alexander

68 THE WISDOM OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
ranks. 2 Realizing what they had done, the troops flocked to
Alexander and begged his forgiveness. The lengthy speech
that extracted this response is a masterpiece; it is worth
reading Arrian just for it. 3
Upon Alexander’s death, during the wars for succession,
Roxane and her son were murdered almost immediately.
Inferences and Allegations
Alexander displayed exemplary leadership in a multicultural
world. In this example, he reframed the problem (mutiny)
by imposing local officers (an administrative, nonpunitive
reframing). He got his way, integrating Greeks and Persians,
despite the resistance of all the Greek soldiers. The effect of
Alexander’s action was as though Martin Luther King and
the other civil rights leaders brought about the Civil Rights
Bill in a day.
Alexander recognized and acted on the fact that symbolism
(of dress, manners, marriage, etc.) helps to create a
shared identity. Symbols help create shared meaning, which
creates unity and builds alliances. Marriage is possibly the
ultimate symbol of alliance building.
Leading Lessons
Merger and acquisition are only two ways to build alliances
and subsume territory or organizations. They are often
2. E. E. Rice, Alexander the Great (Phoenix Mill, England: Sutton Publishing,
1997), p. 86.
3. Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt
(Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1958), pp. 292–295.