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The Forum: Alexander the Great or not so great?

The Alexander mosaic

16/03/2023 GMT

Alexander the Great or not so great?

BBC World Service - The Forum, Alexander the Great or not so great?

One of the world’s most astonishing military leaders, but was he brilliant or brutal?

He was called Alexander – was he a brilliant militarist, a brutal conqueror, or both? And why was he later re-invented as a lover, and a figure to romanticize?

From Persia to India to Greece – they called him The Great – that is Alexander the Great. Also known as Alexander III of Macedon, he was one of the most successful military leaders of all time. Undefeated by the time of his death in 323 BCE, he is still a go-to figure when people want to define an empire builder. But how should we view this often cruel and destructive militarist today in the light of current world events? And, despite his brutality, like his ransacking of the beautiful capital city of Persepolis, is there a more progressive side to Alexander, his desire for cultural assimilation for instance, that explains why he became an inspiration not just to nationalists and imperialists but also to writers, poets, and the gay community?

To discuss the relevance of Alexander the Great today, Rana Mitter is joined by James Romm, Professor of Classics at Bard College in New York state whose latest book is Demetrius: Sacker of Cities, the failed but would-be successor to Alexander the Great; Dr Haila Manteghi from the University of Münster in Germany who’s the author of Alexander the Great in the Persian tradition; Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews in the UK; and Meg Finlayson, a specialist on the evolution of the queer Alexander, from the University of Durham in the UK.

Produced by Anne Khazam for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: The Alexander mosaic, a Roman floor mosaic from Pompei that dates from circa 100 BCE. Credit: Simone Crespiatico via Getty images)

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