The Great Alexander the Great

            What makes a man truly great? No man is without fault, and in my opinion there has only been one man who walked upon this earth that was without fault. Alexander the Great has often times been described as a megalomaniac, over ambitious, paranoid drunkard who believed in his own divinity. However, I believe that the man has done many things in which to deserve the title "Great. ".
             At an early age Alexander was somewhat of an over achiever. He had conquered territories that were unlikely for his time. He did this without modern technology or weaponry, troop movements were made largely on foot and communications were done face to face. At twenty years old, he already inherited an empire of Macedon after his father, Philip's assassination. In thirteen short years, his empire stretched for three thousand miles. .
             Alexander was a philosophical idealist who strived to create unity in attempting to integrate Persians and Orientals into his administration and army. He had encouraged his commanders and troops to marry Persian women in order to blend their societies. He wanted to spread Greek culture and education. .
             In 334 BC, he invaded Persia and within ten years defeated them. There were three main battles with the Persians. The first, The battle of Granicus was fought not far from the ancient city of Troy. The second battle, a year later in 333 BC was fought in Southern Turkey, near what is now modern-day Syria. In this battle, King Darius led the Persians himself. Using his military genius, Alexander feigned to be intimidated by the vast army that Darius spread along a great plane, and appeared to retreat. Darius gave pursuit and was overcome by Alexander's ploy to lead the large Persian army into a narrow area where the Persian numbers couldn't be used effectively. Facing defeat, Darius had his army retreat. .
             In the time between the second battle and the third and final battle of Gaugamela (also called the Battle of Arbela), he had deprived the Persians of naval bases by moving south along the eastern side of the Mediterranean Sea.