pothos.org

Again... we can say this about ANY king or ANY kingdom. I can say "all the pieces were laid out before Philip for him to create his army and bring Macedonia up from the dirt." It doesn't make it entirely true. And that would be because it isn't true. Philip came to power in the immediate ...

It's not fair to Alexander to demean him based on the collapse of his kingdom. And what a massive kingdom it was. Had he not taken the whole of the Persian empire, lock, stock, and barrel, it would have been at his doorstep within a few years. I'm a bit behind on this thread - a lot seems to have h...

Since most pothosians seem to be squarely in the 'ATG blew it by not producing a viable heir' camp...I would posit the obvious, i.e...Even if Alexander managed to produce an heir before he left for Asia, the little darling would only have been around 13 years old upon his forlorn father's death. I ...

There was no viable heir because he died. Not because there was no viable heir. Alexander IV (and Heracles & the unborn child of Darius' daughter sired by ATG) was unprotected and doomed because his father was gone. Now who's sidestepping? There was no viable heir becuse, by the age of thirty t...

It's not fair to Alexander to demean him based on the collapse of his kingdom. And what a massive kingdom it was. Had he not taken the whole of the Persian empire, lock, stock, and barrel, it would have been at his doorstep within a few years. Also, like Philip, Alexander had no choice on when he d...

Again? Really? I'm reading the SAME four or five comments over and over again. Its getting his friends exiled, the Gedrosian, Prosyknesis, Cleitus, and calling himself a god. We don't call him "Alexander the Fair", or "Alexander the Reasonable", or "Alexander the Intelligen...

Yes...Alexander made some good decisions too. But how many ancient leaders that most people would recognize as "great" made as many comparably disastrous decisions as Alexander? How many leaders were able to bring their empire to the level that ATG brought his and consequently 'had' to ma...

Since most pothosians seem to be squarely in the 'ATG blew it by not producing a viable heir' camp...I would posit the obvious, i.e...Even if Alexander managed to produce an heir before he left for Asia, the little darling would only have been around 13 years old upon his forlorn father's death. I s...

Nicator wrote: Macedon was the causeway between Asia and Greece. Over and over throughout recorded history (recent to the time under consideration) we see Persia in Macedon on the way to Greece. Persia had not been "in Macedon" since the 470's. True, but could be in Macedon at an instant....

Nicator wrote: Alexander himself was a half-breed and the Macedonians seemed to accept him quite readily. Half Epirote is a very substantially different thing to half barbaroi. The Macedonians were quite prepared to acclaim Pyrrhus king. He, though, was not half Iranian. I don't disagree, in fact, ...

Nicator wrote: That is if you adhere to the tenets that Philip himself was full Macedonian. But perhaps that's what you meant when you said 'mongrel Macedonian'? I thought what I'd written was eminently clear. ...well, I was trying to give you an out on that one Paralus. But, take it or leave it. A...

... I firmly hold that Philip is the greater. Now such a bald-faced statement does need a little explanation. I am of the opinion that while they are many qualities and deficiencies that we may attribute to each of these great kings, the final and only benchmark that should be the deciding factor i...

... the better king is the one who leaves his state, people, his kingdom if you will, better off than when he found it. And while we are all at times bedazzled by the almost mythical and breathtaking stature of the military accomplishments of Alexander, I truly believe that we cannot in all honesty...

Another way of putting it would be to say that Alexander's fame is to a great extent coincidental. He was not, like Cyrus, Philip or Caesar in any way a self-made man. He just became king at the most opportune moment possible. A mere three years after the invasion of Persia had begun, the accomplis...

Do you believe Alexander has a prominent role in Philips popularity? Or would he be discussed as much as he is nowdays even without the help of his sons fortunes in conquest? Regardless of how Philip is discussed (or not) today, the fact remains that he had histories written of him before his son d...