Powerpoint 2 - Greece and Alexander

7/29/2019 Powerpoint 2 - Greece and Alexander

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World EmpiresAugust 29, 2012


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The Golden Age of Athens

Time of Athenian political and economic hegemony in the

Aegean (5th Century BC)

Begins with Delian League victory over the invading Persian

army of Xerxes at Salamis and Thermopylae

Themistocles & Leonidas

Athens is the center of Greek politics, culture, and

commerce

Herodotus (historian), Hippocrates (physician), Socrates

(philosopher), Pericles (statesman/general), Aeschylus(playwright)

Athenian naval and economic superiority solidify Athens

dominant political position in the region.

Growing dissatisfaction amongst the other members of the


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Sparta Rises, Greece Falls

Around 550 BC Sparta formed its own league of city-states, the Peloponnesian League (PL), which was largelyovershadowed by the economic and cultural dominance ofthe Delian League (DL) over the next century.

After the defeat of Xerxes in 480 BC Athenian dominanceand arrogance led to growing discontent within the DL.

Viewing the DL as weakened the Spartans led the PL intowar, primarily against Athens.

The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431-404 BC, when

Sparta (with timely aid from Persia) forced Athens tosurrender after crippling the Athenian fleet.

For the next half-century Athens, Sparta, and Thebeswould fight a bloody civil war for control of the Aegean,

weakening all three while allowing foreign rivals to developunimpeded.


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Philip II and the Rise of

Macedonia

Philip II of Macedon (383-336 BC) took the throne in 359 BC.Philip viewed Greece (which looked down on Macedonians asuncivilized and barbaric) as disordered and divided. Decades ofwar left the region weak and vulnerable.

Philip, highly ambitious and a brilliant tactician, set out to uniteGreece under Macedonian rule.

Used bribery, deceit, and assassinations to gradually undermineGreek city-states politically and diplomatically.

Simultaneously crushes military opposition through tactical skilland military innovation.

The Macedonian Phalanx

An evolved version of Greek infantry; Sarissa (14-20ft) combinedwith complex drilling.

Philip was assassinated in 336 BC by one of his bodyguards(and lover) Pausanias, probably with the help of his wife,

Olmpias.Was preparing for an invasion of Persia at the time of his death.


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Alexander The Great


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The Expansion of Macedonia

Alexander III (356-323) was Philip IIs son and succeeded

him as king of Macedonia after his assassination.

Tutored by Aristotle, fought under Philip in Greece, was 20

when he assumed the throne.Unbelievably ambitious and a brilliant military commander

from the beginning.

Alexander sought to continue Philips dream of attacking

the Persian Empire.In 334 BC he crossed the Bosporus into Asia Minor with

45,000 men, 5,000 cavalry, and a relatively small navy.


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Through the Middle East

Alexander quickly conquered Asia Minor, capturing vital

coastal cities along the Mediterranean, and turning toward

Syria in 333 BC.

Alexander engages the main Persian army, under KingDarius III, at Issus.

Alexander crushes an army twice the size of his own, sending

Darius fleeing deeper into Persian lands.

Alexander continued down the coastline, conquering Persian

cities with relative ease while Darius regrouped inMesopotamia.

Conquers the coastal city of Tyre in 332 BC.

Central to Persian naval dominance in the Mediterranean.

30,000 enslaved

Patience and Ingenuity over brute strength


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Into Mesopotamia

After conquering all of Persias coastal cities, includingJerusalem and all of Egypt, Alexander received a ceasefireoffering from Darius.

All of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates.

Alexander refused, and crossed the Euphrates in 331 BC.Alexander again crushed Darius with an army less than half thesize of the Persians. Darius is forced to flee deeper intoMesopotamia. His army is broken, his power gone.

Alexander enters Babylon in 330 BC, now controllingMesopotamias oldest, richest, and most strategically importantcity.

At this point Alexander had, quite literally, conquered all of theKnown World

The old empires of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and Babylonia werehis.


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Into India

Alexander, never satisfied, continued to push East. He

conquered the Bactrian empire in modern Pakistan.

Took a Bactrian princess, Roxane, as his bride.

Alexander then turned south, attempting to cross theHimalayas into northern India in 327 BC.

In 326 BC Alexander crossed the Indus River into India, were

he defeated King Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes.

At this point his army, battle-weary and homesick, beganto turned against him. Alexander, realizing that he could

not continue without the full support of his men, agreed to

turn back and regroup.

Returned to Babylonia in 324 BC, died in 323 BC from

sickness.


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What Made Alexander Great?

Leadership

Alexander was renowned for his charisma. He was able to

motivate an army of men who had never left Greece to follow

him to the end of the known world

Alexander was raised in the military and fought alongside hismen in battle. He led from the front, was wounded in combat

numerous times, and was known as an excellent horseman.

Generalship

Alexander is regarded by military historians as one of themost brilliant tacticians in history. From Tyre (patience and

ingenuity) to Gaugamela (cunning and decisive) he showed a

unique ability to adapt his tactics to any situation.

In particular, his use of heavy cavalry and phalanx infantry in

tandem was revolutionary at the time.


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The Spread of Greek

CultureAlexander founded over twenty cities that bore his name.

Alexandria, in Egypt at the mouth of the Nile River, was the first

and by far the most important.

Became the cultural center of the region. The library of Alexandria

held many of the most important scientific and philosophical worksof the time.

The remnants of Alexanders army headed a new class of rulers

and merchants who dominated politics and trade.

The Greek slave trade expanded alongside them

Greek philosophy, art, and science came to dominate the region

as well. Centers of learning like Alexandria and Antioch became

melting-pots for Persian and Greek ideas.

These ideas formed the intellectual foundation of Western

society up to the time of the Scientific Revolution in the 16th


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The End

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