Alexander Builds an Empire

Chapter 9 Lesson 4

Describe the events that led to the rise of Alexander the Great’s Empire.

Explain how Greek culture spread during and after Alexander’s rule.

Objectives

Hellenistic Age – Greeklike age

Multicultural – a city with many cultures

Vocabulary

Phillip II of Macedonia united his people and conquered Greece

All the major Greek city-states except Sparta joined Phillip’s League of Corinth

The End of Greek Independence

Alexander set out to conquer Persia and the rest of the known world

By 331 BC he ruled a huge empire, throughout which he spread Greek culture and introduced the Greek language

Alexander’s Conquests

After Alexander’s death in 323 BC his empire broke into separate kingdoms

They were often in conflict with each other

Alexander’s influence, however, lasted for nearly 300 years after his death

The End of an Empire

Alexandria, Egypt became a new center of culture and learning

Many scholars and scientists worked at a center for learning called the Museum, next to the world’s largest library

Alexandria: A Center of Learning

Hellenistic culture flourished in all parts of Alexander’s former empire

In Alexandria, texts from different cultures were translated into Greek so they could be shared with Greek scholars

The Hellenistic Age

The Greek city-states fell to Phillip II, the king of Macedonia

His son Alexander went on to build the largest empire the world had known

Through his conquests, Alexander spread Greek culture

When he died, his empire broke up, but Greek culture lived on throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa

Summary

How did Phillip of Macedonia end the independence of the Greek city-states?◦ He conquered and united them under his rule

How was Alexander’s plan similar to his father’s plan?◦ Both planned to conquer the Persians

What caused Alexander to stop conquering more of India?◦ His soldiers refused to go on

What enduring contributions did Euclid and Hypatia make to learning?◦ Euclid advanced geometry, and Hypatia headed a school, developed theories

in mathematics, and invented tools for measuring the properties of water

What caused the spread of Greek culture in the Hellenistic Age?◦ The new kings continued to spread Greek culture throughout the former

empire

Reading Check Questions