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  • Essay / The Life and Reign of Alexander the Great and Charlemagne

    Alexander the Great was one of the ancient rulers of Macedonia and, by extension, one of the greatest military minds in history (Burgan, 2010). He was king of Macedonia and Persia, and during his tenure he managed to establish the largest empire in the entire ancient world. Alexander the Great was brilliant, charismatic, ruthless and diplomatic, inspiring loyalty in his men who would follow him everywhere. However, he died before realizing his dream of establishing unity between Greeks and Asians (Freeman, 2011). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay On the other hand, Charlemagne was a medieval emperor who ruled most of Western Europe (Collins, 2011). His mission was to unite people from different backgrounds into one kingdom and then convert them to Christianity. Charlemagne was a military strategist. However, his reign was primarily marked by war, as he was determined to achieve his goals (Collins, 2011). In 1800, Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III and his main role was therefore to encourage and facilitate the Carolingian Renaissance and the cultural revival of European countries. However, he died in 1814, even though he had ensured the survival of Christianity in the West (Collins, 2011). The empires of Charlemagne and Alexander the Great were crowned with success. However, Alexander the Great was a better ruler than Charlemagne. Unlike Charlemagne, Alexander the Great had the advantage of being trained and educated in relevant aspects of cultural diversity and political and military matters, mainly by excellent tutors like Aristotle (Burgan, 2010). Additionally, Alexander had acquired and learned many basic concepts of leadership by accompanying his father on several occasions on military campaigns. His talents as a brilliant and charismatic leader were demonstrated when he ascended the throne at just 20 years old, after the assassination of Philip (Freeman, 2011). Furthermore, Alexander the Great managed to formulate an effective and innovative winning strategy, better than that of Charlemagne (Freeman, 2011). 2011). For example, Alexander the Great led to establish his kingdom with a military personnel numbering no more than 40,000 men. This meant that he had to effectively manage and employ his forces strategically to counter the overwhelming number of people who opposed him. Nevertheless, he managed to use terrain, mobility, tactics, and weapons such as the formidable Macedonian Phalanx to defeat his opponents (Burgan, 2010). Therefore, Alexander the Great's brilliance and leadership abilities are demonstrated by his ability to overwhelm his opponent despite the limited number of his military. Unlike Charlemagne, Alexander the Great encouraged and supported his followers for their superiority and exceptional efforts. Additionally, he motivated them and spoke to them in a way believed to bring greater success in the future. For example, he regularly paid special attention to individuals and recalled the actions of former fallen heroes who had demonstrated bravery (Freeman, 2011). As a charismatic leader, Alexander the Great recognized individual contributions and, therefore, inspired them and gave them hope for greater future excellence. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Personalized Essay Finally, unlike Charlemagne, Alexander the Great was able to foster group identification more effectively. He created a clever mechanism for, 2010).