Was Alexander The Great Really A Good Ruler?

In 15 years of fighting, Alexander the Great never lost a battle. Although he did some evil things because his personality and arrogance got the best of him, he made some good decisions for the sake of his empire. Alexander the Great was truly a great leader. He ruled his empire under some pretty good tactics and a great government. So, was he truly a great ruler? As the background information states, his parents were royalty, giving him special privileges. His parents made the decision to have him be taught like a Spartan warrior. This give him the ability to think like a military leader. This would come in handy, for later in his life he would have to develop strategies and tactics in minutes. He was taught by many smart teachers, who gave him knowledge of things he could use in the future. He thought highly of himself, and he grew to believe that he was a god. His father was assassinated in 336 BC, and left the kingdom to Alexander. Before his death, his father declared war on Persia.
According to “Alexander’s Empire”, Alexander was forced to take over as their leader.
He conquered many kingdoms and lands controlled by Persia. Persian King Darius was killed in the war, and Alexander replaced him on the throne, which spread his empire even farther. He still wasn't satisfied with the amount of land he had, so he pushed even farther eastward into unknown lands. When they reached the Hydaspes River, Porus, a prince, came up with the tactic to use elephants to fight, according to author Lucius Flavius Arrianus. Alexander had to figure out how to get past them. He sent his men in different directions to throw off Porus’s army. As Peter Green wrote, Alexander marched down the coast of the Mediterranean, and various cities gave up without a fight. They came to a city named Tyre, which held them off for seven months. Alexander’s arrogance got the best of him and he killed 2,000 men. He sold 30,000 survivors into
slavery. In the Campaigns of Alexander, The Legend of the Hat Band describes that Alexander lost his hat band in the water. One of the sailors saw it and went to retrieve it. He could not swim and carry it, so he put it on his head. Alexander was grateful that it was returned and he gave him a reward, but then ordered that his head be cut off. He returned to Susa, a Persian City, where he tried to bring his empire together by attempting to marry Darius’s daughter, and he ordered his men to marry Persian women. People argued that it was a bad decision to do that. Alexander’s Legacy tells us that he created over 70 cities, even naming one after himself, Alexandria. He and his army travelled 2400 miles to win back and conquer new areas to grow his empire. His empire grew to be over two million square miles. His knowledge and teachings most directly impacted Buddhism in India. As quoted in ‘In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great’ by Michael Wood, Alexander helped shape some cultural similarities between countries. For example, “Our words are the same, our music and our dances too.”

In conclusion, people question how great he really was, but by evidence of the written documents, many of the authors clue us in to the fact that he really was a great leader. While he was a great leader, he might not necessarily have been a great person. He did make decisions that could have led him to another open door, such as killing many men in Tyre. Selfish choices like that affected the rest of his journey, so who knows what might have happened if he decided not to do that! Obviously, Alexander the Great was really great.