Alexander the Great vs. The Roman Empire | Teen Ink

Alexander the Great vs. The Roman Empire

March 18, 2010
By 11coreya SILVER, Fullerton, California
11coreya SILVER, Fullerton, California
6 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:

At its height the Roman Empire covered over two million square miles, about one fourth of the current United States. The Roman Empire began in the year 330 BC and died out in 1453 AD. Its start was only 7 years before the fall and death of Alexander the Great. Because of the success of Alexander the Great there is no doubt that the Romans took notice of what he did as they plotted their expansion. The Romans derived many of their military tactics from Alexander the Great, but they also incorporated military tactics that were different from Alexander the Great’s strategy.
Alexander and the Romans each used their navies differently. The Roman Navy was considered to be the most prestigious and powerful branch of its military. The Romans navy patrolled the Mediterranean Sea combating pirates and other naval enemies that would harm Roman ships. They also used their navy to supply and transport their troops into other parts of the Mediterranean region. (Goldsworthy, The Complete Roman Army, 114). Alexander’s conquest spread throughout the Mediterranean Region, he had complete control of the sea and its ports. Alexander needed his navy so his enemies could not use theirs. He blockaded their ports to cut off trade and supply. That was his weakness and his enemies were always trying to capitalize on this. Alexander’s army had become so powerful that he did not need his navy as much, but the Romans did. (Cartledge, Alexander The Great, 150).

The Romans and Alexandrians relied on their navies differently. Alexander’s military preferred to fight on land over sea. Alexander did not need his navy as much because most of his conquest took place on land-locked Persia. Alexander also did not see his navy as a very valuable asset. (Cartledge, 123). The Roman ships evolved and became much more powerful and better trained. The Romans took the time to develop a navy which grew to be a dominant force in their conquest. Their navy was their main asset because Italy was surrounded by water. If Alexander had taken time like the Romans did, his navy would have become a strong military asset, but it would not have been necessary because of how dominant his army was. (Caven, The Punic Wars, 27).
The Persians had a very powerful navy that Alexander had to eliminate in order to expand his empire. “So Alexander, who had no navy worthy of mention, quickly neutralized the enemy’s advantage by attacking seaports from land and destroying the hostile fleet’s support bases.” (Seize the Night). Alexander’s only choice to winning was to use his army by land to weaken the Persian’s navy. Alexander had the most powerful army but the Persian navy was always trying to exploit his navy. Taking out this naval asset turned the tide of the invasion. Earlier when the Persians invaded the Greeks it was a huge victory of the Athenian navy over the Persian navy at Salamis that stopped their invasion. During these ancient wars, the navy proved to be a huge asset and whoever could stop the other navy first usually won the war.
The Roman army was able to attract more soldiers than Alexander’s army. The Alexandrian army was made up of Greek soldiers and Macedonians. Alexander’s soldiers were fighting for Greece and pride. The Greek soldiers had a pride that gave them a boost in those crucial battles. The Greeks had been fighting the Persians for so long that they had a built up hatred. Some of Alexander’s soldiers were not as strong because he had to enlist help wherever he could find it unlike the Romans. Alexander did not have a central location that he returned to after battles. He was always on the move, conquering and living on the battlefields. Alexander could not return after each battle to resupply his soldiers. (Guy Rodgers, Alexander, 69). The Romans in contrast, recruited their soldiers from the best. Their large population and central location allowed them to choose who they wanted in their army, and they recruited the finest. The Roman ability to pick and choose gave them a more solid supply of soldiers and a strong military. (Goldsworthy, 51).
The goals of the Romans and Greeks were also different. The Greek goal was Greek pride. The Greeks were very prideful people, and that was most important to them. It is what they believed in and fought hardest for. (Alexander, 70). The Roman soldiers’ goal was to be given full Roman citizenship for their service. That Roman citizenship was what people wanted in that day. The Romans bribed soldiers to stay in service because they knew how much people wanted to be Roman citizens. They did not have the pride that the Greeks did but they did have a reason to fight. The Romans were more like athletes because they were fighting for the reward of citizenship and do not care as much about national pride. (Goldsworthy 51).
The Roman and Alexandrian army forces consisted of similar units. Alexander had a cavalry and infantry leading into battle. The Romans had lighter armed soldiers backing up their front lines surrounded by cavalry. The Roman and Alexandrian ranks were similar in this sense. (The Roman World From 753-146 BC, 337). The Romans also used the phalanx which Alexander adapted from the Spartans. The phalanx is made up of many rows of soldiers pushing forward to the front. The men in front would in turn stab oncoming enemies. Soldiers who were a part of the phalanx would defend the person fighting next to them and if someone fell the person behind them would jump right in. It was the most dominant military formation used in the ancient times. This is one of the striking similarities between the two dominant empires of the Romans and the Alexandrians. (Alexander, 70).
The Alexandrians and Romans relied heavily on the phalanx formation. Alexander’s men had long spears. The long spears were key for the phalanx formation. Alexander adopted the original phalanx which fought with swords. The spears provided more damage and had longer range. (Fisher, Alexander the Great; Seize the Night). The Romans also had the lighter armed soldiers in the back. They did not need the strong armor in the back because they were not constantly attacked by the opposing soldiers. They also put the less strong soldiers in front because it was where people were in more danger in the phalanx formation. The Romans continued to use this formation, but Alexander’s was much stronger. (The Roman World).
Alexander and the Romans had different tactics to get rid of mounted enemies.

The Romans took out the chariots by using a type of throwing star. This disabled the Turkish chariots and forced the enemy to fight on ground, giving the Romans a significant military advantage. Alexander used stealth techniques to take out his mounted opponents. He especially had a problem with elephants. Although mesmerized by elephants, he had to conquer many. This was successful in surprising the slow and easily startled elephants. Both dominant empires found ways to topple mounted enemies which had become problematic opponents. (Nossov, War Elephants, pg. 19).
The Roman and Alexandrian armies had a variety of different armors. Alexander’s armor consisted of “vest made in Sicily and over this a breast plate of two ply linen taken from the spoils of Issos. The helmet he wore was a work of Theopholis made of iron” (Alexander, 113). Alexander’s troops had much protection on their head and chest. This could be because their troops were more valuable and not as replaceable as the Romans who also had protective armor but not as heavy. The Romans carried more light armor for better mobility. To the Romans speed was more important than defense. They did not fight like a unit as much as the Alexandrians did, it was more stagnant and vicious. If the Alexandrians had had more of a constant flow of incoming soldiers they could have played a more aggressive attack as the Romans did. (The Roman World).
The Romans and Alexandrians used similar weaponry. Alexander had “pike men with sarissas, 14 foot long pikes twice the length of normal spears. Supporting the sarissa units were highly mobile light infantry and cavalry troops.” (Alexander the Great; Seize the Night). These pike men were very helpful when in the phalanx formation. Also the light infantry was very strong in open battle.
The front of the Roman line was strongly stocked like Alexander’s. Towards the back they had the light infantry which was also similar to Alexander’s. Later in their empire, the Romans incorporated the larger spears for thrusting. The Romans and Alexandrian forces had similar weaponry that lead to their dominance.
The forces of both supreme armies had leaders that believed they were gods. “Another statue of Caesar was placed in the temple of Quirinus with the inscription ‘To the Invincible God.’” (UNRV History, Heaton). Caesar and other leaders believed that they were gods. This sense of being a god gave a sense of immortality. This caused a supreme confidence in these leaders which would explain their aggressiveness.
After a visit to the great Egyptian temples, Alexander came to believe in his own divine origin. His troops, who already worshiped him for his leadership and tremendous bravery in the midst of the fiercest fighting, seemed to have little difficulty in accepting his godliness” (Seize the Night).
Alexander was aggressive in battle. Even when it looked like victory was impossible against the virtually unstoppable Persians, Alexander’s aggression led him to victory. This god-like power was a main reason these empires were so successful. Being like a deity led to confidence. (Seize the Night).
The sense of deity of these military leaders led to their deaths and in some cases the end of their empire.
He believed he was immortal, Alexander had not groomed or named a replacement. His only guidance had been to leave his empire in the hands “of the strongest.” Unfortunately, no one had the strength of Alexander. Within a year, his empire and army broke into a multitude of warring factions, and Alexander’s empire ceased to exist. (Seize the Night).

Alexander ultimately died from malaria after bathing in a cold river. He did not believe that he was mortal and did not think of the consequences of his actions. Once Alexander went down, his empire collapsed around him. Caesar, on the other hand, knew of the possibility of something going wrong. He could not resist the idea of being named king, which is what the senators said to lure him to the trap. This would add to his god-likeness which he thought of as most important even if it risked his life. The idea of god-likeness led to the deaths of two of the most important rulers in ancient world history. Alexander’s death led to the end of his empire. Caesar died at only the beginning of the Roman Empire. (UNRV Roman History).
The Roman and Alexandrian forces were similar in many ways. The close proximity in time periods contributed to these military similarities. The Romans took notice of how dominant Alexander was when he was conquering the area and mimicked some of his tactics. They saw how he never stopped his aggression and reconstructed tactics like the phalanx formation. The Romans also added the dominant navy which made them strong. The one characteristic of Alexander was his Greek pride, and no empire could ever recreate the depth of pride the ancient Greeks embodied.

Similar Articles


This article has 8 comments.

sirpingouin said...
on Aug. 9 2017 at 1:01 pm
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
No. The navy wasn't one of the most important assets in the eye of Rome. The legions were. The romans never bothered cleaning the Sea until Pompey. And the romans didn't engage anyone either. Even after the Marian Reform, they were still engaging only roman citizens. And that invalidates this part, "the Roman soldiers’ goal was to be given full Roman citizenship for their service", as that was only the auxiliaries in the empire. "they did not have the pride that the Greeks did but they did have a reason to fight." Huh? What? The romans were also prideful.During some battles, the aquilifer would charge right into the enemy so that the legionaries would be compelled to follow him to avoid complete shame. If that's not pride, I don't see what it is. "The Romans also used the phalanx". This is false to a certain point. At the very beginning, yeah, they used the phalanx. But following the samnite wars, they didn't use the phalanx anymore, as legionaries were at 3 feet from each other. That's not a phalanx. "The Romans also had the lighter armed soldiers in the back", that's the complete opposite of the Triplex Acies, the formation used during most of the Republic time. The lighter armed soldiers were always in the front in that formation. "To the Romans speed was more important than defense" Go say that to the ones wearing a segmentata. You can barely jog with that. "They did not fight like a unit as much as the Alexandrians did". That's also false, the romans were fighting like an unit as much if not more as the alexandrians. "Caesar and other leaders believed that they were gods". No that was rather unique to Caesar and it is very possible he didn't even believe in it himself but rather using it as a political advantage. "He could not resist the idea of being named king, which is what the senators said to lure him to the trap". Nope, it was an emergency meeting. Caesar did not want to become king. No romans ever thought of that. Even Augustus chose the title Emperor instead of King.

History said...
on Jun. 10 2017 at 8:06 pm
Persia was not a landlocked nation. In fact a huge sea , the Persian gulf is named after Persia which sits on Persia's Western coast.
In 2016 the Persian Navy and Pirates were challenging the mighty Navy of the United States and created world tensions by capturing small US Navel boats and holding them captive during the weak Obama administration.

Hmm.. said...
on Oct. 23 2014 at 7:36 am
This article is not too reliable. Romans did NOT fight in phalanx formations. They only did so in the beginning due to hellenistic teachings. However, they abandoned the more cumbersome formation due to the samnite tribes' more mobile and agile troops. furthermore, there was a statement which ticked me off a bit. The roman army was the epitome of formation and unit based fighting. The Gladius and Scutum prove this. A short infantry sword against the other longer swords wielded by their enemies? No brainer.   Also, in conjunction with many other comments, the roman republic seems to have been confused with the roman empire in relation to the dates involved. Contrary to what the article has claimed, Julius Ceasar did NOT declare himself king. True, dictator for life seems synonymous. This is evident by the Lupercalia held the year Ceaser was murdered in.

rbss said...
on Feb. 22 2014 at 3:02 pm
The 3rd century BC is from 201 BC to 300 BC, so in any case the date is still wrong. While Rome was an empire before Caesar Augustus, it was not formally the Roman Empire but rather the Roman Republic before then.

simplyGreek said...
on Oct. 17 2013 at 2:19 am
I'm not got at timeline but the article is very nice.Don't be so cruel.

Northpal said...
on Oct. 9 2013 at 2:05 pm
Rome had begun annexing provinces in the 3rd century BC

Mr. Gauthier said...
on Apr. 2 2013 at 12:20 pm
Thank you for this very informative, well-organized article!

Yeah92848291 said...
on Mar. 24 2012 at 10:47 am
I stopped reading at, " The Roman Empire began in the year 330 BC ". The Roman EMPIRE didn't begin until 27 BC. The Republic began at 509 BC. Not good to kill an article's credibility in paragraph 1.

Smith Summer

Parkland Speaks

Campus Compare