On "why you must know Alexander the Great if you are an strategist."

What Mozart is to Music, and Einstein is to Physics, Alexander is to Strategy.

For more than two millennia, Alexander III of Macedonia has stood as the ultimate exemplar of strategic acumen and leadership, revered by countless generations.This admiration didn’t arise solely from his armies’ belief in his divine status; rather, it stemmed from his pivotal role in ushering in a new era in human history. Emerging from a mountainous kingdom shunned by Greeks and barbarians alike, equipped with a modest force and barely reaching adulthood, he defied all odds to achieve global conquest and reshape the course of human civilization. In the greatest epic recorded in the annals of history, a 20-year-old young man had left behind the blue spruces of Mount Olympus and the fresh air of his ancestral land to embark on a quest to conquer the entire known world of his time. His unwavering courage in the face of death, his unshakeable conviction in his destiny, his indomitable spirit, his Apollonian countenance, his heterochromatic tiger eyes, one light and one dark, his charisma, his exploits, his intellect, his heroism, and his universal vision have captivated countless nations and cultures.

Among the great men of history, Alexander stood out for having accomplished all his work in a very short period of time and for giving scholars the best example to argue that the personality of certain individuals is the main force defining the destiny of humanity. At barely 25 years of age, he triumphed over the mightiest empire known to the world, undefeated for two centuries. He amassed wealth a thousandfold greater than any man of his time, assuming the titles of pharaoh of Egypt, king of Babylon, king of kings of the Persians, holding within his grasp the destiny and histories of civilizations. Until the final years of his brief life, he remained guided by an unwavering enthusiasm that propelled him to confront seemingly insurmountable challenges with unyielding faith, harboring an absolute certainty of emerging victorious.

Indeed, the term “epic” consistently fell short whenever his contemporaries endeavored to characterize his life, which was permeated by a tapestry of heroic exploits and magnificent conquests. The life of Alexander, the first and only universal monarch, yielded an inexhaustible trove of epics even prior to his death. Some tales bore the imprint of truth, while others were woven by the legends of diverse peoples and nations, further augmented by the imaginations of subsequent epochs. Yet, for over two millennia, the name of Alexander has retained an enduring allure. No other conqueror in history garnered such widespread admiration, respect, and, in certain cases, absolute adoration in the lands he subdued.

In Egypt, he was revered as a liberator and a god. Across Iran, Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Muslim world, for more than a millennium, the adventures of a romanticized and mythical Alexander were transformed into the legend of Iskandar Dhul Qarnayn, the hero of Islam. He inspired the Maharajas of India; his name resonated among the Jews as the great conqueror prophesied in the Book of Daniel. His passing invoked sorrow not just among the Greeks, but also among the Egyptians, Babylonians, Indians, desert nomads, and inhabitants of the Himalayan mountains. From China to Iceland, India to Russia, spanning the expanse of Europe and Africa, traversing both ancient and contemporary history, Alexander indelibly left his imprint on peoples and civilizations. Poets across ages praised, idealized, vilified, and critiqued him. The troubadours of the Middle Ages sang his praises; Shakespeare conjured his image. Muslims adapted him into their ideology; Christians rejected him—though even five centuries after his death, his image still hung as a talisman around the necks of Christian men and women.

A pope chose his name, deeming it most fitting for ascending the throne of St. Peter. Pagans venerated him. Michelangelo laid out the Capitol Square in Rome, basing its design on Alexander’s shield. In more recent times, General Norman Schwarzkopf invoked his strategic inspiration for the first Gulf War operations. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in Las Vegas, a young heavyweight boxer named Mike Tyson roared at his opponent, declaring, “I am Alexander! You ain’t Alexander!”

In the 1990s, the British rock band Iron Maiden echoed around the world with their hit song ‘Alexander the Great,’ proclaiming, ‘His name struck fear in the hearts of men. Alexander the Great became a god amongst mortal men.

Alexander remained an enduring symbol, an archetype representing youth and glory. Julius Caesar once encountered a statue of the Macedonian in the city of Cadiz. Upon silently contemplating the statue and reflecting upon Alexander’s extraordinary accomplishments, Caesar found himself overwhelmed with sorrow, for Alexander had achieved greatness and ruled over countless territories by the age of thirty-two, while Caesar himself had yet to achieve significant triumphs. It was not just emperors and kings throughout different eras who found inspiration in this remarkable young strategist, but common people on both ends of his empire had also never forgotten him. Even to this day, in Asia, Afghan tribal leaders proudly assert their lineage as descendants of Alexander, claiming that their horses trace their ancestry back to Bucephalus, Alexander’s legendary steed. Until just a few decades ago, they would march into battle under the banner of the red flag, which they believed to be Alexander/Iskandar’s standard.

Until just a few decades ago, during stormy nights on the Aegean islands, fishermen and their wives would call out to the sea, “Where is Alexander?” And the response would echo back, resounding with certainty, “Alexander the Great lives and reigns!” With this invocation, they believed they could placate the tempestuous seas. In Egypt, his name and likeness etched upon the walls of the Luxor temples and within the Siwa Oasis serve as enduring reminders to tourists and adventurers alike, testifying that a young Greek, thousands of years ago, was anointed as the son of Amun and chosen by Osiris.

The young Macedonian king drew inspiration from the heroes of Homer’s epic tales, from the indomitable Heracles, from the rebellious Achilles, and from the fervent desire to reach the realm of the gods on Olympus. He was driven by the indelible influence of his father, the mighty Philip II, a king whose power had never been witnessed before in Europe, and by his mother, Olympias, a woman enshrouded in both mystery and the prophecies of oracles.

It was through his remarkable endeavors that kingdoms, pharaohs, dynasties, empires, and legends were born. His renown endures because his conquests surpassed the realms of imagination, and the challenges he faced were nothing short of titanic in scale.

To complete his genius and add to the enigma, throughout his life, the beautiful and excellent Alexander (kalos kai agathos) had been accompanied by such consistent good fortune that both friend and foe were forced to consider the possibility that he was truly a chosen one of the gods. Virgil might have drawn inspiration from Alexander to assert that ‘fortune favors the bold,’ while Plutarch devoted a book to discussing ‘the fortune or virtue of Alexander.’ However, as the German historian and papyrologist Ulrich Wilcken had said, ‘the permanent result of his life was not the empire he conquered by his hard fighting, but the development of Greek civilization into a world civilization. In this way, his influence has affected the history of humanity up to the present day.

All those are reasons to study about Alexander if you truly wants to know what Strategy is and how to think strategically.

As Napoleon said: if you want to know the secret of strategy, there is only one way: study once and again the campaigns (the mind) of Alexander...

If you are interested I invite you to read the book: Strategy: the Secret Knowledge of Alexander the Great. You can find it on Amazon, on hardcover, paperback, ebook, on English, Portuguese and Spanish (Estrategia: el Conocimiento Secreto de Alejandro Magno).

It is not for everybody. It is a book only for those who feel the impulse to explore the esoteric knowledge of Strategy, the art of the strategos, and want to use such knowledge not to conquer the world, but rather to conquer oneself and achieve genuine success by winning without fighting.