Publius, so you are of the school that thinks the situation spits forth the man? As in people like Caesar, Napoleon, Stalin, etc are all just pawns to fate?

I dont think so. I think those men make the world around them, though nothing is a vacuum. The situation was there for persons like Caesar and Alexander, but I dont think just anyone could have taken advantage. They were the right men at the right time. Had they not been there, someone mediocre mightve filled their role, but the results would have been much different.

Think of it like this: Persia is weak and ripe for conquest, but Alexander dies in his youth for whatever reason. Now, Greece isnt united and no one come out to take the east over. That doesnt mean the Persians would crumble or someone would seize the opportunity. In all likelihood, the decrepit old empire would plod on through history, its own inertia keeping its mass alive. Much like late imperial Rome.