Alexander’s Great Empire Chapter 8: Lesson 4

Introduction In 338 B.C. the Greek city-states came under the control of Macedonia, a kingdom to their north. At the time Macedonia was lead by a Philip II who’s main goal in invading Greek city-states was to attack the Persian Empire. King Philip II’s son, Alexander built a huge Empire starting with Greece. Alexander loved the Greek Culture and wanted to help diffuse the culture across the empire he founded.

The Making of an Emperor (His Family) Alexander was born in 356 B.C. in Macedonia. Son of: Philip II, his father. (Macedonian) Olympias, his mother (Greek) Alexander’s teacher was Aristotle (Greek Philosopher).

The Making of an Emperor (His Education) Like his teacher, Alexander was interested in many subjects: Literature Philosophy & Politic Alexander was trained in: Sports Physical Fitness & Warfare At the age of 16 Alexander finished his schooling and joined his father to fight in the army. From Aristotle, Alexander learned about the Greek Culture, other countries, and people. From his father, Alexander learned to be a fearless warrior.

The Making of an Emperor (The Start of his Journey) At the age of 18, Alexander lead a cavalry (Soldiers who fought on horse back) in Philip’s army. They fought in The Battle of Chaeronea which brought most of the Greek peninsula under Macedonian control. After that achievement, Philip was prepared to invade the Persian Empire in Asia. Before he could, he was killed in 336 B.C. Philips rule was then passed down to Alexander.

The Making of an Emperor (The Start of his Journey) After Philip’s death, some of the Greek City-States under Macedonian rule rebelled. In 335 B.C., Alexander’s army attacked Thebes (one of the rebelling city-states), and destroyed it. About 30,000 people in the city were sold into slavery. Alexander’s actions against Thebes discouraged other Greek city-states from rebelling.

The Building of an Empire (Granicus River) After having control over the Greek city-states, Alexander wanted to continue his father’s plan to attack the Persian Empire. In 334 B.C. Alexander led an army of more than 35,000 soldiers from southern Europe to Asia Minor. Alexander and his army easily defeated the Persians at Granicus River gave Alexander more wealth and glory. This allowed Alexander to continue his quest of southwestern Asia. One by one Alexander conquered the cities among the coast of Asia Minor.

The Building of an Empire (Gordium in Asia Minor) Next, Alexander and his army marched north to the city of Gordium, in present-day Turkey. A famous legend tells about Alexander’s adventures in Gordium. King Gordius had tied a difficult knot to his chariot, stating that whoever untied it would rule all of Asia. When Alexander arrived, he cut the knot with his sword and was crowned king of the city.

The Building of an Empire (Syria & Tyre) By 333 B.C. Alexander and his army reached the coast of Syria from where they marched into Phoenicia (a civilization covering the area of Babylonia, Lebanon, Tyre) to capture its port cities. Alexander had difficulty taking the port of Tyre because it was on an island offshore. Alexander ordered workers to build a causeway (land bridge) out to the island. This changed the island into a peninsula, which remains until today. After 7 months of fighting, the people of Tyre surrendered.

The Building of an Empire (Egypt) Alexander then headed to Egypt, which was under the Persian control. The Egyptians greeted Alexander warmly because they were thankful to be free from the Persians. The Egyptians crowned Alexander as a pharaoh.

The Building of an Empire (Gaugamela, Babylon, Persepolis) After Egypt, Alexander went to Gaugamela and defeated a much larger Persian army and forced Darius III to flee. This victory ended more than 200 years of Persian rule in southwestern Asia. Alexander next captured the Persian cities of Babylon and Persepolis. By 330 B.C. Alexander and his army moved toward the Caspian Sea to find Darius to kill. Darius was to weak by then to fight and had already been killed by members of his own court. With the death of Darius, Alexander became the most powerful ruler of southwestern Asia . Thus he got the name Alexander the Great.

The End of the Empire Even though Alexander had already ruled a large area & defeated the Persian Empire, he still wanted more land. Alexander led his army east of Persia into the Bactria, now part of northern Afghanistan, and then across the Hindu Kush mountains. In 326 B.C. while in Bactria, Alexander married the Bactrian princess, Roxane.

The End of the Empire A year after his marriage Alexander and his army were on the move again, in which they reached the upper Indus River. Alexander planned to push on from there to the Ganges river, however his soldiers refused. They were too tired from all the conquering. Alexander, being disappointed yet fair, ordered his army to return home. On there way back, near Babylon, Alexander was already planning on a new expedition. He wanted to explore northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula.

The End of the Empire In 323 B.C. Alexander became seriously ill with a fever and died shortly before his 33rd birthday. A legend says that before Alexanders death, a soldier asked “To whom will rule of the great empire go?” Alexander answered, “To the strongest” No leader proved strong enough to replace Alexander the Great. The Empire quickly split into many parts, the largest of which were: Egypt Syria Macedonia These 3 kingdoms were often at war with each other.

Alexander’s Legacy Even after Alexander’s death, the kingdoms continued to build on his legacy. Alexander and his army came into contact with many different cultures which resulted in them learning to speak and write in Greek. These conquered peoples also learned to follow Greek Customs. For this reason, the period of Alexander’s rule and several centuries after his death are known as the Hellenistic Age, or “Greek-like”.

Alexander’s Legacy Like the Golden Age, the Hellenistic Age was a time of achievement in Greek Civilization. As Alexander the Great’s empire spread across eastern Europe, northern Africa, and southern Asia, Alexander built new cities. Many of these cities were named Alexandria in his honor. These cities became centers of learning and helped spread Greek culture. In time, Alexandria, Egypt, equaled Athens as a center of Greek Culture.

Alexander’s Legacy The huge library at Alexandria, Egypt, contained more than 500,000 scrolls of papyrus. The goal od its librarians was to collect every text in the World! Connected to the Library was a building known as the museum. There scholars, or seekers of knowledge, wrote books and exchanged ideas. Today museums are places that preserve history and offer learning to all people.

Alexander’s Legacy Hellenistic scholars worked our new ideas in mathematics. Euclid of Alexandria, Egypt, did important work in geometry (the study of lines and angles). Archimedes of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily, used mathematics to build many useful machines. Hellenistic scientists also made use of mathematics as they began to think about the universe. Aristarchus, of Samos, and island in the Aegean Sea, used mathematics to suggest that all the planets, including Earth, revolve around the sun. Eratosthenes, of Cyrene, in what is now Libya in northern Africa, used mathematics to estimate the distance around Earth.

Alexander’s Legacy By 146 B.C. another group of people, the Romans, had gained control of much of the Mediterranean region, including lands held by the Greeks. Yet the knowledge that the Greeks had spread to other lands was not lost or forgotten The Romans borrowed from the art, architecture, philosophy, religion, and literature of the Greeks to build their own civilization. For many years after the Romans took control, Alexandria, Egypt, remained a Greek center for learning.