ALEXANDER THE GREAT
The Hellenistic Age
Phillip Of Macedonia Lead the
Macedonians in the dominance over the Greek Peninsula
Found rich gold deposits in his province that allowed him to fund his Army
Crushes the Greek city-states at the Battle of Chaeronea
Alexander – Path to Glory Born in Greek
Province of Macedonia
Son of Phillip II and Olympia
18 yrs when he lead his fathers cavalry at Chaeronea
Inherits the throne after his father’s assassination
Alexander’s Siege weapons
Greek Phalanx Military formation
usually 8 rows deep Shields protect the left
side while a spear or sword protected the right
Alexander’s used the Sarissa (16 foot spear)
He used cavalry and loosely mobile infantry on the wings
Invasion of Persia Kills all his rivals Destroys Thebes Begins his invasion
of the Persian Empire
His military expedition would last 11 years and would expand his empire all the way to India
Alexander’s Legacy Alexander dies in 323 bce His Empire would be divided among his 3
generals Ptolemy = Egypt Seleucus = Syria and Iran Antigonus = Anatolia (Turkey) Rome would eventually bring their dynasties
to an end (Augustus Ceasar will defeat the armies of Cleopatra and Mark Antony
The Hellenistic Age Alexander’s invasion of Persia would open up the
Persian Culture to the Greeks At the same time Greeks traded as far away as
India. This fostered a growth in the Greek Economy
Greek Pottery, Greek art and Greek architecture would flourish during this Time period
Greeks became exposed to the know how of the Egyptians, and Mesopotamians. This lead to improvements in math, physics, medicine and technology
Hellenistic Thinkers Euclid – systematized geometry Archimedes – theoretical physics Aristarchus – earth moved around the sun. Stoicism – people should always do what is
right despite your pain and suffering Hipparchus – moon takes 29 days, 12 hours
and 44 minutes to travel around the earth Figured out the length of the year within 6
minutes and 26 seconds