The Rise of Iron Age Societies
Iron and the Dawn of the
Classical Age
The Mediterranean Enters A
Darkened Age
• The Mycenaeans disappear
• The Hittites crumble
• The “Sea Peoples” attack and Egyptian
power ends
The Fall of Bronze Age
Civilizations
• What are some of the possibilities as to why
several Mediterranean civilizations fell?
– Economy?
– Invasion??? But, by who?
– Climate?
– All of the above?
Here is what may have happened:
• Rulers and kings ruled their people through control of grain.
• Drought initially gave the king more power, but a second, and then
a third year of drought created widespread panic.
• Once fertile land, is dry and dusty and done producing.
• The economy falters as the price of grain from foreign lands
skyrockets. Soon, there is no grain to be had.
• Trade ceases.
• Peasants and aristocrats alike turn to their king for answers.
Temples and sanctuaries are constructed in a final attempt to
appease the gods.
• The rain does not return  the gods have cursed their people.
• In desperation, nations gather all that they have and journey to far
away lands looking for fertile soil.
• Instead they find war.
• The natives see the mass of immigrants as a threat to their
survival.
• With starvation and economic collapse at hand, the battles only
hasten the end.
• The great civilizations of the Bronze Age vanish, some forever,
others for hundreds of years.
A Power Vacuum?
• The Neo-Assyrians(911-612 BCE) began to
rise from the ashes of the Bronze Age
• The first empire?
– Definition of “empire”  A political unit
having an extensive territory or
comprising a number of territories or
nations and ruled by a single supreme
authority.
Assyrian Conquest and Control
• Propaganda secured popular support
• Conquest: Ashur’s supremacy over foreign
gods
• King  the center of it all
• Fear  public burning and flaying
• Mass deportation…
– But, why?
Persians and Greeks
A clash of metal, mettle and culture.
The Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great
 A tolerant ruler  he allowed
different cultures within his
empire to keep their own
institutions
 The Greeks called him a
“Law-Giver”
 The Jews called him “the
anointed of the Lord” (In 537,
he allowed over 40,000 to
return to Palestine)
580 – 529 B. C. E.
Darius the Great
(526 – 485 B. C. E.)
 Built Persepolis(Parsa)
 He extended the
Persian Empire to the
Indus River in northern
India. (2 mil. s.q. mi.)
 Canal built to link empire
to Egypt
Darius the Great
(526 – 485 B. C. E.)
 Established a tax-collecting system
 Divided the empire into districts
called SATRAPIES
 Built the great Royal Road system
 Established a complex postal
system
 Created a network of spies called
“the King’s eyes and ears”
Ancient Parsa (Persepolis)
The People of Persepolis
Persian “Royal Road”
Persian Archers & Soldiers
Zarathustra [Zoroaster], 6c BCE:
Dualistic Battle of Good vs Evil
Extent of Zoroastrianism
Greece:
The Hellenes and their poleis
The Archaic Age, Classical Age
& Decline of Greece
City-states
Military in Ancient Greece
• Infantry
– Hoplite (from hoplos
meaning round shield)
– Phalanx
– Spear and short sword
• Navy
– Triremes
– Small, maneuverable,
lightly armored
– Blunt snout built for
ramming into the enemy
Persian Wars
• Earth and Water
• Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis & Plataea
• Defeat of the Persians…But how?
Defeat of the Persians?
•
•
•
•
Superior Armor
Knowledge of Terrain
Luck
Xerxes underestimated the will of
the Greeks Greek males
participated to fight for Political
Freedom
• Aftermath?
– Leagues develop
– Golden Age of Greece begins: The
Classical Period
The Classical Age
of Greece
The Leagues and the
Peloponnesian War
The Macedonians
Philip, Alexander and the
Hellenization of Asia
Philip, Thebes and the
Macedonian Empire
Philip succeeded in building a
strong military, conquering
neighboring kingdoms and citystates. Although, his premature
death halted his intentions to
conquer Asia, he paved the way
for his son, Alexander.
Philip will
utilize
diplomacy
(actually, he
will marry
enemy
princesses) as
much as
force.
Macedonian Phalanx
Along with the Phalanx, Philip will use siege weapons such as
towers and catapults to destroy the enemy.
Alexander the Great
Sleeping with the Iliad and a dagger under his pillow, Alexander
sought to follow in his father’s footsteps and conquer the known
world.
Leaving Greece in
relative peace,
Alexander turned to
the Persian empire.
He conquered
Egypt, Persia, and
made his way into
India. His men,
made up of
Macedonians,
Greeks, Asians and
mercenaries
mutinied in India.
Results of Alexander’s
Conquests
• Alexander will usher in the Hellenistic Age 323
B.C. to 30 B.C
• Greeks believed that the rise of the Macedonians
ended Greek independence
• Created ties between Asia and Europe
– Culture
– Trade
– Cosmopolitan cities develop
• Opened the door for future Indian empires 
Maurya
Greek Cities in Asia
The Breakup of Alexander’s Empire
The “Known” World – 3c B.C.E.
The Incursion of Rome into the
Hellenistic World