Transcript Alexander the Great

The Decline of the Citystates
Persian Wars
 Greek colonization brought the
city states in conflict with the
Persian Empire
 Result was the Persian Wars
(500-479 B.C.)
Ionian Rebellion




As Persian emperors
Cyrus and Darius
tightened their grip on
Anatolia, the Greek
cities on the Ionian
coast became
increasingly restless
In 500 B.C.E., they
revolt and expel the
Persian administrators
Athens sends a fleet in
support of their fellow
Greeks and commercial
partners
In 493, Darius represses
the rebellion
Cyclades Islands
Persian Wars
 To punish the
Athenians and
discourage future
interference,
Darius attacks
Athens in 490
 The Athenians
repel 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
surround the Persians
in a double
envelopment
 Although the
Athenians were
outnumbered, their
spears are superior
to the Persians’
bows and short
lances
 The Persians flee to
their ships
 Persians lose 6,400
men and seven ships
 Athenians lose 192
Battle of Marathon
 However, Miltiades realizes that
the Persian fleet could sail and
attack the undefended city of
Athens
 According to legend, he calls upon
Phidippides to run to Athens to tell
them of the victory and warn them
of the approaching Persian ships
 Phidippides runs the 26 miles from
Marathon to Athens in about three
hours, successfully warning the
Athenians who repel the Persian
invasion
 Phidippides is exhausted from the
fight at Marathon and the 26 mile
run and dies upon announcing the
warning
Miltiades
Olympic Marathons
 The marathon was part of
the 1896 Olympics
 The course was from
Marathon to Athens
(24.85 miles or 40 km)
 At the London Olympics in
1908, the Olympic
marathon course was set
at 26 miles, 385 yards
(42.195 km) to
accommodate the Royal
Family’s viewing
 In 1921 the International
Amateur Athletic
Foundation made 42.195 km
the official distance of a
marathon
Xerxes
 Darius’
successor
Xerxes tries
to avenge the
Persian
losses by
launching
another
attack in 480
 Thermopylae
Thermopylae
 The Greeks send 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 repel the Persians
 Then Ephialtes, a local farmer,
traitorously leads a force of
Persian infantry through a mountain
passage and the next morning they
appear behind the Greek lines
 Leonidas orders the rest of the army
to withdraw and holds the passage
with just 300 Spartans
 As true Spartans, they choose death
over retreat
 All die but they do 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’
Three
Hundred)
Leonidas at
Thermopylae by David
After Thermopylae
 The Persians
capture and burn
Athens but are
defeated by the
Athenian navy at
Salamis
 In 479, the
Persians are
defeated at
Plataea and
forced back to
Anatolia
Delian League
 After the Persian threat subsided, the
Greek poleis (city-states) had conflicts
among themselves
 The Athenians formed an alliance called
the Delian League
 Athens supplied most of the military force and
the other poleis provided financial support
 In the absence of the Persian threat, eventually
the other poleis came to resent financing
Athens’ bureaucracy and construction projects
 The resulting tensions led to the
Peloponnesian War (431-404) in which the
poleis divided up into two sides led by
Athens and Sparta
The Peloponnesian War
(431-404 B.C.)
 The war goes back and
forth until 404 when
the Spartans and their
allies (Peloponnesian
League) force Athens
to surrender
 Conflicts continue
however, and the
world of the poleis
steadily loses power
 Alexander the Great is
going to step into this
power vacuum
Alexander the Great
Advances in Warfare
King Philip II
• Ruled Macedonia from 359336 B.C. and transformed it
into a powerful military
machine
• Moved into northern Greece
and met little resistance due
to effects of Peloponnesian
War (city-states weak)
• By 338 he had Greece
under his control (battle
of Chaeronea)
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
 Professional, well-paid army, combined conquered
greeks with his troops, new plans and weapons
Conquests of
Alexander
 Ionia and Anatolia
333
 Syria, Palestine, Egypt 332
Founds Alexandria
 Mesopotamia
331
 Persepolis
331
 King of Persia (darius III)
330
 India
327
 Returns to Susa
324
 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

Companions
 Alexander’s elite cavalry,
the offensive arm of his
army, and his elite guard.
 They would be used in
conjunction with the
phalanx. The phalanx
would fix the enemy in
place and then the
companion cavalry would
attack on the flank.
ATTACK FROM THE REAR
 Alexander would lead the
charge with his cavalry,
normally in a wedge
formation.
 These troops would also
protect the flanks of the
Macedonian line during
battle.
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 (catapults),
scale or batter
(rams) the walls, and
transport soldiers
over them.
5th Century Greek
Battering Ram
Defeat of Persia
 Darius’ escape frustrates Alexander
because it prevents him from full
claim to being king of Persia
 Eventually Darius’ followers
assassinate him
 As Alexander becomes king of Persia
and continues to advance east, he
takes on an increasingly Oriental
attitude
The End of the Empire
 Alexander
 Marries Roxanna and has his
men also intermarry
 Adopts Eastern dress and
habits
 Publicly insists upon his
descent from the gods
 Begins giving key positions to
Persians
 The Macedonians are tired of
campaigning and resent the
changes in Alexander’s behavior
and become mutinous
 Alexander dies in June 323,
perhaps as a result of
poisoning or fever
"The Marriage of
Alexander the Great and
Roxanna" by Ishmail
Parbury
After Alexander
 After Alexander dies, his generals jockey
for power and by 275 they have divided up his
kingdom into three large states
 Antigonus took Greece and Macedon
 Ptolemy took Egypt and started a dynasty
of pharaohs (Cleopatra’s ancestor)
 Seleuces took the former Persian 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
The Hellenistic World
Greek Cities
Library at Alexandria
(333 BCE)
Center of Learning
 Aristotle was Alexander’s
teacher
 In Alexandria, famous Greeks
met to share discoveries and
learn from each other
 Euclid
 Archimedes
 Aristarchus
Hellenistic Culture
 Cultural Diffusion
 Greek governors
ruled the land
 Spread greek
language and
customs
 Also dopted local
(eastern - Persian)
customs
 Hellenistic culture
was a mix of the two