Larry Buryakovsky
The Three Conquerors
Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Constantine were all great men who irrevocably changed the course of history. These men used military power as a force to shape the world and its consequences are with us today. Through the use of military and a strong hand in government, they created a world that was better than the one they were born into. Their footprints are found all over the ancient world and their conquests are noted hundreds of years later.
Alexander was the greatest military conqueror of the group. By the time he was done, his empire stretched all the way from Greece to the Indus River. Alexander’s army started with 32,000 soldiers and 5,100 cavalry and would eventually grow to 120,000 soldiers by the time he reached India.[1] His army moved through Africa, Asia Minor and into East Asia, creating new cities all along the way. His crowning jewel was the city of Alexandria founded in Egypt. Alexander was given the name “The Great” after his conquering of the Persian Empire.[2] The final battle was at Gaugamela near the city of Nineveh, and Darius III, ruler of the Persian Empire, was killed by his own relatives.[3] Alexander had created the greatest empire in the world, spreading Hellenistic culture and people throughout the world. The city of Alexandria would come to draw talent like a magnet, bringing the world’s greatest poets, philosophers and mathematicians to its library.[4] Alexander did not live to see what would become of his empire as he would eventually die from an illness. He left behind the largest empire the world has ever seen and one which his successors would fight over for years.
Augustus was born in 63 BC by the name of Gaius Octavius and the great-nephew of Julius Caesar who posthumously adopted him as son and heir.[5] The Roman Empire was divided and Augustus joined forces with Lepidus and Mark Antony to defeat Caesar’s killers and consolidate control. Eventually,...