Alexander the great was one of the greatest emperors the world has seen. He conquered world’s biggest armies, kingdoms and rules. He was also the role model for many great conquerors and emperors that came after him including for Julius Caesar.
In fact, it is said that Julius Caesar wept in front of the statue of the Macedonian emperor, Alexander, and when asked for the reason he said at my age of 32 years, Alexander had conquered the whole world, while I am yet to do anything noteworthy.
However, Alexander the great, after conquering almost all the known world, returned from India without conquering it.
What could be the reason?
Firstly, Alexander had conquered armies far bigger than of Indian kingdoms.
For example, he had conquered Babylonia, Persia and Mesopotamia before he reached India. Secondly, Alexander was a much better and strategic leader compared to all the other rules of Indian kingdoms at that time. He had even conquered one of the greatest emperors of the time,
Darius III of Persia. Lastly, Alexander had already conquered more than 3 million square miles of land, which even the greatest emperors of India could even dream of.
With all these advantages, why was Alexander not able to conquer India? My three theories are below. Firstly, Alexander’s army might have been home sick after so many years of expeditions which took them from far far away Macedonia all the way to India.
They were on the battle fields for almost 10 years and now they wanted to go back and see their parents, wives and children. Secondly, Alexander’s army wandered for two years before they could get into India.
They wandered across rivers and mountains and deserts, before they could cross over to India. Hence, they might have been really tired.
Lastly, many soldiers in Alexander’s army were either injured from their last war in Persia or they have been hungry and tired.
Hence, many of them could have rebelled against Alexander to return home. Hence, he might have thought it is not worth it and might have decided to go back rather than take all the troubles and keep up with his conquests.
Women empowerment in Sparta:
Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia, a region located in Ancient Greece.
However, one of the most important aspects of its success is that during a time when the world began to curtail women, Sparta held women in high positions and made sure that they held property, and contributed to the Spartan economy.
Because Spartan men were often absent from the city-state during wars, including the city's two kings. Women were required to hold higher positions to help govern the city.
Alexander the Great is one of the greatest military commanders in world history. In 12 years, from a small kingdom in Macedonia, he built an empire extending from Greece to northwestern India.
But after achieving so much, his most excellent military strategy is something seen commonly and used by many empires throughout history.
Alexander's favourite military strategy was to have his troops maintain a tight rectangular formation. All his soldiers would wield a spear, sometimes as long as five metres made of shared metal-tipped wood.
How to make life from grass:
While Genghis Khan was on his conquest of the known world, he discovered that in many areas, the terrain made it very difficult to gather food and drink.
Initially, this was a minor issue as the army of Genghis had packed enough to last them. But over time resources started to deplete.
When another great conqueror, Alexander the Great faced a similar issue, he was forced to burn his treasury and order his officials to do the same to save space for resources.
Genghis Khan is believed by most to be the most brilliant leader in all of history. In the words of British historian John Man - Genghis needed magic social skills, persuasiveness, and a high yet flexible sense of morality to sculpt himself as history's most successful conqueror.
Using just this and his vision for a world unified under his name, Genghis was able to in just 40 years from an outcast build the largest land empire. Four times the size of that of Alexander the great's and twice as big as that of Rome.
Today, Genghis's brutal ways and his superior skills, make us wonder whether building modern corporate unicorns or persuading thousands and millions to go into war can both be called leadership?
At the age of 32, Alexander the Great had conquered the entire known world at the time amounting to 2 million square miles. However, before he could conquer more, after falling ill he mysteriously died. Till today this has been history's greatest mystery.
Since then, historians have debated the causes of his death. Rumours of causes of his death include malaria, typhus, alcohol poisoning, and murder. However, in a new theory, it is believed that Alexander died due to a neurological disorder known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).
Guillain-Barre Syndrome occurs when the immune system attacks the nerves. This condition might be triggered by an acute viral infection. Many believe that because of this condition Alexander was paralysed and announced dead before he actually was.
How a mispronounced word re-named a country:
Marco Polo was an Italian explorer known for helping the Mongol emperor of China, Kublai Khan on expanding his realm.
He became the most important explorer in the court of Kublai Khan. Today, he is credited for being one of the most influential explorers of all time.
When Marco Polo visited the Island of Mogadishu, Somalia, he mispronounced Mogadishu as 'Madagascar'.