When the legendary Julius Caesar was around 33 years old, he visited a statue of Alexander the Great while on duty in Spain. Alexander became king at 20 and conquered most of the known world, creating one of the largest empires in history by the time he turned 30. At 32, Alexander died. When Caesar saw the statue, he broke down in tears.
What drove him to plunge into despair and weep? He stood at roughly the same age Alexander reached when he died and believed he himself had accomplished no significant achievements. Caesar craved greatness. He longed to build something that would stand the test of time the way Alexander did in just 12 years. The incident profoundly impacted Caesar, sparking the flame that would drive him toward notoriety and, ultimately, infamy.
This appetite for greatness isn’t unique to either Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great. Every man with breath in his lungs and a heart of flesh beating in his chest longs to do great things. A hunger deep within the masculine soul yearns for satisfaction through conquest and legacy. However, most men never fulfill this deep desire, and the reasons for this are legion.
To achieve greatness and build a legacy that sears your memory into the hearts and souls of others requires risk. Yet we live in a day and age where men avoid risk at all costs. Safety and security drive modern culture. And they also drive knives into the souls of men, leaving them bleeding out like Caesar did many years later when members of the Roman Senate assassinated him in the Senate chamber.
How many modern men spend hours playing video games or watching sports? There’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying hobbies in your downtime, but men now pour significant portions of their lives into fantasy worlds instead of investing their gifts, skills, and natural drive into the real world they actually inhabit. It’s far easier to go on heroic quests, build cities, and interact with fake digitized women than it is to do those things in real life.
There’s no risk.
What’s the worst that happens when you lose or die in a video game? You respawn. You try again. Over and over. Until you get it right or switch to a different game. You lose nothing but hours of your life. However, gaming offers a poor substitute for satisfying the appetite for greatness that lies in a man’s heart. It’s like choosing a Little Debbie snack cake because it’s easy and already prepared rather than taking the time to cook a steak. Sure, the snack cake eases the hunger for a moment, but it doesn’t provide the nutrients your body needs.
Not all men are created to conquer by building billion-dollar business empires. But men can satisfy the desire for legacy in many healthy ways. The conquering of self, for example. Man’s greatest enemy isn’t the Devil. It’s not terrorists, murderers, or thieves. It’s his own nature. We’re all fallen sinners with disordered desires. Porn addiction is real. And it’s a true soul crusher. There's also sex before marriage, promiscuity, binge drinking, drugs — just to name a few. A man ruled by his desires for pleasure lives as a slave. The world claims it’s “freedom” to do whatever you want, but that claim is a lie. It’s slavery.
These vices destroy families. They prevent otherwise good men from reaching their potential, having children, and investing in future generations. Uncontrolled desires lead to passivity and effeminacy. Men become too scared or too lazy to lead their wives or pursue God. Is it any wonder modern men struggle with responsibility?
And then men face enemies on the outside. Feminism and a culture hostile to the masculine drive for greatness work to vilify it. The culture labels the desire to conquer and take dominion as “toxic masculinity.” There’s little doubt in my mind that if Alexander the Great lived today, the culture would call him a racist, a bigot, and a tyrant. There might be some truth to that last label. However, the drive men possess to achieve big things built the Western world we live in today.
When a man masters the self and exercises his longing for achievement in a healthy way, he produces innovation. Men build cities. They create businesses that change the world. They bring evil to its knees. When men grow complacent and pursue pleasure with reckless abandon, they create the kind of culture we see in our current moment.
While nobody says men need to take to the battlefield and rule empires the way Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great did, they should still seek greatness. And that can take many forms, like being a responsible adult who does his work diligently and with excellence. A man who provides for his family, spends time with them, and leads them spiritually creates a legacy that ripples through future generations.
Will anyone remember such a man’s name in history books? Probably not. But true greatness often comes from pursuing what many think is a dull, ordinary life — when in reality it stands as one of the most extraordinary acts in existence: Taking responsibility for himself and being the leader of his wife and children. Taking risks to build a business or innovate in his vocation. Teaching his kids how to live a godly life.
True greatness grows from humility. That company you start in your garage may never make you a billionaire like President Donald Trump or Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But if it puts food on the table, clothes on your children’s backs, and a roof over your family’s head, you’ve accomplished something great. Something that will stand the test of time — something that will live on through your kids, their children, and their children’s children.
If you want to be like Caesar and Alexander, begin by learning discipline. Master the self. Then use your gifts, skills, and abilities to make your little corner of the world better when your time comes to leave it behind.
