Alexander of Macedon: Fortuitous Greatness

Alexander of Macedon took a fledgling Greek nation, pitted it against the world's earliest superpower, usurped the world order and introduced Greek practices to places as far east as India. In just 13 years, he created one of the world's largest overland empires, which crumbled in less than one year. The world changed dramatically when this man took up the throne of Macedon at the foot of his father's assassination in 336 B.C.

But there's something that many people don't consider when looking over Alexander's greatness: The world had been virtually handed to him on a plate at the time of his father's death.

Alexander was a son of turbulent relations with his father, Phillip II of Macedon. Prior to his son's birth, Phillip had been forced to fundamentally transform the Macedonian army in order to challenge the Greek city-states. Already adapted keenly to phalanx style warfare, the challenge lay before him to transform a group of goat herders into a professional and elite fighting force that could stand up to the renown democracy of Athens and the abominable Spartans.

The entire peninsula was aflame in war - partially due to the interest of the Persians who had long meddled in Greek affairs much the same way they had with Ionian Rebels, which had led to the infamous Battle of Marathon. Phillip had an ambitious plan: to unite the peninsula, create standardized borders, and pose a united, serious threat to the Persians.

After several years of bloody wars, Phillip received favorable terms with Athens that gave it dominance of Greek gold mines - which resulted in yet more conflicts between the southern Greeks and Macedonians. During the Siege of Methone, among the first places that Phillip was testing his newly constructed army, an arrow pierced his eye - skewering it in such a perfect way that it would barely miss his brain. When asked why he did not seek medical attention quicker than he did, Phillip is said to have responded with, "I have given up an eye and gained an empire."

It is most likely that Phillip's admiration for the phalanx - which became the backbone of Alexander's later army - came during his time as a hostage in Thebes, where he studied the phalangies, professional soldiers that pre-dated the Roman Legions. Because of their life long status in the military, they were capable of carrying out complex commands and maneuvers that would normally baffle a typical conscription army.

But he also realized that the long spears would not be sufficient to winning a battle - enemies often moved swifter than the lumbering hoplites and the Persians were renown for their high speed, scythed chariots. To buffer his slow-speed phalanxes, Phillip invented the Companion Cavalry - which later proved to be pivotal to Alexander's successes on the battlefield.

In essence, the phalanx would use their long spears to hold an enemy in a position, while the cavalry would sweep around on the flanks, decimating the interlocked sides.

After asserting his authority following a series of disastrous sieges, Phillip II of Macedon was named hegemon of Greece for the impending invasion of Persia, at the helm of the enormous army he had amassed. This was tantamount to naming him King or Emperor of Greece - and was recognized as the surrender it was by the Greek Cities.

Before Phillip was able to carry on the assault on Asia Minor (Anatolia) he was planning to, he was assassinated at the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra - leaving an entire army and empire at the hands of the young Alexander.

It is important to consider that Alexander did not have to begin the preparations for his global conquest that his father had to. At the young age of 20, he had an entire lifetime ahead of him - with none of the logistical hassle or political in-fighting that could hinder all of this. While Alexander's achievements need not be downplayed, it is important to ask the question:

What would have happened to the world if he were required to build an army instead of simply apply one of the most advanced in the modern world with no restraints?

References:

http://faq.macedonia.org/history/philip.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/alexander/g/philipmacedon.htm
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Bios/PhilipII.html