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Example research essay topic: Alexander And The Great Crusade Alexanders Legacy - 1,732 words

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Alexander and the Great Crusade, Alexanders Legacy (1) Alexander the Great was born on July 21, 356 A. D. in the capital of Macedonia, Pella. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedon.

According to a famous legend, Alexanders birth was being prophesied by the Oracle of Athens, who predicted future Macedonian king to become the greatest military leader of all times. However, at the time when Alexander was growing up, he did not appear to posses the qualities of a military genius, except for the fact that he had an overdeveloped ego. He did not like participating in sporting contests, which can be explained by the lack of physical strength, on his part, from which Alexander used to suffer throughout his life. At the same time, such Roman historians as Ptolemy, Aristobulus and Nearchus refer to Alexander as individual who used to take an immense pleasure from participation in drinking parties. Nevertheless, as history proved, Alexanders frivolous lifestyle did not prevent him to attaining the fame of great statesman, by the time he reached the age of thirty. It was immediately after the death of his farther, when Alexander became active on Hellenistic political arena.

He managed to end rivalry between Greek cities-policies for the purpose of utilizing Greeks inner strength, as a tool, within a context of pursuing his geopolitical agenda. Alexander embarked on his great conquests when he was only seventeen years old, while it seemed that it was only the matter of very short time before he would sustain a defeat. Nevertheless, Alexanders military campaigns proved that he was a great strategist, which often allowed him to attain victories, while facing seemingly impossible odds. Just before the time of Alexanders death from malaria in 323 A. D. , when he was thirty three years old, the Macedonian Empire used to be referred to by contemporary philosophers and historians as the greatest state of all times, which was not an exaggeration, given the fact that it stretched from Greece to India. Even today, military academies, throughout the world, require students to study Alexanders methods of waging war, as such that provide them with the insight on what corresponds to the very essence of effective military leadership. (2) There are various theories that strive to explain what prompted Alexander to launch his massive attack on Asia.

However, the most plausible of them appears to be the one, which states that Alexander simply wanted to bring Greeks back their former glory. It is a well-known fact that such Greek cities-states as Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Pergamon and Miletus used to suffer from the invasions of Persians, before the beginning of Hellenistic period. The inner rivalry between these cities used to greatly undermine their military potential, despite the fact that Greeks were considered as the best soldiers in the world. Thus, we can say that Alexander viewed geopolitical expansion as the most effective form of defense. He was well aware of the fact that the policy of socio-political seclusion, which used to be practiced by Greek states, could not be effective in the long run. Alexander knew that it was only the matter of time, before more tight contacts between Europe and Asia were going to be established; therefore, he strived to put Europe in position of geopolitical advantage, during the course of building bridges between civilizations.

At the same time, the fact that Alexander relied on the policy of cultural and racial assimilation, as method of strengthening his Empire from within, allows us to conclude that he actually lacked the talent in the field of governing. This was the main reason why Macedonian Empire has fallen apart, almost immediately after the death of its creator. (3) After having pacified Thracians and Illyrians, which mutinied after the death of his father, Alexander decided to proceed with his plans to wage war against Persians on their own territory. In 334 A. D. , with the army of 42. 000 strong, he attacked and captured Persian city of Sardis.

Then, he promptly moved to capture Halicarnassus, while forcing citys satrap to flee. After seizing the cities of Lycia and Gordium, Alexanders army crossed Civilian Gates and met Persian main forces face to face for the first time. Alexander defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus in 333 B. C. The victory in this battle allowed Alexander to move his army down the Mediterranean coast, while capturing such important cities as Tyre and Gaza. During 332331 B.

C. , Alexander invaded Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria. From there, Macedonian king proceeded to Assyria. After his army had defeated Darius III in the Battle of Gaugamela, it moved straight forward to Babylon and captured the city, without even having to lay siege around it. Still, Alexander remain relentless in his pursuit of greatness and by 329 B.

C. , his army reached the territory of modern Afghanistan. After this, Alexander decided to undertake the invasion of India. His military campaign against Indian kingdoms culminated in the battle of Hydaspes in 326 B. C. , when Alexander defeated Raja Part, whose principality occupied the territory of modern Punjab and who was able to oppose Alexander with 38. 000 of foot soldiers and with 30. 000 of horsemen. Nevertheless, this was Alexanders last great victory. Apparently, the engagement in never-ending battles, over the period of ten years, began to negatively affect the morality of Macedonian soldiers.

Alexander had to go back to install law and order on previously captured territories, while planning to come back to India shortly. However, this was not meant to happen, as in 323 A. D. Alexander died. We can say that the foremost factor, which accounted for Alexanders victories, was that he would always apply a great amount of effort to carefully plan every of his military campaign. It appears that Alexander the Great was well aware of principles of modern logistics.

He knew that possessing information about the enemy equals to half of victory. Alexander understood that the might of his army was not only defined by the number of soldiers alone. This is why, before starting a new military campaign, Alexander would make sure that his troops were going to be well supplied with food and water, while on the march. He knew that morale needed to be maintained at high level among group of people, which are committed to accomplishing a common task. The logistics of efficiency tell us that it is not necessary to overcome the obstacle, if it can be passed. Many of Alexanders conquests did not come as result of his victories in battles.

This is because, very often, his enemies would simply prefer to surrender than to face the risk of complete annihilation, because, at initial stages of his campaign, Alexander had destroyed few cities and killed all the inhabitants, thus enabling his reputation of ferocious warrior to work on his behalf. (4) The reason why Alexander enjoyed taking huge risks is because the idealistic essence of his character, which in its turn, corresponds to the fact that he was European. Despite the fact that pseudo-historical theories, associated with political correctness, often refer to him as product of racial mixing, this could not be further from the truth. It only takes to look at contemporary depictions of Alexander, in paintings and sculptures, to realize that he had a Nordic appearance. One of the most distinctive features of White peoples existential mode is that they are able to fuse the idealistic properties of their character with their ability to operate with highly abstract categories. As we have mentioned earlier, it is the fact that Alexander was able to combine his taste for risky adventures with his talent for careful planning, which brought about his victories. Therefore, we can say that, even though many of Alexanders victories appear to come as a result of him being extremely lucky, such impression is misleading.

Alexander knew perfectly well, what he was doing, while never allowing his emotions to affect his military planning, which could be said about his adversaries. (5) The immediate result of Macedonian conquests was the fact that Alexander managed in fusing Western and Eastern psyches together, which laid the ground for the emergence of Mediterranean mentality, as we know it. He established a trade route with India that allowed the transfer of scientific knowledge in both directions, with which we associate Hellenistic period nowadays. At the same time, the convergence of Asiatic elements into European social resulted in Europeans becoming gradually deprived of their idealism. No longer had the ideas of democracy appealed to majority of people in Greece, as they were slowly learning to refer to monarchic form of governing as being absolutely natural. This is the reason why Hellenistic period in Greek history is not associated with any scientific or cultural breakthroughs, as it was the case with Classical period. The main feature of Greek literature of that time becomes mediocrity, because Hellenistic writers, philosophers and poets were being affected by spiritual corruption, just as the rest of citizens. (6) It appears that Alexanders legacy is best discussed within a context of military science.

This is because Macedonian Empire was an artificially created geopolitical entity, where the concept of multiculturalism had proved its metaphysical harmfulness, for the first time in history, after being given the status of official policy. The citizens of Empire did not have anything in common, except for the fact that they were being forced to celebrate diversity as their foremost priority. Therefore, we can say that Alexander was both: a military genius and a mediocre politician, because he did not understand the essence of socio-political dynamics. After his death in 323 A. D. , his half-brother Philip Arridaeus succeeded him on the throne. However, since he suffered from mental retardation, he was not capable of providing Empire with an effective leadership.

Alexanders marshals began to quarrel as to who of them would be the most worthy to replace Arridaeus, which initiated to beginning of civil war and resulted in Macedonian Empire being divided in four parts by 301 B. C. , after the Battle of Ipsus. However, the independence of Macedon, Thrace, Mesopotamia and Egypt was short-lived, because, just as Macedonian Empire itself, they were artificially created geopolitical entities. By 1 st century B. C. , most of Hellenistic countries were being absorbed by the Roman Republic.


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