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Phoebus, Great post! I could almost visualize the picture you paint of Macedonia. Surprise, surprise! Two different sources; two different stories. :lol: EDIT: Sorry, I forgot to mention my source. I was going off of Plutarch, whose "Life of Alexander" I luckily have backed up on my laptop...

!!!!Me and my better half are having a disagreement on something with Alexander. I guess some "specialist" was on sirius radio today talking about Alexander the Great and said he had 20 male lovers/husbands. I know Alexander had many lovers but I don't think it's written in the classics t...

I'm curious as to why anyone would judge any historical figure but especially Alexander by "our standards"? I always thoughthe point of studying history was to see the world through the eyes of those who lived it. It's when we start judging them by modern standars that words like amoral s...

Bessus was treacherous to Darius and did Alexander a favour by killing him. Exacting retribution on someone for killing someone you'd been trying to kill shouts cynicism. I'd actually argue the reverse. Why wouldn't someone aspiring to the Homeric ideal loathe Bessus? Is it inconsistent for someone...

Hey, I never said his "idealism" was "ideal" by our standards. :wink: I've always pointed to the fact that his choice of language for the new troops, his intended population transplants (read: likely forced), and his establishment of a growing number of cities was aimed at the d...

Alexander's intent to conquer further territories westward and the creating of a new generation of mixed-blood (though technically Macedonian) elite would have meant that he had a continuing pool from which to draw the administrators of his Persian empire. Best of all, both this new elite and the n...

Remember, it's only supposed to encompass deaths caused by Zarqawi. Having said that, many of the so-called genocides on that list, including Zarqawi's, hardly meet the criteria for the word (or at least the intent, at any rate). Why only mention Zarqawi when so many have been killed in Iraq? Agree...

Sikander,

For the second link, in the list of genocides, the number of dead in Iraq between 2004 and 2006 is listed as 2,000. This is unlikely to be accurate.

Take care

Well, mostly because of war's continuing popularity. Being amoral - that is, unaware of the difference between right and wrong, unable even to see that there is a difference - is such a rare thing, and aggressive conquerors haven't, through history, been uncommon, so it's hard to see all of them as...

Speaking as a big fan of violence in movies (yes yes childish... :oops:), the battle scenes in '300' did not keep my attention. Perhaps because things were so one-sided and you never felt that the Spartans were under any kind of threat. The violence, to be suspenseful, needs to involve a bit of skil...

Fiona wrote:Amoral by our standards? That would imply that anyone who wages aggressive war is, ipso facto, amoral. I wouldn't go as far as that.

Why not?

I had always imagined him to be Persian for some reason.

Hi Fiona and Amyntoros, Great posts! I don't know which of the points to respond to! I agree, not an example of lofty ideas at all. I wonder very much if we are not missing some vital piece of evidence here. The destruction of Thebes seems to match the treatment of Tyre, Satibarzanes, Philotas, Clei...

Few commanders have been more expert than Alexander in creating the conditions for mass slaughter, and his troops developed a terrible efficiency in killing. I reiterate: would his predecessors been that much less capable of large casualties had they been possessed of armies of similar size and wit...

Efstathios and Kenny, Sorry to post so late. I only just saw the movie, having promised you guys. It's really hard to say anything nice about this one. The only thing that allowed me to sit through it was the Spartans forgetting their clothes and armours (and my friends' immature jokes). Now I know ...