AFTERMATH OF THERMOPYLAE The Greeks at War AIM: Why were the conquests of Alexander the Great important to the development of the Western World? Do Now: 1.Quiz 2.Write Down Aim in Notebook

Thermopylae “Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie here in obedience to their laws.” (Inscription carved on the tomb of Leonidas’s Three Hundred) Leonidas at Thermopylae by David

After Thermopylae  The Persians captured and burned Athens but were defeated by the Athenian navy at Salamis  In 479 the Persians were defeated at Plataea and forced back to Anatolia

Delian League  After the Persian threat subsided, the Greek polis had conflicts among themselves  The polis formed an alliance called the Delian League  Athens supplied most of the military force and the other polis provided financial support  Sparta did not join the league  In the absence of the Persian threat, eventually the other polis came to resent financing Athens’s bureaucracy and construction projects  The resulting tensions led to the Peloponnesian War ( ) in which the polis divided up into two sides led by Athens and Sparta

The Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War ( BC)  The war went back and forth until 404 when the Spartans and their allies forced Athens to surrender  Conflicts continued however and the world of the polis steadily lost power  Alexander the Great is going to step into this power vacuum

ALEXANDER THE GREAT c. 100BC / Found at House of the Faun, Pompeii

Philip II of Macedonia Ruled Macedonia from BC and transformed it into a powerful military machine Moved into northern Greece and met little resistance due to residual (aftermath) effects of Peloponnesian War –By 338 he had Greece under his control

Alexander the Great Alexander the Great (356 –323BCE)  Philip intended to use Greece as a launching pad to invade Persia, but he was assassinated before he could begin his plan  Instead the invasion of Persia would be left for Philip’s son Alexander who was just 20 when Philip was assassinated  “Alexander inherited from his father the most perfectly organized, trained, and equipped army of ancient times.

Conquests of Alexander  Ionia and Anatolia333  Syria, Palestine, Egypt332  Mesopotamia331  Persepolis331  King of Persia330  India327  Returns to Susa324  Dies (age 33)323

Warfare in the Age of Alexander  Phalanx: A formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and long spears, developed by Philip II and used by Alexander the Great

Warfare in the Age of Alexander  Hoplite  The main melee warrior of the Macedonian army.  Worked mainly in the tight phalanx formation, creating impregnable (can’t be breached/broken) lines that often left the enemy demoralized.

Tyre Today Alexander’s original mole has grown over the centuries and is now a broad land bridge with roads and buildings on it.

Tyre  After a seven month siege, Tyre fell  8,000 Tyrians were killed in the fighting  2,000 more were hung afterwards  400 Macedonians were killed in the siege and just 20 in the assault

Gaugamela (Arbela)  At Issus, Alexander captured Darius’s family and was holding them hostage but treating them well  “Darius appeared to have lost the character for strength which he was thought at one time to possess. An excellent ruler in peace, he was his own worst enemy in war.” Seal of King Darius

Gaugamela (Arbela)  At Issus, Alexander captured Darius’s family and was holding them hostage but treating them well  Darius had assembled a huge army from all the Persian nationalities  Estimates range from 200,000 to a million infantry and 45,000 to 100,000 cavalry  200 scythed chariots  15 elephants  Alexander had about 40,000 men Darius III, King of Persia B.C.

Battle at Gaugamela (331BCE) – Present Day Northern Iraq (near Mosul) Alexander (Greek) vs. Darius III (Persian) 47,000 Greeks vs. 100,000+ Persians (Modern Estimates) Military Tactics of Alexander Biggest Factor (Key) Alexander Fights with Troops while Darius III Does Not

Gaugamela (Arbela)  Darius now feared for his own safety and fled the field  The entire Persian center and left also fled  The Persian army was dispersed  Alexander pursued for 70 miles to Arbela (modern day Arbil) but couldn’t catch Darius  The Persians lost 40,000 to 90,000  The Macedonians only 500

Alexander’s Military Genius  Flying column reserves  The wedge to penetrate an opening  Striking not merely with mass but at the right place and time  All around security  Discipline of troops  Ability to determine the enemy weakness and seize opportunity rapidly

Alexander’s Travels

After Gaugamela  Darius’s escape frustrated Alexander because it prevented him from full claim to being king of Persia  Eventually Darius’s followers assassinated him  As Alexander became king of Persia and continued to advance east, he took on an increasingly Eastern attitude

The End of the Empire  Alexander  Married Roxanna and had his men also intermarry  Adopted Eastern dress and habits  Publicly insisted upon his descent from the gods  Began giving key positions to Persians  The Macedonians were tired of campaigning and resented the changes in Alexander’s behavior and become mutinous  Alexander died in June 323, perhaps as a result of poisoning "The Marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxanna" by Ishmail Parbury

After Alexander  After Alexander died, his generals jockeyed for power and by 275 they had divided up his kingdom into three large states  Antigonus took Greece and Macedon  Ptolemy took Egypt  Seleuces took the former Achaemenid empire  The period of Alexander and his successors is called the Hellenistic period to reflect the broad influence of Greek culture beyond Greece’s borders