AFTERMATH OF THERMOPYLAE
AIM: Why were the
conquests of Alexander
the Great important to
the development of the
Western World?
Do Now:
1. Quiz
2. Write Down Aim in
Notebook
The Greeks at War
Thermopylae
“Stranger, go tell the
Spartans that we lie
here in obedience to
their laws.”
(Inscription carved on
the tomb of
Leonidas’s Three
Hundred)
Leonidas at Thermopylae by David
After Thermopylae
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The Persians
captured and burned
Athens but were
defeated by the
Athenian navy at
Salamis
In 479 the Persians
were defeated at
Plataea and forced
back to Anatolia
Delian League
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After the Persian threat subsided, the Greek polis had conflicts
among themselves
The polis formed an alliance called the Delian League
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Athens supplied most of the military force and the other polis provided
financial support
Sparta did not join the league
In the absence of the Persian threat, eventually the other polis came to
resent financing Athens’s bureaucracy and construction projects
The resulting tensions led to the Peloponnesian War (431-404)
in which the polis divided up into two sides led by Athens and
Sparta
The Peloponnesian War (431-404BC)
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The war went back and
forth until 404 when the
Spartans and their allies
forced Athens to
surrender
Conflicts continued
however and the world
of the polis steadily lost
power

Alexander the Great is
going to step into this
power vacuum
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
c. 100BC / Found at House of
the Faun, Pompeii
Philip II of Macedonia
• Ruled Macedonia from
359-336 BC and transformed it
into a powerful military
machine
• Moved into northern Greece
and met little resistance due to
residual (aftermath) effects of
Peloponnesian War
– By 338 he had Greece under his
control
Alexander the Great (356 –323BCE)

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Philip intended to use Greece as a launching pad to
invade Persia, but he was assassinated before he
could begin his plan
Instead the invasion of Persia would be left for Philip’s
son Alexander who was just 20 when Philip was
assassinated

“Alexander inherited from his father the most perfectly
organized, trained, and equipped army of ancient times.
Conquests of Alexander
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Ionia and Anatolia 333
Syria, Palestine, Egypt
Mesopotamia
Persepolis
King of Persia
India
Returns to Susa
Dies (age 33)
332
331
331
330
327
324
323
Warfare in the Age of Alexander

Phalanx: A formation of infantry carrying overlapping
shields and long spears, developed by Philip II and used
by Alexander the Great
Warfare in the Age of Alexander

Hoplite
The main melee warrior of
the Macedonian army.
 Worked mainly in the
tight phalanx formation,
creating impregnable

(can’t be breached/broken)
lines that often left the
enemy demoralized.
Tyre Today
Alexander’s
original mole
has grown over
the centuries
and is now a
broad land
bridge with
roads and
buildings on it.
Tyre


After a seven month
siege, Tyre fell
8,000 Tyrians were
killed in the fighting


2,000 more were hung
afterwards
400 Macedonians were
killed in the siege and
just 20 in the assault
Gaugamela (Arbela)


At Issus, Alexander captured
Darius’s family and was holding
them hostage but treating them
well
“Darius appeared to have lost
the character for strength which
he was thought at one time to
possess. An excellent ruler in
peace, he was his own worst
enemy in war.”
Seal of King Darius
Gaugamela (Arbela)
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
At Issus, Alexander captured
Darius’s family and was
holding them hostage but
treating them well
Darius had assembled a
huge army from all the
Persian nationalities
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
Estimates range from 200,000
to a million infantry and
45,000 to 100,000 cavalry
200 scythed chariots
15 elephants
Alexander had about
40,000 men
Darius III, King of Persia
336-330 B.C.
Battle at Gaugamela (331BCE) – Present Day Northern Iraq (near Mosul)
Alexander (Greek) vs. Darius III (Persian)
47,000 Greeks vs. 100,000+ Persians (Modern Estimates)
Military Tactics of Alexander Biggest Factor (Key)
Alexander Fights with Troops while Darius III Does Not
Gaugamela (Arbela)
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Darius now feared for his own
safety and fled the field
The entire Persian center and
left also fled
The Persian army was dispersed
Alexander pursued for 70 miles
to Arbela (modern day Arbil)
but couldn’t catch Darius
The Persians lost 40,000 to
90,000
The Macedonians only 500
Alexander’s Military Genius
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Flying column reserves
The wedge to penetrate an
opening
Striking not merely with
mass but at the right place
and time
All around security
Discipline of troops
Ability to determine the
enemy weakness and seize
opportunity rapidly
Alexander’s Travels
After Gaugamela
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Darius’s escape frustrated Alexander because it
prevented him from full claim to being king of
Persia
Eventually Darius’s followers assassinated him
As Alexander became king of Persia and continued
to advance east, he took on an increasingly Eastern
attitude
The End of the Empire
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Alexander
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Married Roxanna and had his men also
intermarry
Adopted Eastern dress and habits
Publicly insisted upon his descent from the
gods
Began giving key positions to Persians
The Macedonians were tired of
campaigning and resented the
changes in Alexander’s behavior and
become mutinous
Alexander died in June 323,
perhaps as a result of poisoning
"The Marriage of
Alexander the Great
and Roxanna" by
Ishmail Parbury
After Alexander

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After Alexander died, his
generals jockeyed for
power and by 275 they
had divided up his
kingdom into three large
states
 Antigonus took Greece
and Macedon
 Ptolemy took Egypt
 Seleuces took the
former Achaemenid
empire
The period of Alexander
and his successors is called
the Hellenistic period to
reflect the broad influence
of Greek culture beyond
Greece’s borders