Download File - Mr. Neadel`s AP World History

Name____________________________________________________________
Per.______
Robert W. Strayer
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources
Chapter Four, First Empires, 500 B.C.E.-500 C.E. (pp. 150-154)
Collision: The Greco-Persian Wars
 The collision of the Greeks and the Persians was an unequal conflict
o Grew out of their respective patterns of interaction

Greek settlements on the Anatolian seacoast (Ionia) came under Persian control

499 BCE: Ionian Greek cities revolted against Persian domination & found support from
Athens

Outraged, the Persians twice in 10 years launched major military expeditions to punish Greeks
o Known as the Greco-Persian Wars
o The Greeks defeated the Persians on both land and sea

This defeat had little effect on the Persians but a profound impact on Greeks, especially Athens
o Source of enormous pride for Greeks
o 490 BCE- Battle of Marathon’s victory was product of Greek freedoms
o Led to worldview in which Persia represented Asia & Greeks signified Europe
(East/West Divide)

Greeks’ victory radicalized Athenian democracy
o Had been men of poorer classes who had rowed their ships to victory
o Poorer men now in position to insist on full citizenship

50 years after Greco-Persian Wars was the Golden Age of Greek Culture
o Parthenon built (Temple honoring Greek goddess Athena)
o Greek theater was born from work of Aeschylus
o Socrates beginning career as a philosopher

Athens’s Golden Age was era of incipient empire
o Athenian leadership against Persian aggression spawned imperialism
o After war, Athenian efforts to solidify Athens dominant position among allies led to
resentment and civil war (431-404 BCE)
o Known as the Peloponnesian War
o Athens was defeated & Greeks magnified their distrust for one another
o Opened door to takeover by growing forces of Macedonia
Collision: Alexander and the Hellenistic Era
 Macedonian takeover of Greece led by Philip II achieved the political unification of Greece

Led to 2nd collision of Greece & Persia as Alexander led Greek expedition against Persia
o Served to unify the fractious Greeks in a war against a common enemy
o Was among the greatest military feats
o Created a Greek empire from Egypt & Anatolia in the west to Afghanistan & India in
the east
o Persian Empire was defeated & its capital Persepolis was looted & burned
o In Egypt, Alexander was celebrated as a liberator from Persian domination

Alexander died in 323 BCE without returning to Greece
o His empire was divided into 3 kingdoms ruled by his Macedonian generals

Chief significance of Alexander’s amazing conquests lay in the widespread dissemination of
Greek culture during the Hellenistic Era (323-30 BCE)
o Elements of that culture penetrated lands of Egypt, Mesopotamia, & India

Greek culture spread:
o Simplified form of the Greek language was spoken from Mediterranean to India
o Indian monarch Ashoka published some of his decrees in Greek
o Attraction of many young Jews to Greek culture prompted Pharisees to develop their
own school system
o Conquest states ruled by the Greeks: Ptelomaic empire in Egypt, & Seleucid in Persia
 Imperial states preserved order, raised taxes, & maintained authority of
monarchy

Fair amount of cultural interaction & blending occurred
o Alexander encouraged intermarriage between his troops & Asian women
o In Egypt & Mesopotamia, Greek rulers patronized building of temples to local gods
o In India, Greeks were assimilated into the hierarchy of the caste system as members of
the Kshatriya (warrior) caste

Much of Greek cultural influence faded as the Hellenistic kingdoms weakened & vanished by
1st Century BCE
o Represented a remarkable cultural encounter, born of the collision of the 2 empires & 2
classical civilizations

Greek rule was replaced by that of the Romans