Alexander the Great - Julia Shoemake

     1)    Alexander the Great is referred to as great because he has strategic skills that were very helpful in conquering Persia, Egypt, India, and Asia. He was crowned at age 20, and spent the next 13 years conquering and building one of the largest empires in the world. Watching Alexander over the years, he has been really strategic, and his tactical skills are what lead us to victory. He killed anyone who opposed him, and he never lost a battle. He had a high winning streak because he used phalanxes to his advantage, and won battles. In our fierce battle against India, Alexander led us to a victory, even when India fought with elephants, which we had never seen before. Our powerful phalanxes aided us in our plentiful wins. While taking over the Greek City-States, Alexander ordered the people that lived there to be slaughtered or to be sold into slavery. During the battle with Persia, after their cavalry retreated, Alexander led his cavalry to an attack on the Greek mercenaries, which were held to reserve. The cavalry attack was followed by the phalanx. During the conquest of Babylon, Alexander realized that if our army had control of the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys, that we had a major part of trade, and agriculture aspects on our side, which was essential to the conquering of Babylon.

    2)    The blending of the Hellenistic culture from different countries has helped Alexander’s empire. I've been able to see and take mental notes on how some people do things in different regions, and it’s helped me get into a daily routine of things that are the best way to do things. I've been able to see and learn that having a weak military and no true structure in a battle will get you killed, but using strategic skills like using cavalries, and then perfected phalanxes in battle will keep you alive. After conquering Greek cities, Alexander realized that the Greek culture worked very well, and so he wanted to blend his current culture with the Greek culture, and others. Many cultures blended into one is very beneficial, because the blended culture is the good things out of these cultures put together, to form the best culture you can have.

  

33)    Alexander the Great and Martin Luther King Jr. have accomplished many great things in the past. King had moving speeches, unique ideas, and he was inspirational to many. Alexander got things done. He was ruthless and powerful, but he was victorious in all his battles. Many opinions have been changed about Martin Luther King Jr. In his time, a lot of people didn't like his ideas or speeches, but as segregation and racism has died down, people have liked him more. Alexander the Great was considered “great” because of the great things that he has accomplished, military-wise. Martin Luther King Jr. was considered great because he was a great person, with good morals.

Works Cited

•         Watkins, Thayer. Alexander of Macedonia N.p.. Web. 19 Sep 2013. <http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/alexandergreat.htm>.
•         Hollingsworth, Anthony. "A conquest of two worlds." Calliope Nov. 2006: 42+. General OneFile. Web. 25 Sept. 2013.

·   Worthington, Ian. How "Great" Was Alexander? N.p.. Web. 19 Sep 2013. <http://www.utexas.edu/courses/citylife/readings/great1.html>.

·   Furdock, Corey. "The Empire of Alexander the Great." The Empire of Alexander the Great. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2013 <http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/a/s/asg198/Final%20Project/alexempire.html>