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You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.You should upgrade or use an alternative browser. Alexander the great height

• Thread starter Vasilios
• Start date Sep 26, 2013
• Tags alexander height

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Vasilios

Joined Nov 2012 158 Posts | 3+ How tall would you say he was? Peter Green describes him as very short even for Macedonian standards so how short would this be? My guess is around 160 cm (5'3'') based on Green's description. Also were the Macedonians considered short in comparison to others since Green says even for Macedonian standards? Thanks in advance. T

The Cossack

Joined Jul 2013 148 Posts | 0+ Middle of Nowhere I think he was like taller than average, but i dont think he was realy that large. This is my own opinion B

Boethus

Joined Mar 2013 1,566 Posts | 3+ Australia No taller than Dionysus in my opinion. J

jalidi

Joined Sep 2013 726 Posts | 135+ Ontario, Canada It's been thought he was actually around 5'7". People have gotten this estimate from analyzing Alexander artwork produced when he was alive. But he must've seemed shorter since most of the Macedonians he campaigned with were well-fed and healthy and possibly of greater physique or stature. The same thing happened with Napoleon, he's famously thought of as a short man, but he was actually of average height who happened to hang around lots of taller people.

SafavideIrani

Joined Jun 2013 973 Posts | 4+ Earth In some pictures i have seen him as a tall person but on some others he looks short.

Apachewarlord

Joined Jun 2012 5,689 Posts | 2+ Hippy town U.S.A.! Just wondering, is there a purpose? i'd probably agree with around average, just hangs out with tall people. S

Savaran

Joined Jul 2010 184 Posts | 0+ .. I always though his height about 5'0 or 5'1. of course this is my thoughts, so, don't say "argahasjaha he was taller than that"

Vasilios

Joined Nov 2012 158 Posts | 3+

Apachewarlord said: Just wondering, is there a purpose? i'd probably agree with around average, just hangs out with tall people. Click to expand...

No purpose, I just saw a thread recently that sparked my interest. I read that the average armor of knights in the middle ages were made to fit men that were around 65 inches tall. Knowing about Greens quote about Alexanders stature I wondered about how short he could have been.

Apachewarlord

Joined Jun 2012 5,689 Posts | 2+ Hippy town U.S.A.!

Vasilios said: No purpose, I just saw a thread recently that sparked my interest. I read that the average armor of knights in the middle ages were made to fit men that were around 65 inches tall. Click to expand...

Ah, I see.

Vasilios

Joined Nov 2012 158 Posts | 3+

Apachewarlord said: Ah, I see. Click to expand...

Also that the average height of French and Englishmen signing up for the army in the 1850's was 5'5'' and 5'3'' for Italians.

Christopher The Great

Joined Jul 2014 787 Posts | 34+ Messinia Bump! I was reading up on Alexanders height and some mention he was 5' tall. I highly doubt that he would have been that short. I personally think 5'6 or 5'7. What do you all think?

attila006

Joined Mar 2013 3,909 Posts | 20+ Texas, USA One of the Roman emperors, I think Caligula, looted his tomb and tried on his armor and couldn't fit in it. Supposedly, he was pretty small.

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Christopher The Great

Joined Jul 2014 787 Posts | 34+ Messinia

attila006 said: One of the Roman emperors, I think Caligula, looted his tomb and tried on his armor and couldn't fit in it. Supposedly, he was pretty small. Click to expand...

How small do you think? R

roturner66

Joined Feb 2015 291 Posts | 3+ Netherlands Last edited: Mar 1, 2015 Analysis of ancient skeletal remains in the region have shown an average length for men of 162 to 165cm (5' 4" to 5' 5") at the time. Armor found in a Macedonian tomb (which is certainly not Alexander's but would have been either his father's or his 1/2 brother's) would have fit someone about 5' 2". Descriptions of Alexander's physical appearance were put to paper by several historians, none of which lived in Alexander's time and had nothing to go on but folk lore or copying what the other guy said. These are probably where the stories about him being smaller than average came from. Analysis of art work would suggest that he was actually taller than average. Artwork, of course, being only marginally better as a source than historians that wrote about him centuries later. edit: BTW, in November 2014 Greek archaeologists found a skeleton that they are studying on the hypothesis that it could be Alexander. It will be interesting to see what comes out of that. R

roturner66

Joined Feb 2015 291 Posts | 3+ Netherlands

attila006 said: One of the Roman emperors, I think Caligula, looted his tomb and tried on his armor and couldn't fit in it. Supposedly, he was pretty small. Click to expand...

Caligula was described by a Roman historian (who was not a contemporary) as being "very tall". Presumably he was larger than average for a Roman.

Guaporense

Joined Mar 2011 5,772 Posts | 500+ Library of Alexandria Last edited: Mar 1, 2015

roturner66 said: Analysis of ancient skeletal remains in the region have shown an average length for men of 162 to 165cm (5' 4" to 5' 5") at the time. Click to expand...

Greece? Data I have is for 170 cm for Classical Greece and 172 cm for Hellenistic. Alexander is generally said to have been 170 cm.

Christopher The Great

Joined Jul 2014 787 Posts | 34+ Messinia So 5'7? Seems like that could be a little too tall but wouldn't put it past me.

Cretan Bull

Joined Aug 2014 122 Posts | 0+ London Just a personal observation. Tall men who bulk up tend to look 'big'. Shorter men who bulk up tend to look 'square' and therefore shorter than they are. As such, if you're averaging 5'7", and muscular in a melee combat way, you're going to look pretty burly. If you're shorter than average, you're going to look almost squat. Of course this is what I've noticed from playing rugby and social concepts of physical dimensions were much different back then. Just a thought.

johnincornwall

Joined Nov 2010 15,324 Posts | 4,634+ Cornwall Doubt we will ever know. Obviously if he was 5ft 7 he would be 'tall', if 5ft he would probably be 'below average'.

Christopher The Great

Joined Jul 2014 787 Posts | 34+ Messinia

johnincornwall said: Doubt we will ever know. Obviously if he was 5ft 7 he would be 'tall', if 5ft he would probably be 'below average'. Click to expand...

I can't picture Alexander being 5ft, I just can't...

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