by Travis Dean

Created on: August 12, 2008   Last Updated: September 17, 2009

Supposing that Alexander the Great (356-323BC) and Sun Wu (Later given the honorific Sun-Tzu, or Master Sun)and his ancestors, thought to have united the seven kingdoms of China, lived in the same time period and squared off against each other across an ancient battlefield, one would be hard pressed to pick a winner based solely on the history of the two Generals and the battles they fought. They were fighting completely different enemies with completely different technologies at arguably the same time in history. Some Scholars place Sun-Tzu in the Spring/Autumn Period and some place him in the Age of Warring States, but for the purposes of this discussion, we will suppose that Sun-Tzu did in fact command the battlefields of Asia during the Age of Warring States some time between 403221 BC which would place him or his son and grandson in command nearer to Alexanders' own time.

While Alexander was a cunning strategist and an able leader in his own right, he did not face the type of warriors that Sun-Tzu had to face on the battlefield. Granted, Alexander had to face superior numbers in most of his battles with Persia and with India, the quality of the warriors and the quality of weapons, training, and armor of his opponents was far inferior to his own troops. Also, Alexander favored open field Cavalry and Heavy Infantry combat as opposed to tight-quarters combat where the enemies numbers could become more effective. The Persian Satraps' denied the requests of their field-commanders to place their army in the hills and cliffs above the river Granicus to slow the Greek charge. Out of a mis-placed code of honor, the Macedonian army lost almost every experienced General they had in that one battle at the gateway to Asia-Minor. Once this battle was complete, Alexander would not have to step onto a battlefield of seasoned warriors until he entered Egypt, and they greeted him as a liberator and named him Pharaoh.

While not much is known of the author of the treatise on military strategy, "The Art of War," Sun-Tzu did unite three of the seven kingdoms of China, and his son and grandson went on to help unite the remaining four and compose works of military strategy that are still used by the Chinese military today. In one ancient text, a battle of Sun-Tzu was recorded by Liu Hsiang (80-9 B.C.): "The reason why Sun Tzu at the head of 30,000 men beat Ch`u with 200,000 is that the latter were undisciplined." This accomplishment alone dwarfs any major battle that Alexander ever fought in assuming that this account is correct. Many scholars believe that "The Art of War" was actually not written by Sun-Tzu, but was translated and rewritten from an earlier 13 chapter scroll by a later author. Regardless of this fact, the truth remains that the ancient Chinese were far superior at battlefield tactics and management than the Greeks - or the Egyptians, Persians, or any other standing army at that time.

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