Who is “Great”? In history there are few people who can be termed “Great” and even fewer who deserve to be called so. Alexander, the son of King Phillip of the Macedonians, was one of these truly “Great” people. He not merely ruled the largest know empire, was declared a god, lead his troops in battle, and conquered foreign cities, his first being at the age of sixteen, but he did it all within a thirteen year time period.
When Alexander became the new King of Macedonia, many believed him to be to young to rule. They felt that he didn’t have the experience needed to be their new leader. They had no way of knowing of the many things that he would come to accomplish in such a short time period. Alexander’s first great accomplishment occurred w
On the return from his trip, King Philip was so impressed by his son’s achievement that he appointed him a general in the royal army. When Alexander turned his attack towards Persia, his forces were much smaller than his opponent’s. Alexander’s army conquered Persia anyway, by winning a series of battles in which his troops were better trained and organized than the Persian army. His soldiers also admired Alexander because of his personal participation in the battles. He led his soldiers into battle instead of remaining behind the lines as was common for military leaders to do at that time. This allowed the troops to see that Alexander was sharing their danger, and was not asking them to take any risks he would not take himself.