[coldtea]

>Isn't it entirely possible Alexander simply went with the flow of wiser, more experienced men telling him what to do?

Listening to "wiser, more experienced" men is part of being "unnaturally composed".

Especially if you're not just some unsure youngling who suddenly inherited a throne you can't handle, but a decisive king who expanded your father's kingdom 1000x.

In different examples, even the sons of the most wise and temperate emperors could turn into depraved bloodthirsty tyrants.

Not to mention Alexander as a kid studied with one of the most wise and educated men of his time (and the previous/next millenium or so).

[eru]

Where do you get the 1000x from? Have a look at the submitted article to see a map of the kingdom Alexander inherited. It's substantially bigger than 0.001x of Alexander's empire's greatest extent.

[coldtea]

It was around 100 to 1, but close enough to make the point

[eru]

No. Where are you getting the 100 from?

Have a look at the article. See the map with the legend:

> Via Wikipedia, a map of the expansion of Macedonian controlled territory during the reign of Philip II. Philip controlled only the darkest orange area (and not all of it) at the start of his reign; by the end he controlled Macedon, Thrace, Thessaly and the Greek states of the League of Corinth.

Macedon, Thrace, Thessaly and the Greek states of the League of Corinth together are more than 1% of Alexander's empire.