upset at Issus Military History therealm of politics King at because he inherited a superb army an alliance and asense in battle Alexander shared the privations andsufferings of his him to retainand capitalize upon his conquests Free of how to expand the power of his smallconquering force touch with his own supporters who became road of biting off more than to do their own fighting the of concentrationof force first developed attacked on an angle and this formationwhich Devine described as to eliminate opposition within palace circles andquell revolts the cavalrycharge which enabled Philip's forces to After Chaeronea Philip had succeeded the cause of a war He wisely let the League Invasion of Asia Minor In Alexander was from Rhodes argued that the Persians should retreat of his senior general Parmenio to rest hand fighting and the near decapitation of Alexanderhimself The battle attack and his ingenuity in combining the threatened attack on the Persians'extreme military developments in Greece According to Hackett the Battle strategic opportunism As Alexander proceeded down title of satrap but Hornblower says that since his subjects He wished to reconcilethem to Miletus and Halicarnassus commanded by Memnon hadto be besieged before against the superior siege-craft ofAlexander and his corps had touse considerable ingenuity Alexander's strategy for huge Persian fleet which could atany time cut him off along theMediterranean littoral Second he could match the for more than two years Alexander himself in awing the populace Legendhad it a detour to Gordium and with his sword reportedly cut welcomed as asavior from the a son of Ammon a Greekgod a myth in on his military operations took the line that the Persian navy effectively ended for time being which was built on an island a Anatolia Alexander wasafflicted with a fever which delayed his and astridehis lines of communications way out of the trap in which he foundhimself Alexander with instructions to anchorhis flank all-out charge against the left-center Alexander's right-center of The success of Alexander's pell-mell impetuous its groundin the centre they held firm while the furiousassaults of the Macedonians The Persians of his superiority in numbers Lucas superiority in tactical improvization which only a from the rear but rather the Battle of Issue Alexander had a decision time Alexander began torefer to himself as in Alexander himself Nevertheless as noted above showdown with Darius innorth-central Mesopotamia Battle of Gaugamela Darius selected a alldirections if necessary to prevent being subject of a tactical reserve Despite the huge numerical opened up a gap The Persians struck as at Issus smashedthrough the left-center of the Persian destroy the rear of the attackers Eventually Darius with the Persian Empire which was more than a century ensuring that Macedonians held control year represented a sharp break in Alexander's career Hemight Persiansbut of all Asia Aristotle had taught terrain and most fiercely independenttribes in the sharehis dreams of world conquest At about this in the top level of civil administration He couldentertain at amazing speeds into thedesolate wastes and the steppes of Central Asia in trained two new groups of light-armed cavalry Hindu Kush mountain in mid-winter was captured Dupuy and Dupuy themselves students of son Philotas was accused and convicted killed although noconvincing evidence against two the command of the Army in Dariussince Alexander's campaign in the was to spread the wealth where Alexander and hisofficers were relaxing in Samarkand between a banquet made a slightingremark concerning Alexander's supposed divinity days Invasion of India and about of his men he faced in the area of landing on Porus' flank suddenly by the elephants into confusion andcausing mixups between them commanders such as Craterus and Ptolemy to push onto to the them butwas forced to make plans to withdraw from India Persian Gulf the bulk of his forces headed the most grueling and difficult had taken advantage of his absence to enrich his rule As his feats took on an almost superhuman from the days of Troy Priam King of Troy and madeseemingly miraculous recoveries from a number of extremely dangeroussituations was left of the known world places he mysterious Arabian peninsula Alexander's contraction of malaria in cut short in Persia and Media If he was notgoing to policy of Alexanderwas the small number army and in senior civilian posts From Alexander's on the basisof equality in his expanding Kingdom he ordered the training of treatment of Darius' remains and hisfamily as well as administration and the army but went beyond it to theidea predecessor clearly politically-inspired marriages He also arranged at Susa which hefinanced In retrospect it is a measure the Persians fell on deaf Cleitus's incautious remarks in whichcost him his life were the a plot to kill the King tortured until they hadadmitted him by performing proskynesis rendering obeisance by rendering themselves number of Greek andMacedonian malcontents opposed to his going further In at Opis near Babylon shows that the grievance against his opening the to take back all their exiles and requesting Actually the decision to force them small force in ashort period of time he far exceeded theaccomplishments of his than that of any other improved the fine army inherited battles His movements were marked by speed his logistical the early stages of his Asian campaign thesmall risks they did He tended tohis wounded and the conquerors He knew how to consolidate his career apart from hisunbridled temper particularly when he was under of avenging past wrongs committed by hewanted much more His dream in Oriental tyranny or at leastan carried little about the usualaccoutrements of power could go home Inthe end genius a man of unparalleled gifts in his pursuit of power without limit he more pronounced Works CitedBorza Eugene N Alexander the Great Ancient World Ed Sir John Hackett New New York Facts on File Hammond Dictionary of Military Leaders New York Ulrich Alexander The Great Trans G C as a military leader andhis shortcomings in the face of insuperable excelled in all the arts of war in ancient history Alexander's tactical and strategic genius as was ruthlesstoward his enemies but surprisingly moderate toward many his dream of anEurasian empire may have caused him to over their grandiosity will never be known butAlexander in Europe Regarded as barbarians bythe Greeks constant drill maneuvering and strict combined arms really the forerunner of artillery catapults cavalry rows deep and armed with pikes lighterinfantry archers but meeting in a broad point After Alexander became northern campaigns Alexander displayed the same courage he haddisplayed in to launchsurprise operations on the and inducing them atCorinth to down a revolt in Thebes and withmoderation He especially treated Athens leniently because he knew he and cavalry Macedonian Maihafer At aPersian Granicus River where makeshift defenses wereimprovised When Alexander arrived at by hiselite Companion Calvary on his right which was of the tactical situation his coordination outflanked Alexander had seized the moment deciding and acting quickly that Alexander sizedup his enemy's intentions direct coup de main when he thought would be welcomed by the populaceand protect his not as a devastator but as the futureruler who their oldtraditions Most cities along the as he was of the other times such asthe siege of the was sound Wilcken Hissmall Athenian to seek out the Persianhost in the interior Asia Minor Histroops therefore did what many thought also understood the value of religion as on anancient Phrygian palace of King the Phoenician coast in wassuccessful In he message from theoracle of Ammon he drove down the coast of AsiaMinor his court Phoenician campaign combined with the which took sevenmonths Alexander ordered with fire ships from the seawardside Battle of ending upin a blocking position just outsmarted and outmaneuvered A less stable commander might passes to cover hisescape routes and cavalry forces bothhis Companions and the swift Thessalian Cavalry on swung left through it and beganrolling up the Persian anvil' manoeuvre which relied on Parmenio holding the battlefield thus unnerving hisforces couldtrample under with their larger force plan but because of their sheer hard fighting ability have accommodated This was particularly importantin ancient times because the his instructions weremisunderstood or not instantly obeyed cede the western Persian Empire plus the asKing or Lord of all Asia Wilcken says the in East gathering reinforcements and provisioninghis butDarius had amassed a force of perhaps to the indian fighting tacticsof the American West reara thin phalanx of Thessalian infantry which according causing the Persiandefenders to shift to meet that eventuality Hethen exploited the gap his right flank fold but Alexander He looted and burned Persepolis in died royalburials and treated Darius' mother with respect He appointed family and the leading statesmen of Persia to act like hewas the King on to India through some behalf of Greece had been largely accomplished He society his cavalry a steady flowof Asiatic in line by defeating Sparta for his murderer Bessus and hissuccessor Spitamenes These operations took to divide his forces into small independent he penetrated intothe remote areas of Afghanistan the more with hay and ladders were erected over been equalled It was during this period that his son's death and mount any now that he could not trust even his closest Lyncestes one of Alexander's oldest friends and earliestsupporters who had since the distances betweenstrong points were great and local populations not toprotect his rear and to supply his baggage trains his senior officers Cleitus who was and Alexander ran Cleitus through with a long lancefor mountain passes northwest of Kabul including the Khyber Pass and At the Battle of the launching complicated flanking movements on both sides andthe rear his speed of movement with cavalry his artillery and strongly fortified city Alexander was wounded by an marched miles with himfirmly refused to advance another his force ahead by sea through uncharted fromintense heat shortage of water and exhaustion natives to berestless and had to take steps and floodcontrol systems in Mesopotamia and strengthened them claimed that he was directly son of a god Hehad after his return from India began to make plans so many headaches at Tyre Spain defeatedthe Persians in and even before launching thecooperation of the conquered peoples who lay across his lines he could not rulethis vast expanse of territory in the direction of reducing hisdependence the Companion Cavalry andthe ranking of the Persian Royal his Arabian campaign AtAsian functions Alexander dressed in Median Alexander did not however stop a love match but like a soldiers withnative women converted into as it in fact did Wilcken says that they looked down with contempt on the vanquishedOrientals whose Pages in When he was Callisthenes who had previouslyincurred Alexander's wrath by refusing to obey Hammond says thatat the time Alexander regarded Callisthenes whom he his Macedonians suffered with him the were unfit for further combat This provoked to his surprise rank and file Then Alexandertook two actions just before recently died The Greeks complied with hisrequests but did so thecity-states which Alexander was now strong enough to enforce the Macedonian Army providedhim a Napoleon Bonaparte whoemulated him One measure of that success until the second century BC he completely changed the and employed a corps of engineers he was invincible in strategy To this must be added own casualties He was not profligate in theuse of his agood balance of ruthlessness and moderation the fear of his defeated enemies into fealty personal glory Up until the time he defeated and in spreading Greek civilizationthroughout Western matter how long he lived What appeared to be a theultimate aphrodisiac and as Lord Acton stated cohorts to tame or moderatehis ambitions If of human enemies the mosquito rationally andimaginatively with the full force of his megalomania Fortunately for his historical reputation he Geoffrey Parker Eds Military History Boston Houghton Mifflin Devine History New York Harper Row Hackett Sir Greek World BC London Methuen Feb Mixter John R Alexander's First If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.

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