Speaker A
What can a person achieve in 32 years of life? Have we managed to raise a cat, develop scoliosis, and lower our self-esteem? Write your achievements in the comments. As for us, we’re talking about how people used to be stronger.
Explore how Alexander the Great conquered half the world in 32 years through military genius, inherited power, and strategic innovation.
Key Takeaways
- Alexander’s conquests were enabled by a strong military foundation established by his father.
- His army was a sophisticated, multi-unit force rather than just a phalanx with long pikes.
- Strategic innovation and adaptability were crucial to his success.
- Historical records blend fact and legend, requiring cautious interpretation.
- Alexander’s personal qualities—courage, leadership, and luck—played a key role in his achievements.
What the video covers
- Alexander the Great conquered vast territories from the Danube to the Indus in just 32 years.
- His success was built on the military foundation laid by his father, Philip II, who transformed Macedonia into a powerful military state.
- The Macedonian army was a complex, well-coordinated force including phalanx infantry, hypaspists, archers, and companion cavalry.
- Historical accounts of Alexander’s campaigns were written centuries later, mixing legend with fact.
- Alexander’s strategic brilliance included unexpected attacks, tactical flexibility, and psychological warfare such as terrorizing Greek cities.
- He combined inherited military power with personal courage, audacity, and occasional luck in battle.
- Alexander’s visit to Troy symbolized his connection to heroic tradition and boosted morale.
- Despite myths, Alexander’s victories involved careful planning, adaptation, and exploiting enemy mistakes.
- The video compares Alexander’s skills to later military leaders to highlight his unique combination of talents.
- Alexander’s legacy includes both his military innovations and his ability to maintain control over a vast empire.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: What Can Be Achieved in 32 Years?
- 01:53Challenges of Historical Accounts and Legends
- 05:29Macedonian Army Structure and Strategy
- 07:28Engineering and Innovation in Military Technology
- 09:15Alexander’s Leadership and Psychological Warfare
- 12:29The Role of Luck and Personal Courage
- 15:26Tactical Genius and Adaptability in Battle
- 19:00Legacy and Conclusion: The Power Behind the Conquests
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
stronger. 2,000 years ago, in 32 years, some guy managed to march with an army from the Danube to the Indus, destroy two superpowers, and, coming from a provincial kingdom, conquer half the world. Much has been said about Macedonian's campaigns, and he carries
Speaker A
2,000 years ago, in 32 years, some guy managed to march with an army from the Danube to the Indus, destroy two superpowers, and, coming from a provincial kingdom, conquer half the world. Much has been said about Macedonian's campaigns, and he carries the title of God of War quite deservedly.
Speaker A
the next few minutes, we’ll dive into the basics of military science and try to get to the bottom of how the Macedonian managed what no one in history could repeat. It will be a sort of infinity gauntlet of skills for
Speaker A
But today we’re going to touch on a delicate topic. How exactly did Alexander the Great conquer the world? The invincible phalanx, strategic genius, or perhaps the enemies simply made more mistakes.
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channel. We’ll start with a big problem. Detailed accounts of Alexander’s battles were written a century after the events themselves.
Speaker A
In the next few minutes, we’ll dive into the basics of military science and try to get to the bottom of how the Macedonian managed what no one in history could repeat. It will be a sort of infinity gauntlet of skills for world conquest.
Speaker A
tablets. But beautiful dialogues, exact enemy numbers, and the king’s thoughts before an attack are much harder to verify. We’ll tell the legends now, but with a disclaimer.
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Under no circumstances should you try this at home. And we will use it to compare Alexander with later military leaders to see what they lacked. Sounds tempting? Then don't be stingy with likes and comments to support the video. They really help the channel.
Speaker A
Because it was his father who turned provincial Macedonia into a rich military state, created a standing army , and trained the infantry to work with long sarissas. He strengthened the shock cavalry and assembled engineers, scouts, and commanders with vast
Speaker A
We’ll start with a big problem. Detailed accounts of Alexander’s battles were written a century after the events themselves.
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became the hegemon in Greece. So Alexander simply got the keys to a ready-made sports car. But in fairness, you still have to know how to drive a sports car. Comte won't let you lie.
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Arrian used a game of telephone from the memoirs of campaign participants, but he lived about 450 years after the Macedonian. Plutarch wrote a biography, not a General Staff report, so we have dates, the general course of campaigns, coins, inscriptions, and Babylonian tablets.
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immediately. The terrible secret has been revealed. Tyumen-based CAS equipment is manufactured in China, where advanced production facilities are concentrated, accounting for about 90%of global electronics. Why do we see "Created in Tyumen" on CASguru tech boxes? Tyumen is where the brains and
Speaker A
But beautiful dialogues, exact enemy numbers, and the king’s thoughts before an attack are much harder to verify. We’ll tell the legends now, but with a disclaimer.
Speaker A
for engineering, warranty, and responsibility. China handles the manufacturing scale. That’s how Tyumen-based CASguru watches achieve record-breaking specs. They are sold directly by the developer. The Tyumen-made Kasguruova smartwatch has a curved display for superior viewing angles. Information is clear regardless
Speaker A
Because, of course, we are primarily interested in real archaeological evidence. So, 336 BC. Philip II is killed, twenty-year-old Alexander gets the crown and at the same time the first infinity stone of his future victories. The secret is called Philip.
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Speaker A
Because it was his father who turned provincial Macedonia into a rich military state, created a standing army, and trained the infantry to work with long sarissas. He strengthened the shock cavalry and assembled engineers, scouts, and commanders with vast experience.
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description or the QR code on screen. Use promo code 2608 for a discount of up to 1,000 rubles. A common historical myth is that the Macedonian army was just a phalanx with five-meter pikes mowing down enemies like a lawnmower.
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Alexander did not invent this machine. Everything was working perfectly well before him. Philip, who inherited a backwater Macedonian kingdom from a guy with the colorful name Perdiccas, built a machine over 24 years of rule that defeated Athens and became the hegemon in Greece.
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off archers, hypaspists protected the flanks, and the phalanx pinned the front. The Companion cavalry, with Alexander, would then look for the perfect spot to strike. Basically, it wasn't just flooring a supercar, but constantly maneuvering and shifting gears. Before cruising to Asia with his
Speaker A
So Alexander simply got the keys to a ready-made sports car. But in fairness, you still have to know how to drive a sports car. Comte won't let you lie.
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weeks later to debunk the rumors, razing Thebes and selling the survivors into slavery. This was Alexander’s second "Infinity Stone." A banal, brutal, and calculated terror, after which other Greek cities decided not to cancel their subscription to Macedonian rule. It was Alexander's willingness to
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The existence of Atlantis, the location of Montezuma’s treasures, the construction of Stonehenge, and many other mysteries have been stirring the minds of historians and archaeologists for a long time. But there are also riddles whose answers are found almost immediately.
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According to legend, before his first battle, Alexander stopped in Troy, laid a wreath on the supposed tomb of Achilles, and allegedly took ancient weapons from a temple. To be more precise, Alex stopped in Ilion. It was this city, located on Hisarlik Hill,
Speaker A
The terrible secret has been revealed. Tyumen-based CAS equipment is manufactured in China, where advanced production facilities are concentrated, accounting for about 90% of global electronics. Why do we see "Created in Tyumen" on CASguru tech boxes? Tyumen is where the brains and device testing are.
Speaker A
in Ilion to honor the heroes of the Trojan War. So, it is easy to believe in the Macedonian's ritual visit; just as boys today want to be like Iron Man, back then they admired the heroes of the Iliad. But whether the swords and
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In Tyumen, engineers refine feature sets, test materials, and implement their own sensor neural model for CAS smartwatches. The head of the company, Vadim Bokov, personally oversees development. Locals have nicknamed him the "Tyumen Elon Musk." Tyumen stands for engineering, warranty, and responsibility.
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battle against the Persians. It happened at the Granicus River, and everyone there messed up; the Persians didn't listen to their satrap Memnon, who laughed at Alexander’s puny army and suggested retreating until they died of hunger. Alexander himself didn't listen to his commander
Speaker A
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to the helmet, lost his weapon, and, if Arrian is to be believed, was saved by Cleitus from an almost inevitable strike from behind. The tactics, of course, were brilliant. The Macedonian attacked unexpectedly at night and drew the Persian cavalry into a sticky fight
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Alexander made decisions earlier than the enemy, sometimes so much earlier that even his guardian angel couldn't put his boots on in time. Therefore, Granicus is unequivocally an infinity stone in the form of luck. Without it, the Macedonian would have perished in
Speaker A
That’s the Kasguru Sport 2. A two-in-one hybrid casing is scratch-resistant and improves sensor stability. The Tyumen-made CASguru Classic 2 has a premium long-life battery. Designed to last for up to 7 years of use. That’s three times longer than comparable models.
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parade, clean-shaven temples, and all that. Secondly, the fleet is separate, the land forces are separate. And let's throw in a meeting at the bathhouse on Fridays. The Macedonian shattered every single convention in this science, because he simply disbanded the
Speaker A
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And so as not to compete over who had more power, Alexander simply unplugged the outlets. Miletus, Halicarnassus, and other cities on the Persian coast fell, and the mighty Persian fleet was left without supplies and provisions.
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A common historical myth is that the Macedonian army was just a phalanx with five-meter pikes mowing down enemies like a lawnmower.
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You'd be lucky to hit it with paper airplanes from the ships. And what looked like a violation of all military laws on paper was, in reality, cold calculation. Hence, the legend of the Gordian knot. On the way to Gordium,
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In reality, the phalanx alone was slow, turned poorly, and hated uneven ground. That’s actually why Alexander's father successfully crushed the Greek phalanxes. The true power of the Macedonian phalanx only appeared as part of a system.
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perfectly captures Alexander's true talent. If rules got in the way of solving a problem, he would change the task itself from on high, disregarding military science, order, and rules, which, besides obvious battlefield advantages, really ticked off his rivals. So much so that in 333 BC,
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Light infantry drove off archers, hypaspists protected the flanks, and the phalanx pinned the front. The Companion cavalry, with Alexander, would then look for the perfect spot to strike. Basically, it wasn't just flooring a supercar, but constantly maneuvering and shifting gears.
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received the report, didn't even believe. Things were heading toward the siege of Sochos in modern Syria, a perfect plain where Persian cavalry could deploy and finally engage the outnumbered Greeks on equal footing.
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Before cruising to Asia with his father's tools, Alexander had to remind everyone who was boss at home. In 335 BC, he marched through the Balkans, fighting Thracians, Triballians, and Illyrians, surviving so much that rumors spread he had died.
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simply missed each other. At first glance, it was advantageous for Darius. He got into the rear, cut off communications with Illyria, and captured the Greek camp with their wounded. But what then? Instead of the plains perfectly suited for Persian
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The city rebelled, but Alexander showed up a few weeks later to debunk the rumors, razing Thebes and selling the survivors into slavery. This was Alexander’s second "Infinity Stone." A banal, brutal, and calculated terror, after which other Greek cities decided not to cancel their subscription to Macedonian rule.
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love for narrow passages. Just like at Thermopylae, they cornered themselves here as well. In fairness, the Greeks didn't have it easy either, but Alexander again used his Infinity Stone of audacity and simply charged directly at the spot where Darius was, who, of
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It was Alexander's willingness to pay with others' lives for a secure rear. That very rear support is what secured his back during his campaigns in Asia. It happened in the spring of 334 BC. 30,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalrymen set out on the campaign.
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Macedonian acquired his next Infinity Stone: for all his hot-headedness and ingenuity, he knew how to hit the brakes. Hannibal destroyed the Romans at Cannae in a much more terrifying way , one more elegant from the standpoint of military science and more
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According to legend, before his first battle, Alexander stopped in Troy, laid a wreath on the supposed tomb of Achilles, and allegedly took ancient weapons from a temple. To be more precise, Alex stopped in Ilion.
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Alexander literally waved goodbye to Darius, turned the other way, and set off to dismantle the opposite parts of the Persian Empire. The tactic was the same as the one used with the fleet.
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It was this city, located on Hisarlik Hill, that the Greeks considered to be the archaeological Troy. As modern excavations show, not without reason, since layers from the 10th century BC are indeed found there.
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Macedonian, as you can imagine, this was no problem at all. He simply decided to extend the land out to the island. Bit by bit, workers threw stones and wood into the water, and at a snail's pace, brought the embankment
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Even Xerxes, when marching on Greece back in the time of the 300 Spartans, also stopped in Ilion to honor the heroes of the Trojan War. So, it is easy to believe in the Macedonian's ritual visit; just as boys today want to be like Iron Man, back then they admired the heroes of the Iliad.
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Alexander’s improvised bridge to Tyre , it still stands today and is clearly visible on Google Maps. The city itself met a sad fate, following the FIFA handbook. Alexander’s ability to sacrifice lives for the sake of stability had not gone anywhere. And,
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But whether the swords and armor of Achilles that Alex took from Troy were authentic is, of course, impossible to prove. What is provable, however, is that the third infinity stone of the Macedonian was his wild, and at times insane, luck, because he should have died in his very first battle against the Persians.
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Egypt, evaluating the prospect of being sold into slavery, joined him almost without a fight. Besides, they were tired of the Persians there. The Macedonian reciprocated, executing no one; on the contrary, he founded Alexandria and even visited the oracle
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It happened at the Granicus River, and everyone there messed up; the Persians didn't listen to their satrap Memnon, who laughed at Alexander’s puny army and suggested retreating until they died of hunger.
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have the Phoenician fleet, primarily commercial, and the Egyptian resources that this fleet began to transport.
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Alexander himself didn't listen to his commander Parmenion, who begged to let the fighters rest after a grueling march. The result: the Greeks climbed across the river immediately.
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Starting with Egypt, he chose a cunning system where the exact same officials continued to run everything. Only now, sitting next to them was a Macedonian " comrade major," watching their politics closely. In antiquity, where a sign of good manners after a victory was
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But what Wikipedia calls a staggering victory is actually a miracle, because in this reckless sortie, Alexander took a blow to the helmet, lost his weapon, and, if Arrian is to be believed, was saved by Cleitus from an almost inevitable strike from behind.
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with a Persia that was already significantly weakened, both politically and economically. It was still a serious opponent. And Arrian even writes about some mythical million fighters against 40,000 Macedonians. In reality, of course, there were fewer of them, but at Gaugamela on October 1,
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The tactics, of course, were brilliant. The Macedonian atta...
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Alexander flew with his Companion cavalry, heading straight for Darius. Darius, sticking to his established tradition, fled, showing his heels. As for the Macedonian, he didn't bother chasing the enemy, turned around, and finished off the demoralized Persian army. After Gaugamela, it practically
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ceased to exist. Babylon, Susa, and the vast storehouses of royal treasures fell. And once again, the cunning policy of assimilation came into play.
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Alexander even kept the satrapies, left the local nobility all their privileges , and simply attached a "comrade major" to everyone. This trick would later be successfully copied by Rome. And for Alexander, it helped him effortlessly become the king of everything already
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prepared. In fact, he just changed the account owner in the Persian system and set off to finish off the survivors.
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The final act was the Battle of the Persian Gate, also known as the "300 Spartans in reverse." Now it was the Greeks who ran into a narrow pass, where satrap Ariobarzanes stopped the Macedonians with a frontal attack from
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the heights. Alexander retreated, found a flanking route through captives, led light units through the mountains at night, and struck from the rear. We are almost certain that the Macedonian drew this tactic from his knowledge of history. So, don't say that science is
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useless. As for Persepolis, Alexander broke his own principle of non-interference. In 330 BC, the city burned down. And, strictly speaking, we don't know why. Archaeology confirms the fire itself, but the motive remains lost in the smoke. Some ancient authors
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call it a calculated revenge for the burning of Athens by Xerxes. Others tell of a drunken feast and an Athenian named Thais, who convinced the king to torch the palace. Perhaps a political decision was later dressed up as a
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scandalous party. Or maybe Alexander really did set the fire first, only to realize later he’d burned down his own new residence. In any case, the Macedonian was quite the sly fox, because he even used this act of humiliating the Persians to his own
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advantage. After all, Darius was killed by his own officials led by Bessus. After which, Alexander buried his rival with royal honors and began hunting the killers as the legitimate ruler of Asia . A brilliant propaganda move that allowed him to turn the further
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conquest of Persia not into a campaign of subjugation, but into a special operation to restore order. Here the Macedonian snapped the infinity gauntlet again and used all his talents : Sogdiana, modern-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. And Bactria, modern-day Afghanistan and Tajikistan, proved to
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be tough nuts to crack. On the Polytimetus River, one Macedonian detachment was actually destroyed, but Alexander wasn't there personally, so the "never lost a battle" formula technically survived. But then came a successful marriage to the daughter of a Sogdian nobleman, Roxana, and again,
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audacity bordering on madness during the storming of the Sogdian Rock. It is , of course, a legend, but the defenders supposedly mocked him and advised Alexander to find winged soldiers to take the impregnable fortress, and he just went and found
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them. At night, 300 experienced climbers scaled the snow with ropes and iron pitons. Some fell to their deaths, but the others appeared above the fortress. So, Macedon announced that the winged men had been found, and the defenders surrendered. This was
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precisely where the first crack in the Macedonian’s plan appeared. After marrying Roxana, he had declared himself ruler of a multinational empire . The Macedonian officers didn’t like that, thinking it unseemly to start out for themselves and end up as equals
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with the conquered peoples. This rift would make itself felt later, when the Macedonian marched even further east into Afghanistan and Pakistan in 327 BC . Although the very fact of these campaigns is also a subject of debate.
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And a potential massive mistake by Alexander that ultimately ruined him. It is clear that after the death of Darius in 330 BC, the Macedonian physically could not stop. Bessus of Bactria, one of Darius's assassins, put on the royal tiara himself and
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proclaimed himself Artaxerxes V. And there cannot be two great kings in Asia . For the mission of conquering Persia to be considered complete, campaigns into Bactria and Sogdiana were necessary. But beyond that, there is a huge question mark. By that point, the
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Macedonian Empire stretched 4,200 km from east to west. Simply put, a letter home took a month. And some historians believe it was time to stop. What possessed Alexander to keep going is still a mystery. The official theory is
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that Alexander believed the entire East was still under Achaemenid influence, and without it, he couldn't hold the title of King of Asia. Unofficially, they add megalomania, the desire to create a buffer zone, and the Macedonian’s own addiction to
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conquest, who, like a running dog, didn't know what to do if he stopped. We share this last version, but with a nuance. It is that, in our humble opinion, Alexander simply didn’t know the size of the world. The Macedonian
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believed that any moment he would see the Pacific Ocean, then called the Eastern Ocean, which was considered the edge of the known world. If someone had shown him a real globe, he likely would have retreated, but they didn't. And so
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the Macedonian pressed on, sincerely believing that with just a little more effort, he would conquer the entire inhabited world. Most surprisingly, he was actually succeeding. Despite the Greeks never having seen elephants, Alexander defeated the Indian King Porus at the Hydaspes. Cities fell,
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rulers submitted, and the advance continued until his own troops at the Hyphasis River simply refused to go further. They hadn't seen home in eight years, crossed mountains and deserts, and spent months in the rain, while hearing stories of new kingdoms and
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thousands of annoying elephants. Alexander pleaded with his commanders, grew angry, locked himself in his tent, and waited for everyone to feel ashamed . They didn't. A few days later, he diplomatically announced that unfavorable omens dictated a return.
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But from that moment on, everything went wrong, and the Macedonian took on all the flaws of later commanders. Like Napoleon, a failure of geography and an exhausting journey through the Gedrosian Desert. Like Caesar, a pathological lack of fear of death
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during the assault on the Malli. Macedonian would be the first to climb a wall and take an arrow to the chest.
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From Hannibal, the problem of a war without an obvious finale. No one understood anymore why they were storming yet another city in India. If we are supposedly heading home. And from Tamerlane, the good old trouble of a state too dependent on one man. It
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was too late even when the Macedonian returned to the empire's center in 324. Too many questions from his own people, from rebellions of others, and headaches from the nobility. In June of 323, he fell ill and died in Babylon,
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not having reached thirty. A Babylonian tablet from that time confirms both the death and the date. Poison, conspiracy, and dramatic final words have no evidence. Legend has it that the Macedonian stated his vast empire should go to the strongest. In reality,
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all historians agree that Alexander should have returned as early as 327 to prepare this "strongest," because after his death, the empire split, and his successors waged a battle royale for centuries. Nevertheless, even now in Pakistan, there is a city called Taxila
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with a still-preserved Hellenistic urban layout. In the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, Zeus would be honored alongside Buddha for a good five centuries. The Hellenistic era is still felt in every corner of Alexander's former empire, which, according to our community poll, led
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you to call him the greatest commander in history. This is truly the case, as the Macedonian is the only one who collected the full Infinity Gauntlet.
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The power of the army from his father, the skill to make unconventional decisions, the ability to sacrifice lives for stability without batting an eye, and at the same time, the skill to avoid bloodshed where it was not profitable. This, along with incredible
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luck and audacity, turned Alexander into a universal soldier, equally good at everything. Hannibal, for example, lacked Alexander's ability to convert victories into full control over territories. Napoleon, who strategically might have been better than the Macedonian, lacked the skill
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to organically annex territories. The French, unlike the Macedonians, were considered occupiers by all the locals.
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Genghis Khan, like the Macedonian, knew how to manage conquered territories, but unlike him, did not convert victories into strengthening his army.
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After every battle, Alexander became stronger, gaining resources and governance while losing minimum personnel. And the Mongols became weaker. They spent far more effort on control. Saladin also does not yield to the Macedonian in strategy, but he frankly lacked audacity and the ability
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to maintain momentum after success. Saladin, unlike the Macedonian, always gave rivals time to lick their wounds, which is what cost him. And Caesar, who was politically on par with the Macedonian, lacked that very same ruthlessness. He tried too civilly to
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explain the new world order to the Romans. That is why it is no wonder Alexander was called the Great. He became a true Swiss Army knife, combining all the brilliant traits of other commanders. Negative ones, unfortunately or fortunately, as well.
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That is, in fact, why he burned out. And who do you consider the greatest in history? Share your thoughts in the comments. That's all for now. See you next time, friends.
Topics:Alexander the GreatMacedonian armyPhilip IImilitary strategyancient warfarephalanxhistorical analysisconquestsmilitary historyancient Macedonia
