Larry R Thorn, Alexander The Great and Hellenization PDF
Larry R Thorn, Alexander The Great and Hellenization PDF
Larry R Thorn, Alexander The Great and Hellenization PDF
Ancestral Contributions
Alexander was short by our standards. His body was muscular and
fair-skinned. His hair was blonde and worn to about the shoulders. "His
eyes were odd, one being gray-blue and the other dark brown. He had
a somewhat high-pitched voice, which tended to harshness when he was
excited:' 3 He carried his head to the left and up. Of his personality
characteristics Benjamin Ide Wheeler writers,
While it was from his father that Alexander inherited his sagacious
insight into men and things, and his brilliant capacity for timely and
determined action, it was to his mother that he undoubtedly owed his
passionate warmth of nature which betrayed itself not only in the furious
outbursts of temper occasionally characteristic of him, but quite as much
in a romantic fervor of attachment and love for friends, a delicate
tenderness of sympathy for the weak, and a princely largeness and
generosity of soul toward all that made him so deeply loved of men and
so enthusiastically followed.•
Alexander had a greater attachment for his mother than for his father.
He admired his father, but had an underlying competitiveness that may
have revealed itself in his part in the death of his father. Historians describe
Alexander as being concerned that his father would accomplish all there
was to accomplish militarily, leaving nothing for him to achieve.
Educational Advantages
Leonidas, a relative of Alexander's mother, was his first instructor.
An old disciplinarian, Leonidas emphasized feats of endurance which later
proved beneficial for Alexander in his conquests. He was taught music,
reading and writing. "Experts instructed him in the arts of sword-play,
archery and javelin throwing. Like all well-born Macedonian children,
he could ride a horse almost before he could walk:' 5 Lysimachus, assis-
tant or successor of Leonidas, taught Alexander to love and emulate the
heroes of the Illiad. His mother encouraged this since Achilles was claim-
ed as an ancestor of hers. Throughout his campaigns Alexander carried
this book with him and tried to surpass any accomplishments of this
mythological person.
The most interesting feature of Alexander's education was that he
had Aristotle for his teacher from about thirteen until fifteen years of
age. From Aristotle he learned logic, literature and philosophy. Alexander
as may be seen later did not accept Aristotle's view of barbarians. Alex-
ander learned from him to humor the barbarian to win their coopera-
Thornton I Alexander I 2 7
Providential Privileges
Certainly, many providential privileges could be listed which Alex-
ander enjoyed, but of special note are those which existed when he took
the leadership of Macedon. One such providential privilege was Alex-
ander's age of twenty when his father was murdered by Pausanias, a
Macedonian nobleman. If Alexander had been younger and unable to
take the leadership, he might never have had the opportunity because
of power-hungry generals.
A second providential privilege was the privilege to take command
of a well-disciplined, efficient war-machine which his father had prepared.
The army consisted of the phalanx, cavalry, archers, infantry, javelin
throwers and engineers who manned the object-throwing machines.
Still another providential privilege that assisted Alexander to begin
his conquests was the support of philosophers and orators who were tired
of the defects of the various kinds of autonomy prevalent within Greece.
These men agreed that the Greek cities were doomed unless they united
in some common cause like a crusade against the Persians. lsocrates, the
school of Socrates, Xenophon and others encouraged the people to sup-
port such an undertaking as Philip planned.
A final providential privilege was the acquisition of an army who
regarded the king as everything. This was an advantage not true of a com-
mander of a Greek army. Fyffe asserts, "In a Greek army the soldiers were -
the citizens themselves, who as soon as the war was over, returned to their
ordinary life; and the generals were citizens too, and were elected by the
people:' 1 These privileges were providential in the rise of Alexander to
the position of Macedonia's king and captain-general of the Hellenes.
people of Macedon assuring them that only the name of the king had
changed, not the effective administration. Upon hearing of Philip's death,
some Greek states and people on the frontier revolted. Alexander had
been proclaimed as king, but now had to prove it.
Cessation of Revolts
The news of Philip's death caused Athens to award a gold crown to
the king's assassin, though he too had been immediately killed. The
Thebans and Arcadians refused to recognize Alexander's authority. The
people of Thrace and Illyria revolted also.
Rejecting on his accession the advice of those who counselled slow
deliberation in meeting the difficulties which beset him, with a few
masterful strokes he reduced the kingdom of his father to order. 8
With four masterful strokes Alexander brought order to his father's
empire. He first offered Parmenio, a military general who had been sup-
porting Cleopatra, Philip's wife after Olympias, the opportunity to fight
with him with Parmenio's sons as key commanders. This removed the
possibility of enemies gaining his assistance against Alexander. Second-
ly, he put down the uprising of the Thessalians and had himself elected
president of their federation for life. Thirdly, he had himself declared to
be head of the Greek Amphictyonic Council. With Thebes and Athens
submitting, Alexander set out on a campaign to establish his authority
in Thrace and Illyria.
While Alexander was stablizing his frontiers, a false report of his defeat
came to the Greek cities. The Thebans revolted with arms and money
supplied by Demosthenes and the government of Athens. Upon his return
Alexander marched to Thebes with lighting quickness. Offered a chance
to reaffirm their support, the Thebans refused. The city was captured by
Alexander's forces and the siege-engines. It was razed, the captives sold
and the Theban exiles were outlawed from all Greece. This final decisive
action struck fear into all who entertained thoughts of revolt. Alexander
now had his home base somewhat settled so he could look to the cam-
paign against Persia.
Conquering of Persia
Leaving Pella in the spring of 334 Alexander led his forces across the
Dardanelles without interference from Darius' Phoenician navy. He per-
formed a number of acts copying both Achilles his hero and Xerxes, the
Persian whose actions he intended to repay. A number of the Greek towns
of Asia Minor welcomed him as a liberator. With supplies low, Alexander
hoped for a set battle quickly. His wish was fulfilled.
Battle of Granicus, 334 BC. A council of war was called by the
Cilician seaboard and Spithridates of Lydia and Ionia, east of the Granicus
River. The scorched-earth policy of Memnon of Rhodes which would have
Thornton I Alexander I 29
forced Alexander back for provisions where he would find the Persians
with a navy and army causing war in Greece and Macedon was rejected.
It was a good thing for Alexander. The Persians positioned themselves
on the eastern bank of the Granicus River. To the army of Alexander
it was a death trap. Peter Green following Diodorus tells how this situa-
tion was changed:
Under cover of darkness-probably leaving all campfires ablaze to
deceive the Persians-the army marched downstream till a suitable ford
was found. Here they bivouacked for a few hours. The crossing began
at dawn. While it was still in progress, Arsites' scouts gave the alarm.
Several regiments of cavalry hastily galloped down to the ford, hoping
to catch Alexander's troops at a disadvantage-as they had done the
previous afternoon. This time however, they were too late. The Persians
wisely retreated. Alexander got the rest of his columns across at leisure,
and then deployed in battle-formation. 9
The battle that ensued was furiously fought with Alexander's 43,000
infantry and 6,000 plus cavalry against the Persians' 30,000 men and
15-16,000 cavalry. During the battle Alexander was struck on the head
so that the scalp was opened. "Black" Cleitus saved his life by killing his
attacker when Alexander fell to the ground. Alexander struggled back
on his horse to rally the men to finish the battle. The battle was finally
won with the phalanx delivering a frontal assault. Memnon, the Greek
mercenary, escaped to plague Alexander further. With this defeat Darius
now took Alexander's Persian campaign seriously, if he had not before.
Battle of lssus, 333 BC. A number of significant events took place
after the battle at the Granicus and before the battle of Issus. (1) The
Greek cities of Asia Minor were permitted a democratic government which
would join the Hellenic League. (2) The cities of Milletus and Halicar-
nassus were taken. (3) Alexander received news of Memnon's death caus-
ed by sickness. This caused the threat of an invasion of Greece by the
Persians to be very remote. Alexander had already sent home most of
his fleet at a calculated risk. W W Tarn tells why he did this.
In deciding to conquer the Persian fleet on land, he did not merely
mean depriving it of bases; it might seize a base, as it did at Mitylene.
But his proclamation of democracy had shaken the Greek half of the
fleet to its foundations; for each city's squadron was manned from the
poorer democrats and would slip away home when its city was freed.' 0
Alexander had made a wise decision and with Memnon dead the
threat was certainly remote. (4) After passing through the Cilician Gates
virtually unopposed, Alexander arrived at Tarsus where he became sick
with acute pneumonia after a plunge into a cold stream while he had
some kind of bronchial infection.1 1 After three days he had recovered
enough to show himself to the troops to keep their morale up. In the mean-
time, Darius awaited reinforcements from Babylon.
30 I Calvary Baptist Theological Journal I Spring 1988
of Darius. Darius had learned from the two defeats his army's weakness.
"Darius had 34,000 front line cavalry to Alexander's 7,250: no amount
of strategy-or so it might have been thought-could get around that basic
fact:' 21 After studying the positions of the Persian forces, Alexander worked
out an excellent plan. Peter Green explains:
Alone in hi~ lamp-lit tent, by sheer intuitive genius, he had invented
a tactical plan that was to be imitated, centuries afterwards, by
Marlborough at Blenheim and Napoleon at Austerlitz, but which no
other general had hitherto conceived. To reduce the vast numerical odds
against him, and to create an opening for his decisive charge, he plan-
ned to draw as many Persian cavalry units as possible away from the
center, into engagement with his flank-guards. When the flanks were
fully committed, he would strike at Darius' weakened center. 22
The plan worked beautifully and once again the Persians were beaten
with Darius escaping. Charles Robinson Jr evaluates this battle by say-
ing, "Their fierce struggle can be fairly acclaimed as the greatest battle
in antiquity, since it decided the course of all subsequent history:' 23
Wine has been cited as his downfall. Peter Green writes that Alex-
ander was drinking so heavily as to cause his Greek doctor serious con-
cern. 32 Yet Laistner rejects this.
But in June he contracted a fever from which, worn out as he was
by his tremendous exertions, not by the intemperance which later detrac-
tors with insufficient proof have attributed to him, he never recovered. 33
Ancient sources all record a tradition that Alexander was poisoned.
Wealth could have been the cause because once it was Alexander's
he did not have to deal with people and soldiers as men, but things to
buy. However, after the riches of Persia were his, Alexander still respond-
ed to people as he had before. The latter part of his years of conquest
seem to show a man consumed with the pride of his own ability and
achievements. He may have pushed himself beyond his own ability dis-
regarding human sickness. Alexander the Great departed this life on June
10, 323 BC at the age of thirty-two.
agree with Fyffe's words, "In bravery, determination and high spirit, no
man ever surpassed him:' 36
Zeal for Hellenization. A common viewpoint pictures Alexander
as a missionary for Hellenism. George Botsford writes, "His mission was
to make Hellenic civilization the common property of mankind. This he
accomplished:' 37 Still many would agree with the words of William Hale.
Yet while he took with him the forms of Greek culture wherever
he went, he had implanted little of its traditional substance: this was
the tragedy of the conqueror who, for all of Aristotle's tutelage, had
himself learned only its vaneer, and (as his readiness to change himself
into an oriental despot showed) had never penetrated his heart. 38
With whichever one agrees, a person must admit that the tremendous
Hellenizing influence of Alexander changed the world.
Accomplishments of administration. Some historians laud Alex-
ander's abilities as an administrator. Charles Robinson Jr notes,
His solution essentially was to take over the existing forms of govern-
ment and to assume a different relation to the various sections of the
empire, much in the manner of the British monarch of a later day. In
one part of the world, that is to say, he became king, in another a general
elected for life or a suzerain or a god or the adopted son of a native ruler. 39
Yet, some historians agree with the Roman emperor Augustus' astonish-
ment "that Alexander did not regard it a greater task to set in order the
empire which he had won than to win it:'•O Alexander's constant prob-
lems with Greece and the satrapies of Asia revealed the lack of a good
administrative program.
Father of one-race, one-world concepts. From a prayer by Alex-
ander at Opis in 324 BC, after he and his men were reconciled, has come
the thought that Alexander championed one-race, one-world concepts.
E M Blaiklock points out.
Alexander's policies of union with the 'barbarians' may have been
no more than the bold grasping of necessity, but so revolutionary were
they to Greek sentiment that he at once became the symbol of a new
ideal of mankind as one brotherhood.4 1
The author agrees with Peter Green on this subject who says, "It is
idle to palliate this central truth, to pretend that he dreamed, in some
mysterious fashion, of wading through rivers of blood and violence to
achieve the Brotherhood of Man:'• 2 Men are reading their liberal con-
cepts into the life of Alexander the Great when they claim him as the
champion of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man
concepts.
lized and was not so much by intention, but natural action. R W Moss
declares,
Alexander's greatest work was the spread of Greek influence, less
from set purpose than as a result of his methods of recruiting his armies
and organizing his conquests, and in ways that made this influence per-
manent and controlling. • 3
Whatever the motive, the spread of Hellenism was a result of Alex-
ander's short years. There were at least five actions of Alexander that ac-
count for the spread of Hellenism: the founding of cities, the minting
of money, the training of soldiers, intermarriage, and the financial sup-
port of Greek arts and sciences.
Founding of cities. Some seventy cities supposedly founded for the
spread of Hellenism have been credited to Alexander. These cities were
populated with captives, natives and war veterans no longer able to follow
their general. The purpose of the founding and the number of the cities
are in question. F E Peters asserts that most of the cities were only military
garrisons and credit for cities which his successors founded probably has
been given to him. 44 Stating the purpose of Alexander's founding of the
cities, C A Fyffe asserts,
With the exception of Alexandria, the colonies which Alexander
founded were settlements of soldiers in remote districts, for the pur-
pose of keeping the empire in subjection, not of making it Greek. 45
W W Tarn questions the number of cities founded.
He is said to have founded over 70, but that is a great exaggeration;
16 Alexandrias are certain, another (Alexandretta) practically certain,
and there are one or two more perhaps just possible, together with an
unknown number of military colonies. 46
The fact remains that cities and military garrisons were founded which
encouraged the spread of Hellenism. In Egypt it was quarantined in the
protected atmosphere of Alexandria, but in the Seleucid heartland it was
scattered over the land by cities and military colonies.
Minting of money. Hellenism was spread by commercial intercourse
stimulated by Alexander's monetary reforms. The Persian gold standard
was abolished. Uniform silver currency based on the Attic standard was
issued from a number of mints in his empire. 47
Training of soldiers. In order for non-Greek speaking men to func-
tion properly in Alexander's army, they needed to learn Greek and some
of the ways of the Greeks. Before his journey into India thirty thousand
native youths were recruited to be taught the Greek language and given
military training. 48 Though Hellenism was spread this way, problems of
jealousy arose between the Macedonians and the Persian trained soldiers.
Intermarriage. Though historians may differ on Alexander's motive
for encouraging the intermarriage of Macedonians and Asians, it is never-
theless true that this happened.
Thornton I Alexander I 3 7
At Susa too a great feast was held to celebrate the conquest of the
Persian empire, at which Alexander and 80 of his officers married girls
of the Iranian aristocracy... At the same time 10,000 of the troops mar-
ried their native concubines. 49
Through marriage the men would share their culture and possibly
settle in Asia. It is thought that little for Hellenism came as a result of
these actions, for many bridegrooms died and many after Alexander's death
repudiated their Asiatic wives. 50
Financial support of Greek arts and sciences. Using the wealth
from his conquests, Alexander not only enjoyed luxury while he paid
his huge army, but he supported the Greek arts and sciences. Philip Van
Ness Myers writes,
He had fine tastes, and liberally encouraged art, science, and
literature. Apelles, Praxiteles, and Lysippus had in him a munificent
patron, and to his preceptor Aristotle he sent large collections of natural-
history objects, gathered in his extended expeditions. 51
Though Hellenism seemingly was encouraged and spread by these
actions, it was affected for evil by the luxury and vices of the Oriental
nations so that corrupted Greece corrupted Rome; thus, the civilization
of antiquity was undermined. 52
An Empire of Divide
When Alexander died, his empire included Macedonia, Greece, all
or part of present day Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Libya,
Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Soviet Central Asia, Pakistan and
India. 55 The variety of Alexander's administration over various parts of
his empire and the ambition of his generals led to the division of the em-
pire. For a time a compromise arrangement existed between the nationalist
supporters of Arrhidaeus, Philip Ill, and the general staff that backed the
infant Alexander IV. This came to an end when Cassander liquidated
Roxane and her thirteen year old son (310). 56 The struggle then ensued
38 I Calvary Baptist Theological Journal I Spring 1988
between Alexander's generals until finally most of the empire was con-
trolled by descendants of Ptolemy I and Seleucus I. It was an amazing
feat for Alexander to acquire such an empire in less than thirteen years.
The Meaning of Alexander the Great in God's Program
The meaning of the life of Alexander the Great in God's program
may be understood by considering Alexander in the prophecy of God
and the providence of God.
Alexander in the Prophecies of God
Throughout his life Alexander sought divine omens concerning his
activities and future plans, but to the understanding of the author he
never looked at or was shown the Scriptural prophecies concerning himself.
Scriptures describe Alexander's kingdom as an extensive kingdom of brass
in the image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Dan 2:32,39). The activities of
the founder of this third kingdom in the destruction of the city of Tyre
are revealed in God's Word (Ezek 26:1-6). So detailed is the prophecy of
God that Alexander's characteristic method of conquest, his source of
origin, his victory over Persia, his attitude toward the Persian empire, his
self-willed actions, his greatness, his untimely death, the division of his
empire, the strength of his successors and the extent of their authority
are given (Dan 8:5-7, 21-22; 11:2-4). Commenting on Tarn's high praise
of Alexander, John Walvoord writes, "The divine view of Greece is less
complimentary than that of secular historians. God's view is different from
man's:' 57 That Alexander had a place in God's program is surely evidenc-
ed by the detailed prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel which were given over
200 years before Alexander's birth.
Table of Dates
346
356 March: embassy to Philip from Athens
Alexander born in Pella. The exact date Halus besieged by Parmenio
is not known, but probably either 20 April: Peace of Philocrates ratified
or 26 July Second Athenian embassy held up till
Philip captures Potidaea July
Parmenio defeats Paeonians and July: Philip occupies Thermopylae
lllyrians August: Philip admitted to seat on Am-
354 phictyonic Council and presides over
Demosthenes attacks idea of a 'crusade Pythian Games
against Persia' lsocrates publishes Philippus
Mid-summer: Philip captures Methane, 344
loses an eye in the battle Philip appointed Archon of Thessaly for
352 life
Artabazus and Memnon refugees with 343
Philip, who now emerges as potential Non-aggression pact between Philip and
leader of crusade against Persia Artaxerxes Ochus
351 Trial and acquittal of Aeschines
Philip's fleet harassing Athenian 343/2
shipping Aristotle invited to Macedonia as Alex-
Demosthenes' First Philippic ander's tutor
348 342/1
August: Philip captures Olynthus Olympias' brother Alexander succeeds
Aeschines' attempt to unite Greek states to throne of Epirus with Philip's
against Philip fails backing
40 I Calvary Baptist Theological Journal I Spring 1988