1. The Conquest of Alexander the Great
Chapter 6 Section 3
The Conquest of Alexander the Great

2. Alexander the Great - Empire
This map shows the vast empire conquered by Alexander the Great in red highlight. The extent of the empire is an approximation of 320 BC.

3. Macedonia
Macedon was a rising kingdom in the Macedonia region - North of Greece.
- Macedonians were fighters
- lived in villages, led by a local noble.
Kings could only rule with the support of the nobles
Locate Macedonia on the map

4. Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon 359 B.C. became king
Was a hostage in Thebes during his childhood, because of this came to admire Greek ways
Studied organization of Thebes army
As a result, recruited and organized the best- disciplined army in Macedonian history

5. Macedon Army
Organized infantry into phalanxes – phalanx: contained rows of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder.
- Carried heavy spears, 18 ft. long
- Effective against cavalry charges

6. GOAL Goal – restore order to Macedon
- Controlled several Athenian colonies.
Next goal = heartland of Greece
- Some Greeks supported Philip, others did not

7. Demosthenes
Demosthenes: spoke out against Philip through a series of speeches
Tried to organize against Philip’s army
In 338 B.C. Philip defeated Thebes and Athens at the battle of Chaeronea
With this victory, Philip united Greece under his rule
Organized cities into a league, planned to invade Persia
336 B.C. Philip was assassinated
Son Alexander came to power

8. Alexander the Great: Military training from the Macedonian Army
Formal education from Aristotle
Goal = conquer all of the civilized world

9. Alexander the Great
By 331 B.C., BATTLE OF GAUGAMELA, crushed Persia, and conquered Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia (reference map)
Went east as far as the Indus River. Wanted to conquer India
Alexander’s army did not want to proceed – refused to go and fight.
In 326 turned back, headed west. ½ army traveled by sea, other ½ through the desert. Many of those that traveled through the desert died of exhaustion.
Returning to Susa in 324
By 323 many were discontent – why?
Alexander caught a fever and died in June of 323 at the age of 32

10. Hellenistic World 13 years of fighting, Alexander rarely lost
Purposely spread Greek culture wherever his armies went.
Under Alexander’s leadership, Macedonians, Greeks, and Persians worked together
Supported the marrying of Macedonians to Persians. Wanted to bring the Greeks and the Persians together.

11. The Spread of Hellenistic Culture:
Greek culture spread to Nile valley, Southwest Asia, and borders of India
Society contained a large group of poor people and a small group of rich people – in the middle, small middle-ranked groups. Spread of Greek culture helped the middle group to thrive during the Hellenistic Era

12. TRADE
Major cities – Alexandria, Egypt – commercial center, biggest Hellenistic city
Trade routes – linked China, India, Arabia
Alexander built cities, cities became learning centers
Library at Alexandria – thousands of scrolls that contained information of the Hellenistic knowledge and literature
As people prospered, education spread
Rights of women – Hellenistic women appeared in public, property rights
More of the world became “Greek”

13. Religion Hellenistic kingdoms – led Greek polis’ to decline
Hellenistic Kings in Egypt and Asia = “ruler-worship” – people had a civic duty, found comfort in consulting authority figures for guidance
Mystery religions – secret teachings, mysteries. Unity, security, personal worth

14. Philosophers: Concerned with ethics
Cynicism, Skepticism, Stoicism, and Epicureanism
Cynics – live simply, naturally, no regard for wealth, pleasure, social status
Skeptics – universe always changing, all knowledge is uncertain – if you believe this = achieve peace of mind. Founder = Pyrrho
Stoic – established by Zeno, divine reason directs the world. Accept fate, influenced Roman and Christian thinking
Epicurean – founder= Epicurus, aim in life is to seek pleasure and avoid pain, limit pleasures = avoid suffering

15. Science Euclid = geometry
Elements – basis for several geometry books
Archimedes = calculated the value of pi – the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.
Invented the pulley, Archimedes screw – draws water upward

16. Medicine Alexandria, EGPYT = center of medical science
Greeks learned embalming techniques from the Egyptians – examine and catalog parts of the body
Learned the brain was the center for the nervous system

17. Astronomy and Geography
Aristarchus – sun center of universe
Eratosthenes – calculated the distance around the earth
Hipparchus – predict eclipses

18. Hellenistic Age
Greek-like way of life became known as “Hellenistic Culture” – values and ideas drawn from Mediterranean and Asia
Hellenistic Age – time between Alexander’s death and the Roman conquest of Greece.

19. After death… -Generals competed for empire
-301 divided empire into three main kingdoms – Egypt, Macedon, and Syria, as well as several smaller kingdoms
- Over time, Romans conquered most of the Hellenistic empire

20. Macedonia Most “greek-like” Weakest government
Armies from Rome marched in and conquered Macedonia by mid 100’s B.C.

21. Syria Most of the Persian empire
Many different people and customs – rebelled against leaders
By 60 B.C. Rome marched in and took over

22. Egypt Encouraged growth of Greek culture
Ancient world’s largest library in the city of Alexandria

23. Concluding Q’s:
Alexander the Great conquests and expansion of his Empire led to:
A. The battle of Thermopylae
B. The Peloponnesian War
C. Spread of Hellenistic Culture
D. Decline of Greek culture