However Alexander's revolution (actually, it was his father Phillip's) was to create the professional soldier. The same concept existed in Greece, and even with the city of Sparta the nature of the army was the same: their army was not a standing army but rather a city of citizens that are trained as warriors from a very young age. Many of them were conscripts that were taken from their lands, given weapons, and told to fight. While other powers, such as Persia, could raise a large army, they were not professional soldiers. One of the differences was that Alexander had developed a standing army. There was no real advanced technology with Alexander, but what there was was a change in the nature of military forces and the tactics that he used. Okay Hitler did the same with Europe, but the difference was that Hitler had tanks and planes, whereas Alexander was limited to horses and chariots. Alexander's claim to fame, as I hope all of you are aware of, is that he pretty much conquered the Middle East in a very short space of time. However, we are looking at Alexander and not Herod.

There were a few reasons, but as far as I am concerned they really do not cover up the fact that this man killed babies.

I once asked somebody why he was earned the moniker 'The Great' when the most famous thing that he did was slaughter all of the children under the age of 2 in the region of Bethlehem. Granted there was Frederick the Great of Prussia, who began the road that led Germany to become a superpower at the turn of the 20th Century, but there is also Herod the Great. He is one of the very few people that have earned the moniker 'the Great' though one should not be too proud of such a moniker. This is not an absolute truth though as during this intervening period we see the rise and decline of the Hellenistic society.Īlexander the Great is a very important person in the development of the Western World. However my sister is an accountant so she is not to know detailed specifics of my interests in the Ancient Greek world and that my interest generally begins to wane after the death of Socrates. My sister bought me this book for Christmas once since she discovered that I liked the Ancient Greek world, though I must admit that this period is a little later than what I generally am interested in.

Alexander the great by robin lane fox