Part 1: Greece Part 2: Alexander the Great

Greece Indo-European people Balkan Peninsula and Aegean Sea Commerce/Manufacturing through empire Agriculture basis

Minoan Civilization BCE Crete Sailed to southern Greece, Egypt for trade Ruled by king Evidence of archives, art, opulent buildings Destroyed by tidal way or invasion –Historians unsure

Mycenae BCE 1 st Greek state Alliance of powerful monarchies living within stone walls Warrior culture; established commercial network King to remember- Agamemnon Knowledge comes from Homer’s poetry Collapse b/c fight each other, earthquake

Persian Wars To punish the Athenians and discourage future interference, Darius attacked Athens in 490 The Athenians repelled the invasion –Marathon

Battle of Marathon The Persians landed at the Plains of Marathon on September 9, 490 For eight days, the two armies faced each other On the ninth day, the Persians started to advance, forcing Miltiades, the commander in chief of the Athenian army, to deploy his army of 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans for battle

Battle of Marathon The Athenians surrounded the Persians in a double envelopment –Although the Athenians were outnumbered, their spears were superior to the Persians’ bows and short lances The Persians fled to their ships Persians lost 6,400 men and seven ships Athenians lost 192

Battle of Marathon However, Miltiades realized that the Persian fleet could sail and attack the undefended city of Athens According to legend, he called upon Phidippides to run to Athens to tell them of the victory and warn them of the approaching Persian ships Phidippides ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens in about three hours, successfully warning the Athenians who repelled the Persian invasion Phidippides was exhausted from the fight at Marathon and the 26 mile run and died upon announcing the warning Miltiades

Xerxes Darius’s successor Xerxes tried to avenge the Persian losses by launching another attack in 480 –Thermopylae

Thermopylae The Greeks sent an allied army under the Spartan king Leonidas to Thermopylae, a narrow mountain pass in northeastern Greece The point was to stall the Persians long enough that the city states could prepare for later major battles after the Persians broke through Persians attempting to force the pass at Thermopylae

Thermopylae Twice the Greeks repelled the Persians Then Ephialtes, a local farmer, traitorously led a force of Persian infantry through a mountain passage and the next morning they appeared behind the Greek lines Leonidas ordered the rest of the army to withdraw and held the passage with just 300 Spartans As true Spartans, they chose death over retreat All died but they did hold off the Persians long enough to ensure the safe withdrawal of the rest of the Greek army. Leonidas

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

The Peloponnesian War ( B.C.) 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 poleis steadily lost power –Alexander the Great is going to step into this power vacuum (next lesson)

Part 2: Alexander the Great Theme: Advances in Warfare

ID & SIG Alexander the Great, Darius, Gaugamela (Arbela), phalanx, Philip, siege, Tyre

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

Macedonia

Alexander the Great 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.” J.F.C. Fuller, The Generalship of Alexander the Great

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 lines that often left the enemy demoralized.

Hoplites in Action

Warfare in the Age of Alexander Sieges involved the surrounding and blockading of a town or fortress by an army trying to capture it. A variety of weapons were built to hurl projectiles over city walls, scale or batter the walls, and transport soldiers over them.

Tyre “… if Alexander deserves permanent commemoration as a general, then it is above all in his capacity as a besieger, and of all his sieges Tyre was his masterpiece.” –Paul Cartledge, Alexander the Great, 147

Tyrian Fire Ship Burns the Towers

Alexander and the Principles of War Maneuver Mass Surprise Security Objective Economy of Force Offensive Unity of Command Simplicity

Maneuver –Created a gap by causing Darius to shift forces to meet the initial attack on the right Mass –Used the wedge formation at the gap in Darius’ line (decisive place and time) Surprise –Kept Darius up all night expecting an attack and then attacked the next day when Darius was tired Objective –Capture Darius in order to replace him as king Alexander and the Principles of War

Economy of force –Accepted risk on his left in order to launch a strong attack on his right Offensive –Attacked even though grossly outnumbered Unity of command –Alexander personally led the Companion cavalry in the attack on the right Simplicity –Much of what Alexander was able to do was based on the discipline his soldiers had gained from drill

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 "The Marriage of Alexander the Great and Roxanna" by Ishmail Parbury 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

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