Alexander the Great
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Macedonia & Phillip
King Phillip II ruled Macedonia
As a teenager Phillip was a hostage in
Thebes
He learned about the Greek military
while he was there
One important thing he learned was
that they had professional soldiers not
just citizens
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Phillip’s MIlitary
Phillip went back to Macedonia and
created new battle formations
He also combined the cavalry and
infantry
Phillip gave his soldiers new weapons
One of the new weapons was the
catapult and battling ram
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Phillip’s MIlitary
Phillip conquered lands around
Macedonia
Once he finished he focused on Greek
city-states
The Greeks were too weak after the
Peloponnesian War to fight back
338BC Phillip conquered the Greeks
Phillip’s rule, or dictatorship, ended
Greek democracy
Phillip added Greek soldiers to his own
and began his plans to attack Persia
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Alexander
336BC Phillip was assassinated at his
daughter’s wedding leaving 20 year
old Alexander in charge
Alexander decided to continue with
Phillips plans to attack Persia
Before Alexander could attack Persia the
Greek city-state of Thebes tried to rebell
Alexander destroyed the city making
others fearful of him
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Alexander moved from Greece to
Anatolia
Alexander did not need to fight in Egypt
because they also did not like the
Perisans
Here he used bold tactics like running
straight for the enemy
The Egyptians made Alexander pharaoh
Once he started to conquer Anatolia
Alexander went south into Egypt
Alexander moved his troops to
Mesopotamia and conquered Persia in
331 BC
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
After conquering Persia Alexander
moved on to Central Asia
In 326BC Alexander reached in Indus
Valley
His troops refused to go any further
because they have been fighting for 11
years
Alexander returned to Babylon in 323BC
It was in Babylon that Alexander got sick
and died
He did not have enough time to
strengthen his control over the empire
so 3 generals fought and split it up
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Alexander’s Legacy
Alexander’s army brought their
culture with them everywhere they
went
Every place they went they would blend
with the local culture
When Alexander moved on to other
places he would leave a Greek behind to
rule in his name
Alexander’s generals would marry
local women
This made Greek the common language
amongst the places he conquered
The blend of Greek, Egyptian, Persian
and Indian custom became known as
Hellenistic
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Alexandria, Egypt
Everywhere Alexander went he named a
city after himself
The most famous one was Alexandria in
Egypt
Alexandria was the important city for
learning and had a library
The library contained Greek, Persian,
Egyptian, and Hebrew texts
Scholars from the Mediterranean and
Asia came to study in Alexandria
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great
Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria also had a Temple of the
Muses.
Examples of art and science were stored
here making it a very early museum
Alexandria also had a lighthouse
This lighthouse is considered on of the 7
Wonders of the Ancient World
TSW 9 summarize the life and accomplishments of Alexander the Great