ALEXANDER vs THE MACHIAVELLI PRINCE????

Roxy · Post by **Roxy** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:11 am

Have anyone read "The Prince" from niccolo machiavelli?
I need help because i don't know so much about Alexander the Great currently reading his long bio . I need to compare Alexander the great with the ideal machiavelli prince.
Can anyone give me a few hit and points which they have in common and different?
It would be so appreciated if u did! i just need a few tips on it so that i can write a 5 page of it for tomorrow

I have a few knowledge about Alexander the Great, what was his way in conquering? Did he do what machiavelli said it was good or not?

thank you

agesilaos · Post by **agesilaos** » Thu May 25, 2006 11:18 am

Machiavelli's first principle would be : be good to those one would have as friends and ruthless to ones enemies - you could illustrate this by Alexander's treatment of the Persian nobility, inter-marrying sharing power etc, by his keeping faith with Antipater despite Olympias' complaints and the rapid climb down over proskynesis. The second part you have his destruction of Thebes, Tyre and Gaza, the execution of Parmenion the eradication of rivals upon his accession and any number of massacres in the Sogdian revolt and in India, also the relentless tracking down of Darius and later Bessos.

Another dictum is that it is safer to be feared than loved - evidence of the fear in which he was held can be found in the Polytimetos debacle and Peithagoras divination at the end of Arrian's seventh book but this has to be contrasted with the love displayed by the troops when he withdraws or is wounded, as at the Malli town.

There's a start, chairete

Roxy · Post by **Roxy** » Thu May 25, 2006 10:23 pm

Thank you agesilaos!
i have found a few points on what he had done good according to machiavelli. Still need bad points
Is there once Alexander had lost support * and trust from his people because of what he did? Or the fall of alexander [ lose his power?] ..
I read something about Alexander self-worshiping and change religion makeing people do it [Prokynesis

] so people started to dislike him. Is it true?
He also had his troops in many other provinces . But the troops his troops wanted to go home again, but Alexander kept pushing them to conquer more, thus losing their support.