Someone who has abilities above the normal or average person is considered great. In this case, were talking about Alexander the infamous Greek invader.
Alexander the Great was a man of conquest and curiosity. By the age of twenty he had already conquered many of his local Grecian city states and had established himself as a leader. His desire to conquer and explore grew as he aged. As he travelled he took along with him the morals and customs of the place he was from.
Alexander the Great spread Greek culture through conquest and the use of cultural manipulation.Much of Alexander's success in conquering the Persian Empire was due to his guile. In ancient times, imperialists couldn't just decimate and conquer territories without the aid of some other component. In this case, the component was deceit.
Alexander is usually thought of as a great warrior rather than an strategic mastermind. He was a great warrior in fact, but his abilities extended much further than that. When he passed through Persia he adopted the "Persian way of dressing," so that he "might not appear alien to them" (Arrian.).He convinced all the people in the cultures that he invaded that he was one of them, and that he had come to rule their area. Through this sort of manipulation he easily became the ruler of whatever place he desired, and subsequently spread his culture to that place.
Bringing his men and declaring that he was the ruler because of his strength and size, enabled him to conquer and gain power. Usurping other cultures with his own, Alexander forced them to adapt and take on his culture. He didn't intentionally spread his culture, he just did what he thought was right.He conquered, and with his conquering came the dispersion of culture.
When two worlds or cultures meet intentionally, things have to coexist or else everything will fall apart. Alexander left some of his men in Persia because he thought it was necessary to rebuild a culture that he had previously decimated. He realized that the courteous thing to do would be to show them that he was a good man and to not just abandon them, but provide some way for them to rebuild and regenerate. Alexanders persona and customs inspired cultures to mix with his and collaborate.
It was said that "Alexander first settled the affairs of the whole kingdom of the Persians, giving it his own laws and appointing its administrators. " (Davies, Iolo. ) Creating order was Alexander's first priority. He knew that if he wanted to usurp a culture and maintain ultimate power he would need some infrastructure.
The customs in Macedonia were that of order and class, so Alexander knew that he had to do it there. Evidently it worked, and the two cultures were able to maintain peace.Evidently the Grecian culture was also spread thoroughly into Persia through maintaining order and organization. There was a certain attractiveness to the Greeks that the Persian's felt, which is another reason that the two cultures clashed. The Greeks, who were a wealthy and organized culture, lured the Persians, who possibly weren't as wealthy or organized, into their way of doing things. Evidently these two opposites attracted, and a somewhat new culture blossomed.
A large part of Alexander's success came from his militaristic values and his annexation through Asia.Being a warrior there are certain things you have to personify. You have to be a leader and an example to your followers or soldiers. Alexander once took the last bit of water that his entire army had and "poured the water on the ground.
" (Document D. ) He did this in front of all of his soldiers to show that he was equal to them and that they needed to keep going. His leadership skills and large military allowed him to usurp most of Asia and Persia. Cultures clashed and ideals mixed. Alexander forced his men to marry persian women in order to try to make things work.
The somewhat aesthetic cultures of Persia and Asia were now amalgamated with the militaristic culture of Macedonia/Greece. As these two cultures were forced upon each other, Alexander left leaving behind some of his men who "did no wish to go with him. " These men "settled there and took local women. " (Document F.
) A new culture arose from what Alexander left behind. His conquest forced cultures to collide, and before things even began to happen, Alexander left. After Alexander ravaged through Persia and North Africa, something was left behind.After he tricked cultures into thinking he was their leader, and attracting the Persians with his strict but ordered principles, something was left behind. Through conquest and curiosity Alexander the Great spread his ideas and customs, and what he left behind was a multitude of coexisting cultures.
Conquest forced some of the cultures cultures to coalesce while deceit allowed others to mix. Alexander the Great brought new Grecian ideas to Persia and left behind a medley of Persian and Greek world views in his wake.
