Alexander the Great

Key Terms• Philip II• Phalanx• Alexander the Great• Hellenistic

The Big Idea: Alexander the Great built a hugeempire and helped spread Greek culture

into Egypt and Asia.

Macedonia to the North• Greece underestimated

Macedonia.• Philip II, Macedonia’s

new king, began to plan his attack on Greece.

• Athenian leaders knew they would be attacked but couldn’t rally troops.

Macedonia attacked and defeated Greece.Philip II was adopted as Greece’s leader.

The Greeksthought the

Macedonianswere

barbarians.

Philip’s Military Strength• Philip was an awesome

military leader. • He is famous for

perfecting the phalanx.• A phalanx was a group of

warriors who stood close together in a square, each with a spear.

• As soldiers were killed, another would step forward.

After tackling Greece, Philip II looked to conquer Persia. Unfortunately, he wasmurdered, passing his throne to his son, Alexander.

Philip’s spearswere 16 feet

long.

Alexander Gets Angry

• After Philip died, Thebes, another Greek city, rebelled against Alexander.

• Alexander made an example of Thebes by destroying the city and enslaving its people.

• Confident nobody else would rebel, Alexander began to build an empire.

Alexanderwas only20 whenhe tookpower.

Alexander earned the name Alexander the Great

when he became one of the greatest conquerors in history.

Building an Empire

• Alexander started by invading Persia, winning over and over.

• Then, he went into Egypt and was immediately crowned a pharaoh without a fight.

• Alexander then defeated Persia once and for all after the king fled, making him the ruler.

How do you think historians know this is a picture of Alexander the Great?

Alex’s Empire

Alexander’s Death• Alexander wanted to

continue building his empire, but his army refused to go on.

• On his way home, Alexander got sick in Babylon.

• He died at 33 and was taken to Egypt to be buried in a golden coffin.

Nobody knows how Alexander died, but some say he was poisoned. Others sayit was malaria.

Greek Culture Spreads• Alexander’s empire

was the biggest ever.• He founded cities in

the lands he conquered and named many Alexandria.

• He modeled many cities after Greece with temples and theaters.

Alexander encouraged Greeks to move to the new cities.

Greek language, art, literature, and

sciencespread aroundAlex’s empire.

Greek Culture Spreads

• Alexander also encouraged his new people to keep their cultures.

• This mixed Greek culture with the original cultures.

• These new cultures were called Hellenistic, or Greek like. Hellenistic combined Persian, Egyptian,

Syrian, and other cultures with Greek ideas.

Alexander’sempire wasa melting

pot ofcultures!

Hellenistic Kingdoms

• When Alexander died, he did not have an obvious heir.

• Three generals ended up fighting for and winning power.

• One became king of Macedonia, another of Egypt, and the third of Greece.

The new Syriahad too many

different cultures anddiffering ideas

to survive. Theywere also defeated

by Romans.

The new Egyptdeveloped

a center of culture and learning. Eventually,

it was conqueredBy Rome.

The new Macedoniahad a weak

government andwas conqueredby the Romans.

Hellenistic Kingdoms