Special Question

Special Question: Please write a five paragraph essay on the question: Was Alexander's adventure really worth it? In your body paragraphs, you must cite specific examples to back up your thesis -- examples must include one from each of the following: Egypt, Persepolis, Afghanistan, India. Due Friday.

What was Alexander searching for in his huge conquest? Was he hoping to make a new world of his own, or just focused on being better than everyone else? Hopefully in this essay these questions will be answered. In this essay, the topics that will be examined and talked about are all of Alexander’s reigns and conquer in Egypt, Persepolis, Afghanistan, and India. Alexander’s allies and competitors will be mentioned. Egypt will be the first place mentioned.

Alexander spent several months in Egypt. He stayed here against the Persian Empire and their leader Darius. Alexander came to Egypt after conquering a northern Persian Empire. (Fildes, 1)This part in Alexander’s adventure was worth it. He needed this to conquer the rest of the Persian Empire. He stayed here in Egypt to think about future plans and create a good base for himself and future conquests. After he finished his plans, his army traveled about one hundred and thirty miles to reach the town of Pelusium. They traveled this distance in only a week. After this, Alexander continued to make allies and foes in different places, and probably did not return to Egypt for some time. (Fildes, 2) In Egypt, Alexander’s conquest might not have been worth it, but going to Egypt was definitely an essential part of his journey and conquest.

In the year of 330 B.C., Alexander reached Persepolis. Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander wrecked much havoc in Persepolis. He was extremely upset with the fact that he was still not the Persian Empire, so he destroyed many temples and palaces. (Lendering) At this point Alexander’s journey became a little bit more worth it. If he was going to conquer everywhere, everyone, and everything that belonged to the Persian Empire, and he was already this far, than why wouldn’t he continue. Persepolis was one if not the most wealthy cities under the sun in that time. According to the article by Jona Lendering, “The Macedonians rushed into it, killing all the men and plundering the houses, which were numerous and full of furniture and precious objects of every kind.”(Lendering) The Macedonians carried away women and all of the jewels. (Lendering) this was a very vicious act of Alexander. At this point his journey should not have been worth it. Is it really worth it to force women and children out of their homes and kill everyone in sight. The answer is no. If Alexander was after the Persian Empire, why didn’t he go straight to Darius himself? Alexander was obviously confident and cocky so it should have been no problem for him to go and win his Empire.

Alexander conquered Afghanistan in about three years. These three years took place from 330-327 B.C. Even though Alexander was only in Afghanistan for 3 years, he left evidence of his being there. The traditions and cultures that he left still lasted many years after his leaving. (The Library of Congress) Afghanistan did not get its control back until about thirty years after Alexander’s death. Surprisingly, it was not even Afghanistan who took itself back over. It was an Indian group that took position as Afghanistan’s owner. The Indian group was formed by the Mauryan Empire. (The Library of Congress) This kind of shows that Alexander’s conquest was not entirely worth it. Sure, he won back all of these places for himself and his father, and in a way it was worth it for himself, but these conquests never stuck. They lasted for a while and we hear about them today, but Alexander’s successors did not continue the reign. In a way this shows that Alexander did not sit down and plan everything. He obviously did not plan well enough for people of his blood to continue his reign. This part is based off of opinion though, and there are most likely many other people that disagree with this. I think that if Alexander came back today he would be unhappy. He would want everything to still be in his control. Although, he probably would be happy that people still talk about it today.

In 327 B.C., Alexander found India. Alexander first invaded a part of India called Punjab. When Alexander invaded, Punjab was ruled by a man by the name of Porus. He was not the only ruler though; there were many princes that were at a lower position than him. The princes clearly did not agree with Alexander, because they happily welcomed him to come in and defeat Porus. They had been wanted to turn and attack him for a while, but when Porus got word of Alexander coming to conquer him, he gathered a large army to fight Alexander. The battle began, and the Greeks were faced with elephants. In the end, Alexander came out on top when Porus surrendered. After the war Alexander and Porus became good friends. (Marshall) Alexander’s quest was once again worth it because he continued to win and continued to move on. In many ways, this journey was worth it and not worth it as you read in this essay, but overall Alexander did a very good job of conquering. As you can see above, all of Alexander’s conquests were done with one right after the other. He did not waste much time resting and taking breaks. He worked his troops hard and for the most part was a good leader.

Works Cited (APA Format)

Fildes, Alan M., Fletcher, Dr. Hoann. (2011, March 3). Alexander in Egypt. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/alexanderthegreat.htm

Landering, Jona. (1995- 2010). Alexander Sacks Persepolis. http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t12.html

The Library or Congress. (1997, July). Afghanistan, Alexander and the Greek Rule, 330-ca. 150 B.C.  http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_afghanalexander.htm

Marshall, Henrietta Elizabeth. (2011, March 10). Alexander the Great Invades India. http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/alexander.htm