PART 3 - First Time Reaction To Alexander The Great - The Greatest General in History? Epic History

🏛️ About the Video:
"Epic History TV" delves into the legendary life of Alexander the Great, exploring his remarkable military tactics and conquests that have led many to label him as the greatest general in history. This documentary-style video provides insights into his strategic prowess and the historical impact of his campaigns, which stretched from Greece to Persia and beyond.
Join us as we watch and react to the analysis of Alexander the Great's military genius for the first time! This video promises to uncover the strategies and decisions that enabled Alexander to conquer vast territories and forge one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Watch our reaction to see how we're fascinated by his tactical mind and the historical significance of his achievements.
🎥 What to Expect in This Video:
First Impressions: Our initial reactions to the portrayal of Alexander's early life and rise to power.
Historical Analysis: Discussing key battles and strategies highlighted in the video, and their impact on Alexander's legacy.
Perspective on Leadership: Reflecting on Alexander's leadership style and his ability to inspire and command his armies.
Overall Learning: Evaluating what this video teaches us about Alexander the Great and whether it supports the claim of him being the greatest general in history.
🤜🤛 Who We Are:
We’re a couple who loves exploring historical figures and events, learning about their impact on the world and the lessons they teach us today. Join us as we dive into the lives of legendary leaders and the pivotal moments that shaped history.
👍 Like and Subscribe:
If you enjoyed our reaction to "Alexander The Great - The Greatest General in History?" by Epic History, please like, subscribe, and click the bell. We’re excited to share more reactions to historical documentaries and discuss the intriguing complexities of historical narratives.
💬 Join the Conversation:
What do you think makes Alexander the Great stand out as a military leader? Do you agree with the video’s assessment of him as the greatest general in history? Let us know in the comments below, and suggest other historical figures or events we should explore!
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#persia #alexanderthegreat #ancientgreece

[@user-cu3jk6qx5w]

After this you guys should definitely check out their Napoleon series. And just to make it easier it, this is the chronological order to view the whole series. -The Siege of Toulon, Napoleon's first victory -Napoleon's Italian Campaign -Napoleon's Egyptian campaign -The Brumaire coup -The main Napoloen series after his coronation in 1804

[@rehobotayele7282]

Yes!! The best history series on youtube imo

[@ProfPros916]

Don’t forget about Napoleon’s Marshals after the main Napoleon series.

[@johnnyjoestar5193]

Yea but its a lot of videos, they should watch belisarius first

[@rg20322]

Alexander always leading from the front.

[@Fenix-lr6ez]

About what to watch next, I'd recommend finishing Alexander's life. You've seen him in his high point, after this it's super interesting how he deals with his responsibility to his homeland in Greece and at the same time his conquered people the Persians. I find his later life the most fun to learn, if it were a movie it would be classified as a tragedy. After that, although some here suggest the Napoleonic Wars, I would suggest the Wars of the Diadochi, the wars between Alexander's generals. I feel it's a good continuation, and Kings & Generals has a great series about them. And as a nerd of Rome, further down the line I also would suggest (also from Kings & Generals) their series about the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey and the civil wars after Caesar's assassination. It has lots of details and paints a great picture on how Rome transformed from Republic to Empire. They're both some hours long though.

[@divifilius]

At the Period, the Greeks believed the source of the Nile was somewhere in India and Alexander was going with that presupposition that he could find the source of the Nile which to them was the edge of the world and return home following the River to its outlet in the Mediterranean. Also India was the furthest area known to the Greeks at the time but how large the continent was was also a mystery to them. Persia of cause had knowledge of China and the far east, a truth learnt when the Macedonians made contact with the Chinese Qin and Han Dynasties in the 100 years following Alexander's death and splinting of his empire.

[@johndistick9702]

"Parmenion" is the name of the biggest annual exercise of the Greek armed forces.

[@chandanbanakar333]

You've gotta continue this with Epic history TV's Napoleon series

[@krisa990]

This uploads on sunday late evening here in Sweden,I look forward to this every sunday evening here as far as this goes on..I hope you guys directly can start another epic history serie directly after this is over..its great!

[@RockinMamaT]

Back for part 3😊 Loving the history ❤Great reaction as usual guys and Peace out ✌️ ☮️ 🙏

[@gustavobondanza5485]

The tactic of Alexander at Gaugamela is rarely seen in history, because attracting the enemy to the wings to attack the center requires an almost perfect timing, but he managed to do it nonetheless

[@robertherring9277]

Chk out the Iron Maiden song Alexander The Great... got me through that chapter of Western Civ.

[@rg20322]

Also, check out Monteymayor and his series and take on Midway, both from the Japanese and US perspective and no overlap. It's just incredible and relates to this series in modern days WW2.

[@АлександарМилосављевиќ]

if you watched the movie Alexander, you may have noticed that on those battle chariots, next to two or three people armed with throwing spears, they also had sharp long blades located in the middle of the wheels with which they also inflicted losses and injuries on the enemy's infantry, i.e. Alexander's army, and at the same time while were in motion, kept them at a certain distance, so that battle chariots were dangerous weapons!

[@Bigdave1369]

I was hoping that someone would point that out...

[@blacbraun]

Also these heavy chariots could not turn easily so opening gaps in the lines basically forced them to either stop or go through the gaps and then be surrounded and picked off.

[@danielmagyar2028]

Hey guys! A couple of suggestion for you to check out: If you're interested in Alexander, Kings and Generals has a good documentary on him. They go into much, much more detail than Epic History. Also, there's a 2004 movie called Alexander you can watch, though it's almost 3 hours long. If you'd like to switch topics, HistoryMarche has an excellent - though still unfinished - series on Hannibal, the enemy of Rome. Always warms my heart when people are interested in history.

[@PackaGame]

The chariots were "scythed", aka they had massive blades on the wheel axels that would spin with the wheels. They get near troops and chop them to bits. Actually pretty effective in the ideal conditions.

[@rbohYSL]

Really enjoying these Epic History videos you guys are reacting to. Please keep them coming! Much love.

[@Stateira-se1ri]

As already mentioned, you should watch the movie Alexander with Collin Farell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Not that my real name is Alexander too, it is a really good movie who shows you the battle of Gaugamela and how Alexander won that battle and with it the whole persian empire. And how his character developed on that campaign. Greetings from germany :)

[@kosmasgvl1615]

Hey guys great video.. i love greek history.. ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ his name is writtten in greek..❤

[@joerancolaco9324]

You guys should react to salamis 480 BC the battle for Greece from epic history tv

[@tomlaw17]

I'm here for the Iron Maiden...shit! Got me again.

[@Jayschannelyo]

Amazing guys please keep doing epic history

[@tamifaulkner4103]

This is so good!

[@mori1bund]

The chess comparison is right, since chess is basically a battle/war simulator that teaches you strategic thinking. 🙂

[@joseloures7701]

Your channel is so cool, wish ya'll could react to movies. There is a movie of Alexander the Great from 2004 it's a very long movie but there is much to learn.

[@davidb...2698]

That movie is very inaccurate. Definitely bad idea to learn some history from it.

[@malikblake2203]

Hope you react to napoleon epic history

[@hercdrc]

About the Chariot question. Chariots in historical warfare came in 2 varieties. Light chariots and heavy chariots. Now the light chariots, used primarily by early middle eastern, early egyptian and early celtic cultures were basically mobile platforms for archers. They would have a driver and 2 archers on them and their job would be to move around the battlefield and shoot enemies as well as chase down and interrupt fleeing foes or manuvering units. The heavy type of chariots, like the ones on this battle, were mostly used as a form of battering ram. The specific chariots mentioned on this battle were equiped with "scythes" and would also have at least 1 or 2 more soldiers aside the driver on them. One or both of the warriors would be using a long spear as a lance.(historians are debating on how those scythes were placed on the chariots or how exactly they worked). The idea was to bull rush the enemy formation and use the scythes as well as the "lance", disrupt or even better break, the enemy formation and open holes that the infantry would then exploit to break the line of the Phalanx and rout it.

[@bleepbloop6234]

I suggest watching the Opis Mutiny speech after this.

[@dimel1347]

100% on point the last video remark about Alexander being "unpredictable" at times and it was delibarate, another aspect that made him brilliant and explains why so many nations and empires did not rebel , even though he couldn't be everywhere because he only had one solo army with him in the entire Asia. He was the gentlest conqueror and treated his defeated foes as his own people but in a few calculated cases he could be ruthless and pragmatic if there was a betrayal or stubborn opposition. For example, Thebes had betrayed Macedonia two times already. This was the second rebellion. Alexander spared Thebes' allies like Athens, but he wanted to make sure that nobody would rebel in his homeland no matter how far away his campaign would bring him, so he made an example of Thebes. Also by all accounts, he felt very betrayed that some of his greek kinsmen would rather betray him instead of fighting Persia. Persepolis: Alexander didnt like pillaging or looting and he also prefered being a " liberator". However his army (and this was becoming a problem) had been away from home for so many years and they had a huge grudge against Persia and they were feeling that Alexander was going soft on them. Also Alexander intended later on the line, to incorporate persian nobility and population in the greek afairs, to even arrange intermarriage and other cute stuff that his greek army would not like at all. So he torched Persepolis as a last consolation prize for his army and a mark of the end of the war. Didnt really save him from the whining though once he started making friends with his persian subjects :d

[@AnthonyFrye12]

After you finish Alexander the greats campaign, u should check out Epic Histories, Napoleonic wars series.

[@LynxLord1991]

Chariots as you said had a driver and a fighter armed with either bow, spear or javelins, the horses would trample people down often a long spike poked out between the horses and often blades were attached to the wheel slicing anyone stepping in from the side. Chariots were deadly during the bronze age but fell out of favour in most armies due to many factors such as it was expensive to maintain and charioteers took a long time to train thus making every loss of them a big blow both militarily and financially. Darius most likely had chariots more as a symbol of power rather than an active part of his army and brought them out of desperation though this is still debateable amongst historians. She is right too though chariots werent common during Alexanders time simply because the were clunky and need very flat areas to fight. during the bronze age armies moved in big squares easy to hit with chariots but during Alexanders time well trained light infantries were the norm

[@Kakyrock666]

Now you two show us Iron Maiden version Alexander the great song ?!?!

[@something4179]

Something that most history channels never mention or go into details is his other "minor" battles is that they are very fascinating in fact on their own. Especially the siege of Tyros. Or Hallikarnassos. A siege that Alexander in terms of tactics was at a loss against Memnon of Rhodes. Alexander was very lucky that person died of illness as he was cutting his lines taking islands like it is mentioned in Epic History TV. Memnon is a very underated general. Always brilliant and tactical genius. If only Persians followed all of his tactics, such as the scorched earth one instead of engaging at Granikos river...Alexander was doomed and seemed inferior to him. At Halikarnassos siege Memnon basically defeated him tactically, until the veteran Shieldbearer units of Alexander took matters on their hands and threw themselves into the fight on the flanks. Breakingthrough and turning the tide. Otherwise Alexander would had kept them in reserve idle for no particular reason. Alexander for the first time was bested and froze, did not knew what to do against Memnon who was defending that strategical city in Asia Minor. If only Memnon did not died of illness ironically similar fate to Alexander's then he could easily had done more damage and maybe even completely defeat Alexander for behalf of Darius. And be remember himself as Memnon the Great. (Of Rhodes)

[@alanlujan8955]

Can you react to Belisarious in the Epic History channel. Belisarious the Emperor’s sword. The last great Roman general.

[@bn8418]

Great reaction guys! I should mention its definitely worth doing a reaction to a video on Cyrus the Great..he was the man who founded the Persian Empire, Incredible dude. He was founder of first charter of human rights. Even Thomas Jefferson and other American founding Fathers were deeply inspired by him and his leadership style when writing the American Constitution. oh and Alexander the great was obsessed by him. and super inspired by him. On the military front: I suggest doing a reaction on Battle of Carrhae / between Rome & Persia where the Persians gave the Romans one of the biggest and most humiliating defeats in their history. and or / the battle of Edessa where the Persians not only defeated the romans again..they captured the roman emperor / 1st time ever in history and...( anyway I wont spoil it) but its Epic as F. lol Btw, Im Persian so I appreciate some counter balance to Alexander stuff ; ) I believe the big reason Alexander is called 'Great' was primary for his military tactics that destroyed something Great- namely the Persian Empire..his legacy was very short, he died a young man in his 30s and his empire crumbled soon after...while the Persian Empire endured for the next 2500 years.

[@Olivierrrrr___________________]

Quick note: Darius III, himself was a warrior, and he did not flee out of cowardice, the Persian Empire, like my many monarchies of the age, and up until the modern age, were centralised under the monarch, and so if Darius had fallen or been captured by Alexander then all would’ve been lost and the war would’ve been lost regardless of what the Persians attempted. Darius did what he could with what he was given, and couldn’t control factors out of his reach, i.e certain parts of his army not engaging the Macedonians, rebellious statraps (governors), and many other factors, etc. Overall, Darius, despite ruling the greatest empire of the age, was not as gifted as Alexander, and was unfortunate enough to be ruler during the time of the invasion. Plus, Persia may have been mighty and large, but that was it was its downfall too, and the empire had been in decline since before Darius ascended to the throne. I’m not downplaying Alexander’s achievements, but Darius was fairly capable and did the best that he could given the situation, and ultimately died trying to save, or at the very least preserve what little of his empire that he still controlled.

[@hariszark7396]

When this series is over YOU HAVE to listen the Iron Maiden song Alexander The Great as a closer. 😉

[@gustavobondanza5485]

The chariots had blades to the wheels, but at that times were almost useless in battle, and only the Persians insisted in using them

[@ProfPros916]

You should definitely check out Epic History’s Napoleon series. It’s even better than the Alexander the Great one. Another great series from them that you should watch is Belisarius

[@BootzNSaddles]

It is actually Alexander the Invincible

[@alanshields8036]

You have to check out Toussaint Louverture, considered the father of Haiti.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

Checking out the Macedonian empire naturally means checking out the Roman Empire next :D There is at least twice as much to learn about the SPQR and its rise to peak power is a lengthy but awesome one At least check out Julius Caesar's career as a general or Pax Romana during Augustus reign :D

[@imperatorglaber1752]

You guys are great please watch the napoleon series from epic history

[@HalkerVeil]

There was communication as much as there is planning for various scenarios. The same way American football works but on a much smaller scale.

[@LordCartanya]

They went low on the numbers of the Persian army, when i studied greek history at the university my teacher said that Alexander was outnumbered 4-1 or 6-1. And if you read modern articles it estimates that the size of Darius force at anywhere between 90,000 to 250,000 men.

[@maximumrelaxation4770]

They did have ways to communicate in battle. Waving banners in patterns, drums or horns.

[@williambowers1366]

I have learned about Alexander before, but not this level of thoroughness about his army. One of the only main things I learned about is when he cut the Gordian Knot. This knot is also connected to its creator named Gordias, who in Greek Mythology was the first king of Phrygia and the father of the legendary king Midas, who was given the golden touch

[@chrisvibz4753]

the male primal urge to take over an empire, man.

[@redbalmy2865]

If you guys love tactics and ancient battles in general, you are gonna love Historymarche's series on hannibal

[@KRYPTIA-mp4ol]

Modern estimations about the Persian army in Gaugamela is 300000 strong. Ancient estimations are almost a million men strong

[@spartacus2650]

If you like Alexander. Give william Marshall and lord Thomas Cochran a look. Those men were in a league of their own. Cochran was arguably the greatest sea captain and William was an immovable object

[@francistolsa7793]

Chariots were at this time outdated, a remnant of the bronze age. similar to the Macedonian phalanx, the chariot corps required flat ground. Unlike the Macedonian phalanx, chariots couldn't dish out damage as blocks of pikemen could. Because of this, chariots were a status symbol, and more of an intimidation weapon than anything else. still pretty cool.

[@robertdysonn]

One thing I wanna point out is he is a young man, more so in today’s standards than his own. They estimate that people probably had an average life of about 50 years in those days so he was still fairly young, but not the kid he seems to be too modern man.

[@johncentamore1052]

One day my boys, who were in their last years of high school, were talking about how "awesome" they were at things like video games, air soft, blah blah blah. I asked, "You've heard of Alexander the Great, right?" They had. "He conquered the known world by the time he was 25. Let me know when you've conquered algebra." To their credit, they countered that the "known world" was much smaller at the time. Smart-assery didn't fall far from this tree 😂

[@Real-Mello]

Y’all should check out saenchai bored film

[@christostheking557]

Alexander the great 2004 react the movie

[@hariszark7396]

Bad movie in my opinion. They made Alexander a cry baby crypto gay. So wrong...

[@KevinUchihaOG]

She is kinda right about the chariots, they died out for a reason.

[@hariszark7396]

Disclaimer : No slavs were harmed during Alexander's campaign. Because there weren't any. 😉😉

[@goodtaste8791]

You guys are you aware that AΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ was Greek right?

[@mori1bund]

They've seen part 1 & 2 and know of Alexander's (Macedonian) origins.

[@JulioLeonFandinho]

He wasn't greek

[@vadrak6197]

@@JulioLeonFandinho Of course he was, every historian knows it, every book, every movie, every documentary even the one that you just watched said it. He was speaking Greek, he worship the Greek Pantheon, his name was Greek same as his fathers and mother, his teacher was one of the most famed Greek philosophers in history, he even participated in Olympic games where only Greeks could.

[@giorgosx5838]

​@@JulioLeonFandinho And yet this opinion is only supported by frauds who call themselves historians while the majority of actual historians not only support but have proven with sources time and time again of the greek origin of alexander

[@goodtaste8791]

@@JulioLeonFandinho Everything inside, outside of him was Greek. Macedonians participated in Olympic games.Only Greeks has the right to participate

[@hariszark7396]

Those chariots was nit the common chariots you know. Those had blades on each wheel both sides to cut in pieces whoever got close.

[@Mundarapilly]

Alexander was stopped in India because the Indian Armies were pretty strong. Super wealthy and had the best weapons in the world as India had the best metallurgy then. Persian Armies were comparatively weak and lacked war experience as they did not have major wars in years.

[@hariszark7396]

He was NOT stopped in India dude. He won the Indian king Poros. He just asked his troops if they wanted to continue and they said NO. So he turned back. That is HISTORY.

[@Mundarapilly]

@@hariszark7396 Why did they say no. His army was scared of it because even a small King like Porus did massive damage to Alexander's army. And now they had to face the Mighty Nanda Empire. Which is a battle hardened massive army. And it might have been the richest and one of the strongest empires of that time. And

[@hariszark7396]

@@Mundarapilly Dude, they were fighting for years walking by foot the whole Asia. They were far from their lands and families. They were getting old. They were getting tired of battle. How much more do you think they would go? Please, read the ancient sources about Alexander's life (Plutarch and Arrian) and don't make assumptions that makes no sense. There is literally NO-ONE saying what you say. Alexander WON in the fight with Poros and the whole PERSIAN EMPIRE. He was UNDEFEATED. He was not afraid to die. He was not afraid to battle with a good opponent. That is why he had so much RESPECT about Poros after the fight. Because he was a worthy opponent. So, Alexander wouldn't go away from a glorious battle or even death. But he had to listen to hos tired army that was following faithfully all that time. And Alexander's army was like FAMILY to him. He gave them all his riches and treasures that he took in Persia. He wanted them to be as best as they could. When they said "No, we are not willing to go any further because we are tired of fighting" he had to listen. That is how Great Leaders do and most Greek leaders do. That's it.

[@hariszark7396]

@@Mundarapilly Dude, they were fighting for years walking by foot the whole Asia. They were far from their lands and families. They were getting old. They were getting tired of battle. How much more do you think they would go? Please, read the ancient sources about Alexander's life (Plutarch and Arrian) and don't make assumptions that makes no sense. There is literally NO-ONE saying what you say. Alexander WON in the fight with Poros and the whole PERSIAN EMPIRE. He was UNDEFEATED. He was not afraid to die. He was not afraid to battle with a good opponent. That is why he had so much RESPECT about Poros after the fight. Because he was a worthy opponent. So, Alexander wouldn't go away from a glorious battle or even death. But he had to listen to his tired army that was following faithfully all that time. And Alexander's army was like FAMILY to him. He gave them all his riches and treasures that he took in Persia. He wanted them to be as best as they could. When they said "No, we are not willing to go any further because we are tired of fighting" he had to listen. That is how Great Leaders do and most Greek leaders do. That's it.

[@GeneralGrievousCIS]

As everyone else is saying, if you're into great generals, Epic History's series on Napoleon is brilliant. Would also recommend checking out content on Hannibal Barca (my personal favorite when it comes military geniuses)!

[@tariizm1500]

across Persia?

[@hariszark7396]

Yes.

[@tariizm1500]

@@hariszark7396 Persia is just one province of Persia its not name of the empire

[@hariszark7396]

@@tariizm1500 OK, across the Persian Empire. But if we have an empire then it takes the name of the ruler nation. In this case it is Persia. So we can call the whole empire as "Persia" for simplicity. Cheers.

[@tariizm1500]

@@hariszark7396 but it is not and in this case naming the empire Achamenid would be more appropriate and Persians alone werent sole rulers of this empire Medes were important part of the empire as well but real problem begins when people referring empires came after Achamenid Persian empire for example they calling Sassanid empire Persian empire as well which is incorrect this empire had official name and its name was Eranshahr (shahdom of Iran)

[@hariszark7396]

@@tariizm1500 Look, we can argue about it for a long time but at the end this is not the place for an academic conversation. To end this topic, as I told you previously, we use some terms for simplicity. Or because most people knows it "that way" so we said it too. That's all.

[@rittherugger160]

How are you supposed to fight from the chariot? You don't. Perhaps you should look up what a scythe is. What happens to meat if you drop it into a blender? Another way to use chariots is to put archers in them. That might come up when AtG goes to Egypt.

[@pvtj0cker]

Would Alexander be successful in the rap game?

[@davidchase1439]

Stopped at border of india due to his army moni rebolted scared had gone too far wanted to go back home

[@nish6878]

Got sh*t scared from Bharat

[@hariszark7396]

There is no good movie about Alexander The great so far....unfortunately. Stick to the old books. Arrian and Plutarch.

[@jyothishvlogs1295]

These guys are dumb there was trade going on between them long before that

[@anthonysteinberg4853]

Alexander the greatest general ever? Imho Alex is 2nd. Napoleon is number 1 by a mile. Check out the Napoleon oversimplified video.

[@hariszark7396]

Wasn't Napoleon defended? How is he the greatest? Alexander was UNDEFEATED.

[@anthonysteinberg4853]

Napoleon was in FAR MORE battles ( 43 battles compared to nine) losing only 5. 90% win rate. He more than once defeated 3 armies in detail that were bearing down on him. Napoleon had a smaller force each time . He crushed the Austrian Hungarian empire not once but three times. Forcing them to sign a peace treaty each time. 4 separate European coalitions tried to defeat him. His mistake was when he invaded Russia. Even then he occupied Moscow and won every set piece battle in that campaign. He was defeated by the Russian winter. And that finally sapped his army's strength. After this is when he lost the 5 battles. The 5th Coalition finally defeated him because he was basically running out of men. Even then he came back from exile and came within a hair of defeating Wellington. Wellington AFTER defeating Napoleon at Waterloo Said that Napoleon was the Greatest general ever, past or present.

[@anthonysteinberg4853]

My mistake. Napoleon defeated 5 coalitions. The 6th coalition finally drove him into exile.

[@hariszark7396]

@@anthonysteinberg4853 Was Napoleon in the first line of the battle fighting for his life or he was hiding in his well made tent playing "chess" with the lives of his men? The number of battles he gave is ZERO. Being a great general means that you can risk your life alongside your men following your orders.

[@richarddixon4303]

The greeks fought as free men while the Persian Army was conscripted from all over the Empire. An had been trying to conquer the greece for a long time. So it seems like karma was on the side of the Greeks.

[@ghanshyambhagatvlog7741]

You are not real history but why are defeat in india king purushotam (poras)

[@Plymouth-Wanderer]

can you write a sentence that makes sense?

[@hariszark7396]

The name was POROS and Alexander won the fight.