Who was the greater: Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar?

Who is greater: Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar?


  • Total voters
    4
  • Poll closed .

Nitin1987

New member
I believe that many things about strategy, tactics as well as politics can be learnt from the past and two names that resound clearly in the ancient history are that of Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar.

There would hardly be a person in the world today who would not have heard the names of these two - my question is who was greater than the other.

I must tell you that the way in which they acheived greatness were very different but the both were primarily Generals of their armies and won many great victories.

Alexander the Great: At the age of 16 he shocked the Greeks by charging his cavalry unit against the phalanx of Thessaly which was considered to be impossible to breach especially through cavalry. At age 18 he succeded his father after his father was assasinated. This was the start of his glorious campaign which started by crushing the Thracian rebels to the north of His region(Macedon) - then the greeks - followed by the enormous armies of Darius of Persia and eventually King Porus of India. After this campaign his armies missed their home and he was forced to return. He died at the age of 33.

Why i think he is great:
1. Won battles against not only the disciplined greek lines but also against the vastly superior persian armies. ratio of persian armies to that of Alexanders was never under 10:1.

2. He was away for a long time and had left his seat of power in Macedon long enough for someone to betray him but no one even attempted to usurp his throne when he was gone - he was able to progress without worrying about his rear end being exposed.

3. Conquered one of the most strategically unconquerable territory by using his brains and just his brains. Sigmond Rock i think it is chck it out - you will be amazed

4. Brought his army from greece to the indus - a feat no army has every acheived ever again.

5. Survived several assasination attempts made on his life - even by one of his most trusted lieutenant.

Julius Caesar: Started his military career very late as compared to Alexander but his accelades include conquering Gaul not only through force but by also using diplomacy and making one tribe fight the other. Politically outmanuvered Pompeii Magnus and the other Senators (Cicero and Cassius). Took an army into Rome which was considered illegal by the Roman senate and a sin but was hailed as a liberetor by the Romans. Fought Pompeii with half the army Pompeii had and beat him. Went to Egypt and defended Alexandria against an army of 25000+ with a mere 2 legions. Returned and was appointed dictator for life. Just before his death changed his heir from Marc Anthony to Octavian his grand nephew - who later became the Emperor Augustus - First Emperor of Roman Empire.

Why i think he was great:
1. He not only fought battle on the fields but also outsmarted his opponents in politics which was very important considering that Rome was actually a Republic. He fought a dual battle and succeded in both.

2. Always had a limitation of resources but was still able to come out on top.

3. It is believed that Julius Caesar had spotted his assasination plot but used it as means to furthur his family into power far greater than what he could acheive. i.e. he used his death as means to gain more power for his family.

4. Succeded in causing many of Pompeii's veterans to join him before the battle between them actually started.

5. Mostly he was able to passify the mob of Rome which no prior dictator of Rome (neither Sulla nor any other dictator) were able to do.

- Regards Nitin.
 

ch21599

Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
differnt time periods mean different contexts , its very difficult to compare the two ....
 

gaurav200x

Gaurav Mittal
Well Nitin,
Both of them were great generals... rather the greatest... Their lives are an example of so many things... leadership, courage, virtuousness, skill, kingship, et al. I don't think, it is just possible to compare them. Both started out low and reached to a level of supremacy on their own might.
 
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