Read the excerpt from Alexander the Great’s speech at Opis.


He [Philip] brought under your control those same barbarians who used to raid you and take your people and property, so you were now their masters, not their slaves and subjects. He enlarged Macedonia by annexing most of Thrace, and took possession of the key positions on the seaboard, so opening the country to trade and removing any threat to the exploitation of your mines.

What is Alexander’s primary purpose in this excerpt?