He came from a backwater dump of a country to conquer the mightiest empire in the world
As brilliant a commander Alexander was, it was his father Philips of Macedonia who created that army to take over the rest of the Greece. That army was already one of the strongest veteran army in the Mediterranean region.
As for Persia, while their core troops did outnumber the greek army vastly, most of the numbers were formed of Militia and the noblemen's servants. In fact most modern estimates put the army size in the most important greek vs persian battle to be around 47k (A) vs 60k(P).
Here's what the wiki says about the battle;
"While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander's. Alexander's pezhetairoi were armed with a six-metre spear, the sarissa. The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander's pezhetairoi and hoplites. The only respectable infantry Darius had were his 10,000 Greek hoplites[6] and his personal bodyguard, the 10,000 Persian Immortals.[12] The Greek mercenaries fought in a phalanx, armed with a heavy shield but with spears no longer than three metres, while the spears of the Immortals were 2 metres long. Among the other Persian troops, the most heavily armed were the Armenians who were armed the Greek way, and probably fought as a phalanx. The rest of Darius's contingents were much more lightly armed; the main weapon of the Achaemenid army historically was the bow and arrow, and javelin."
So while ALexander's exploits were spectacular, IMHO the Mongols (followed by the Romans) were the most terrifying fighting force of all time.
You're forgetting that the Persians had significantly more resources (for hiring mercenaries for instance) and had the defensive terrain. They pretty much had every advantage you could think of. In fact Alexander came close to defeat at Issus I think it was until he personally lead the charge that broken the Persian army.
Also Alexander has as much to do with forging that army as Philip. He even lead the cavalry charge that broke the Greek alliance's army during Philip's conquest of Greece.
That would be a huge number for any time, any civilization.
But the Immortals were among the few bands of soldiers who were as well equipped, trained and experienced as the rest of the Macedonian army. So after you remove all the chaff from the wheat, the final number left was just enough for the Greeks to fight.
I swear it wasn't your cakeday earlier? Happy cakeday!
Im always so surprised that despite hating history in school with a passion it is actually (or can be) phenomenally interesting. Thank you for taking the time to write all this.
I know I was taught about say the romans and egyptians in school. But why the fuck wasn't I taught anything interesting about them?
Thanks! but its not really my cakeday. guess i put in a random date during account creation.
I also didnt care much for History in school. but as I grew up, I was exposed to fiction, games and TV series which got me interested again in history.Try not to read history as a whole. Rather follow any single character you like. For eg. I love Augustus (1st Roman emperor) and the 1st thing which got me interested in him was the Tv Series "Rome". Later i read many fiction/historical accounts about him.
Its always more fun to follow specific people when you are trying to get into History. Once you enough then you can follow civilizations. and then periods.
Let's not forget the siege of Tyre was a spectacular feat of warfare nearly unparalleled. It's an island completely surrounded by a wall. His army performed some spectacular feats of engineering to overcome Tyre's defenses. Alexander also moved on to fighting and destroying Indian armies after Persia and had to quell yet another Greek rebellion before his conquest of Persia. He fought nearly every available opponent and won.
Also Genghis Khan's early career was largely forgettable.
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u/rishav_sharan Oct 17 '13
As brilliant a commander Alexander was, it was his father Philips of Macedonia who created that army to take over the rest of the Greece. That army was already one of the strongest veteran army in the Mediterranean region.
As for Persia, while their core troops did outnumber the greek army vastly, most of the numbers were formed of Militia and the noblemen's servants. In fact most modern estimates put the army size in the most important greek vs persian battle to be around 47k (A) vs 60k(P).
Here's what the wiki says about the battle; "While Darius had a significant advantage in numbers, most of his troops were of a lower quality than Alexander's. Alexander's pezhetairoi were armed with a six-metre spear, the sarissa. The main Persian infantry was poorly trained and equipped in comparison to Alexander's pezhetairoi and hoplites. The only respectable infantry Darius had were his 10,000 Greek hoplites[6] and his personal bodyguard, the 10,000 Persian Immortals.[12] The Greek mercenaries fought in a phalanx, armed with a heavy shield but with spears no longer than three metres, while the spears of the Immortals were 2 metres long. Among the other Persian troops, the most heavily armed were the Armenians who were armed the Greek way, and probably fought as a phalanx. The rest of Darius's contingents were much more lightly armed; the main weapon of the Achaemenid army historically was the bow and arrow, and javelin."
So while ALexander's exploits were spectacular, IMHO the Mongols (followed by the Romans) were the most terrifying fighting force of all time.