Could Alexander the Great have conquered the world?

Born in 356 BCE. Dead in 323 BCE. Alexander the Great had conquered around half the known world and left his Empire at the age of 32. Often referred to as “The greatest conqueror who had ever lived,” Alexander unified Greece under the banner of Macedon and destroyed the Persian Empire. Alexander was invincible. He fought in 20 large battles and sieges, over a hundred ambushes and minor skirmishes, and won them all. Never losing a single battle in his life. Apart from to the bottle, or so the theory goes. Alexander probably died of typhoid or malaria, as this was common in ancient Babylon. Though many have speculated that he may have been poisoned or may have drank himself to death, there is no firm evidence to support either of those claims. Before his death, he made plans to extend his Empire further, yet the never came to fruition, which begs the question: Could he have conquered the rest of the world?

The world

In the 4^thcentury BCE, the world was not what it is today. Alexander would have learned of land beyond the Nile from Aristotle and would have seen further than the Hyphasis in his travels. The Americas are obviously not involved in this calculation of the world as they had not yet been discovered by Columbus or the rumoured Viking before him. The West would extend to India and China, both of which will be discussed later. The Eastern side of the world have included Rome and most of Europe. As it is unreasonable to consider that Alexander could have taken over every-last square kilometre on the planet. I will take the known world from Rome to China, including India. This is because the Macedonian cartographers in the 4^thcentury would not have known much beyond those places and as they are the largest threat to him, that is the regions I will consider. See below a

Alexander’s intentions

When Alexander joined the army with his father, Phillip II, they had two goals:

1. Subdue the rest of Greece
2. Get revenge on the Persian Empire for their subjugation of Macedonia

Alexander did the first one with relative ease. After his father was assassinated, by a bodyguard and rumoured lover, Alexander decided to finish their goal of joining the rest of Greece under his Empire to be. Sparta, Athens and Thebes (all boasting pompous military histories of their own) believed that Alexander was young and naïve. He took his Macedonian Army down to all these nations and fully encapsulated them into the Macedonian rule. However, he had to leave around 1/3 of his army to keep Greece for rebelling from his rule. His revenge and first goal had been accomplished.

Secondly, Phillip II had plans to invade Persia for a while. His trusted General, Parmenion, was by Alexander’s side, to fulfil this goal along with the young conqueror. Alexander took his relatively small, 32,000+, men and conquered Persia. In a feat of both tactical and strategic brilliance, the young King was able to destroy the Worlds only superpower. While Alexander was undoubtedly brilliant, he was also lucky. His friend, Cleitus, saved his life at the Battle of the Granicus after he recklessly charged down his archnemesis, Darius III. If it were not for Cleitus dismembering the arm of Alexander’s assailant, the Persian Empire would not have fallen to Alexander. Alexander was lucky. A great strategist and warrior, but also a lucky man. After completing this goal of subduing Persia, he wanted to venture further. He may not have even seen himself as a Conquer at this time, believing himself his Empire to be inchoate. Alexander would have travelled further than the Hypasis if he could have, but his men were on the brink of mutiny. Some had already fled from his army. He had no choice but to end his decade long campaign. On the way back, he died in the city of Babylon. The arriviste was thirsty for more, yet his life was cut short. His two life ambitions, however, had been achieved. Would he truly have gone further? Judging by his lionized personality, I would wager that he would have wanted to go further. He supposedly planned to go further West after he had returned to Macedon for a while, but would he have been able to do it? I will attempt to answer in the forthcoming sections. Below is a map of the territory that Alexander conquered for reference.

Alexander’s army

As aforementioned, Alexander had almost suffered a mutiny at the Hyphasis. He wanted to cross the river and continue onto a large portion of India. He wanted to take the Ganges. Alternatively, his men did not. They had been away from their wives and children for a decade, with many dying along the way. Alexander tried to rally his men by telling them that he would not force them to cross, that they should follow him out of their own volition. He believed that this would change their mind. It did not. Alexander had never fully had to deal with a mutiny before. He may have had to deal with revolts now and then, but never a full mutiny. He saw that none of his men ere going to come with him. They were angered by his outburst at them. This did not stop him, he made sacrifices to cross the river, but they came back as a forewarning. He summoned a meeting with his eldest and most favourite companions and decided to turn around.

He further suffered another mutiny. At Opis in 324 BCE. His men were annoyed with his orientalism, a problem I will address later. He managed to rally his men via a speech that can be listened to on youtube. To adumbrate, his men wanted to go home, and he did not. It is possible that he would have had less men if he set out on another campaign (theorizing if he lived) thus we can assume, he would have had a weaker fighting force.

However, this force may have been smaller, but perhaps not weaker. The Macedonian phalanx is renowned for its fighting prowess. It was created b Phillip II and left for Alexander. This fighting force seems almost modern with its tactics and improvisation. It makes his battles almost indubitably the best in terms of employed strategy. The reason that this army was so powerful is because of the formation, see below:

This elite unit could handle infantry with ease as any short sword would be unable to get close enough to attack it. They had shields to deal with ranged attacks and would open their ranks to allow cavalry through, then simply kill it once inside. The Macedonians had an army a century ahead of their time. If Alexander was able to recruit more men, he would have stood a fighting chance against any foe, the strength of his army was great, and it would take a great enemy to stop him.

Alexander’s mental health

Alexander was an anxious individual, as one must be in a case of extreme power. There were multiple assassination attempts on his life and multiple times when he almost, accidentally, killed himself. He was once shot in the chest by an arrow when atop a wall in Multan. He recklessly charged up with only his bodyguards (known as the Somatophylakes) to defend him. He was shot by a powerful longbow at a relatively short range with mobile armour. It’s a shock that he even lived.  Alexander had numerous of these encounters, almost dying several times. It was a miracle that he made it to 32. It is apposite to mention that this sort of thing may have happened further along his journey. The longer the conquest, the higher the chance. This may have been his undoing, yet it is just probability, he may have survived nonetheless.

Furthermore, Alexander’s men mutinied in Opis due to his orientalism. Alexander was seen as a heroic figure and less of a conqueror by many parts in Persia and Egypt, welcoming him as a “Son of God” into their most sacred of places: The Oracle of Siwa Oasis. He married a few Persian princesses and made his generals do the same. He took up wearing Persian garments and surrounding himself with high ranking Persian officials. If he wanted to conquer the world, he was going to have to change how he treated his native culture.

In addition, Alexander was a distraught man at the time of his death. His best friend (and supposed lover) Hephaestion had died a year before him. This destroyed the young Alexander and caused him to go into a drinking rage that some believed ended his life. He had previously lost his fabled horse, Bucephalus, while travelling along the Hyphasis. This horse was said to be untameable until alexander attempted it when he was only a teenager. He erected a town in its honour, but this shows how he was unable to handle grief. This is furthered by his paranoia, he killed one of his most loyal generals, Parmenion, as his son was plotting against Alexander. He killed the man who saved his life, Cleitus, in a drunken rage. If Alexander wanted to conquer the world, he would need to learn how to rule his own kingdom first, which is reflected by how it crumbled almost immediately after his death.

Rome and the West

If Alexander were to go West, he would have found the Romans to be less of a threat than the Persians. Persia was the only superpower in the world at the time of Alexander the Great. While Rome would grow to be a great Empire, it was still in the infancy of its Republic. Rome may have had a competent army at the time, but it would have been no match for the Macedonian Phalanx. If Alexander was able to regroup in Macedon and focus on the success of his Empire for a few years, then invade the West, he would have most likely taken it. However, there was nothing for Alexander in the West compared to hat lay in the East. Alexander had fought and beat elephants at the battle of the Hydaspes against Porus located in modern-day Punjab, Pakistan. Due to his ambition, more lay for him in the East, which is why he would have probably ventured further East if at all.

India

Alexander had already defeated an Indian kingdom. The aforementioned Porus, but he did this with great difficulty. The Mauryan Empire formed mere decades after Alexander. It would be safe to assume that he would have had to fight the fledgling version of this famed war Empire. They had more men than he did numbering around 22,000 chariots and 1.5 million infantry soldiers. At that big of a deficit, Alexander would have lost a war of attrition. However, this Empire would be only forming, if there at all. Alexander may have been able to recruit more men if he had governed his Kingdom respectably after his break from campaign. Alexander may have been a warrior and not a politician, but he would have done anything to remove the obstacles in his path in order to continue exploring. While these Indian soldiers would have decimated Alexander at full power. He may have had a chance as they would not have been. The Mauryan’s were expertly trained, being removed from their parents at a young age and killing themselves if they were not up to the required standards, making Alexander’s chance at victory even slimmer. I believe that Alexander may have been able to beat the Indian’s but at great cost as he had already struggled there before, but that was with a weakened army on the brink of mutiny. The Macedonian phalanx would have stilled proved useful against the Indians. Ergo, Alexander would have been able to conquer India if he settled his own Kingdom, recruited and trained more men, reached India before a large enough force was gathered, and with a lot of luck.

China

If Alexander had conquered India, he would have looked North to China. It would be remiss to not mention the Gordian knot. Alexander supposedly marched hi army int modern-day Turkey. Once in the city of Phrygian, he came across a wagon with several knots all wound so title around it. It was said whoever could untie the knot, would rule over all Asia. Alexander unsheathed his sword and cut the knot giving us the phrase “To cut the Gordian knot” meaning to find an intelligent solution to an odious task, or so this version of the legend goes. A prophecy with no more basis than fiction but interesting nevertheless. If Alexander were to entre China, he would come across the Chu dynasty. The largest province in the warring China. See the map below for context:

While this map is set in 361 BCE. It still held relevance in Alexander’s time. Alexander’s formation and his ability to manoeuvre his men around cavalry would have been a surprise to Southern China. It may not have been new to the Northern provinces as they had the proto-Xiongnu cavalries (a well-trained cavalry). However, war is not just a competition of military prowess. It is about knowing the landscape, troop morale, deception and finding the enemies weakness. Alexander could not simply waste all his men winning one battle, as he would then lose the War. Perhaps his opponent would underestimate him due to his age such as Darius did. Unlikely, considering he would have probably heard about the man who controls 44% (approximately) of the world’s population. They have a mismatched army with soldiers from different regions such as Darius did. Sun Tzu’s art of war had been out for a century and a half, at least, by this point. However, China had no great generals to defend against alexander. China has always been great at adapting to fighting styles, but with Alexander’s superiorly trained army and his tactics, he would have been able to take on any Chinese fighting force and, with much difficulty, could have taken China.

Conclusion

To conclude, I believe that with patience, training, recruitment and a lot of luck, Alexander could have conquered parts of the world. Conquering the whole world in one life would have been different. Even for a conqueror such as himself, it would have taken many years to conquer China and India, much more than his initial campaign. In that time, he may have suffered from a random illness, or be shot fatally, among many possibilities. His force would have been capable of defeating most chivalrous enemies in the Ancient World, and perhaps beyond. As his Empire crumbled after his death due to his poor governing while alive. Albeit, he did not have much time, but saying that his Empire should go to the “Strongest” on his death bed only proves this (if it happened at all), as it’s an inspiring notion, but pragmatically weak. All this theorizing revolves around the character of Alexander, he may have been able to conquer the whole world but too many attributing factors would have to align in his favour. Therefore, Alexander the Great would not have been able to conquer the world without a change in governing and a lot of luck. To summarise, it is plausible, but highly improbable.

Freddie Pacey, Year 12.