Spread of Greek Culture Coach Parrish OMS Chapter 7, Section 3

Beginnings Macedonia was an area that was just North of Greece. The Greeks did not consider the Macedonians to be Greek even though they spoke the same language. They thought of them as barbarians – wild, uncivilized people.

Philip Comes to Power Philip was a Macedonian but kept close ties with Greece because he studied there as a child. He hired Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, to tutor Alexander. Philip became king in 359 BC, and after uniting Macedonia, began conquering various Greek city-states. (He assumed it would be easy because they were always fighting with each other.) In 338 BC, Athens and Thebes joined together to stop Philip. They failed, and Greece fell under Philip’s rule.

Aristotle tutors Alexander

Philip of Macedonia

Alexander Builds an Empire: Death of a King After he conquered Greece, Philip began planning his conquest of Persia. Before he could carry out his plan, Philip was assassinated – murdered for political reason. Philip’s death led to Alexander becoming leader at the age of 20.

Alexander The Great

Alexander’s Conquest Although he was young, Alexander was a great soldier. One of his first actions was to attack the Persian Empire. In 334 BC, Alexander won his first battle in Persia. Over the next 11 years, Alexander would conquer Persia, Egypt, and all the way to India in the East. This caused people to refer to him as Alexander the Great.

Alexander’s Last Battle Alexander drove his army to move lightning fast as they conquered land. After refusing to go any further east because of exhaustion, Alexander and his troops turned around. On the way back, Alexander caught a fever. In 323 BC, he died after only 13 years as king.

Alexander’s Kingdom

Greek Culture Spreads Upon Alexander’s death (either poisoned or died of some disease), the empire declined. The empire was divided into 3 kingdoms, each ruled by a former commander in Alexander’s army. For the next 300 years, the descendants of the commanders fought over who would rule.

Greek Culture Spreads As Alexander had done before them, his successors set up new cities throughout the kingdoms. As people moved to new areas, Greek culture was spread. Hellenistic – Greek history and culture after Alexander’s death.

Hellenistic Kingdoms As Alexander conquered people, he hoped that the people’s culture and Greek culture would mix. This mixing did not occur in the three Hellenistic Kingdoms. The kingdoms were dominated by Greek language, the building of temples, agoras, and theaters for Greek tragedies.

Greek Culture in Egypt The greatest of all Hellenistic cities was Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander founded the city in 332 BC. It became the capital of Egypt. Alexandria held the largest library in the world at the time, with approximately ½ million scrolls.

Library at Alexandria

Math and Science Mathematics and science also flourished in Alexandria. Around 300 BC, a mathematician named Euclid, developed geometry. Archimedes was the greatest scientist to study in Alexandria. He learned that by using levers and pulleys, heavy objects could be lifted.

Archimedes