Christopher Coomer
September 20,2013
History-Block E
I pledge C.C.C
1-2.
I’m a soldier in Alexander’s army and I have served
in the army for 11 years and as Alexander lay on his death bed I recount the
battles we fought in and the struggles we endured. I began my army career under
King Phillip the second but after his death I went under the command of
Alexander. He promised us wealth and glory with the conquest of Persia. We
began are march on Persia at the battle of Granicus and we were victorious and
we marched on. The men loved him in the beginning for the fact that he lead the
charges in the battles and he befriended many of the ordinary foot
soldiers he also shared the plunder from battles and fed the troops well.
Although the men considered him great his brutality was unmatched. When
there was a city that did not surrender to his army he had no mercy.
As we
conquered Persia Alexander wanted more than just the land he wanted the
culture. He combined Greek and Persian culture the men did not understand his
reasons for this choice then he allowed Persians to become soldiers and the Greek
troops were not so lenient to this idea to eat and fight alongside the greatest
enemy of our people but we had no choice. We then moved into Egypt with no
resistance and open arms.
As we left Egypt we discovered Darius ,the
former king of Persia, had formed a massive army and intended to take back
Persia. The attack began right after an eclipse a bad omen for the Persians
while a good one for the Greeks. The battle took place on an open plain with no
advantage to Alexander with an army of 40,000 and the Persians with an army of
200,000. Alexander took a gamble and attacked the center of Darius’s army with
the Macedonian Phalanx a 16 by 16 army attack unit and each man had a 16 foot
pole.
Protected on each side by cavalry Alexander charged into the
center of the Darius’s army where Darius himself commanded. The army broke
apart and was defeated. Darius fled and was later killed by one of his
generals.
Alexander declared himself lord of Asia
and said he would cross the Hindu Kush to the sea we were all startled by this
and worried. We then crossed the mountains on the most difficult route as
Alexander tried to push himself and his army to its limits. We crossed the mountains
in to a world unknown to us with dense jungles and rough terrain. We then we were
attacked by a powerful leader in India we were forced to fight a new enemy a
war elephant that could smash through the enemy lines and trample troops. The archers
and foot soldiers either threw javelins or shot arrows at the elephants eyes
and ears sending them into panic and crushing their own army and with our army
on their tails stabbing and slashing anything that was alive and in their wake.
The great king that fought us surrendered to Alexander Personally and Alexander
commended him for his bravery and gave him back his kingdom.
Alexander wanted to go on to the end of
land until it broke upon the sea. All of us were broken and from the years of
fighting and marching and the blood and slaughter. We all threw down are swords
and would not march on so we went back but Alexander took us through the
desserts and harshest lands and by the end of it only 1/3 of the army was left.
I even saw one of the troops Barrett I think eaten by a lion I tried saving him
but he passed out. Alexander, after a heavy night of drinking, fell ill with a
fever and that is where I end my story and I realize we all marveled at him in
the beginning but in the end he wasn’t great but a blood thirsty ambitious tyrant
who with his ideas there was nothing good even the Hellenism he created the men
never respected each other and his generals now fight amongst themselves to
proclaim themselves king and this melding of cultures has only weakened Greece.
3. Julius Caesar
was considered a great man but in reality he killed and enslaved many people through
his command. Like Alexander, Julius did not want to give up power and in that
day and age the only way to maintain power was to give it up slowly or use
fear. While Julius was murdered by the council and betrayed by his friends and
followers Alexander lost the support of his men and was forced to return to his
home. They both did not matter the cost would fight for every bit of power they
could muster. Also Julius mustered the support of Rome and its people they
loved him and for that the people in power feared that it would be taken away
from them so they killed him much like the people loved Alexander. Overall, Julius
relates to Alexander through the fact that they were brutal through their
reigns and were loved by their people and held as idols.
This
page was last modified 04:53, 22 July 2006.
National Geographic behind the movie: Alexander the
Great
I really liked how you said ow committed he was, and I thought it was very creative the way you worded how he was and what the wars were like. And I would never have compared him to Julius Caesar, that was very original! Good Job!
ReplyDeleteI really like how your character is with Alexander while he's dying. That's really creative!! I also like how you made sort of a verbal timeline of Alexander's years of battle.
ReplyDelete