For anyone wishing to repeat this anecdote without being made fun of by your friends, Alexander the Great did not burn his ships upon arriving in Persia, becaus

For anyone wishing to repeat this anecdote without being made fun of by your friends, Alexander the Great did not burn his ships upon arriving in Persia, because, you know, there is not much of a sea between the Middle East and Persia. It was Hernán Cortés who burnt his ships off the coast of Mexico in 1519 to eliminate any ideas of retreat.