# Alexander the Great  ## Metadata - Author: [[Philip Freeman]] - Full Title: Alexander the Great - Category: #books ## Highlights - The highland lords were kings of the Macedonian world. The Greeks far to the south might talk of democracy and debate laws in their assemblies, but in the cold northern mountains the Macedonians had for ages lived and died at the word of their chiefs. ([Location 137](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=137)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Though the pastoral Macedonians of the mountains differed from the lowland farmers in many ways, they shared a common language that defined them as a single people—and separated them from the Greeks to the south. The Macedonian tongue was so far removed from the Greek of Athens or Sparta that it may as well have been a different language entirely. ([Location 142](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=142)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Macedonian nobility might study Greek philosophy and recite the poetry of Homer, but the common Macedonian soldier was proud not to be Greek. ([Location 152](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=152)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Years later in Asia, Alexander and his men were feasting one night after their hard-won victories. As the wine flowed freely, some of Alexander’s dinner companions began to belittle the achievements of his father, Philip. Alexander joined in, boasting that his own victories from the Danube to the borders of India rivaled those of the god Hercules and were not to be compared with the petty conquests of his father. It was then that one of Philip’s old generals rose and called the drunken king an ungrateful lout. You would be nothing, he declared, without the achievements of your father—a far greater man than you will ever be. Alexander personally ran the man through with a spear for his insolence, though he knew there was truth in the soldier’s final words. History has been so fascinated with Alexander the Great that it has overlooked the genius of his father. But by his supreme skill at diplomacy, his mastery of intrigue, and his revolutionary innovations in warfare, Philip laid the foundation for everything his son achieved. ([Location 207](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=207)) - Tags: [[blue]] - While the other Macedonian hostages feasted and chased local girls, Philip spent every moment learning the latest techniques in warfare from the Theban generals. ([Location 224](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=224)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: The greats always take every opportunity to learn - Philip also watched and learned from the democratic assembly at Thebes. He saw the grave weakness of a system in which every man could voice his opinion and vote. Debates in the assembly were endless, while political parties worked to destroy the power of their rivals. Philip began to see how an old-fashioned monarchy like Macedonia could act much more decisively than a Greek city and be unstoppable on the battlefield—if it were ruled by the right king. ([Location 236](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=236)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Enlightened monarchy - keep this in mind in business. Absolute control and power needs to be yours - Philip quickly arrested and executed one brother, forced the other two into exile, then bribed the Thracians to murder their favorite. Finally he struck a secret deal with the Athenians to withdraw support from their candidate, Argaeus, who soon found himself marching against Philip with only the few mercenaries he had hired with his own funds. Philip easily defeated him and made a great show of sending home unharmed the Athenians among the mercenaries. ([Location 245](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=245)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Ruthlessly eliminate challengers - The hoplites’ heavy armor was far too expensive for Macedonian farmers and goatherds—so Philip decided to change the rules. The troops of his new army would wear almost no armor and carry only a small shield, so that even the poorest young man from the hills of Macedonia could qualify for military service. This increased his pool of potential soldiers far above that of any Greek city. But how could such lightly armed peasants hope to stand against the fearsome hoplites? The answer lay in a brilliant innovation developed by Philip—the sarissa. Standard hoplite spears were eight to ten feet in length, but the sarissa was almost eighteen feet long. This allowed the Macedonian infantry to march in close formation with overlapping sarissas lowered in front of them to skewer hoplites before the enemy spears could reach them. ([Location 257](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=257)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Simultaneous excellence in organization, strategy, and engineering. What it takes to conquer - Philip also was one of the first generals in history to create a highly trained corps of engineers. In time these men would be able to span raging rivers, cut roads across soaring mountains, and take any city by siege with awesome new engines of war. ([Location 271](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=271)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As Alexander said in later years, Leonidas’ idea of breakfast was a forced march through the night, and of supper, a light breakfast. His tutor also used to rummage through his chests to make sure his mother hadn’t hidden away any luxuries for her son. He was so parsimonious that one day when Alexander took a whole handful of incense to throw on the altar fire, Leonidas rebuked the boy, saying that once he had conquered the spice markets of Asia he could waste good incense but not before. ([Location 353](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=353)) - Tags: [[blue]] - One of the earliest stories about Alexander tells how when Philip was away on campaign yet again, the young prince, perhaps seven or eight years old, met ambassadors from the Great King of Persia who had come to the Macedonian court. Alexander was gracious and charming to the guests, winning their respect by not asking after trivial matters but inquiring into the length and conditions of Persian roads, how far it was to the Persian capital, what kind of man the Great King was, and what sort of army he possessed. ([Location 364](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=364)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Extreme attention to detail and curiosity - He often complained to his friends that Philip’s success in war weighed heavily on him: “Boys, my father is beating me to everything! He’s leaving me no worlds to conquer.” ([Location 373](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=373)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A great cheer went up from all assembled and Philip, bursting with pride, shed tears of joy and kissed his son as he dismounted. He then embraced Alexander and prophetically declared: “My son, you must seek out a kingdom equal to yourself—Macedonia is not big enough for you!” ([Location 447](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=447)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Aristotle was an inspired teacher. Just as Socrates had taught Plato and Plato in turn had instructed Aristotle, now the philosopher from Stagira would show Alexander the wonders of the universe. ([Location 461](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=461)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Unlike Plato, who valued theory and speculation above all else, Aristotle was a practical man. He was passionately curious about how things worked and was as likely to be found knee-deep in a swamp collecting tadpoles for dissection as in a library studying the art of poetics. In an age before specialization, Aristotle studied and wrote about everything. He practically invented logic and deduced that the universe must have been created by an all-powerful prime mover who, however, took no interest in his handiwork. Aristotle was the first great experimental scientist, with physics, astronomy, biology, embryology, meteorology, and much more in his realm of expertise. He knew from observation and experimentation that the earth was a sphere and that whales were mammals, not fish. He pioneered the study of ethics and argued that the greatest virtues come from moderation. He declared that man was a political animal—that is, a creature who finds his true home in the polis or city. No person could lead a meaningful life isolated from others, he declared, for a life without friends would not be worth living. ([Location 464](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=464)) - Tags: [[blue]] - At the site of Mieza west of Pella, where the plains of Macedonia met soaring peaks, Aristotle tutored Alexander and other young nobles of the court, many of whom became the prince’s most loyal followers. These included his friend Ptolemy, a distant member of the royal family from the wild Macedonian highlands who would one day become pharaoh of Egypt. There was also the son of Philip’s trusted companion Antipater, a youth named Cassander, who suffered from ill health all his life but managed to become a powerful king after Alexander’s death. The slightly older Laomedon from the Aegean island of Lesbos would become invaluable to Alexander as he was fluent in Persian, while his Macedonian comrade Marsyas would become one of Alexander’s earliest biographers. Alexander also made friends with Nearchus, originally from the island of Crete, who would use his seafaring skills to sail the Indian Ocean. But of all the companions of Alexander who studied with Aristotle, Hephaestion of Pella would become his closest friend. ([Location 479](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=479)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Even Alexander made his connections through being at an elite “school”. Being around other elite people leads to connections such as these - It seems that the unrestrained passion and subsequent weariness of lovemaking deeply troubled the young man. As Alexander would confess years later, sex and sleep more than anything else reminded him that he was mortal. ([Location 497](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=497)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Philip honored the dead of the Sacred Band by burying them on the battlefield and celebrated their courage with the towering statue of a lion that still stands in the quiet valley of Chaeronea. ([Location 538](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=538)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Philip cared no more for the lofty ideals of Panhellenism than he did for democracy, but the respected orator offered him convenient propaganda for his own military ambitions. ([Location 566](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=566)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Philip wanted to show there were no hard feelings and so invited Alexander to the wedding banquet. As with all Macedonian parties, the wine flowed without ceasing, with Philip drinking more than anyone. It was late into the night when Attalus rose and proposed a toast to his niece the bride and a very drunk Philip. He called on all Macedonians to offer a prayer to the gods that they would soon grant the couple a legitimate successor to the throne. Alexander was furious at the none-too-subtle insult and threw his cup at Attalus, demanding to know if he was calling him a bastard. Philip then jumped up and drew his sword, intending to strike down his son, but stumbled and fell flat on the floor. Alexander glared down at him in disgust and proclaimed: “Look, everyone! The man who wants to cross from Europe to Asia can’t even make it from one couch to the next.” Alexander then stormed out of the room. By dawn he and his mother had fled to her family in the mountains of Epirus. ([Location 597](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=597)) - Tags: [[blue]] - But in this crucial moment Alexander rose to the occasion. His years of rhetorical study under the best Greek masters and his almost supernatural ability to inspire men shone forth as he wept with them over the death of their matchless general, his beloved father. He called on them to put fear aside and remember who they were—the greatest army the world had ever seen. Nothing was impossible for them. If they would but follow him he would lead them to riches and glory beyond their dreams. It must have been an incredible speech. These hardened veterans who longed for nothing more than home and hearth cheered their young king with all their hearts and promised to follow him wherever he might lead. Of course, it didn’t hurt that Alexander also promised to repeal all taxes for Macedonians. ([Location 738](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=738)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Thebans had chafed under Philip’s rule and more than any other Greek city had both the will and the manpower to stop his impudent son from taking on his father’s mantle. The men of the town had been preparing for the battle they knew lay months ahead after Alexander had secured his position to the north—but they were shocked a few days later when they awoke to find thousands of Macedonian troops in full battle gear surrounding their town. The Thebans now realized this boy king was no pampered prince but an ambitious warlord and clever strategist who marched his troops faster and harder than anyone had believed possible. ([Location 779](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=779)) - Tags: [[blue]] - But, like his father, Alexander wanted the Athenian navy intact for his invasion of Persia more than he wanted to see the Acropolis in flames. He therefore received the envoys kindly and assured them the Athenians had nothing to fear. ([Location 791](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=791)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Alexander knew when to be ruthless and when to be reconciliatory - Like his father, he found the stubborn Spartans useful as proof of the voluntary nature of his alliance. If they caused trouble, he believed he could easily deal with them. ([Location 803](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=803)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Make it feel like a choice for people rather than an obligation - He had no desire to chase the Getae refugees farther because his point had been made. Word would quickly spread from the Alps to the Crimea that the new Macedonian king was not to be trifled with. His northern border secure, Alexander returned the same day to his camp on the southern bank of the Danube. ([Location 907](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=907)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Sometimes a message needs to be sent forcefully. Once the message is sent, no need to pursue further - Aristotle had taught that bravery in a man was an admirable quality, but that an excess of boldness was undesirable. ([Location 921](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=921)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As Alexander shared a drink with his visitors, he asked them what they most feared, hoping they would say him. But the leader of the Celtic embassy looked squarely into the eyes of the king and replied that they feared nothing—except, he said with a laugh, that the sky might fall on their heads. ([Location 922](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=922)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He spent the first few days renewing ties with Langarus and recruiting some of his best warriors into his army, tough mountain troops who would become a key element of his forces in Asia. ([Location 929](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=929)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Gaining additional specialized forces that complemented his existing army in areas they were weak - The missiles hit the first of the horsemen from such a distance that Glaucias and his cavalry ground to a halt. They had heard of catapults in siege warfare, but few before Alexander had used them against the enemy on the field of battle. This unconventional maneuver, sprung from the young king’s imagination at a desperate moment, bought enough time for the rest of the Macedonian army to make it across the river to safety without losing a single man. ([Location 971](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=971)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Athenian orator Demosthenes was once again at the fore in stirring up trouble for Alexander. That summer he climbed to the speaker’s platform at the Athenian assembly and declared that Alexander and the entire Macedonian army had been annihilated by the Triballi on the Danube. He even produced a supposed veteran of the battle wrapped in bloody bandages who declared that he himself had seen Alexander fall. The Athenians rose to cheer the rebirth of Greek independence. News spread quickly throughout the land that the young tyrant was dead, for as Arrian wisely observes, “As often happens in such cases when there are no certain facts, people believe the truth to be whatever it is they most desire.” ([Location 986](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=986)) - Tags: [[blue]] - something inside Alexander snapped when he heard the Thebans call him a tyrant, especially as they invoked the Great King of Persia as a liberator of Greece. Alexander knew from reading Plato’s Republic that tyranny was the basest form of government, even more disreputable in the eyes of that aristocratic philosopher than democracy. The king flew into a towering rage and declared he would make an example of Thebes. As Diodorus says, “He decided to utterly destroy the city. By this deliberate act of terror, he hoped to take the heart out of anyone who might rise against him in the future.” ([Location 1036](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1036)) - Tags: [[blue]] - From the earlier empires of Mesopotamia, the Persians learned art, engineering, and the magnificent architecture of their palaces. But their own unique contribution to history was the gathering of dozens of nations into the first truly international empire. ([Location 1165](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1165)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A large Persian fleet was active in the Aegean and knew of the young king’s plans. If they had wished, they could have easily prevented Alexander’s crossing. But the Persians decided to let the king and his Macedonians land freely in Asia before they made their move. Rather than blocking his advance across the strait with their navy, they intended to draw him into the interior, where they could destroy his army with their superior forces. ([Location 1189](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1189)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Better to destroy a problem ruthlessly as soon as it appears. They increased their probability of destroying his army by allowing it to cross, but also increased the probability that Alexander could do harm to Persia by allowing him into their territory. In an iterated game, if you make decisions that elevate your probability of ruin, eventually you WILL BE RUINED - There he sacrificed a bull to the sea god Poseidon and poured a drink offering from a golden bowl into the water. Then he guided the ship toward Troy to the place Homer said the Greeks had come ashore a thousand years earlier. As the coast drew near, Alexander took his spear and cast it with all his might onto the beach, claiming Asia for himself as spear-won from the gods. Then he leapt ashore before the boat had even reached land and waded through the surf onto Persian territory. ([Location 1198](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1198)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Alexander, like Napoleon, had a flare for the theatrical and symbolic - His hero Achilles, greatest warrior of the Greeks, had fought and died beneath those walls, preferring a short life of undying glory to peaceful old age surrounded by family and friends. ([Location 1206](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1206)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As the priests led him on a final tour of the broken remains of the city, they asked if he wished to see the lyre of Paris before he departed. The young king, however, disdained Paris the Trojan prince as a coward drawn more to beautiful women than fame in battle: “I care little for that harp,” he said, “but would gladly see the lyre of Achilles on which he sang the glorious deeds of famous men.” Alexander’s greatest regret, he lamented, was that he had no Homer to celebrate his own glory. ([Location 1220](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1220)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Admire doers, people who impose their will on the world. No one outside the arena can judge the man in the arena - Alexander was a master of propaganda in war. He ordered his soldiers not to loot nearby farms and villages since it would be foolish to destroy what would soon be their own. This was a proven policy to build goodwill among the inhabitants of hostile territory, but Alexander cleverly added that they should take special care not to damage the estates belonging to the Greek-born Persian general Memnon of Rhodes. The king knew that word would quickly spread back to the Persian satraps that Memnon’s property was being treated with respect—as if the general were secretly supporting the Macedonians. It was an inspired stroke of psychological warfare that would soon bear fruit. ([Location 1236](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1236)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Perception can be everything. Napoleon knew this as well - Memnon’s advice was sound and, if taken, would have almost guaranteed that the world would never have heard of Alexander the Great—but the Persian leaders would have none of it. Who did Memnon think he was to advise the noblemen of the Persian Empire to turn and run from an untried boy-king who had invaded their land? They would never allow their own fields and houses to be burned before the Macedonian army as if they were peasants shaking in their boots. ([Location 1258](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1258)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: The pride of an incumbent can lead to it underestimating an upstart. Crush them while they’re small, and treat the threat with the respect it deserves - Alexander had decided to fight the Persians there at the Granicus and risk everything on a single roll of the dice. ([Location 1283](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1283)) - Tags: [[blue]] - But Alexander was not yet finished as he quickly surrounded the Greek mercenaries who had been held in reserve by the Persians at the rear of the battle. These men knew they had lost, but as professional soldiers and by the accepted practice of the day they expected to pay a ransom and be allowed to depart. Alexander instead ordered his men to slaughter them, sparing only a few to work for the rest of their short lives as slaves in the mines of Macedonia. They would be a lesson to other Greeks who might side with the Persians against him. ([Location 1313](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1313)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He shipped all the fine drinking cups, purple robes, and other luxury goods he had captured from the Persians to his mother. Finally he sent three hundred sets of Persian armor to Athens to be set up as trophies on the Acropolis. He ordered an inscription carved beside them for all visitors to read: ALEXANDER SON OF PHILIP AND ALL THE GREEKS— EXCEPT THE SPARTANS—SENT THESE SPOILS FROM THE BARBARIANS IN ASIA. Alexander was not without a biting sense of humor. He wanted everyone in Greece to know that his Panhellenic crusade against the Persians was proceeding splendidly with the support of all the Greeks—except the Spartans. ([Location 1321](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1321)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Alexander wanted his achievements to be known widely. Napoleon and Alexander both relied heavily on publishing their conquests to generate legitimacy for their rule - With the Macedonians now in charge, the mechanisms of rule—and presumably the numerous scribes, tax collectors, and other civil servants—would remain in place under Alexander. The new king knew better than to disrupt a smoothly functioning administration. He needed money to fund his campaign, be it through taxes or tribute payments, and the longtime employees at the satrapal palace were highly skilled at fleecing the local sheep. ([Location 1338](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1338)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: If systems are working, keep them in place when you take over. Deloitte has not learned this - He loved to read and would snatch spare moments from the day to read from Greek works by the historians Herodotus and Xenophon, the dramatists Sophocles and Euripides, or poets, especially his beloved Homer. ([Location 1345](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1345)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Love of praise was a pardonable fault of Alexander’s that in time would grow to be a serious problem. ([Location 1356](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1356)) - Tags: [[blue]] - These seemingly minor dispositions open an important window into Alexander’s mind at this stage of the campaign. He had successfully won his first battle and had now taken a key city of the Persian Empire. He felt he could dispense with most of the Greek troops in his army and cast aside the facade that this was a campaign of Panhellenic liberation. From now on, it was a Macedonian war of conquest. The Greeks would still have their uses, of course, but Alexander no longer wanted to share his glory with them. He was also anxious to begin paring away as many kinsmen and supporters of Parmenion as possible from his command staff, beginning with Asander. He continued to need Parmenion’s support, but little by little he would begin to wear away the old man’s power as his own grew. Finally, the number of different officials Alexander left behind to govern his growing empire shows a keen recognition of the dangers of concentrated power. As the Persians had before him, the king knew that competition between officials was the surest check on unfettered ambition. Asander would be satrap, but Nicias would control the purse strings while Pausanias commanded the high ground. None of these men had reason to trust each other—which was exactly the point. Alexander could continue his march knowing that no one man would dominate the rich and powerful province of Lydia. ([Location 1392](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1392)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Consolidating power and weakening those below him who might threaten his position or take credit for his deeds - when the painting was finished, Alexander was not impressed. Apelles then brought it over to show Bucephalas, who neighed in apparent approval. The bold artist then told Alexander that his horse had better taste than he did. But the king, who had studied artistic theory with Aristotle and fancied himself a connoisseur of fine paintings, demanded that Apelles try again. This time Apelles played to Alexander’s vanity and showed him as Zeus wielding a thunderbolt. He even used a secret varnish formula to give the portrait a striking tone. The king was pleased with this very un-Greek style of portraiture and gave Apelles a large bag of gold as payment. ([Location 1424](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1424)) - Tags: [[blue]] - decommissioning his navy meant that he had no choice but to defeat the Persian fleet by land. The only way he could do this was to deny them a safe harbor anywhere in the Mediterranean. In effect, Alexander was committing himself and the Macedonian army to seizing the entire coast from Troy to Egypt. Until he could accomplish this, he was leaving himself vulnerable to Persian naval strikes against Asia Minor, Greece, and even Macedonia. But to conquer the entire eastern Mediterranean was an astonishingly ambitious plan. ([Location 1471](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1471)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Made the leap to an almost unachievable goal - Many of Alexander’s soldiers were newly married and had left their young brides behind when they departed Macedonia the previous spring. Now that the campaign season was over and all the Greek coast of Asia Minor was in Alexander’s hands, the king sent these recent grooms home to spend the winter with their wives and sow the seeds for a new generation of Macedonian warriors. In the spring, they would rejoin the army to continue the war against Persia. It was a popular decision with the men and a great boost for morale. The furloughs were also a clever propaganda ploy since the men could give eyewitness accounts of Alexander’s victories against the Persians and build support back home. ([Location 1552](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1552)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Simultaneously boosting morale AND outputting propaganda. Extremely wise - aside from military objectives, Alexander was seeking the glory that comes from taking an unexpected risk—and winning. ([Location 1568](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1568)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A shrewd judge of human nature, he was betting the people of Aspendus would crack when they saw their homes occupied and their city cut off. He was soon proven right when a deputation appeared begging the king to accept their surrender on the terms to which they had previously agreed. ([Location 1634](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1634)) - Tags: [[blue]] - “MACEDONIANS,” SAID ALEXANDER, “YOU WILL BE FACING THE MEDES AND PERSIANS, NATIONS THAT HAVE LONG ENJOYED A LIFE OF LUXURY. BUT WE ARE HARDENED BY THE TRIALS OF OUR CAMPAIGN AND ARE FEARLESS IN THE FACE OF DANGER.” ([Location 1704](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1704)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Good time weak weak men - While his soldiers tried to sleep, the king climbed a nearby hill and looked out at the vast Persian army. This was what he had dreamed of all his life, but now that the moment was here at last, he did know fear. Not for his life or for his brave men, but fear that something would go wrong. He spent the night sacrificing to the local gods, praying that they would be kind to him. ([Location 1857](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1857)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Great King’s mother, Sisyngambris, was profuse in her apologies once the translator had explained the mistake, but Alexander was reassuring. He raised the elderly woman from the ground, addressing her as “mother,” and remarked that Hephaestion too was an Alexander—a reflection of the teaching both had received from Aristotle as boys that the truest friend was another self. ([Location 1920](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=1920)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander had to find a way to convince his men to continue the war. He had tasted victory and would not settle for less than the entire Persian Empire as his own. He saw himself and his army marching along the Nile, dining among the gardens of Babylon, covering themselves with gold at Persepolis, and marveling at the wonders of distant India. ([Location 2009](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2009)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: He smelled total victory and wouldn’t stop until he achieved it - Alexander was present every day, conferring with the engineers, encouraging his men, and carrying stone after stone into the sea himself. ([Location 2081](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2081)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: A hands on leader is infinitely more respected than one that hides in luxury - Alexander saw the light of a campfire. He left Lysimachus and worked his way by himself through the trees toward the glow ahead. As he approached, he saw that there were two men keeping watch over a cluster of sleeping Arab raiders. With utmost care, Alexander crept up alone behind the guards and silently slit their throats. He then stole a flaming stick from the campfire without waking any of the men who slept around it. Moving as fast as he could through the darkness, he reached his own camp and kindled a roaring fire for his companions. The Arabs awoke and saw the nearby blaze, but ran off thinking a large force had suddenly descended on them. Alexander spent the rest of the night next to Lysimachus, warming his old friend and perhaps suggesting that next time he should remain in town. ([Location 2129](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2129)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: A brave leader who gets his hands dirty - When Alexander read the letter to his council, Parmenion said that if he were Alexander, he would accept the terms of Darius. The king shot back that he would accept them as well—if he were Parmenion. Instead, Alexander wrote back to Darius saying that he had all the money he needed without the Great King’s ransom and that he could marry his captive daughter any time he chose without her father’s permission. As for the lands Darius offered, they were nothing compared to the empire he was going to conquer. Lydia, Cilicia, and Phoenicia were just the beginning. Media, Persia, and even India were all going to be his. He dismissed the envoys with a final word for Darius that they would soon meet again in battle. ([Location 2207](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2207)) - Tags: [[blue]] - IN MY ACCOUNT OF EGYPT, I WILL GIVE A LONGER DESCRIPTION WITH MANY MORE FACTS THAN USUAL BECAUSE THIS COUNTRY HAS MORE MONUMENTS AND WONDERS THAN ANY OTHER LAND. —HERODOTUS ([Location 2246](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2246)) - Tags: [[blue]] - For Alexander, Egypt must have been a land of wonder and mystery. ([Location 2258](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2258)) - Tags: [[blue]] - But even though the Persian garrison in Egypt had surrendered to him, Alexander realized that truly possessing the land would require the utmost in tact and diplomacy. The Egyptians could well seize this moment to stage another of their revolts against the new foreign overlord. Alexander had to proceed very carefully in order to have the Egyptians accept him willingly as their ruler, but to do this he had to have the priests on his side. Alexander therefore dedicated the next few months to showing the people of the Nile valley that he not only respected their religion but was an enthusiastic supporter of the Egyptian gods. ([Location 2279](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2279)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The historian Arrian says that once again a pothos or desire seized Alexander, so that he decided to lay out the pattern of the city himself. ([Location 2346](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2346)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Again, Alexander is hands on across a wide range of tasks in his army - There were doubters, to be sure, but for most people, including Alexander, the gods were everywhere and controlled every aspect of life. ([Location 2390](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2390)) - Tags: [[blue]] - if one was willing to make the journey to such a site, it was possible to ask a question and hear the very words of a god in response. Alexander had many questions, but there were three that weighed most heavily on his mind. First, would he really be able to beat Darius and conquer the lands to the east? He was pitting himself against an immense and powerful empire. No matter his talent as a general and his overflowing youthful optimism, there was a very real chance that he would fail. Second, the king wanted to know if the murderers of his father Philip had all been punished. Given that many suspected Alexander himself as the force behind the assassination, this question may seem like a smokescreen to deflect suspicion from the real culprit. But assuming that Alexander was innocent, it was vital that he find and punish anyone who had a hand in his father’s death. Not to do so would invite blood guilt that would stain his rule and bring on the wrath of heaven. The third and final question was the strangest and most audacious of all—Alexander wanted to know if Philip was really his father or if he was in fact the son of a god. His mother had told him that he was conceived by Zeus, not Philip, when the god possessed her in the form of a lightning bolt. Philip himself had dreamed that he had sealed his wife’s womb with the image of a lion, a vision the prophet Aristander interpreted as a sign that she was already pregnant with a divine child. ([Location 2392](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2392)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As the king’s friends stood witness outside the door of the sanctuary, the priest greeted Alexander with a paternal O paidon, meaning “O my child”—but with his sibilant pronunciation he changed the last letter so that it came out O paidos. Alexander smiled at this mistake, but saw in it a sign from the god. To the king, it sounded like O pai dios, which in Greek meant “O child of Zeus.” Alexander had wanted to know who his real father was. This slip of the tongue was his first clue. ([Location 2462](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2462)) - Tags: [[blue]] - What exactly happened next is a mystery subject to endless speculation, but what we can say with certainty is that Alexander’s experience before the oracle of Zeus-Ammon changed him profoundly. All the questions and doubts that had plagued him during his short but turbulent life were put to rest. ([Location 2466](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2466)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He was still a man who could bleed and die like any other, but from that day forward Alexander knew a spark of the divine burned inside him. ([Location 2478](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2478)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The final bit of business in Egypt was the appointment of military and civilian rulers over the province. It was a tricky situation since the land along the Nile was large, heavily populated, and immensely rich. Any satrap he selected to rule would have the potential to become a mighty king in his own right if he revolted. He therefore applied the same prudent measures of dividing powers that he had used at Sardis in Lydia, but on a grander scale. To keep the native Egyptians happy, he appointed two puppet rulers, Doloaspis and Petisis, to continue the ancient forms of governance along the river valley. Petisis declined this empty honor, but Doloaspis was happy to play his part. The peasant farmers of Egypt would continue to farm the same land and pay the same taxes as they had since the time of the first pharaohs, only now the revenue would go to the Macedonian treasury. Local officials were largely kept in place. One grateful Egyptian bureaucrat named Petosiris praised Alexander in a hieroglyphic inscription as the righteous “prince of Egypt” for his actions, as opposed to the oppressive and unjust Persians who came before. Alexander split control over the regular troops he was leaving behind between two trusted Macedonian officers, one at Memphis and the other at Pelusium. An officer from northwest Greece would command the mercenaries, but he would share power with a Macedonian who would keep a close eye on him. Watching both mercenary commanders would be two overseers reporting directly to the king. Another officer would have autonomous command of the navy, protecting the mouths of the Nile with a fleet of thirty triremes. In a further division of power, the African coast west of Egypt and the Arabian regions around the Sinai peninsula were given to separate administrators, the latter to a Greek from the colony of Naucratis named Cleomenes. There were so many different men in charge of Egypt and nearby regions that Alexander was confident it would prove impossible for any one to gain control. This would later prove a mistake, but for the present it was an effective policy. ([Location 2520](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2520)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Without any thought for the women and children or separating the good Samaritans from the bad, he led his troops into the cavern and slaughtered every living soul. The jumbled skeletons left behind for archaeologists to discover more than two thousand years later tell a story more vivid than any words of the swift and merciless vengeance taken against anyone who defied the will of Alexander. ([Location 2568](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2568)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: He was generous to those who submitted and absolutely ruthless to anyone who stood in his way - Mazaeus left at once to report the news to Darius, who was not pleased at this turn of events. He had spent the last two years planning a confrontation with Alexander on the plains north of Babylon. The Great King expected Alexander to behave like any rational general and lead his army along a well-watered and established road. Instead, the Macedonian king was making a long, slow detour in the wrong direction. It was obvious that Alexander was now intending to lead his army all the way to the Tigris before turning south. It was also clear that Darius would quickly have to change his plans. ([Location 2637](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2637)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Acting unexpectedly and creatively can lead to outmaneuvering your opponents - The Macedonians arrived at the Tigris in mid-September. Though it was still summer, the river ran fast and deep through the only ford in the area. Alexander had not prepared a bridge, so he led his infantry into the water himself, struggling up to his chest through the current. After the men saw the king on the far bank, they were willing to try the river, ([Location 2665](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2665)) - Tags: [[blue]] - even more than a military triumph, Alexander’s greatest prize was glory. He had risked everything and won, defeating in open battle the largest Persian army ever assembled. ([Location 2808](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2808)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Wherever Alexander happened to be at the moment was the effective capital of his realm. His ability to control millions of subjects depended on his knowledge of local events from the latest grain harvest in Cyrene to reports of tribal movements along the Danube. Likewise, it was essential that all the provinces know where the king was, what he was doing, and that his army was successful fighting against his enemies. Victories in one part of the empire served to discourage trouble elsewhere. ([Location 2816](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2816)) - Tags: [[blue]] - the rise of Mazaeus marked an extraordinary change of policy. Alexander was no longer trying to conquer Persia and kill Darius—he himself was now Great King with all the privileges and responsibilities of that office. To rule the many lands of his empire he would need experienced men like Mazaeus, who knew the language, culture, people, and politics of each province. The Persians had for two centuries skillfully governed the largest dominion ever known. Their trained and capable officers were essential to Alexander—if he could gain their loyalty. By openly rewarding Mazaeus with control of such an important city, the king was sending an unmistakable signal to those who had once served Darius that the new lord of the lands was merciful and reasonable. If they joined him willingly, they could receive rich rewards for their service. ([Location 2895](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2895)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander had never seen anything to compare with Babylon. To his men from the poor villages of Macedonia, it was as if they had entered another world. ([Location 2943](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2943)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Unlike most numerical systems, mathematics as taught by the Chaldeans was based on the number sixty rather than ten—a way of measuring time and space passed on to later civilizations as the sixty-minute hour, the sixty-second minute, and the 360-degree circle (six times sixty). ([Location 2973](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=2973)) - Tags: [[blue]] - At the far end of the reception hall was the royal throne of Darius himself. It was death for anyone but the Great King to sit there, but Alexander very deliberately made a public show of mounting the dais and placing himself grandly on the throne. The only problem was that the new king was shorter than average height and his feet dangled above the lowest step. ([Location 3039](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3039)) - Tags: [[blue]] - At last a group of soldiers dared to approach Alexander and begged him to turn back. Instead of berating his frightened men, the king jumped down from his horse and pressed ahead up the trail by himself over snow and slippery patches of ice. He took a pick and broke up the ice covering the path as he made his way forward. All his men watched and were filled with shame. First his friends joined him in blazing the trail, then his officers, and finally the rest of the soldiers. They slowly made their way through the forest and over the mountains until at last they saw traces of human civilization once again. ([Location 3292](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3292)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander understood the strategy of Darius quite well and appreciated the threat it posed to his rule. He also knew that in a very real sense he could not be Great King in the eyes of Asia until Darius had abdicated or was dead. It was therefore essential that he overtake Darius before he could escape into Bactria. As he explained to his officers and men, the war against Persia could not be finished until the shah, as the Persians called their king, was mat, or finished. The endgame had to be shah mat, a Persian phrase that would evolve in time into checkmate. ([Location 3344](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3344)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander began to feel the responsibilities of the Great King resting on his own shoulders. He realized that if he were to rule the Persian Empire as its rightful lord, he could no longer simply be a Macedonian king. To have sovereignty over many nations, he would have to become the Great King not only in substance but in style as well. The Persians, Medes, and all the other peoples of the East expected their ruler to be surrounded by pomp and ceremony worthy of a mighty lord. A Macedonian chieftain could join his men around the campfire and sing bawdy songs of women and war, but the ruler of the largest empire in the world must be a man apart. On the other hand, Alexander’s power resided in his role as military leader of the Macedonian army. These officers and soldiers from the hills and plains around Mount Olympus by long tradition revered their king as war leader and would lay down their lives for him, but he was the first among equals in a body of free men. If they had a problem or complaint, they claimed the right to come to him and be heard without pretentious rituals. The men loved Alexander as they had his father before him, but he was the conquering king of Macedonia to them, not the lofty lord of Asia. It was therefore troubling to many in the army when they saw Alexander gradually taking on the ways of a foreign king. ([Location 3526](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3526)) - Tags: [[blue]] - On the march, he was still just Alexander, as likely as a common soldier to help pull a stranded mule out of a mud hole. But when camp was made and he was surrounded by the increasing number of Persian courtiers accompanying the campaign, he became someone else. He began to wear a purple diadem on his head just like the Great King, not a simple Macedonian fillet as he had in years past. He wore a white robe and sash in the manner of Darius, though he did draw the line at Persian trousers. ([Location 3536](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3536)) - Tags: [[pink]] - When at last the army reached the Oxus, they were strung out for miles behind Alexander. He lit a fire on a nearby hill to guide the stragglers to camp and stood by the road himself to encourage the troops. ([Location 3717](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3717)) - Tags: [[blue]] - It was then he noticed that the river flowing into the city exited the walls through a narrow channel. There might be just enough space in this opening for a man to squeeze through and enter the town undetected. He therefore led a small group of soldiers down into the channel and under the walls while the main force of his army distracted the defenders with a full-blown assault on the front gates. Once he was inside, Alexander and his men overpowered the guards and opened the gates to his troops. ([Location 3815](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=3815)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander knew—even if most of his officers refused to accept the fact—that the small nation of Macedonia simply could not produce enough troops to control all the lands he had conquered and hoped to conquer yet. Like the Persians before him, the king realized that he needed to draw on the manpower of the many nations under his control to secure and expand his dominion. These selected youths would be taught the Greek language, equipped as Macedonian soldiers, and trained to fight as members of his army. They would not be foreign auxiliaries, as was common enough in the ancient world, but an integral part of the new Macedonian army, including leaders at the top levels. It was a boldly innovative plan beyond anything that had been attempted in military history. ([Location 4051](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4051)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander himself took the remainder of the army northeast into the mountains on a circuitous trek to pacify the highland tribes of the eastern Hindu Kush. As usual, the young king delighted in taking on the most difficult tasks. ([Location 4128](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4128)) - Tags: [[blue]] - It must have been disorienting in the truest sense to Alexander to discover that his vision of the lands of the East was woefully inadequate. And yet, even if the edge of the world did not lie just days beyond the Indus, the idea of a whole new world of rich lands and prosperous kingdoms must have stirred his imagination and endless ambition. ([Location 4189](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4189)) - Tags: [[blue]] - What his companion failed to appreciate was that Alexander was buying loyalty, a precious commodity in a land so far from the center of his empire. He needed to secure both Taxila and its king before he could move down the Indus. If it cost him a fraction of the vast treasure he had accumulated from the Persians, so be it. ([Location 4212](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4212)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Then in darkness Alexander led his toughest troops silently upriver to the embarkation point. He must have felt the heavens favored him as the normally steady showers had turned into a violent storm. ([Location 4247](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4247)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A second and third city followed, with Alexander bravely—or recklessly—climbing the first ladder to reach the walls and personally leading the fight against the defenders. ([Location 4385](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4385)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander reached the top of the wall and stood there fighting off Malli defenders while his three companions scaled the ladder behind him. ([Location 4394](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4394)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alexander’s officers had brought another litter to transfer him to the dock, but instead the king ordered a horse led forward. In what must have been one of the most courageous acts of his life, the still gravely injured king pushed his friends away and climbed slowly up onto his horse to reassure his men that he was fine. The army was beside itself with joy, clapping in unison and showering Alexander with the fresh flowers that were blooming all around them. Men strained to touch even the hem of his garment as he rode through the ranks. Then with the greatest of efforts, he dismounted and walked under his own power into his tent to collapse onto his bed. ([Location 4420](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4420)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Once he had regained some of his strength, his officers began to chide him that his performance on the wall was a brave but foolish act for a king. It was not the job of a commander, they said, to risk his life in such a way when there were plenty of men in the army who could do the same thing. Alexander did not know how to tell his friends that for him such actions were an essential part of being a king. ([Location 4424](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4424)) - The man looked the king straight in the eye and said just a few words in his rural dialect—“Alexander, brave deeds are what true men do.” ([Location 4428](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4428)) - Tags: [[pink]] - Two of the most venerated Indian religious teachers in the region were Dandamis and Calanus, who each lived quietly by themselves in the forest. Alexander sent Onesicritus—a follower of Diogenes and one of his resident philosophers on the campaign—to find and question them. Dandamis received his visitor warmly and asked about famous Greek philosophers. Onesicritus explained the teachings of Socrates, Diogenes, and Pythagoras (who also believed in reincarnation) to Dandamis, but the wise man said that although each had his good points, they seemed too concerned about following rules. When Onesicritus reached Calanus, the Indian teacher yelled at him to take off his clothes and sit naked before him or he would say nothing, even if Zeus himself sent him. Onesicritus did so and listened to his teachings, then persuaded Calanus to return with him to visit Alexander. When he arrived, the king asked him how best to govern an empire. The holy man threw an ox hide on the ground and pressed down on one edge, only to have another rise up. Then he stood in the center so that the whole hide lay flat—the lesson being that Alexander should stay close to the center of his realm and not wander about the borders. The king was so impressed by Calanus that he invited him to accompany him on the remainder of the expedition. Although the other Indian wise men disapproved of such involvement in secular affairs, Calanus accepted his invitation. ([Location 4450](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4450)) - Tags: [[blue]] - he continued his journey down to an island called Cilluta at the mouth of the river. From there he proceeded to another island in view of the open sea. Alexander and his men gazed in wonder at the vast ocean before them—a sight few from the Aegean world had ever beheld. But this was not enough for the king. Taking a single ship, he sailed many miles out into the ocean to see if there were any more lands to conquer. When he was finally convinced that nothing lay beyond, he sacrificed to Poseidon and cast a golden bowl into the waters in thanksgiving to the gods for having brought him to the very edge of the world. ([Location 4483](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4483)) - Tags: [[blue]] - But second, and perhaps even more important, Alexander wanted to lead his army across the Gedrosian desert because no one had ever done it before. ([Location 4507](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4507)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As Alexander made his way from Persepolis to Susa in Mesopotamia, he was brimming with plans for future conquests. Most men would have been content to consolidate their rule and enjoy the fruits of such a vast empire, but Alexander could not cease from dreaming of new horizons. As Arrian says, he always searched for something more, in competition with himself in lieu of another rival. ([Location 4698](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=4698)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Throughout the Middle East, the legacy of Alexander endures. He appears in the Koran as Dhul-Qarnayn, literally “the two-horned one,” in reference to his image on ancient coins wearing the horns of his divine father Zeus-Ammon. In the words recorded by Mohammed, he was a philosopher-king “whom God made mighty in the land and gave the means to achieve all things.” The Greek learning Alexander introduced into the region survived well into Muslim times and exercised a particular influence on the intellectual history of Shiite Islam. ([Location 5032](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=5032)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In the biblical book of Daniel, the Macedonian king appears as the last in a line of foreign rulers: There shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, that shall be different from all other kingdoms; it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces. ([Location 5037](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=5037)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Julius Caesar studied Homer and Herodotus as carefully as any Greek scholar and wept when he saw a statue of Alexander on display at a temple in Spain on the shores of the Atlantic. The Roman general explained his tears by saying he had accomplished so little by the age at which Alexander had died. Augustus also admired Alexander, but more for his unmatched military skill than his ability to govern an empire effectively. Many succeeding emperors modeled themselves on Alexander and tried to match his conquests in the East, though none was able to extend Roman rule beyond Mesopotamia. ([Location 5064](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=5064)) - Tags: [[blue]] - To truly understand Alexander we must realize that—perhaps more than any man in history—he hated to lose. Alexander was and is the absolute embodiment of pure human ambition with all its good and evil consequences. We can condemn the death and destruction he left in his wake as he strode across the world like a colossus, but in the end we can’t help but admire a man who dared such great deeds. ([Location 5102](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B003UYUORM&location=5102)) - Tags: [[blue]]