Also, Alexander was a really good general, although historians disagree over whether his tactics were truly brilliant or if his army just happened to have better technology, specifically these extra-long spears called sarissas. But much of his reputation as a general, and his reputation in general – anybody? Puns? Maybe I should stop? Okay – is because of Napoleon. Napoleon, like many other generals through the millennia, was obsessed with Alexander the Great, but more on that in a moment. That said, Alexander wasn't very good at what we might now call empire building.