Macedonia-
- geography- rough, mountainous, cold climate, people lived in mountain villages instead of city-states like Greece had
- most Macedonian nobles referred to themselves as Greeks, but the Greeks thought they were barbaric and not civilized. The Athenians thought of Sparta as barbarians, too
- After the Peloponnesian War several Greek city-states were very weak
- Economically
- Militaristically
- when there is a weakness or struggle there is usually someone else to take advantage of the opportunity. In this case, it was Macedonia.
- Phillip II was the king of Macedonia around 360 b.c.
- only 23 yrs old when he became king
- brilliant general
- able to train peasants into warriors
- dream was to take over Greece and invade Persia
- tactics- organized army into phalanxes(made them 16 men wide by 16 men deep), send in cavalry after phalanx broke through enemy lines
- conquest for Greece
- An Athenian Demosthenes tried to warn the Greeks of the threat of Phillip and told them to prepare an army, but the city-states were not united in their response. Athens and Thebes fought against Phillip, but it was too late and Macedonia won.
- New leader
- Phillip was going to invade Persia, but he was stabbed to death and his son Alexander proclaimed himself king.
- Alexander the Great- taught by Aristotle; goal was to spread Hellenistic culture; very intellectual, kept a copy of the Iliad under his pillow; he wanted to show his power early so when the people of Thebes rebelled, he destroyed the city, and took 6000 lives and put the survivors into slavery
- invasion of Persia- Alexander took 35,000 men to battle against 40,000 Persians at Anatolia. Alexander attacked first with his cavalry, it was very effective and he defeated the Persians. It alarmed the Persian King, Darius III, so he led 50000 to 75000 men to battle against an outnumbered Alexander. He called for a surprise attack for his best troops to go straight for the King and "cut the head off the snake". It worked and Darius III fled
Yes, I think that he should have punished the people of Thebes. It he wouldn't have punished them so harshly, other city-states in Greece probably would have risen up against him and he would've had to spend his time putting down the revolutions that would've taken place instead of expanding his empire. He wanted the Greeks to fear him, and that's what he got.
Comments