To celebrate the launch of Civilization V, we took a poll to find out who was the greatest leader of all time.
Military Times readers voted in their hundreds for Alexander the Great, giving detailed reasons for why he stands head and shoulders above all other leaders in history.
Our star entry was from Tony Wigley, who receives a bundle of Intel PC technology and a copy of Civilization V, explains why Alexander is the Greatest:
“Alexander was a cavalry commander at 18, king at 20, complete ruler of the Persian Empire at 26, explorer of the Indian frontier at 30.
As commander, he was not only a superb tactician, but also a motivational leader. He led by example and from the front and this instilled a solid belief from his army. His movements were marked by speed; his logistical, intelligence, and communications operations were flawless; and his ability to improvise was unrivalled.
Not only a king and commander, he was a politician, scholar, and explorer – founding over 70 cities and creating an empire that stretched across three continents and covered around two million square miles. He linked all of these together in a vast international network of trade and commerce and was united by a common Greek language and culture. Alexander also saw the need to adopt some foreign customs in order to rule his millions of ethnically diverse subjects.
Unlike other successful generals, Alexander excelled at all forms of warfare – set battles, small scale skirmishes, naval operations, night attacks and sieges – something very rare indeed.
Alexander won every single battle he entered. The battles were usually won with minimal loss on his side, in spite of the fact that he was frequently outnumbered and was usually at the end of a relatively long supply line. Alexander is widely acknowledged as a military genius and was used as a model by later leaders as notable as Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte. His campaigns and their insightful strategies are still studied in military academies throughout the world.”
Other winners include:
Read about the Civilization gaming series here
Read our original article about Alexander the Great here
