Alexander The Great: The Invasion Of Persia

Murdered at his daughter’s wedding in 336 B.C., the success of King Philip II of Macedonia was cut short at an inopportune time: just before his invasion of Persia. In accordance with Philip’s expectations, his son Alexander III inherited the Macedonian throne without much opposition, something uncommon for the time period. After securing the throne from pretenders and the nation from enemies, Alexander carried out his father’s plans to invade Persia, which had “dominated the whole world from India westwards to Greece” for two centuries. Due to the success in his conquests, he is almost universally referred to as Alexander the Great. His fame, however, has obscured the accomplishments of his father. In reality, without his father’s work, Alexander may not have been able to carry out his invasion of Persia. Although Alexander’s achievements are incredible, he is given too much credit for Macedonia’s success, and his father Philip is given too little. Philip thoroughly prepared Macedonia for his invasion of Persia. Without this preparation, Alexander would not have been able to carry out this invasion, since Macedonia had nearly always been a politically unstable kingdom. When Philip ascended to the throne in 359, Macedonia’s government was a mess. “The murder of Archelaus [a …show more content…
“Without Philip there would be no Alexander.” Alexander is too often viewed as Macedonia’s only reason for success. In a way, he is: Without Alexander, Philip’s work would have been in vain. In addition, his military conquests are astounding, and are still studied by the military today. Philip, however, made the way for Alexander’s success, and yet is given little credit. When considering his situation, Philip’s accomplishments are just as incredible as Alexander’s. Unfortunately, the fame given to the two of them is heavily skewed toward