Download Alexander*s Empire

Chapter 5
Section 4
 Phillip II
 Macedonia
 Alexander the Great
 Darius III
 Many city-states were severely weakened after war
 Rapid decline of military and economic power
 King Phillip II of Macedonia takes notice
 Has dream of taking control of all of Greece and
eventually Persia
 Northern Greece; lived in mountain villages more than
city-state
 Consider themselves to be Greek,
 However the Greeks looked down upon them as
uncivilized
 Lack of great philosophers, sculptures, and writers
 Phillip becomes king in 359 B.C.E. at 23 yrs old
 Transforms his villagers into lethal professional army
 Phillip uses a 16x16 man phalanx, all armed with an 18ft
spear
 Uses the phalanx to break enemy lines and then sends in
swift cavalry to crush disorganized opponent
 Greek city-states failed to unite against Phillip
 Eventually Thebes and Athens unite against Phillip; but
it was too late
 Macedonian army had become too powerful and easily
defeated the city states
 Greece now under the rule of a “foreigner”
 King Phillip planned on attacking Persia next
 At his daughters wedding he was stabbed to death
 Never got a chance to see the Persian War
 Phillips son Alexander takes the throne
 Alexander immediately takes control of the
Macedonian kingdom and vows to attack Persia like
his father had planned
 20 yrs old when he came
to power
 Taught by Aristotle;
learned science, geo, and
literature
 Kept a copy of Iliad
under his pillow to
inspire himself
 To prove his strength
crushed Thebes during a
revolt
 Battle of Granicus
 Battle of Issus
 35,000 Macedonians
 King Darius III raises an
Vs. 40,000 Persians
army of 75,000 men
 Alexander outnumbered
charges through weak
spot
 Forces Darius III to flee
 Alexander smashes
through enemy lines
 Victory!
 Alexander takes control
of Anatolia
 After the loss at Issus Darius III tried to negotiate with
Alexander
 Offered him all the land west of the Euphrates River
 Advised to take the deal- Persian resistance swelled
Alexander’s ambition
 Refused the offer and vowed to conquer the whole
empire
 Alexander marches to Egypt in 332 B.C.E.
 He is met as a liberator
 The Egyptians make him a pharaoh!
 He builds the city of Alexandria at the mouth of the
river Nile
 What’s next……?
 Alexander heads west to Mesopotamia
 Battle to Gaugamela:
 Darius assembles an army of 250,000 men
 Once again the power of the phalanx and Alexander’s cavalry
were too much for Persian battle lines
 Darius flees again; and Persian control ends
 Soon Alexander controls:
 Babylon, Susa, and Persian capital Persepolis
 Alexander burns Persepolis to the ground
 After returning to Babylon after 11 years and 11,000
miles Alexander makes plans to organize the empire
 He wants to:




Build roads
Construct new cities
Construct new harbors
Invade Arabia
 However; he become very sick with a fever and dies a
few days later- 323 B.C.E.
 After his death the Empire was divided by 3 powerful
rulers
 1) Antigonus- Macedonia (Greek city states)
 2) Ptolemy – Egypt
 3) Seleucus – Persian Empire