Ancient Greece! A land and time of mythical legends and historic heroes like,
drum roll please, Alexander of Macedonia...a man whose accomplishments can easily be described
as larger than life. But despite his legendary “greatness,” he didn’t achieve all those feats
single-handedly. Today on Nutty History we’re journeying from Asia Minor to the
Indus River in the east to see what life was like as a soldier for Alexander the Great.
Pre-greatness, Alexander’s relationship with his father Philip wasn’t always hunky dory.
Like many ancient kings, he had his share of daddy issues.
Alexander was five feet or five feet two, tops, and had a stocky build with a ruddy complexion,
while his father was a stereotypical “military dad” from Hollywood movies.
While Alexander was tormented and mocked for being weak by his father, his mother,
Olympias, plotted to kill King Phillip II, along with anyone else who might be in the way of her
son’s ascension to the throne. After his father was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards,
Alexander became King of Macedonia, also acquiring his father’s well-trained and reformed army.
Philip II’s rule had been heavily influenced by the Greco Persian Wars of the last century,
which was reflected in his reforms to the military prowess of Macedonia.
Phillip expanded the Macedonian army from ten thousand to twenty-four thousand men and
increased the cavalry from a mere six hundred to three thousand five hundred. Somebody’s flexing.
This upgraded army also saw the introduction of a corps of engineers who were experts at developing
siege weaponry such as towers and catapults. Alexander would later use this equipment during
the siege and occupation of Tyre. Philip had also divided his army into smaller units, called taxes,
with unit commanders called taxiarchs. He replaced the soldiers’ primary weapon of a
spear with a longer and sturdier Sarissa, and also gave them a smaller double-edged sword
called Xiphos . Alexander inherited this boss army from his father after helping him win Athens
and Thebes. He gave soldiers uniforms to wear and required an oath of allegiance to their new king,
him. These soldiers weren’t fighting for a particular province, town, or city.
They were all soldiers of Alexander and Macedonia. This laid the foundation of
unity and solidarity among the army, based in loyalty to their king.
Beyond the fact that they had to pledge themselves to him, Alexander was beloved by his soldiers.
At first...He ate, drank, and fought like one of the guys. He would also be the first to abstain
from food and water in moments of scarcity. More than respect, this gained him the admiration of
the men following him. By the time he entered Asia, his army had grown heavily in number.
Even in Persia, as his forces steamrolled the enemy near the cities of Troy and Issus in 334 BC,
Alexander and his army had quite the PR spin. They were treated as liberators rather than invaders.
Two years later, Alexander rallied towards Egypt and overthrew the Persian overlords.
The secret to his success was training the soldiers for short-term warfare.
Alexander wasn’t playing chess, he would go all-in on a single battle that would last a day,
maybe two, and then return to camp victorious. Alexander’s charisma was infectious throughout
the army and built a high level of confidence among the men. For them,
Alexander was no mere mortal - he was on par with heroes like Heracles and Achilles.
Alexander yet again had his father to thank for getting rid of the conventional but slow
ox carts that were part and parcel of western militaries. While Alexander’s army had horses
carry some of the weight, a significant amount of lifting fell on the shoulders and backs of men.
This would include Sarissas, food rations, tools, cooking utensils,
and blankets. An extra bulky journey might also include road-building tools, medical supplies,
and thirty days’ worth of flour. It would generally be carried in a backpack that could
weigh upwards of 40kg, or 80lbs. While it’s less than the modern soldier standard, this much burden
on a soldier back then was unprecedented. Honestly my back hurts just thinking about
it. Another major issue with such a long and grand campaign was to arrange and sustain food supplies.
Today when we talk about Mediterranean and Greek food, things like potatoes, tomatoes, and citrus
are the cornerstone of the cuisine. But these plants weren’t native to Greece - we have Alex’s
Army to thank for them. Back then, Macedonian diet revolved mostly around carbohydrates like wheat,
barley, and millet. Soldiers would use these to make bread and porridge along with dried meat.
But in the harsh and cruel deserts of Persia, the scarcity of water combined with the large
number of horses equaled a lot of thirsty folks. Knowing how dire the situation was
about to become, Alexander asked his soldiers to fish at every river they would cross.
This worked wonders, as fishing gave them time to store water while simultaneously procuring meat.
As a soldier in Alexander’s Army, you didn’t actually have to fight much during the early
years of the campaign. Their reputation preceded them so much that foreign rulers would surrender
just hearing the news of the army’s arrival. This aided Alexander to gain the respect of the elder
generation of the army - the generals who had served under his father Philip. One such commander
was Parmenio, and his son Philotas was Alexander’s close friend. Philatos was one of the very few
people who was allowed to criticize Alexander openly. Alexander actually respected this quality
among his men, but given his authoritative personality, most wouldn’t dare to oppose him.
Except Philatos. But when one of Philatos' men was caught plotting against Alexander, the situation
got sketchy. Philatos was apparently aware of the plot, but never took it seriously, and this
made Alexander question his friend’s loyalty. Alexander’s infamous paranoia and cynicism
began to take hold, and Philatos paid for this mistake with his life. No longer feeling the love,
Alexander’s new policy was more “out with the old and in with the new.” He replaced all of his
father’s companions. He also did away with trials, and fairness in general. Any suspicion of treason
was instead answered with excruciating torture and death by stoning. This was the beginning of
distrust, chaos, and some deep introspection about loyalty among the army. On top of the possibility
of becoming the next victim of Alexander’s paranoia, most of the soldiers were homesick
and had very little interest in continuing their long march east. Are we there yet?
By the time the army crossed the Indus river to fight the monumental battle against King
Porus of Punjab, the soldiers were longing to return to their families. Fortunately,
Alexander read the room and decided to not cross the Beas river, instead turning the army around
for a journey back home. But the return trip was not as happy or peaceful as one would expect.
Alexander’s trust was at an all time low and in a drunken rage he ended up killing Cleitus
the Black, one of his closest commanders. Whoops! Soon a mutiny followed and Alexander found himself
alone among Macedonians. Luckily, he managed to broker peace, thanks to the support from Persians.
Alexander died three years later in one of history’s shadier events,
still undetermined to be from disease or murder. But even at his deathbed, Alexander
challenged his army by offering his empire “to the strongest” when asked about a successor.
Obviously, this instruction was a little vague, and led to yet another civil war among his
generals. Would you be down to devote endless hours marching in the desert sun carrying 80
pounds on your back for a ruler who might kill you? Just to be a part of something historically
great? Let us know in the comments along with what nutty history you’d like to hear about next.