It has been a long time since I last saw my Mother’s face; I miss her more every day. It has been nine years, or so they say, since we began this campaign. We have won many battles, conquered new lands, and seen more people that I ever thought lived in this world. Maybe the world is getting to the point of being filled, I do not know. A wise man told me in a city we passed through in Asia Minor that when Heaven and Hell fill up, that is when Earth will be empty. I do not think that is quite right, I believe in the Mother Goddess, like that rest of my village; but some of these people that we have met spit on me and say that I am cursed with the God’s wrath. But I do not believe in Gods, nor these few who say that we were not created by something that is not human. I may not believe in the Gods, but our leader, Alexander, is said to be a half-god. I can almost believe it; we have done so much in so little time! He leads from the front and shows no fear, while the rest of us, some shaking with terror, hang back as he charges forward. That is to be truly great, to have something to believe in, as he does, and act on it, and to make it work. I am grateful to be here, in this army, serving the greatest man of our time, but I would still rather be back home. Maybe soon I will be able to go, maybe.      

Anton the Younger of Macedonia

In this part I break the narrative.

Alexander was a planner, a thinker, a warrior, a tyrant, a believer, a leader, and a worthy historical figure to study. In the past, others have deserved the title “Great”, and they were mostly military geniuses and leaders. Like, Hitler, Frederick, and Attila. (Hitler was the Fuhrer of Germany, Frederick was King of Prussia (And no, not Russia, big difference.), and Attila was from Mongolia, he lead the “Huns”) Anyway, as we can see, all of these men have ‘ruled’ at one point or another in their lives. Maybe it is because he was ‘in the know’, because all of these men were already famous in some way. But then they did something, they stopped being that guy in jail, or the next in line for the throne, or some destroyer of villages, somewhere along the way they were recognized to have this ‘greatness’. They had something they believed in, whether it was gaining power, wealth, land, for their religion, it does not matter, they had something that they could chase after. For many it was the gain of land that made them ascend to ‘the know’, Alexander, Attila, Hitler, Fredrick, they all pushed new boundaries and strived for more through war. And in war they were successful (to a certain extent), and that is from where they got most of their power. I will continue to use Fredrick as an example; he ruled Prussia alone, he banished his father’s council from the court, and the assembly, he ruled without advisers  After that, due to an unhappy forced marriage of him to an Austrian approved bride, the young King declared war on Austria. (You can tell he was not exactly happy to be forced into marriage by another country that had no business in Prussia) (And I would like to point out that Austrian approved brides seem to cause trouble for most monarchs, like Marie Antoinette, Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, and Maria Louisa.) The King of Prussia took Silesia as a warning to the Austrians, to say, “This is what we are capable of, now stay out of our business!” When Austria waged war on Prussia, with allies Hungary, Britain, and Russia, Prussia now fought on a defensive line instead of an offensive. Soon France turned on Prussia and joined the fight as Britain left and went back to its home country. Many battles were won and Prussia stayed intact. This was due to Fredrick the Great’s work with his soldiers. (He was nicknamed, ‘Old Fritz’ by the military) As for time changing the opinion of Frederick, yes, some people in Germany after world war two would not speak his name. It was because Hitler’s role model was the King of Prussia, Old Fritz. After time progressed, the monument of Frederick (Which had been taken down after WWII) was returned to its rightful place in Berlin.

      Works Cited 

McGill, Sarah Ann. “Alexander the Great”. Alexander The Great (2009): 1-5. History Reference Center. Web. 17 Sept. 2013

Carteledge, Paul. “Alexandria the Great” History Today 59.10 (2009): 20-26. History Reference Center. Web. 18 Sept. 2013

Reynolds, Clark. "Alexander the Great." Great lives from History: The Ancient world, Prehistory-476 c.e... Cristina A. Salowy, 19 Sepember 2013. Web. 19 Sep 2013.

Mercer, Charles. Alexander the Great. 1st ed. . New York: Harper & Row, 1962. Print.

Watkins, Thayer. N.p.. Web. 24 Sep 2013.