Alexander The Great: The 3 Biggest Ways He Impacted The World

Born	2oth July, 356 BC
Died	10th of June, 323 BC
Famous Quote	“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Known For	Connecting the west and east, spreading culture and knowledge, great general.
Area Of Influnce	Greece, Rome, Italy, Europe, India, Persia, North Africa

Alexander The Great’s impact upon the world can’t be understated. At the age of 20 the young Alexander would inherit the throne of the Greek kingdom of Macedon. Unlike previous kinds, Alexander would take the title of general and spend a majority of his life conquering lands from Greece to India.

Even though Alexander lived almost two millennia ago we can still feel the effect of his actions to this day. Of which here are the 3 biggest ways Alexander The Great impacted the world.

First, Alexander The Great joined the western and eastern worlds through conquest. Second, Alexander The Great spread Greek culture and tradition which lives on today. Third, Alexander’s military tactics have impacted all major wars.

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Without further ado, here are the 3 biggest ways Alexander The Great impacted the world.

1: Alexander The Great Joined The Western And Eastern Worlds Through Conquest

Upon becoming king of Macedon Alexander would muster his army to unite first all of Greece and then strive to conquer the known world.

Once Alexander commanded a sizable force in 334 BC he would cross the Hellespont (barrier between Asia and Europe) with 54,000 Greek soldiers.

From here Alexander would go on to conquer the long standing Persian Empire, the arch rival of the Greek city states.

Alexander would ultimately conquer and assimilate the Persians along with Egypt and India. At its height the empire of Alexander The Great stretched from Greece to the modern border of China.

Every place that Alexander would conquer would begin to adapt Greek culture into their own. This drastically increased the spread of Hellenistic culture and ideas across the known world.

For the first time the people of Athens could spread their knowledge across the world. It was not long before the scholars of India and Greece would share ideas, or the merchants of Egypt would begin to trade with Greece.

Alexander The Great joined the western world and the eastern world. The same roads that Alexander used would continue to be used up until the modern day. These routes allowed trade to begin to flourish between the west and the east.

Over the next 1,000 years Alexander’s work would allow explorers, merchants, scholars, politicians, and generals from both the east and west to seek their glory in the other sphere.

Simply put, Alexander The Great created the first international trade network.

2: After Alexander The Greek Traditions and Culture Spread Across the World

Every place that Alexander The Great went would experience Greek or Hellenistic culture. This created a rapid diffusion of ideas and fostered the spread of the arts, academia, and sciences across the world.

Other cultures besides the Greek’s were experimenting with their own academics. However upon Alexander’s arrival the academics of non-Greek cultures would experience a revolution of ideas and concepts.

From Greece can ideas of Democracy, Astronomy, Physics, Medicine, Mathematics, and Engineering. The non Greek cultures would internalize these ideas and mix them with their own.

The above image is a primary source in Arabic from the 13th century outlying the Greek Philosopher Socrates teaching students. This just shows how much influence Greek culture spread because of Alexander The Great.

Because of Alexander The Great’s conquest, over the coming centuries some of the greatest minds flourished in the middle east and India. An example of this can be seen in the architectural work of the Great Mosque of Damascus.

This mosque was influenced and built by craftsmen from Persia, India, Greek, and northern Africa. This is not only the regions that Alexander The Great conquered but also during the 2nd century BC saw an explosion of Hellenicity. (notice the Roman/Greek columns holding the Qubbat al-Khazna.)

Without Alexander The Great Greek ideas and culture would have failed to spread across the world. A result of this might have been a decrease in learning or even an age of lost ideas.

3: Generals To This Day Study Alexander The Great’s Military Tactics

Alexander The Great earned his nickname from never losing a battle. Alexander never suffered defeat due to any other reason than his Macedonian military tactics.

Tactics which to this day are still taught to commanders across the world. Alexander was ahead of his time. His opponents would raise an army of undisciplined feudal units while Alexander would create professional soldiers.

Discipline alone however would not be enough. Alexander was the first western general that we know of to implement what would come to be called Blitzkrieg. A German word meaning “An intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory.”

Simply put, Alexander’s military campaigns were designed to be ruthless and incredibly short. To do this Alexander trained his troops to march continuously and rapidly deploy.

While on the battlefield Alexander would position his striking force in the middle and protect its flanks with light cleverly. This created an impenetrable force that would slowly move forward.

On top of this Alexander recognized that his army was composed of soldiers who spoke different languages and came from different cultures. Alexander The Great needed a way to unify them under one banner.

As a result, Alexander would take direct command in the field. His troops saw their commander performing the same march, movements, and actions. This resonated across his units and instilled a higher sense of morality, duty, and discipline.

Today, military commanders around the world are taught to act decisively, protect their striking force, and command as a leader. All of this comes from Alexander The Great’s undefeated 13 year long military command.

Simply put, all subsequent major wars have been influenced by Alexander The Great.

Conclusion

There you have it; 3 big ways that Alexander The Great impacted the world.

Few people have had the transnational impact that Alexander The Great has had. Academia can thank Alexander for increased knowledge, capitalism can thank him for opening up trade between the east and west, and leaders everywhere can thank him for his contribution to leadership and military tactics.

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Further, you can check out some of the other articles below.

Wishing you the best,

Nick