Alexander- Empire Builder- Chapter 5, section 4
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Peloponnesian War weakened Greek city-states
Philip II of Macedonia wanted to take control of Greece and then Persia
Philip Builds Macedonia’s Power
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Macedonia had tough climate of mountains and a cold climate
Lived in mountain villages instead of city-states
Macedonians viewed themselves as close to Greeks (but the Greeks viewed them as barbaric
foreigners)
Philip’s Army
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359 BCE Philip became leader of Macedonia
Built a professional army from peasants
Organized troops into phalanxes
Had a strategy to using the phalanxes to pave way for cavalry strikes through enemy lines
Conquest of Greece
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Some early warnings of Macedonia’s power went unheeded
338 BCE Athens and Thebes joined forces against Philip but it was too late
Macedonians defeated the Greeks at battle of Chaeronea, which ended Greek freedom and
independence
336 BCE Philip killed at his daughter’s wedding and his son, Alexander took the throne
Alexander the Great Defeats Persia
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Even though he was only 20 when he ascended the throne, he was well-trained and ready to
lead (remember he had been taught by Aristotle)
When Thebes tried to rebel he crushed it, thwarting future rebellions
Invasion of Persia
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334 BCE went to attack Persia
Victorious at Granicus
Darius III reacted by building a larger army to face the Macedonians near Issus but Alexander
surprised him and beat him
This victory gave Alexander control of Anatolia
Alexander’s Ambitions Grow
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Darius tried to negotiate peace settlement but it was rejected
332 he marched into Egypt, where he was welcomed as a liberator
Alexander was crowned pharaoh and founded the city of Alexandria
Conquering the Persian Empire
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Alexander then moved again at Persia
They met at Gaugamela (near Nineveh)
Alexander won again- and again Darius III fled (he was later found dead in a province south of
the Caspian Sea)
This allowed the Macedonians to march unopposed through Persia and captured Babylon, Susa,
and Persepolis (giving the Macedonians great wealth)
A fire destroyed Persepolis
Alexander’s Other Conquests
Alexander in India
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327 BCE crossed into the Indus River Valley
Powerful Indian army blocked his path. He eventually won but morale was low because it was
such a difficult fight
Alexander agreed to go back home
He couldn’t govern in the end because he died of illness one year after returning
Alexander’s Legacy
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After his death, the empire was split among his three strongest generals
o Antigonus became king o Macedonia and took control of the Greek city-states
o Ptolemy seized Egypt, took the title of Pharaoh, and established a new dynasty
o Seleucus took the old Persian Empire, which became known as the Seleucid empire
His empire managed to blend Greek, Egyptian, and Eastern customs
The Spread of Hellenistic Culture- Chapter 5, Section 5
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Alexander had set up many cities as outposts of Greek culture
When he died, both the trade and the language continued to link these cities together
Each region had its own traditions but they transplanted Greek culture
Hellenistic Culture in Alexandria
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Blending of Greek (Hellenic) culture with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian influences was known as
Hellenistic culture
Koine- popular spoken language in Hellenistic cities
Trade and Cultural Diversity
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Alexandria had a strategic trade location
Became a very diverse city with people from all over settling there and by the 3 rd C BCE half a
million people lived there
Alexandria’s Greatest Attractions
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Alexander the Great’s tomb
Statues to Greek gods
Stone lighthouse called Pharos
Museum- which was an institute of advanced studies
Library- first true research library
Science and Technology
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Alexandria became a center for science and technology using many of the advances made in
Ancient Greece
Astronomy
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Small observatory in the museum
Aristarchus
o Sun was bigger than the earth (although he got the size wrong)
o Proposed that the earth and other planets revolved around the sun (this was rejected by
most astronomers)
Ptolemy
o Placed the earth in the center of the solar system (geocentric theory)
o This theory was accepted until the scientific revolution 1400 years later
Eratosthenes
o Calculated the earth’s true size
o Director of the library
Mathematics and Physics
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Euclid
o Opened a school of geometry
o Elements- book of proofs and propositions
o Still used as the basis of geometry today
Archimedes
o Value of pi
o Invented the compound pulley to lift heavy objects, a catapult, a screw
o His work was used by other scientists to build a force pump and pneumatic machines
Philosophy and Art
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Teachings of Plato and Aristotle continued to be very influential
New schools of thought were concerned with how people should live their lives
Stoicism
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Zeno (335-263 BCe) founded the school of stoicism
Believe in a divine power that controls the universe
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People should live a virtuous life
Human desires could be controlled
Provided an ethical approach to life
Epicureanism
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Epicurious founded Epicureanism
Universe ruled by gods who had no interest in humans
Greatest good came from virtuous conduct and absence of pain
Main goal was to achieve harmony of body and mind
Realism in Sculpture
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Largest Hellenistic statue is on the island of Rhodes- Colossus of Rhodes is bronze and over a 100
feet high
Toppled by an earthquake in 225 BCE
Sculptors created more natural works
By 150 BCE Hellenistic world was in decline but a new city-Rome- would preserve much of the
old Greek work