# Alexander the great .
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 13, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577 "2010-09-13T08:44:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/1 "2010-09-13T08:44:55Z")
Why not Genghis Khan the great ?
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### Author:  [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/2 "2010-09-13T09:43:12Z")
Alexander conquered the known world. Genghis merely had the world’s second biggest empire.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/3 "2010-09-13T09:59:06Z")
What do the Mongols and their descendents call Genghis Khan?
Alex got his title because the Greeks called him that, and the Romans picked it up from them (along with all of their culture). After a few centuries, it became a habit.
Remember, it’s all about who’s telling the story.
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### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/4 "2010-09-13T12:48:08Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#):
>
> Alexander conquered the known world. Genghis merely had the **world’s second biggest empire**.
After the romans ?
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/5 "2010-09-13T12:55:03Z")
Genghis’ main problem is that he didn’t like to have stuff written down. The Golden Horde should have imparted a massive tonal shift through a wide swatch of estate. But because there was no books or written laws to hand down, the effect of their governorship was ephemeral.
Alexander, on the other hand, spread philosophy and law and left it all behind in the form of tablets and documents. He established a particular legal and governmental apparatus that could last through the ages.
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### Author:  [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/6 "2010-09-13T13:05:18Z")
> [@indian](#):
>
> > [@mutantmoose](#):
> >
> > Alexander conquered the known world. Genghis merely had the **world’s second biggest empire**.
>
> After the romans ?
British. 33.7 million km^2 vs 33.0 million km^2. The Romans were around 17th with 6.5 million km^2
Of course given the difficulty in locating exactly the borders of the Mongol empire around 1300, maybe they were first. They do have a large enough lead over the Russian empire though that they are certainly at least second.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/7 "2010-09-13T13:09:25Z")
IIRC, “Ghenghis Khan” _IS_ the “title of greatness” given to Mongol leader Temudjin (and yeah, biggest contiguous land empire. Not our fault Alex didn’t know about a lot of the world - and he even did NOT conquer many parts of of his “known” world).
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/8 "2010-09-13T13:10:45Z")
“khaaaaaaaaannnnnnn!!!”
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### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/9 "2010-09-13T13:26:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> “khaaaaaaaaannnnnnn!!!”
😃
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### Author:  [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/10 "2010-09-13T13:29:38Z")
> [@Bartman](#):
>
> > [@indian](#):
> >
> > After the romans ?
>
> British. 33.7 million km^2 vs 33.0 million km^2. The Romans were around 17th with 6.5 million km^2
>
> Of course given the difficulty in locating exactly the borders of the Mongol empire around 1300, maybe they were first. They do have a large enough lead over the Russian empire though that they are certainly at least second.
Hmm…Brits had guns & cannons . IIRC, GK had only bows and arrows. Is the comparison fair enough ?
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### Author:  [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/11 "2010-09-13T13:54:57Z")
I think it’s fair enough - you work with what you’ve got. I feel sorry for poor old Genghis. Put all that effort in only to gain second place. In the end though, first is first, second is nowhere.
As a Brit, I’ve always wanted to meet a Mongolian so I can be all patronising and condescending - “Oh second biggest empire the world has ever seen. Well done. You must be very proud” - because there’s only Brits that can do this and it’s only Mongolians we can do it to.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/12 "2010-09-13T13:58:21Z")
Alexander was proclaimed and worshiped as a god during his own lifetime (Zeus-Amman, among others- his mother claimed he was divinely sired). Were there any supernatural or divine titles or tales or attributes attached to Genghis?
I’ve wondered why Elizabeth I of England wasn’t “the Great”. I’m much rather be known as “Sampiro the Great” or even “Sampiro the Meets or Exceeds Minimum Requirements” than “The Virgin Queen”.
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/13 "2010-09-13T14:11:09Z")
Elizabeth got Gloriana though. Do the Brits do much Great-ing? I can’t think of any British Greats, except ol’ Alfred. There’s no Henry or Richard or Edward the Great. Just Alfred.
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### Author:  [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/14 "2010-09-13T14:23:46Z")
> [@dangermom](#):
>
> Elizabeth got Gloriana though. Do the Brits do much Great-ing? I can’t think of any British Greats, except ol’ Alfred. There’s no Henry or Richard or Edward the Great. Just Alfred.
And [Beowulf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf) was soooooo close…he was Beowulf the Geat.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/15 "2010-09-13T14:33:24Z")
The name _Ghengis Khan_ was probably an honorific in itself.
Elizabeth doesn’t get to be the Great because she didn’t conquer anything much. “Greats” typically go out and add new territory to their kingdoms/empires/whatever.
Elizabeth I just did the usual plundering of France and Ireland. Nothing special. She didn’t even really defeat the Spanish Armada; that was the weather.
Not only that, but her regency tends to be overrated because of the mess that followed (that is, James I). Sort of like people who didn’t like Clinton pining for him after a few years of Bush.
[QUOTE=dangermom]
Elizabeth got Gloriana though. Do the Brits do much Great-ing? I can’t think of any British Greats, except ol’ Alfred. There’s no Henry or Richard or Edward the Great. Just Alfred.
[/QUOTE]
It should be noted that Alfred wasn’t really a _British_ great; he was definitively an English one, and hence only a British Great in the sense that Charlemagne is a European Great. He never ruled any of Wales, Scotland or Ireland, and in fact only ruled about a third of England. It was his grandson Athelstan that should really have gotten the Great moniker, since he was the first king of a sort-of unified England, plus the nice bit of Wales.
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/16 "2010-09-13T16:15:39Z")
Well, sure Alfred only had Wessex, but he fought the Vikings all over the place, so he deserves a Great! 😛
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/17 "2010-09-13T16:30:16Z")
So did Brett Favre. Not buying. 😉
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### Author:  [@Wandering\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wandering_Hero)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/18 "2010-09-13T16:31:55Z")
Because Khan is a great enough title.
Not everyone needs to stick “The great” onto the end of their names to feel awesome, just ask Julius Ceaser
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/19 "2010-09-13T17:18:43Z")
> [@Wandering\_Hero](#):
>
> Because Khan is a great enough title.
>
> Not everyone needs to stick “The great” onto the end of their names to feel awesome, just ask Julius Ceaser
I’d say that Julius received the greater honor. I mean, it’s not as if later Greek rulers became known as “The Alexander”. It’s one thing to be named the great - it’s something else to have great people named after _you_.
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### Author:  [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alexander-the-great/553577/20 "2010-09-13T17:32:37Z")
> [@Wandering\_Hero](#):
>
> Because Khan is a great enough title.
I believe his actual title was _Khagan_, which basically means Khan of Khans.
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