Alexander the Great unified the Greek city-states (with the exception of Sparta who refused to join); he demolished the Persian empire that was threatening Greece for over 50 years (with an army that was well organized yet still 20 times smaller) and went on to conquer a great part of the Middle East and Asia; he then consolidated his new empire with culture rather than force, built tens of new cities (and who can blame him for naming most of them Alexandrias? - the most famous of which being the one in Egypt); and was the only man to conquer and keep Afghanistan (by encouraging intermarrying between his troops and the local population - not by maintaining highly guarded and isolated outposts).
Alexander spread his native Greek language from Egypt to India making it the language everyone spoke for centuries (similar to what English is today) - and this is the reason why, 300 years later, the Gospels and the entire New Testament would be written in Greek and why it was the language favored by scientists and scholars, up until Newton.
Yes, he was born the son of a king and his private tutor was no other than Aristotle. Yet he carved the only Hellenic Empire by military conquest (in contrast, the Byzantine empire was a Hellenic cultural conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire) and changed world history for ever before he was 33.
I would say proud and humbled at the same time.
cool, how about writing a post about it :)
Very nice reply, very informative... Alexander's legacy goes indeed beyond what we usually consider... The Greek East and Latin West portions of the Roman Empire have an unsuspected author in Alexander...