Alexander the Great vs. Julius Caesar--Who Wins?
The field is an open plain surrounded by mountains with a river in the middle of it--everything is perfectly symmetrical. They have the same number of troops and soldiers of whatever kind they choose and are used to working with. Who wins the battle of the generals?
Alexander the Great vs Julius Caesar?
The better military leader was Alexander - he never lost a battle or campaign, Caesar did have some defeats.Some of these were against barbarian Gauls,and the concept of Alexander ever losing a battle (under any circumstances) to such opponents was nonexistent. Style of command: Caesar was a big risk taker,and sometimes relied on luck to see him through. Alexander had all his campaigns and battle tactics planned out in advance. However both were bold leaders who led from the front,neither being afraid to get stuck in in the front line of battle. Army composition: Alexander led a balanced,all arms force and it is this that would ultimately give him victory over Caesar in a battle between the 2.Caesar had an army that was almost entirely heavy infantry legionaries,and while the Roman century was much more flexible on the battlefield than a pike phalanx,Alexander used his phalanx as the base of a pivot for the strike by the arm of decision in his army - the heavy cavalry. Caesar lacked heavy cavalry in his army entirely,and the few cavalry he did have were German and Gallic auxiliaries,who would be no match in battle for the cavalry in the army of Alexander. Adaptability: Alexander comes out well on top here - he fought all kinds of different opponents over all kinds of terrain,and always came up with the right strategy to win every campaign,the right tactics to win every battle.Caesar sometimes found himself trapped because he was in unfamilair territory - in Alexandria in 48-7 BC (when he was bailed out by the arrival of Pergamene allies) and at Dyrrachium in Greece during the Civil War against Pompey (when he was bailed out by the Senate insisting Pompey fight a setpiece engagement at Pharsalus - which Caesar won decisively - rather than just allowing Pompey to starve the Caesarean forces into surrender).
What are the greatest infantry battles of ancient history?
for me , there are two battles which qualify for the tag of being the greatest infantry battles of ancient history , the battle of issus between Alexander the great and darius iii , and the battle of cannae which pitted Hannibal against 2 consular legions of rome .Alexander's army on the banks of the pinarus river , at the gulf of issus , was out manouvered and outnumbered by the persian army , yet he was not only able to beat the Persians comprehensively , but also routed the Persian emperor on the field of battle , which was a first in Persian history . After the battle, the Hellenes captured Darius' wife, Stateira I, his daughters, Stateira II and Drypetis, and his mother, Sisygambis, all of whom had accompanied Darius on his campaign. Alexander, who later married Stateira II, treated the captured women with great respect.Having recovered from their losses at Trebia(218 BC) and Lake Trasimene (217 BC), the Romans decided to engage Hannibal at Cannae, with approximately 86,000 Roman and allied troops. They massed their heavy infantry in a deeper formation than usual, while Hannibal used the double-envelopment tactic and surrounded his enemy, trapping the majority of the Roman army, who were then slaughtered. The loss of life on the Roman side was one of the most lethal single day's fighting in history . Only about 15,000 Romans, most of whom were from the garrisons of the camps and had not taken part in the battle, escaped death. Following the defeat, Capua and several other Italian city-states defected from the Roman Republic to Carthage.the first battle was a total game changer and a shift of power balance in the ancient world , and marked the beginning of the end of one of the greatest ancient empiresthe second battle showed that even the romans were not , after all , invincible . it was the greatest achievement by the Carthaginians in the punic wars , although they ultimately lost the war and their city was razed to ground .
Why did the Jacobites lose the battle of Culloden?
In short, because they attacked over open ground.The Jacobite army lacked the amount of muskets and guns fielded by the Union army, and was much more suited to guerilla warfare, or at least a battle in familiar mountainous Highland terrain.Culloden Field offers little such protection so the charging Jacobite forces were easy prey for the massed musket fire of Union forces, and the field guns they had.Prince Charlie was warned against fighting at Culloden, but he was bitter still over taking his generals advice to retreat during the successful Jacobite advance into England, and stood his ground, at great cost.
Can some tell me why julius caesar is the tragic hero?
Tragic characters share these two traits: 1) they must bring themselves down and 2) they must have a fatal flaw. Julius Caesar's death was marked by his own shortcoming. He failed to realize that his companions were out to kill him. He disregarded all those who had warned him to stay home or to be aware "of the ides of March." While many of the character recognized Caesar's impending doom, Caesar, himself, was incapable of seeing this. I think you could call this the fatal flaw of Caesar. And the consequence for this misrecognition was death by his own friend, Brutus.