Alexander the Great Strenghts and Weaknesses as a Person,...

For centuries, Alexander the Great has held an eminent place in history. Arguably one of the greatest men the world has ever known, the Macedonian King accomplished many great feats in his short, but glorious life. During his reign, Alexander played several roles in the process of conquering the Persian empire, and in the assessment of his character, aspects of Alexanders capabilities of both strengths and weaknesses must be explored in him as a person, a statesman and a leader. Alexander was a complex, inscrutable man of passion and iron-will . The King possessed a keen intellect, with an ability to make quick decisions. He had supreme courage and excellent leadership skills , which contributed significantly to his greatness as a†¦show more content†¦The King also had an erratic and dangerous temper, which was almost maniacal. Alexander often succumbed to the terrible and fervent outbursts of rage and to combine this with the influence of wine which he drank heavily, could lead to the most terrible of tragedies. The extreme instance of this is the death of Cleitus the Black, who was murdered by Alexander in a drunken fit of rage. Nonetheless, Plutarch and Arrian, claimed that Alexanders heavy drinking was merely and impression that developed from the Kings long conversations with friends, and the lingering over his drink. It is particularly difficult to assess Alexander as a statesman, for his views as a statesman were in a state of flux when he died. His political creations were still in a developmental stage and had as yet take definite shape, but Alexander did display political wisdom by separating financial, civil and military power. One of his great achievements was his financial measure in reforming the coinage and bringing into line with each other the decimal currency of Persia with the duodecimal system of Macedonia. This was not only a great contribution to economic prosperity throughout the empire, but also impeded Athens as competition and involved her as a trading partner instead. Alexander also entertained a grandiose plan for uniting the East and the West in a world empire of racial equality. Unfortunately, this did not succeed as he planned. Nevertheless, the Kings conquest and findings of