Sept. 19, 2012 with Assignment Blogs

[5thRHIANA]

Sept. 19, 2012 NOTES BEGIN AT PEACE? and 2nd ASSIGNMENT BLOG IS AT THE END.

Macedonia

• Geography
  
  • Had rough terrain and a cold climate
  • the people lived mostly in mountain villages instead of the city-states like Athens
• Most Macedonian nobles referred to themselves as Greeks.
• Once again the Greeks thought that the Macedonians were barbaric and not as civilized as the Greeks
• What other Civilization did the Greeks treat this way?
• Changes
  
  • After the Pelopenesian war several Greek city-states were very weak economically and militaristically.
  • When there is weakness or struggle there is usually a predator or someone else to take advantage of the opportunity. In this case, it was Macedonia.
• Leadership
  
  • Phillip II was the king of Macedonia around 360 BC
    
    • 23 when he became king
    • Brilliant General
    • able to train peasents into warriors iron made it cheaper
    • his dream was to take over Greece and avenge the Persian invasion of Greece in 480BC
    • Invade Persia
  • Philip organized his army into phalanxes of 16 men across by 16 men deep
  • All 256 men had to work together for this formation to work correctly.
  • After the phalanx had broke through the enemy's line, he would then send in cavalry to crush the disorganized or retreating opponents.
• Conquest for Greece
  
  • An Athenian orator name Demosthenes tried to warn the Greeks of the threat of Phillip and told them to prepare an army
  • However, the city-states of Greece couldn't come up with united response
  • finally athens and thebes diced to standup to phillip but it was too late
  • Greek independence was lost to king Phillip of Macedonia
• Next Leader
  
  • Wanted to invade Persia
  • However, Phillip was stabbed to death by one of his former guardsman
  • his son immediately proclaimed himself king of macedonia. his name was Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great.
• Alexander the Great
  
  • Was taught by Aristotle
  • Spread Hellenistic culture
  • Very intellectual, kept a copy of the Iliad under his pillow to remind him of the heroic of Achilles in the Trojan War
  • Alexander wanted to show his power early, and when the people of Thebes rebelled, he destroyed their city and took 6000 lives.
  • The survivors were sold into slavery, only the preists were spared from becoming slaves
• Invasion of Persia
  
  • Alexander was now ready to invade Persia now the the Greece was secure
  • he marched with 35000 men to attack persia
  • Persian rushed 40000 men to meet Alexander at Anatolia
  • Alexander decided to attack first and with his cavalry, very effective and defeated the Persians
  • The victory alarmed the Persian King, Darius III
  • his response was to raise a huge army ranging between 50000 to 75000 men
  • Alexander knew he was outnumbered so he called for a surprise attack with his best troops and ordered them to go straight to the Persian King
  • The Persian King died and so did his army
• Assignment:
  
  • Do you think Alexander should have punished the people of Thebes so harshly? Why or why not?
  • State your answer then write at least a paragraph explaining your reasoning.
• I don't think Alexander should have punished the people of Thebes so harshly. Even though the people of Thebes rebelled, he should not have destroyed the city and killed 6,000 people. I think he could have punished them in a less harsh way. Even though the people rebelled, they didn't need to be killed because of that. He went too extreme.  He also should not have destroyed the city because they would have had to rebuild the city and that would cost large sums of money. I think Alexander could have punished them in a way that was not as harsh or extreme. I also think Alexander should have listened to the people voicing their opinions and compromised.

Peace?

• After two major battles lost, Darius III was ready to give up some land in hopes that Alexander would stop his Conquest.
• The Macedonian advisers to Alexander told him to take the offer, but Alexander refused.
• Alexander's goal was to conquer all of the Persian empire.

Alexander in Egypt

• Alexander was welcomed into Egypt as a liberator even though Egypt was a Persian territory.
• Was even crowned a pharaoh.
• Alexander named a city, Alexandria after himself, very common for him to do.

Continuing the Conquest

• Still wanted to kill King Darius the third of Persia so he pursed him
• The pursuit made him a great conquered but bad at governing the land he conquered
• He eventually found King Darius, dead, one of his own men killed him in hopes that Alexander would leave the remaining Persians alone

Are we there yet?

• May thought that once Darius was dead Alexander might stop the conquest they were wrong
• He invaded certain areas of India and successful defeat them there as well
• Only problem Alexander struggled with was the low morale of his army

Low Morale

• Alexander’s troops had been fighting for a very long time and traveled very far:
  • Had fought for 11 years
  • Had marched 11,000 miles
  • In bad conditions, deserts and even monsoon rains
  • Very disappointed, Alexander agreed to return home

Governor

• When Alexander had reached Babylon he announces that he wants to unite his empire by building new cities roads and harbors and conquer Arabia
• What happens after big promises or vows in the time era?
• They usually die around the same time like right after making the promise
• He became seriously ill with a fever and died at the age of 32

Legacy

• Married a Persian Princess
• He even wore Persian dress and presided over a mass marriage of 80 of his men to Persian women
• Very interesting culture impact-spreading Hellenistic culture
• At the time of his death, Alexander had conquered a vast amount of land
• Generals fought over who got the power of the empire

Generals

• Eventually these three generals of Alexander got control of his conquered land
• Antigonus--Became the King of Macedonia and took control of the Greek city-states (Athens)
• Ptolemy--Seized Egypt, took the title of Pharaoh, and began a dynasty
• Seleucid--Got control over the old Persian Empire--He didn’t take the democratic approach with him--The rulers had all the power not the people
  
• Assignment #2
  • What is your overall opinion of Alexander the Great? Was he really that special or just a barbaric person who allowed greed to get the best of him?
  • Write a paragraph explaining your answer.
•  My opinion of Alexander the Great is that he was a barbaric person who allowed greed to get the best of him. Since he wanted to show his power early, he killed 6,000 people because they rebelled.  Alexander the Great also wanted to conquer the entire Persian Empire, instead of just a part of the Persian Empire. Also, Alexander announced that he wanted to unite his empire by building new cities roads and harbors and conquer Arabia, but he never kept his promise. He was a selfish leader and he did not fulfill his promises to his people. I believe that Alexander the Great was a barbaric person who allowed greed to get the best of him.