Alexander

Warm Up!!! Please answer the following warm up questions in complete sentences: – Who was the greatest Greek poet and what did he write? – What Greek historian was actually accurate when he reported history? What book did he write? – What was Socrates method to examine personal beliefs, such as finding out what is ‘truth’ and what is ‘real’?

The Rise of Macedonia King Phillip II developed a powerful military north of the Greek city-states in Macedonia. –C–Created a seemingly unbeatable army. Took advantage of a weakened Greece after the Peloponnesian War and conquered all of Greece. –G–Greek city-states refused to unite against Macedonia - Athens and Sparta continued to fight after the Peloponnesian War. Planned to attack Persia before he was murdered in 336 BCE.

Alexander the Great Phillip’s son, Alexander, came to power at the age of 20. Alexander learned science, geography, and literature as a student of Aristotle. –W–Was inspired by heroic deeds of Achilles in the Iliad.

Alexander the Great - Macedonia

Built a more powerful military - expanded the army by including soldiers from the Greek city-states. When the city of Thebes attempted to rebel, he destroyed the city and killed 6,000 people. –T–The survivors were sold into slavery. –C–Caused other city-states to end any thoughts of rebellion.

Alexander’s Empire Launched an attack on the Persian empire. –D–Despite being outnumbered, Alexander's army defeated the Persians. –P–Persian king, Darius III, offered 1/3 of his empire to end the war, but Alexander wanted all of Persia.

– Destroyed the Persian army and took over Egypt and was crowned pharaoh in 332 BCE. Claimed that the Oracle of Ammon identified him as the true son of Zeus. Established the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

Alexander marched his army through Iran and Afghanistan to India, where his men refused to go any further. – They had marched from Greece to Egypt and onto India, covering more than 11,000 miles during the 11 year campaign.

On the return to Greece, Alexander died in Babylon (part of his empire) at the age of 32 in 323 BCE. It was said that Alexander had predicted his empire would go to the strongest of his generals and after his death it was split between three generals: – Antigonus - King of Macedonia – Ptolemy - Pharaoh of Egypt – Seleucus - Emperor of Persia Alexander’s conquests brought an end to the era of independent city-states and led to the emergence of Hellenistic culture.

Hellenistic Era Time period between Alexander’s death (323 BCE) and the rise of the Roman empire (approximately 146 BCE)-marked the high-point for Greek influence in the world. Hellenistic culture combined Greek, Egyptian, and eastern customs and spread throughout Alexander’s empire.

Alexander wanted to spread Greek culture to help control his vast empire. – He had thousands of his men marry Persian women. – Used Persian nobles to administer his conquered lands. – He adopted Persian dress and had Persians join the military. Alexander established new cities where Hellenic culture (products and ideas) were exchanged through trade. – Alexandria in Egypt emerged as the major center commerce and Hellenic culture.

Alexandria Located along the Nile- had access to peoples from across the Mediterranean region. Emerged as a center for scientific advancements - the first research library in the world -the Alexandrian Library.

Rivaled Athens as a center for education. –P–Ptolemy argued that the sun and stars orbited the earth (geocentric theory), which was accepted until Copernicus proved it wrong in the 16 th century (heliocentric theory). –E–Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth to within 185 miles of its actual size (24,860 miles).