For example, Sir William Tarn, a Scottish gentleman of the British imperial era, characterized Alexander as a chivalrous Greek gentleman with a missionary zeal to spread Greek civilization. In contrast, Fritz Schachermeyr, a German historian who had experienced the rise and fall of the Nazi Germany, described Alexander as a ruthless and cruel ruler, indulged "in deceit and treachery to gain his ends, as a 'Titanic' figure aiming at the conquest of the world."
Both Tarn and Schachermeyr are among the great modern historians of Alexander but even they could not escape personal biases.
The irony of Hamilton's book is that, although he is at pains in his discussion of the difficulty of writing about Alexander and is critical of biased historians, the book starts with a straightforward admission of a bias. Rejecting the claim that Alexander was a disseminator of Greek culture to so-called "barbarians," Hamilton writes: "his heredity and his background are more important; he remained, essentially, Macedonian. This explains his hard drinking (denied, significantly, by Tarn) and, where circumstances called for it, the ruthless elimination of rivals."
Now, the question is what does Alexander's hard drinking or his ruthlessness in eliminating rivals have anything to do with him being a Macedonian? Were they essential Macedonian traits? Were not there any hard drinkers or ruthless eliminators of rivals among Greeks? Were Greeks not capable of it? Hamilton's stereotypical characterization of Macedonians and Greeks borders on racism.
Hamilton's main goal is to argue that Alexander lacked any Hellenizing mission and remained essentially a Macedonian with military skills bestowed upon him by his father Philip and other Macedonians. But his attempt to prove a point weakens his thesis. Hamilton ascribes essential characteristics to Greek and Macedonians that do not do justice to human nature. Part of the reason for this problem is Hamilton's uncritical analysis of primary and ancient secondary sources. The story of Alexander is conveyed to us mostly in the Greek and Roman languages. Romans admired the Greeks, so they were not critical enough with Greek sources. The sources in ancient Greek obviously are biased in favor of Greeks, describing non-Greeks as barbarians and...
Alexander saw himself as that philosopher-king who would install a new kind of cooperation and brotherhood with one or unified Greek culture, Hellenism, and speaking a common language, Greek (Smitha 1998). He intended that his subjects in the East would be reared and trained to become like the Greeks and Macedonians. In consolidating his huge territory, Alexander founded cities, mostly named Alexandria, in suitable and well-paved locations with sufficient supply
Instead, while under false arrest and retreating from the Macedonians, Darius was killed by one of his subjects. Because the battle at Gaugamela marked the turning point in the battle between the Macedonians and the Achaemenids, it is clear that if Darius was to have been able to defeat Alexander and his troops, he would have needed to do so before the battle at Gaugamela. Therefore, it is important to
Both points-of-view may be absolutely correct, but neither really addresses the issue of whether or not Alexander was truly great. Perhaps the best way to evaluate Alexander's greatness is to look at the lasting effects that he had on civilization. First and foremost, Alexander conquered the known world. "Before Alexander world civilization had been dominated by eastern cultures - Persians, Egyptians, and Babylonians. Alexander shifted the spotlight once and for all.
.. Alexander would conquer the Persian Empire, including Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Judea, Gaza, Egypt, Bactria and Mesopotamia and extend the boundaries of his own empire as far as the Punjab. In today's terms, Alexander would likely also be considered a practitioner and strong supporter of multiculturalism and diversity, since he allowed non-Greeks into his army, including its administration. This was/is considered Alexander's "policy of fusion" ("Alexander the Great"), and arguably a very
It was plainly obstruction of justice, and Al Haig knew it immediately. It must also be noted, however, that, as the president tried to cover his tracks, Al Haig was given orders by Nixon to help him do it. In that capacity, for instance, Haig helped arrange the wiretaps of government officials and reporters (Gearan). He played a key role in attempting to persuade Nixon to resign. Most believe it was
Alexander the Great as Portrayed by Plutarch and Oliver Stone "My intention is not to write histories, but lives. Sometimes small incidents, rather than glorious exploits, give us the best evidence of character. So, as portrait painters are more exact in doing the face (where the character is revealed) than the rest of the body, I must be allowed to give my more particular attention to the marks of the souls
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