The Campaigns of Alexander the Great

Lonsdale, David J.

Abstract

By the time of his death in 323 BC, Alexander the Great had added the Persian Empire to Macedon's European territories, thus controlling most of the world as known to the ancient Greeks. In Chapter 1, David J. Lonsdale examines Alexander's campaigns from the early conflicts in Greece and the Balkans through his conquests in Persia, his expedition into India and his eventual return to Babylon. Alexander at times applied non-military instruments of what we today would refer to as grand strategy, showing sensitivity to religious, cultural, and societal factors, and at other times acted with brute force, slaughtering inhabitants, or selling them into slavery. He proved himself successful in setpiece battles as well as irregular warfare, often engaging the enemy indirectly and with inferior numbers. In the end, his success depended on his ability to combine the tactical, operational, and strategic and grand strategic levels of war.

Citation

Lonsdale, D. J. (2011). The Campaigns of Alexander the Great. In J. A. Olsen, & C. S. Gray (Eds.), The Practice of Strategy: From Alexander the Great to the Present (15-35). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780199608638.003.0002

• Online Publication Date: Jan 19, 2012
• Publication Date: Oct 27, 2011
• Deposit Date: Dec 19, 2014
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 15-35
• Book Title: The Practice of Strategy: From Alexander the Great to the Present
• Chapter Number: 1
• ISBN: 9780199608638
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof%3Aoso/9780199608638.003.0002
• Keywords: REF 2014 submission; Alexander the Great; Darius; Macedonia; Strategy; War; Campaign; Insurgency; Military genius
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/370851
• Contract Date: Dec 19, 2014