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why study Alexander the Great?

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1. his story is amazing, it's the stuff of fiction, not history

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his father, Philip II, was perhaps the greatest king and certainly on of the most effective leaders that Greece ever produced

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his mother, Olympias, was one of the most formidable women of the ancient world

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Alexander may be the only man in Macedon who wasn't afraid of her

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his tutor was Aristotle, arguably the greatest philosopher in history

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Alexander and his pan-Hellenic army conquered the Persian Empire within 10 years before Alexander was 30 years old, and to do it they crossed the Hindu Kush twice without losing significant number of lives, and never lost a battle

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by the end of his life, some Greek cities were beginning to vote Alexander divine honors

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Alexander's life was no mere epic, it was a series of epics piled one on top of another

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no Hollywood screenwriter would dare to make up such an implausible story, a life like Alexander's cannot have happened, but it did

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2. he's probably the greatest warrior in history

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war is a terrible thing and represents the ultimate human failure

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but human beings have always waged war, at least since the beginning of literate human history

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and there is probably noone today who believes we have seen the end of war

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studying history's greatest warrior helps us understand the causes of war, the tactics, strategy, and logistics of warfar

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why one side wins and the other doesn't

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the effects of war on winners and losers

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3. he can teach us about the nature of leadership

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what are the characterstics of a leader who conquers an empire that stretched from Greece to Indus before the age of 30?

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we watch as he learns not only how to conquer an empire of that size, but to rule it

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helps us understand to what extent leaders are born or made

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4. he can teach us about the relationship between our spiritual beliefs and our worldly achievements

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Alexander believed that in all that he did, he was favorited by Zeus, a deep conviction which drove him to not only attempt but achieve some of the greatest acts of history