Alexander the Great – The Unity of the Greeks (Virtues and Labours)

For centuries the Greeks were divided and only in difficult moments, which concerned their very survival, did they unite, in order to confront invaders, such as the Persians. Yet even then there were disagreements and conflicts that endangered their resistance and defence.

Alexander understood the problem of division, but also the advantage of the union of the Greeks. He united the Greek world, created institutions of enormous importance even today, with distinct and great rights, and freedom without discrimination. The Greek Alexander was the real Alexander.

The power of his personality was so great that he could keep his two roles distinct, both in his mind and in his conduct. Ptolemy and Aristobulus were right when they regarded the Macedonian Alexander as the true Alexander. When it was necessary, he punished the Greeks and honoured the Persians. He was strict, but also just and upright, as every great leader must be, one who places the common interest, unity, above all else.

Alexander was a personality respected by the overwhelming majority of the Greeks, one who expressed and personified the ecumenical dimension of Greekness. At the same time, for many years, he transformed the name of the Macedonians and of Macedonia into synonyms of resistance and victory, as Polybius records in the speech of the Acarnanian statesman Lyciscus in 211 BC, at Sparta: "And while you can make no defence in any of these matters, you boast that you resisted the barbarians' assault against Delphi and demand that the Greeks owe you gratitude for it. But if thanks are owed to the Aetolians for this one single service, what kind and how great an honour should the Macedonians receive, who for the greater part of their lives never cease to fight against the barbarians for the safety of the Greeks?

For who does not know that the Greeks would always have found themselves in great dangers, had they not had the Macedonians as a bulwark and the ambitions of their kings? The greatest proof of this is the following: As soon as the Gauls ceased to reckon with the Macedonians, because they had defeated Ptolemy, surnamed Ceraunus, immediately, after condemning the others, they came under the leadership of Brennus as far as the centre of Greece. This would surely have happened many times, had the Macedonians not been a bastion."