Outstanding Accomplishments of Alexander the Great

by World History Edu · March 1, 2019

Alexander the Great in the Alexander Mosaic

Alexander the Great was an ancient king of Macedon (present-day Macedonia). He was one of the ancient rulers who gave out his best or worse to the world. Macedon was an ancient Greek kingdom. Born in 356 BC, Alexander was a successor to his father Philip II of Macedon. He ascended the throne around age twenty.

Here are some of the major accomplishments of Alexander the Great:

As king, he embarked on military campaigns for most of his tenure. Alexander’s military campaign extended to the northeast of Africa and Asia. As a result, he gained for himself a lot of empires. He managed to stretch his empire from Greece to northwest of India before he attained the age of thirty.
When he was 12, he mustered courage and tamed a wild horse by name Bucephalus. Legend has it that Bucephalus was a gigantic stallion with a raging behavior. Alexander later used this horse as his battle companion. He rode it to fight wars for most of his life
At 16, Alexander led a war against a supposedly unbeatable army, the Band of the Thebes. At that time, his father left him in charge of Macedonia and went to fight a different war. Alex took advantage of that opportunity to showcase his military potentials. He fought the war with all his might and successfully defeated the Thebes.
When his father was assassinated in 336 BC, Alexander rose to the throne at the age of 20. He had already killed all the rivals who posed a threat to his succession of his father. Alexander faced a rebellion from a section of Greece who wanted independence. Using his sharp acumen, he quickly neutralized the rebellious groups. He continued his path to dominate the world.
After appointing General Antipater as a regent, he made his way to Persia – an ancient empire in southwest of Asia. On their way to Persia, Alexander and his army met opposing forces from Greek and Persia. This battle was fought at the Granicus River and it resulted in a resounding victory for Alexander and his troops. He changed his course and headed south to take the city of Sardes. He continued to fight a series of victorious wars in cities such as Mylassa, Miletus and Halicarnassus.
Alexander went further to achieve an unprecedented success no one ever could. When he left Halicarnassus and headed to north to Gordium, he reached the premises of the legendary Gordian knot (a group of entangled knots connected to a wagon). This protective barrier was built by Gordius – king of Gordium. It was believed that anyone who could unwind the knots had a chance to conquer Gordium. Alexander surprised the world by slicing the knot with his sword and loosening it. He had earlier on tried to break through the defensive barrier with his hands, but he couldn’t.
Alexander was a man who searched for wars to fight with the intention of conquering. In 333 BC, Alexander’s squad came across a heavily armed and ruthless Persian army. The Persian army was led by King Darius III. The battle ground was close to the town of Issus in the south of Turkey. King Darius’s army outnumbered Alexander’s by a significant margin. But this never scared the young conqueror and king. He knew he had an unmatched experience in wars. When Alexander’s men engaged the Persian army in a war, King Darius’s plentiful men didn’t have it easy. It was a tough fight which eventually ended with victory for Alexander. King Darius escaped with few of his troops but left behind his wife and family. King Darius’ mother (Sisygambis) disowned him due to his cowardice attitude. She then adopted Alexander the Great as her son.
Determined to even conquer more empires, Alexander went and took over two cities in Phoenicia – Marathus and Aradus. King Darius pleaded with Alexander to give peace a chance. This plea for peace was never accepted; Alexander went on to conquer more cities, most notably the cities of Byblos and Sidon. When his troops came across a heavily-fortified island in Tyre (Lebanon), they were refused entry to the town. With no navy, Alexander and his troops were stuck with no idea about how to cross the river. He ordered his men to build a path through the water to reach the town of Tyre. Alexander amassed a strong army and invaded Tyre. He breached the town’s security walls and killed many people and proceeded to sell others into slavery.
Alexander set course for Egypt after rejecting a second peace offer from King Darius. He was kept outside of Egypt by boundaries at Gaza. After several weeks of enduring a siege, Alexander broke through the town into Egypt. He established a city called Alexandria in Egypt. The city still bears his name today.
After establishing himself in Egypt, Alexander went back to Persia to face King Darius and his massive soldiers. It was 331 BC, October. Alexander fought hard with his troops and weakened the Persian army. King Darius fled again but got killed by his own troops. Even though Alexander was saddened by the death of Darius, he ascended the throne as king of Persia after giving Darius a royal burial.
The last accomplishment of Alexander the Great will have to be the time when he entered India and conquered several more territories.

Based on the above mentioned accomplishments and many others, Alexander the Great is widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders in the entire history of this world.