Alexander the Great was antiquity\'s greatest commander

[Gregory J. Liebau]

All of which far exceeds anything Alexander did.

What makes Philip II a great commander? We hardly know any particulars of any of his military feats. We have no idea how much help he had from his own generals, who were so successful that they outlived him and continued to influence his son. His military accomplishments are shrouded in mystery compared to Alexander's. On the other hand, those of his son are known widely across the world, and it was by his own charismatic leadership and risk-taking (often at the expense of his generals' wishes) that he was able to crush the Persian army at the Granicus, Issus and finally at Gaugamela, that he was able to subdue to Tyrian's after a seven month siege that be the first over their walls, and march over numerous mountain ranges with an army on his heels that would come thundering into the Issus Valley and defeat a grand army of Indian soldiers and elephants at the Hydaspes. He was able to maintain the vigor of his troops by rewarding them handsomely and in true warrior-king fashion, often against the judgment of his generals, and have them trek thousands of miles across unknown, foreign regions. He founded over a dozen cities, a handful of which remained successful into the Hellenistic era and beyond, and was so enthusiastic not only about war and politics but also culture that he had to rival Athens for himself in his first foundation of Alexandria.

Yeah, he was a drunk. So was his father, as well as most Macedonians. The Greeks generally thought the Macedonians were obnoxious drinkers, who didn't mix water with their wine. At a single drinking game that Alexander hosted in either Babylon or Persepolis (I don't remember which) some 37 competitors died due to complications arising from the evening's drinking! Plutarch tells us that Philip couldn't even walk across a room to face Alexander after an insult, and was so deranged that he had his son exiled from the kingdom for months over a single insult before coming to his senses through the pleas of his friends (Plut, Alex. 9). I'd say this same event shows a particular level of immaturity that Alexander likely inherited from his father, who was so obsessed with becoming Greek that he wouldn't even recognize his first-born son in the face of finally having married a Greek woman, probably not just for political reasons - but deeply personal. In any case, why would any of those qualities you brand Alexander with have much to do with his charisma and prospects as a general? That's very straw man of you, Dan. Philip II may have been the greatest man to ever walk to the face of the earth. But what little we know about his person and his politics cannot compare to Alexander's outrageous achievements over the course of his young life, even if we look at the latter in a sour light while trying to uphold the esteem of the father - which would often be contrary to what evidence we do have. Alexander inherited the throne at the age of 20 after his father was assassinated, and had grown up as the heir to the most powerful king in Greece. I doubt that many would be anything but arrogant, headstrong and belligerent in such a case!

-Gregory