For Alexander, what were the incentives of expanding to the west vs to the east?
score:3
The east had much more money than the west. To the east lay large empires with huge cities teaming with people and gold. All the major trade routes led to these places. Egypt itself produced vast amounts of grain. Italy's cities were much smaller and their economies relatively tiny. It would have cost far more to invade Italy than any amount that could be recovered there. Douglas MacArthur famously said "Wars are caused by undefended wealth" and that is certainly the case here.
Livy nationalistically claimed that had Alexander invaded Italy, Rome, a tiny city state at the time, would have defeated him, a popular (with Romans), but not very realistic assessment. Strabo wrote that Alexander sent an embassy to Rome to complain about pirates operating out of Tuscany.
Upvote:2
It should also be noted that Macedonia was a relatively poor kingdom and the wealth of Persia was on a much higher level, especially for its aristocracy. The Greeks had been aware of this for at least two hundred years. The Persians were also hated by most Greeks. As it has been mentioned, it's easy to motivate people to go conquer a hated enemy AND get rich doing it. Conquering a relatively poor and ineffectual territory? Not so much.
More post
- π Is there any evidence of Edward VIII trying to influence the UK Government?
- π Roman navy propelled by animals instead of human rowers?
- π Were there women who were against giving women the right to vote?
- π How does this bird trap work?
- π Was Julius Caesar a hippie?
- π How "excellent" were relations between American soldiers and the Vietnamese people?
- π Can someone identify this coin? Ξ€ΞΞΞ‘ΞΞΞ(Ξ₯) (Ξ)ΞΞ£ΞΞΞΞ©(Ξ£)
- π Copper and Bronze Age Burials in Western Europe
- π Are there ancient Greek historians who wrote about Mycenae?
- π How did ruffs become fashionable and then went out of fashion?
- π In Mongolian Conquests, how did they screen the population for engineers?
- π Are currently sold versions of "Mein Kampf" censored?
- π Has any losing general in history tried to save his mens' lives by offering to disband, rather than surrender, his army?
- π Are there any tanks with the gun and autoloader outside the main turret?
- π Is that true that somebody was punished by the Catholic Church for believing that a fly had six feet?
- π Origins of Baptist colonists
- π Can anybody identify this uniform?
- π What happened to General Eugen MΓΌller after WWII?
- π How have the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki affected Japanese culture and language?
- π Is there a daily dairy of WWII?
- π Did Cato the Elder think destruction of Carthage was more important than anything else for Rome?
- π What happened to the stuff stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans?
- π Did the ancient Greeks have "taverns"?
- π What was the state of relations between Baathist Iraq and Taliban Afghanistan?
- π Why does RetsΓΆ claim that only members/clients of Arabian tribes were considered "real Muslims" in the Umayyad Caliphate before 750?
- π Did Hans Christian Oersted ever marry?
- π Why was Khomeini in France? Who allowed him to leave and why?
- π How did pirates back in the day not get killed themselves when they attacked ships?
- π Is there any evidence of armies enrolling women in fighting roles in significant number in antiquity or the middle ages?
- π Could there be frozen animals under Antarctica's ice sheets?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π For Alexander, what were the incentives of expanding to the west vs to the east?
- π What East German laws and regulations were extended to the West after unification?
- π What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- π What were the incentives for joining the Roman army before the Marian reforms?
- π What incentives were there for Soviet and Chinese politicians to try climb to the top when there was so much history of deposing their own?
- π What was the practical reason for East Germany to reunify with West Germany?
- π What were the incentives for war during the Warring States Period?
- π What were the reasons for the Renaissance / scientific revolution in Europe?
- π What were the reasons for making Prohibition a constitutional amendment?
- π What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- π Are there any documented examples of wooden ships which were in active service for 100 years or more? If not, what is the longest?
- π What was the legal status of an East German once he had reached West Germany?
- π What were Argentina's intentions for the Falkland Islanders?
- π What were the original casualty projections for Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
- π What were the Japanese defenses for an allied invasion of Kyushu?
- π What alternative locations were considered for the United Nations?
- π What were the FBI's motives for wanting to discredit MLK?
- π What were the most common reasons why draft-age men were not conscripted for the Union Army?
- π What were the rejected designs for the Euro symbol?
- π What is the historical evidence for asserting Huns were one and the same as Xiongnu?
- π What were the requirements for Ancient Greek colonist groups?
- π What were the military justifications for the bombing of Dresden?
- π What universities existed in Dutch East Indies, and how available were they to the native population?
- π What jobs were available for migrants from the country to Rome?
- π What were the requirements in order for a man to become a burgher (or citizen) in German cities in the middle ages?
- π What options were available to MacArthur to prepare for Chinese intervention in the Korean War?
- π What Land Runs were there in the U.S., and were the Indians paid for their land?
- π What containers were used for food prior to the industrial era?
- π What were the effects of US foreign policy in the South East Asian region in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s on states with capitalist economies?
- π What were conditions like for Chinese men subject to recruitment by the army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War?