Chapter 5/Section 3 Alexander the Great

I. Macedonia Attacks Greece (pgs. 175 – 176) A Plan to Win Greece Macedonia lay north of Greece and by 400 B.C. had become a powerful kingdom. In 359 B.C., Philip II rose to the throne of Macedonia. Philip II lived in Greece as a boy and admired everything about the Greeks. Philip even hired Greek philosopher Aristotle to tutor his son, Alexander.

Philip wanted to defeat the Persian Empire and knew he needed to unite the Greek city-states with his own kingdom. He trained his army to fight like the Greeks. He conquered many Greek city-states, others surrendered, and others joined Philip voluntarily. In 338 B.C., the Macedonians crushed the Greek allies at the Battle of Chaeronea (kehr*uh*nee*uh).

II. Alexander Builds an Empire (176 – 179) Before Philip could conquer the Persian Empire, he was murdered. His son, Alexander, became king of Macedonia at age 20. In 334 B.C., Alexander invaded Asia Minor, and by 332 B.C., he captured Syria and Egypt. In Egypt, he built the city of Alexandria, which became one of the most important cities in the ancient world.

Alexander’s Conquests In 331 B.C., Alexander headed east and defeated the Persians at Gaugamela, near Babylon. After this victory, Alexander easily overran the rest of the Persian Empire. Over the next three years, Alexander marched east as far as Pakistan.

In 326 B.C., Alexander crossed the Indus River into India where he fought a number of bloody battles. Weary of continuous war, his soldiers refused to go any further and Alexander agreed to lead them home. In 323 B.C., Alexander returned to Babylon and planned to invade southern Arabia. Tired and weak from wounds, Alexander died of fever at the age of 32.

Alexander’s Legacy A legacy is what a person leaves behind when he or she dies. Alexander was a superb military leader who helped extend Macedonian/Greek rule and culture over a vast area. Alexander’s conquests marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Era. The word Hellenistic comes from a Greek word meaning, “like the Greeks”, and refers to a time when Greek language and culture spread to the non-Greek people of southwest Asia.

The Empire Breaks Apart Alexander had planned to unite Macedonians, Greeks, and Persians in his new empire. After his death, however, his generals fought one another for power. As a result, the empire fell apart and four kingdoms took its place: 1) Macedonia 2) Pergamum (puhr*guh*muhm) 3) Egypt 4) Seleucid Empire (suh*loo*suhd) Greeks stayed in control by conducting business in the Greek language and only those Asians and Egyptians who spoke Greek db-6cQ0