Macedonia
- Geography
- had rough terrain and a cold climate
- the people lived mostly in mountain villages instead of the city-states like Athens had
- Not seeing eye to eye
- most of the 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?
- Spartans
- Changes
- after the Peloponnesian War several Greek city-states very weak:
- economically
- militaristically
- when there is weakness of a struggle there is usually a predator or someone else to take advantage of the opportunity. In this case, it was Macedonia
- after the Peloponnesian War several Greek city-states very weak:
- Macedonian Leadership
- Phillip II was the king of Macedonia around 360 BC
- he was only 23 when he became king
- Brilliant general
- was able to train peasants into warriors
- his dream was to take over Greece and avenge the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC
- invade Persia
- Phillip II was the king of Macedonia around 360 BC
- Phillip's Tactics
- Phillip 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 decide to stand up to Phillip but it was too late
- Greek independence was lost to King Phillip of Macedonia
- New Leader
- next on Phillip's agenda was to invade Persia
- however, he was never able to do this
- at his daughter's wedding, he was stabbed in stabbed to death by one of his former guardsman
- his son immediately proclaimed himself the king of Macedonia. His name was Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great.
- Alexander the Great
- was taught by Aristotle so he was very smart
- spread Hellenistic culture
- very intellectual, kept a copy of the Iliad under his pollow to remind him of the heroic 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 6,000 lives
- the survivors were sold into slavery, only the priests were spared from becoming slaves
- Invasion of Persia
- Alexander was now ready to invade Persia now that the Greece was secure
- Alexander march with 35,000 men to attack Persia
- Persians rushed 40,000 men to meet Alexander at Anatolia
- Alexander decided to attack first and with his cavalry, very effective and defeated the Persians
- Invasion continues
- That victory alarmed the Persian King, Darius III
- his response was to raise a huge army ranging between 50,000 to 75,000 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 fled and so did his army
- 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 welcomes 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
- Alexander still wanted to kill King Darius III of Persia so he pursued him
- this 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 had killed him
- Are We There Yet?
- many 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 eve monsoon rains
- very disappointed, Alexander agreed to return home
- Alexander's troops had been fighting for a very long time and traveled very far:
- 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 this time era?
- 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 cultural impact - spreading Hellenistic culture
- at the time of this 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
- 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
- Daily blog
- 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
- I think Alexander the Great wasn't all that great at all. He was a selfish person who wanted all of the power and didn't care what other people had to say or think. He did let greed get the best of him, and I think it's a good thing he died. He might have ruined their empire. He kind of reminds me of Hitler. A selfish and self centered person who wants all of the power. He didn't deserve to be a ruler.
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