Empire Building:
- Alexander the Great conquered Persia and Egypt and extended his empire to the Indus River in northwest India.
Setting the stage:
- the Peloponnesian War weakened several Greek city-state and cause decline in their military and economic power.
Philip Builds Macedonian Power
The kingdom of Macedonia, located just north of Greece, had rough terrain and a cold climate. Most Macedonian nobles thought of themselves as Greeks, but the Greeks looked down on the Macedonians as uncivilized foreigner who had no great philosophers, sculptors, or writers. The Macedonians did have one very important resource - their shrewd and fearless kings.
- Philip's Army
- in 359 B.C., Philip 2 became king of Macedonia. Though he was only 23 years old he quickly proved to be a brilliant general and a ruthless politician.
- he transformed the rugged peasants into a well-trained professional army.
- organized phalanxes of 16 men across and 16 deep, with 18-foot pike.
- Philip began to prepare an invasion of Greece.
- Conquest of Greece
- Demosthenes, the Athenian orator , tried to warn the Greeks about the Philip, he urged them to unite against Philip
- 338 B.C, Athens and Thebes joined forces to fight Philip, but it was too late
- Macedonians soundly defeated the Greeks at Chaeronea and ended Greek independence.
- city-state retained self-government in local affairs, under control of Philip's Macedonia
- Philip planned to invade Persia next but never got the chance
- at his daughter's wedding he was killed by a former guardsman
- Philip's son Alexander proclaimed himself king of Macedonia. Over the next 13 years, he became known as Alexander the Great.
Alexander Defeats Persia:
Although Alexander was only 20 when he became king, he was well prepared to lead. Under Aristotle's teaching Alexander learned science, geography, and literature. He enjoyed Homer's description about the Trojan War. He kept a copy of the LLIAD under his pillow to inspired himself.
When the people of Thebes rebelled he destroyed the city, about 6,000 Thebans were killed so other Greek city-state quickly gave up any idea of rebellion.
- Invasion of Persia
- 334 B.C., Alexander led 35,000 soldiers across the Hellespont into Anatolia. Alexander smashed the Persian defenses.
- the victory of Alexander alarmed Darius 3 - the Persian King
- Darius 3 raised 50,000 and 75,000 men
- this victory gave Alexander control over Anatoli
- Conquering the Persian Empire
- Darius tried to negotiate a peace settlement. He offered Alexander all of his west lands but Alexander wanted the entire Persian Empire.
- Alexander marched into Egypt in 332 B.C.
- the two armies met at Gaugamela, Alexander's victory ended Persia's power
- Persepolis, Persia's royal capital burned to the ground.
Alexander's Other Conquests
Alexander now reigned as the unchallenged ruler of southwest Asia. He left the ruined Persepolis to pursue Darius and conquer Persia's remote Asian provinces. During the next three years, his army fought its way across the desert wastes and mountains of Central Asia.
- Alexander in India
- 326 B.C., Alexander and his army reached Indus Valley.
- a powerful India army blocked their path, they had been fighting for 11 years and had marched more than 11,000 miles. The exhausted soldiers yearned to go home. Bitterly disappointed, Alexander agreed to turn back.
- 323 B.C., Alexander and his army had reached Babylon. He became seriously ill with a fever and died a few days later and he was just 32.
- Alexander's Legacy
- after his died, his Macedonian generals fought among themselves for control of his empire.
- Antigonus became king of Macedonia and took control of the Greek city-state; Ptolemy seized Egypt, took the title of pharaoh, and established a dynasty; Seleucus took most of the old Persian Empire.
- alexander himself adopted Persian dress and customs and married a Persian woman
- a vibrant new culture emerged from the blend of Greek and Eastern customs.
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