ALEXANDER THE GREAT
I. Macedonia
A. Philip of Macedon
1. Macedonians lived in northern Greece
a. Had remained a Monarchy as no political
revolution (democracy) had occurred.
2. Their heritage was heavily influenced by Greek
culture and politics
I. Macedonia
I. Macedonia
A. Philip of Macedon
3. In 359 BC Phillip II takes the throne
4. Philip had three life goals that he hoped to
accomplish
a. Created powerful Macedonian army
b. Unite all of Greece under his rule
c. Defeat the Persian Empire
I. Macedonia
A. Philip of Macedon
5. The Peloponnesian War had left Greece weak and
vulnerable and as a result, by 338 BC, Philip had
conquered most of Greece
6. Months before Philip could accomplish his last goals
he was assassinated
II. Alexander the Great
II. Alexander the Great
1. In 338 BC, Alexander became king at the age of
twenty and decided to complete his father’s vision
2. Educated by Aristotle, Alexander was well learned
and wanted to combine the best of the world’s
cultures
II. Alexander the Great
II. Alexander the Great
3. By 334 BC, Alexander had captured Asia Minor from
Persia
4. His 37,000 man army included 5000 architects and
engineers that assisted him in building cities
across Asia.
a. Did not only want to be known as a military
ruler, but rather a ruler concerned with
expanding knowledge of the world.
II. Alexander the Great
II. Alexander the Great
II. Alexander the Great
5. By 327 BC, he had conquered the Middle East,
Persian and had reached India
6. His troops forced him to return to home, however he
died in Persia of malaria
7. After his death, his empire was divided into three
regions
II. Alexander the Great
III. Hellenistic Age
1. After Alexander’s death Greek culture (art, architecture
and literature) continued to flourish in the Middle East
and Asian regions of his empire.
2. The adoption and combination of Greek culture among
Middle Eastern culture was given the name Hellenism.
III. Hellenistic Age
HELLENISM CHART
GREEK CULTURE
EGYPTIAN CULTURE
PERSIAN CULTURE
INDIAN CULTURE
III. Hellenistic Age
3. Hellenistic comes from the Greek work “to imitate Greeks”
4. Hellenistic culture spread due to trade among the united
Alexander Empire.
Hellenic VS. Hellenistic
• Hellenic refers to the people who lived in
classical Greece before the conquests of
Philip. Greeks (Hellenic)were isolated and
their civilization was termed classic because it
was not heavily influenced by outside forces.
• Hellenistic refers to Greeks and others who
lived during the period after Alexander the
Great's conquests. (mixture of civilizations)