Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 1
Describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and analyze the legacy of his empire
Alexander was prepared to succeed his father Philip II through careful tutelage. By
the time his father died, he had tutored him in numerous ways and he had also set the ground
for his conquests. Alexander inherited an urbanized people, a well-organized military, and
philosophical and martial education and he utilized his knowledge to conquer Persia and
other parts of Asia. His legacy consisted of his autocratic monarchies and use of military
force as part of his political legacy. Entrenchment of Greek culture as part of his cultural
legacy survived until the Western Roman Empire took over his conquests in 31 BC.
When Philip II assumed kingship over Macedonia in 359 BC, the land did not have a
centralized government. It was composed of minor villages and small urban centers. The
Aegean was strategically located in Macedonia, southern Macedon was the intermediary
between Greece and Persia and Macedonia had numerous mineral resources. King Philip
utilized these resources and Macedonia’s strategic location to consolidate power of his
government. Philip II and Alexander assumed ownership of all gold, silver, copper, iron
among other mineral deposits. King Philip II also established a new coinage system and he
eliminated all the dissident tribes and minor kings located around Macedonian Borders. He
Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 2
established a military of professionally trained persons for the service of the King of
Macedon (Foster, 2005).
The army used a combination of two units with different tactics to conquer the
Greeks namely the Phalanx and Calvary units. Philip brought the Macedonian highlands
under his control because they were previously not inclined to central rule. He also managed
to bring Greek mainland under his power leaving the Persian Empire as his greatest threat.
Persia was a threat because it had constantly sought to control Greek affairs. Philip was set on
conquering Persia to amass its wealth for maintenance of the large armies. Uniting
Macedonia and Persia was also strategic in the sense that it would alleviate anti-Macedonian
sentiments as the two had a common strategy against the Greeks. However, Philip was unable
to implement his plan to conquer Persia because he was assassinated in 336 BC (Foster,
2005).
Alexander was 20 years old at the time of his father’s death and apart from his
father’s tutelage he had also received knowledge from Aristotle a great Greek philosopher.
He first assumed leadership at the age of sixteen in 340 BC as a Regent. He led a successful
attack on the Maedi and captured their city. He also established a Greek colony and named it
Alexandaroupolis. His next leadership position was that of a commander in the Macedonian
Calvary unit. This unit was responsible for spying on the enemy’s weaknesses and plotting
how best to launch an attack. By the time of his father’s demise, he had risen to the position
of second in command after Philip II and he was an astute Calvary officer (Foster, 2005).
Before embarking on the pursuit for Persia, Alexander required containing unrest
along Macedonia’s frontiers as part of his base power. He conquered the Thracians,
Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 3
Triballians, Getae, and the Pellium which was under the Illyrians rule. He also managed
cowering Greek cities against revolting and assumed the status of the official hegemon of the
Corinthian League (Foster, 2005). The league is composed of all the Greek states that Philip
had conquered and consolidated before his assassination (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
Alexander’s invasion to capture Persia in 334 BC was in Asia Minor. He led a 37,000
army composed of Macedonians and Greeks. He conquered the western side of Asia Minor
through a narrow win by spring 334 BC. This was followed by victory in the Battle of Issus
in 333 before proceeding to the South of Asia Minor where he conquered Syria, Palestine and
Egypt in 332. He named a few cities after himself in Egypt including Alexandria and selfproclaimed himself as the Pharaoh (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
In 331 he pursued the land of ancient Mesopotamia and waged war at Guagamela,
Babylon, Susa and Persepolis where amassed Persian minerals such as gold and silver. In
330, the fall of Darius led to his proclamation as the Great King of the Persians. Alexander’s
ambition also drove him to pursue Pakistan, northeastern India in 327 and 326 respectively
(Farell, 2011). Many of his army men died en-route to Babylon after they had defied him in
venturing further afield into Central Asia at Indus River. They returned to Babylon and their
journey was characterized by harsh weather conditions and drought. On reaching Susa a
Persian city, Alexander took Darius daughter as his second wife and coerced many military
men to marry Persian women. He later succumbed to wounds and fever in June 323 BC
(Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
Alexander’s legacy is that one of a hero and that in a sense attained the status of a god
owing to his prowess. He epitomized leadership qualities of his role models such as Achilles
Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 4
a warrior hero and he also claimed that he was in the lineage of a Greek hero Heracles who
was once worshipped as a god. (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). He desired to entrench the
Greek way of life among his territory resulting in the Hellenistic era. The era was
characterized by growth in Greek language and Greek way of life in all his conquests
including the Middle East (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
There followed an explosion of opportunities for Greek intellectuals, merchants and
other professionals in in the Persian monarchy. His style of leadership also influenced his
successors to adopt monarchical rule and military force in the monarchies of the Hellenistic
era. The rulers led in autocracy as part of his political legacy (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010).
His generals squabbled over the territories that Alexander had conquered creating small
empires. The different states or empires were in constant warfare and were marred by great
suspicion until Rome conquest (Rennison, 2007).
Alexander also influenced the culture of his conquered territories. His desire to
entrench the Greek culture led to the infiltration of Greek literature, architecture, art, and
language into Middle East. His successors cemented the Greek culture further in the urban
centers even after he had dies. The east also influenced the west which culminated into a
blend of the two different cultures (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Greek, Persian and other
cultures fused and was evident in different aspects of life including government, and religion
and very little was left unchanged. This Hellenistic age was a major step towards achieving
international culture. The age lasted until 31 BC when Rome assumed rule over Ptolemaic
Egypt (Alexander, 2000).
Indeed, Alexander’s ambition and courage is displayed through his fervent
commitment and desire to conquer many cities and states. He succeeded his father and
Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 5
continued with his plan to conquer different lands and entrench the Greek culture among his
subjects. He led his army in conquering Asia Minor and then proceeded to Central Asia until
his army called an end to the conquering campaign. They retreated to Babylon where he
married Persian women and ordered his high ranking officials to marry prominent women.
He later succumbed to weakness at 32 years. His achievement is evidenced through the
Hellenistic era that lasted from the time of his death to 31 BC.
Conquests of Alexander the Great and the Legacy of his Empire 6
References
Alexander, C. (2000). Alexander the Conqueror. National Geograhic, 197(3), 1-5.
Duiker, W. J., & Spielvogel, J. J. (2010). World History, Volume I. Connecticut: Cengage
Learning.
Farell, C. (2011). Alexander the Great. Junior Scholastic, 20-23.
Foster, N. (2005). The Persian Policies of Alexander The Great: From 330-323 BC. Lousiana
State University, 1-83.
Rennison, N. (2007, August 12). Alexander The Great and the Hellenstic Age. Sunday Times,
42.
