Download The Persians, the Ancient Greeks, and Alexander the Great

The Persians, the Ancient Greeks, and Alexander the Great The Persian Empire Let's start in the Middle East with the Persian Empire (or the Achaemenid Empire) which was around by 500 BCE.1 The Persian Empire was enormous­ stretching throughout the Middle East, encompassing land from Egypt to Pakistan. The Persians borrowed ideas from the older civilizations in those areas (you’ll remember the Babylonians and the Ancient Egyptians for example) and incorporated them into their multicultural society. In many ways, the Persian empire set the model for how empires in the region would act for centuries to come. For example, ​
the Persians claimed to have the support of the gods for their rule, they passed down the power to rule from father to son, and had an effective spy network to make people pay their taxes. The Persian built canals, and maintained the ​
qanat system​
of underground wells and 2
tunnels that made agriculture possible in dry regions. Persian ​
court rituals​
­how you treat 3
your emperor­ were especially borrowed by future leaders of the region . Persian Emperors were elevated to an almost godlike status; they lived in opulent palaces, something that later rulers would find attractive. Due to their extremely diverse empire­there were many different peoples and language groups incorporated into the state­ the Persians allowed various religions to be practiced within their borders. The emperor, however, gave official support to a religion called ​
Zoroastrianism 4​
. Zoroastrianism teaches that there is a great struggle between good and evil; those who support the side of good will have eternal life in heaven, those who support evil will burn forever in hell.5 The Empire was divided into provinces and aristocratic families there led sections of the army, collected taxes, enforced the laws. As long as these powerful families gave the central government its portion of the tax collections, they were able to rule the area with some independence. The Persian Empire built roads­ they had an especially famous “Great Road” that went 1600 miles from what is now Iran to the Mediterranean in Eastern Turkey. They had an impressive postal system that allowed a letter to be delivered from one end of the Great 1
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By 559, the Emperor Cyrus took control of a large area of land. Cyrus is a ruler that some of you will know of because of his role in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament­he released the Jews from the “Babylonian Captivity” and allowed them to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple there which had been destroyed in the earlier upheaval. 2
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the Qanat system is what the Mongols greatly damaged/destroyed 1500 years later­ devastating agriculture in certain regions 3
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for example, are you allowed to look at the emperor, do you bow or touch your head to the floor in his presence etc. 4
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you’ll remember that some followers of this religion were living in Chang’an, China 1000 years later 5
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Obviously there is much more to the religion but that at leasts gives you one important idea within it. Road to the other in one week. 6 ​
The Persians supported trade and ideas spread quickly through their empire. The Persians often show up in the history of Europe as “the other.” The Persian Empire was the enemy of the Greek city­states until Alexander the Great took over both the Greek city­states and the Persian Empire. Alexander the Great’s empire did not last long, however, and his empire was divided up between his most powerful generals. One of them­ Seleucus­ took control of the region that we still associate with Persia and this new Persian empire ­ the Seleucid Empire.7 We will study the region around the Persian Empire later this year as the people there convert from Zoroastrianism to Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries. Even today, however, in modern Iran­ formerly known as Persia­ echoes of their Zoroastrian past can still be seen. For example, Iranians and neighboring regions who were once part of the larger Persian Empire continue to celebrate the spring festival of Nowruz, an old Zoroastrian holy day. 1. Where was the Persian Empire located? Color it in on a map of the region or describe it 2. What were the two most important characteristics of the Persian Empire? 3. What is the legacy of the Persian Empire? (legacy means, which ideas or practices of theirs were passed on to future generations?) The Greeks Now let's switch to the Eastern Mediterranean and look at the history of the Greek people there. The Greek peninsula contained many different Greek ​
city­states​
, who usually competed or fought with each other, but who occasionally worked together to defeat a common enemy ­ like the Persian Empire. You’ll remember that the Greek peninsula was rocky and not great for farming and in part because of this, they created colonies in ​
Anatolia​
(the region that we now 8
call Turkey) and left a lasting impact on the region. Another series of Greek colonies were located on the southern tip of the Italian Peninsula where they happen to have contact with an ambitious group of people who founded a little city called….Rome. The Greeks had a long history in the Mediterranean and were influenced by the older cultures of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia in the Fertile Crescent. Like the Persian Empire we just examined, the Greeks will continue to have an influence in the Mediterranean and the greater world for thousands of 6
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This feat was so impressive to a Greek historian that wrote about it in his famous history of the region. He noted that nothing stopped the intrepid mail carriers­ “​
neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night….” These words became the unofficial motto of the US Postal Service.. 7
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The later Persian Empires were first called the ​
the Parthian Empire and later the Sasanian Empire in case you wanted to know. The Roman Empire was around long enough that it had time to compete with and fight both of these Persian Empires. 8
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one of which was the city of Troy from the Iliad and the Trojan War.The Greek influence in Anatolia had a lasting impact: There were many Greeks in Eastern Anatolia until the 20th century when Greece and Turkey had a population exchange which uprooted many families. years. Let’s review some of the highlights of Greek history that you might recall from Middle School. 1. Define city­state and Anatolia: 2. Where did the Greeks have colonies? Give one reason why they colonize outside of the Greek peninsula: Early Greek Civilization Minoans Era The Greeks can connect their culture all the way back to the Minoan civilization (2000­ 1400 BCE), centered on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean. 9 The Minoans had communities throughout the Eastern Mediterranean including Greek Peninsula. The Minoans left behind some fabulous frescoes (painting on plaster) of happy scenes that tend to feature dolphins, dancing women, and men jumping over bulls.10 They seem to have been a fairly open society before their civilization was mostly wiped out by a volcanic eruption and a massive tidal wave. Mycenaean Era The next big era in Greek History was the Mycenaean Era (1400­1200 BCE ). The Mycenaean Period is the famous to us because this is the era that is featured in the works of the poet Homer ­ the Iliad and the Odyssey.11 These epic poems tell of the saga of the Trojan War where brave warriors (like Odysseus, Achilles, etc.) and the Greek gods and goddesses (Zeus, Athena, Ares etc.) fight for ten years until the final battle ends when one side jumps out of a wooden horse and finally defeats the city of Troy. 12 After this era, the Greeks fall into a “Dark Age” of sorts and no writing appears again until 750­ the poems of Homer are passed down through oral tradition for hundreds of years. 1. Look up an image from the Minoan Era­ what do you notice about the image? What impression do you have of the Minoan culture as a result of the image? 2. Who was Homer and what did he write? 3. Look up an image or map of the ruins of Troy. What does the location of this city tell you about the Mycenaean Era? Classical Greece After 750 we reach what historians call the era of Classical Greece ­ a period that you are probably more familiar with. The Greek ​
city­states​
were mainly in the area where modern 9
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Minoan society was based on trade ­ they especially traded expensive saffron ­ a flavor and dye­ with places like ancient Egypt. 10
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Bull jumping is apparently is still a sport in a few remote locations? Safety record is terrible so don’t try it at home 11
and yes, Homer Simpson from the Simpsons cartoon is named after the poet Homer 12
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You can still see the ruins of the city in Eastern Turkey today­ they aren’t very impressive but someone has constructed a wooden horse for the tourists. Still the story of how the ruins were discovered is pretty crazy, you can Google it. Greece is today but they also had colonies around the Mediterranean ­ in ​
Anatolia​
as mentioned before (modern Turkey) but also on the Italian Peninsula and other places. You’ll remember that a ​
city­state i​
s a city that might control 50 to 500 miles around itself but is not part of a larger country/state/kingdom etc. Greek city­states tended to have marketplaces (agora) and strong fort which was usually on top of a hill (acropolis). The two most famous city­states of classical Greece were the adversaries Sparta and Athens. Although they were located only 150 miles from each other, spoke the same language, and worshipped the same gods, they were still strikingly different. Sparta: The Spartans were famous for their military mindset. They had conquered the neighboring peoples (helots) kept them in slave like conditions, and had them do all their agricultural work. The helots were constantly rebelling (as you can imagine), which forced the Spartans to focus their society on controlling them and becoming the best warriors they could be. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who limited their power. Service to Sparta was seen as more important than loyalty to the family and the men were rarely home with their wives and families. From the age of seven, young boys went to the military barracks and there they were raised to be tough, to fight, to be able to live off the land. They were not served enough food, so they would have to learn to steal it from those outside the barracks in the hopes that this would make them better warriors.13 Spartan mothers told their boys they were to come back from war either carrying​
their shield high in victory or ​
on​
their shield ­the way that Spartans brought their dead bodies back to be buried. Boys who were seen as cowards were ostracised and socially humiliated, forced to wear signs, allowed to be pushed, hit and spit upon. Because the men were often away (a man did not leave the military until age 60), they often had male lovers but they were also expected to marry in order to produce children. Men who did not marry were shamed and could be beaten up by Spartan women. As a result of the long absences of their husbands, Spartan women had more independence than women in many other Greek city states. They ran the households and much of the city’s economy. Extramarital affairs were tolerated to a degree because it was so important to produce children for the Spartan army. Spartan girls were trained to wrestle and do gymnastics because the Spartans believed that a strong mother would have strong children. The Spartans respected the pain that women suffered while giving birth. When women died during childbirth­ an all too common experience before modern medicine14 ­ it was seen as the female equivalent of dying in battle. Only men who died in battle and women who died while giving birth were allowed to have their names written on their tombstones. 13
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Spartan values are shown in the story of the boy who had his guts eaten out by the fox he was hiding in his cloak while standing to attention. The boy died, but the fact that he did not cry out in pain while he was being bitten to death made him ­ in the eyes of the Spartan ­someone to emulate. 14
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and today in places where modern medicine is not available­ we always have to remember that for many people in poverty, the issues of our pre modern past remain their current reality. 1. How did Sparta’s emphasis on the military affect its larger culture? Athens Athens is the most famous of the city­states and the most influential in the spheres of politics, philosophy, art, and science. Athenian citizens placed a great emphasis on learning, governing, discussing and sharing ideas. They were able to do this because women, slaves, and non­citizen residents, such as merchants, did much of the work necessary to run their society. Athens is most famous for its direct democracy. Out of a population of 250,000 or so, about 30,000 were free adult male landowners and citizens of Athens who were able to vote. These men met 40 times a year to pass laws, decide who would hold office, etc. Court proceedings would be ruled by a jury of peers, much as we have in the US today, as jurors would be selected by lottery. Those people who were selected to hold a public office would get a salary­ another practice that the US adopted ­ so that even the poor could hold a government position. There was not a great discrepancy between the rich and poor in Athens at its height; status was achieved through intellectual pursuits more than through material wealth15. In Athens it was the public architecture that was important more than the houses of individuals. As a result of its support for the arts and public good, the Golden Age of Athens (480­404 B.C.E.) was an era of great cultural achievements. Many of the great Greek plays­ the tragedies and comedies­ that you will study in English class were written during this era. Sophocles­ the man who wrote Oedipus Rex­ was a huge star in Athens; he competed in the big annual playwright competition for 30 years and never took lower than 2nd place. The great Acropolis in Athens that is still so famous today was built in this era and gives you an idea for the wonderful public architecture that the Athenians created­ architecture that continues to influence how we build our public buildings in America today. When we build buildings like the one that houses our supreme court, for example, we are purposely looking back to the democratic values of the ancient Greeks (we’ll talk more about this in the Rome unit). The Athenians also have a huge impact on philosophy. You’ll remember ​
Socrates​
who used to hang about the marketplace, annoying people by asking questions about their lives and unveiling their hypocrisies. 16 Athenians accused him of corrupting the youth and gave him the option of leaving Athens or committing suicide. Socrates famously chose to drink hemlock poison and die surrounded by his students. His student, Plato, wrote down his teachings and became a great philosopher in his own right. Plato started a school and taught many future thinkers. Plato’s most influential student was ​
Aristotle,​
who would become one of the most influential philosophers, not only in Greece and later Rome but also in the Islamic World and later Europe. Aristotle created the system of formal logic, which had an influence on Judaism, 15
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meaning it was cooler to be a playwright or financially support a playwright than buy yourself a flashy mansion ​
His questioning technique is also the inspiration for the socratic seminar! So just think of the enrichment he has brought to your lives as wel​
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Christianity, and Islam. He was also revolutionary in the sciences­ biology, physics, mathematics....so many fields of study look back to him as a founding influence. The Muslims called him the “first teacher” and because of his impact on European and Islamic thought, he is often thought to be one of the most influential men who ever lived. And…. speaking of influential men... Aristotle was also the personal tutor of a boy who came to be called Alexander the Great....so there is that. Life for women in Athens was starkly different from that of the male citizens. Wives of a status were expected to remain in the small dark houses, have children, weave clothing, supervise the household slaves and in general stay out of the male sphere. Out of economic necessity, poor women and women of lesser status were out on the streets, interacting with the larger world but the ideal was that one’s wife remained at home. Athenian males saw the greatest love as that between men and often took male lovers. If a man traveled with a women to an event, it was almost never his wife but a concubine. Concubines did not have the social status of a wife, but could be highly educated or skilled in dancing or music. A few became famous for their intellect. Pericles, the most famous leader of Athens during its golden age, was said to have deeply loved woman named Aspasia who was highly educated and outspoken. In general, however, women were not allowed to participate in the high culture that their underpaid labor supported. Athenian writers note that the greatest virtue a wife can have is a “love of toil” and “to work like a bee.” Scholars note that men seem to have had little contact with their wives except for the purposes of procreation. Even the great leader Pericles said­ despite his own affection for an intellectual women­ “the greatest glory of women is to be least talked about by men.” 1. How was Athenian society different from Sparta? 2. How did Athenian democracy work? How is it different from the government of the Persian Empire? (The Athenians were extremely aware of this distinction) 3. What were some of the greatest achievements of Athens? The Greeks, the Persians, and the Peloponnesian War The Golden Age of Athens in the 400s was possible because of the results of an earlier conflict with the Persian Empire. In 540 B.C.E. the huge Persian Empire conquered the Anatolian Greek city­states l(where Troy had been) and the Greek cities continued to rebel against the Persian Empire. Athens supported these Anatolian Greek cities until the Persians decided to end the Greek influence in the region all together. As the Persians moved to attack Greece, fear of conquest finally inspired the fiercely independent Greek city­states to unite together against the larger Persian threat. The Greek city­states formed a defensive league and amazingly­ in part through Sparta’s fierce fighting and especially through Athen’s navy­ succeeded in driving the Persians out of the region. Athens was extremely proud of this victory over the Persians and saw it as a result of their superior form of government. Athens guarded the treasury of the Greek defensive league and began to use the money that the Greek city­states had set aside for defence to beautify Athens instead. The years following the Persian defeat were the Golden Age of Athens when many of the achievements that you read about earlier took place. For example, the Athenians used the money from defense league to build the famous Acropolis that still stands in Athens today. The other city­states, under the leadership of Sparta, were furious about the misuse of funds and eventually rebelled and defeated Athens in the ​
Peloponnesian War ​
(431­ 404 BCE) marking the end of the Athenian democracy and its golden age. The Peloponnesian War and other such internal conflicts weakened the Greek city­states and made it easier for them to be conquered in 338 BCE by Macedonia, a kingdom just to their north. The Macedonian king who conquered the Greek peninsula was mysteriously assassinated and his son, Alexander, took charge of his lands. 1. Why did Sparta attack Athens during the Peloponnesian War? 2. How was Macedonia able to take over the Greek Peninsula? Alexander the Great and the ​
Hellenistic​
World Alexander was only 20 when he took control of the Greek Peninsula 336 B.C.E., but he was an extremely ambitious man. Although he was Macedonian, he had been well trained in the Greek classics, had had Aristotle as a tutor, and it is said that he slept with a copy of Homer’s Illiad under his pillow. Alexander was as a brilliant military commander who never lost a battle during his short 12 years reign. Alexander was not content with ruling the Greek Peninsula and began to attack the Persian Empire. In one battle after another, Alexander forced the much larger Persian armies into retreat. He was ruthless to any city that did not surrender and frequently carried out executions of both the enemy and his own men. Alexander did, however, have an amazing way of connecting with and inspiring his troops. He fought with them, suffered with them, and inspired them. As a result, he was able to ask more of them. Despite their relatively small numbers, Alexander’s troops were able to create an empire that stretched from the Greek Peninsula to northern India. Once they reached India in around 326 B.C.E., the troops rebelled and forced Alexander to turn back. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 B.C.E. of an undetermined illness or perhaps as a result of being poisoned. His empire was soon split between his strongest generals. The Egyptian section went to a general called Ptolemy whose family would control Egypt for centuries. 17 The general Seleucus created the Seleucid Empire in Persia, which lasted for several hundred years as well. Legacy of Alexander the Great’s Empire: From a world history perspective, Alexander the Great’s Empire was important for its role in cultural diffusion. Throughout his empire and the empires of Ptolomy and Seleucus that followed, the Greeks became an elite minority in the lands that stretched from Greece to Egypt to India. Greek culture in this period is called ​
Hellenistic culture ​
(the word comes from the language group that includes the Greek language) and the ​
Hellenistic Era ​
is the era between Alexander the Great’s empire and the Roman Empire. Someone who was ​
Hellenized​
at the time was someone who was influenced by Greek culture­ get it? In this era, Greeks spread out from the Greek peninsula and became elites in the many new cities that Alexander the Great had conquered or established himself. The Greeks became an elite social class in many of these cities and Greek became the language of politics and business in the region. We have already seen the influence of this Hellenistic era today when we studied India. The collapse of Alexander the Great’s empire allowed for Chandragupta Maurya to begin his own kingdom in South Asia­ the Maurya Empire. His grandson Ashoka wrote some of his famous edicts and pillar in Greek and the Greek population in India was seen as its own jati in the warrior caste. The king of an independent Greek state in what is now Pakistan converted to Buddhism and they began to sculpt the Buddha’s figure in stone (instead of simply showing his footprints) with a face that resembled the Greek god Apollo. Greeks rarely made up more than 10 percent of any of the cities stretching between Egypt to India, but for a time at least, they left an important cultural mark. 1. Use the word Hellenistic or Hellenized in a sentence 2. Look up the borders of Alexander the Great’s empire­ how does it compare with the Persian Empire? 3. What are some of the most important results of the Hellenistic era? Alexandria Alexander the Great founded many cities and humbly named at least twenty cities after himself.
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While most of these Alexandrias are no longer, the most important of them Alexandria, Egypt remains a large and vibrant city in Egypt today. Alexandria, Egypt is located right at the mouth of the Nile river and was in an excellent position for trade and the exchange of ideas. Once Alexander died, Alexandria became part of the Ptolemaic Empire. The city was planned and the streets were lined with statues to show the power of the Ptolemaic Empire. It also included a huge lighthouse ­whose light was a massive bonfire lit every night­ and a huge harbor for ships from all over the region to dock. Greeks, Jews, and Egyptians were three of the largest groups in the city and each had their own assigned neighborhoods. The Ptolemies supported a great 17
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who had been raised with Alexander the Great from childhood. Ptolemy created a dynasty in Egypt that lasted another 275 years. You’ll know his descendant ­ the beautiful Cleopatra who attracted two great Roman leaders­ first Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony. She eventually committed suicide when the future emperor Augustus came to conquer Egypt for the Roman Empire. 18
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he also named a city after his horse­Bucephalus­ as well. Bucephalus died in battle in what is now Pakistan library where they attempted to collect all the learning of the ancient world­ including some 700,000 scrolls. Scholars from across the Hellenistic world gathered to study there and the city produced some of the greatest thinkers for the next 1000 years. In the field of math and physics, Euclid created a geometry textbook that is still the basis of courses in geometry and Archimedes estimated the value of pi and invented the compound pulley in life heavy objects. In astronomy, Eratosthenes said that the world was round, and came within 1% of the actual circumference. Aristarchus said that the sun was 300 times the size of the Earth (it is 1.3 million time larger but people already thought Aristarchus was crazy and pretty much ignored him). The Roman Empire eventually took over the whole Mediterranean region, including Alexandria and much of the rest of Hellenized Egypt. The Romans were thrilled to have conquered such a wealthy, well educated, region and sent many of the riches of Alexandria and greater Egypt back to the Italian peninsula. Now under new Roman rulers, the Egyptians, Greeks, and Jews who had been in Alexandria continued to live and study as they had before. From the perspective of World History, one of the greatest thinkers of Alexandria was active during the Roman era. The now Romanized Greek­ Egyptian geographer Claudius Ptolemy incorrectly placed the sun at the center of the solar system and claimed that all the planets moved around the sun. Ptolemy’s theory of the universe would stand until the late 1500s.19 ​
Claudius Ptolemy also created a work that inspired the most accurate world map of the next 1000 years. It was surprisingly accurate in the regions that the Hellenistic world had contact with and quite inaccurate in the regions they did not.20 1. What is the most important legacy of the library at Alexandria and the culture of learning there? 2. Why was Ptolemy important in European and Islamic history? Greco­Roman Culture When the Roman Empire grows large enough to take over much of the Eastern half of the Hellenistic World, they will incorporate many Greek ideas into their culture. Greek gods and goddesses will be given Roman names ­ Zeus will become Jupiter etc. The Romans will be enamored with Greek literature and culture; therefore, wealthy young men were shipped off to Alexandria and Athens to further their education. Romans will also incorporate many of the Greek ideas of architecture into their empire. The religion of Christianity which will emerge during the Roman Era will begin in the Jewish and Greek communities around modern Israel, Syria and Southern Turkey. As a result, the Christian community will absorb many Greek ideas, and Greek will be the language used by the earliest Christian theologians.21 When Christianity spreads through the Roman Empire, it too will help to further combine Greek and Roman ideas. In many ways, the two cultures will become mixed 19
when Nicolaus Copernicus published a challenge to it as he was dying­knowing that he didn’t want to have to deal with the social upheaval and personal repercussions that his new theory would bring­ he probably made a good choice­ it through Europe and the Catholic Church into a serious uproar. You’ll learn about it next year. 20
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Ptolemy underestimated the size of the world and Christopher Columbus used it to plan his trip ­ good thing for Christopher Columbus that he ran into the Americas or they would have all died of thirst. Not such a good thing for the Native Americans but that is another story 21
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Many of the earliest Christian documents are in Greek and many of the most important early believers were part of the Hellenistic world ­ such as the apostle Paul enough that today we often use the term ​
Greco­Roman Culture​
to describe cultural elements that began in this era. 1. How do the Romans incorporate Greek culture into their own?