Download Hellenistic Greece – Alexander Assignment

Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 1 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: _________________________________
Alexander the Great
King Phillip of Macedonia
Before Alexander the Great went about conquering the known world, he was the child of one
of the greatest kings of the age; King Phillip II of Macedonia. Phillip became king in the year 359
B.C.E., at the age of 23 years old. He was originally supposed to rule with his nephew, acting as regent
(a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor or is absent or unfit to rule Oxford University Press Dictionary), but he took complete control of the throne. His first task was to create an
army that would protect his empire. One of his major militaristic achievements was the creation of
heavily armed phalanx. A Phalanx is a row of men that faces its opponent ready to charge. Phillip’s
personalized phalanx was 16 men wide and 16 men deep. Additionally these men wielded 18 foot
pikes. Shortly after creation of his army, word was spread throughout Greece and the near-by area’s ~
Phillip of Macedonia is not a man to be trifled with.
In addition to his great military strength, Phillip II also strengthened his power and control
through marriages. His most important, if not most enjoyable; was to Olympias, princess of Epirus
(modern day Albania). It was through this marriage that Alexander was sired.
Alexander was not the only child of Phillip of Macedonia, but is he is the most famous. Phillip
II fathered other children with his many other wives. Olympias was not happy with her husband’s
infidelity and grew distant. Towards the end of their marriage, Phillip and Olympias were openly
hostile towards each other.
The crowning glory of Phillip’s militaristic might came in the battle of Chaeronea. The
Macedonian’s were fighting against the combined force of the Athenian and Thebeian armies. 18
year old Alexander assisted his father in the battle. This battle ended with a Macedonian victory, and
Phillip was now in control of ALL of Greece. Alexander is considered a major hero of this battle.
Phillip II of Macedonia’s life came to an end when he was killed at his daughter Cleopatra’s
wedding ceremony. Phillip was entering the “banquet hall” when a former body guard rushed toward
him and stabbed him in the chest.
After Phillip II died, Alexander became king.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Power Corrupts. Absolute Power is kind of neat” - John Lehman
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 2 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: ___________________________________________________
Alexander the Great
Queen Olympias of Macedonia
Queen Olympias of Macedonia was an integral part of the creation of the Empire of Macedonia.
More often than not though, Olympias is shrugged off as a minor player. Conversely, Olympias is a
major part of the development of the empire.
Olympias was born in Epirus, or modern day Albania. She was the daughter of Neoptolemus
I, and she was born a princess. The area that Olympias came from was believed by the Macedonian
people to be “barbaric”, and she also worshiped Dionysus, which did not help matters. Her marriage
to Phillip II was for political ties, and was not a love match. She was, however, his first wife.
Olympias is just one of the many wives of Phillip II, but she proved to be the most aggressive
and most determined. She treated his other wives and children with mockery and contempt, and she
did everything within her power to make sure her son, Alexander was always in the lime light.
Due to her unhappy marriage to Phillip II, Olympias devoted all of her time, strength, and
energy to Alexander. Some scholars have hypothesized that Alexander had an Oedipal view of his
mother, although there is no historical evidence of that. In any case, Olympias devoted her life to
making her son king of Macedonia.
Olympias’s dream came true when Alexander became king after Phillip’s assassination. Phillip II
was assassinated at the wedding ceremony of his daughter Cleopatra, by another wife. A former body
guard rushed Phillip as he was walking into a “Banquet Hall” and stabbed him. According to some
sources, Olympias conspirered with the assassin to get rid of Phillip. However, there is no concrete
proof of this plot.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” - Thomas Edison
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 3 of 9_____________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period:___________________________________________
Alexander the Great
The Baby, The Boy, The Teen
The man that would eventually become one of the greatest conquerors in history was born
Alexander of Macedonia, a prince born to King Phillip II and Queen Olympias in the year 356
B.C.E. He was born in the city of Pella, the capital of Macedonia. According to records, he was the
only child of Phillip and Olympias, however, he had several half-brothers and half-sisters from Phillip
and Phillip’s other wives.
As a child Alexander lived the royal life. He was educated in the arts of diplomacy and watched
his father acting as a king. In addition to this, Alexander had a string of tutors to educate him in the
ways of the world and the subjects he needed to know. Alexander’s most famous tutor was the Greek
philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle educated Alexander in the ways of philosophy, ethics, politics,
healing, literature, and the sciences. Aristotle’s teaching had a profound effect on Alexander’s life and
the legacy he would leave on the world.
Alexander grew into a young man and a legend was inspired by Alexander’s early signs of
greatness. The legend is centered around a horse brought to Phillip. The horses name was Bucephalus.
Apparently the horse was to wild to tame, and Alexander and his father bet on whether or not
Alexander could tame the horse. Phillip II was scornful and bet his son that he could not do it.
According to the stories, the horse was afraid of its own shadow, and Alexander led the horse into the
sunlight and horse relaxed. At this point Alexander was able to ride the horse. Alexander won the bet,
Phillip was proud of his determined son, and the people in attendance of the event were impressed
with Alexander’s skills. Phillip later told his son “You’ll have to find another kingdom; Macedonia isn’t
going to be big enough for you”.
This was not all Alexander did though. He had time to socialize, and had one very good friend
named Hephaestion.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Life is not a spectacle or a feast, it is a predicament” - George Santayana
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 4 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period:___________________________________________
Alexander the Great
The Boy Prince and Warrior
Alexander the Great, the prince of Macedonia was given a great deal of responsibility at a
young age. At the age of 16, he was left to govern Macedonia as the regent (a person appointed to
administer a state because the monarch is a minor or is absent or unfit to rule - Oxford University Press
Dictionary). His father, Phillip II of Macedonia was traveling in one of his military campaigns. During
this time period, one of Macedonia’s northern neighbors began to act aggressively. Alexander, not
wasting a moment, began a military campaign of his own. As a teenager, Alexander quelled a rebellion
of “barbarians” and captured his first city. In a move that would become a trend with him, he named
the city after himself, dubbing it “Alexandropolis”.
After this, Alexander became a general in his father’s army, and he was with his father at
Phillip’s greatest militaristic accomplishment, the battle of Chaeronea. Alexander was only 18 when
he fought in this battle.
Issues also began to develop on the home front. Phillip and Alexander’s mother, Queen
Olympias were not playing well together, and Alexander more often than not took his mother’s side.
At a wedding feast, a Macedonian official made a remark, essentially calling Alexander a bastard (A
child born out of wedlock, or an illegitimate child). Alexander was upset and supposedly attacked the
man. Phillip was upset that his son initiated violence, and began to rush toward Alexander. On the
way, Phillip fell on his face (he was drunk). Alexander said, mockingly, “Here is the man who was
making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and who cannot even cross from one table to another
without losing his balance.”.
It was during this time that his parent’s marriage officially became an issue. Alexander and
Olympias left Macedonia. The pair returned to Macedonia shortly before the marriage of one of
Alexander’s half sisters, Cleopatra. It would follow that at this wedding, Macedonia would lose one
king, and gain another.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Speech is civilization itself. The word, even the most contrdictory word, preserves contact - it is silence which isolates.” -Thomas Mann
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 5 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: __________________________________________
Alexander the Great
King of Macedonia and Persia
In the year 336 B.C.E., Alexander, son of King Phillip II and Olympias of Macedonia
became King Alexander III of Macedonia, in northern Greece. He ascended to the throne after his
father was killed at a wedding ceremony. Alexander was at the ripe old age of 20 when he became king,
but he was already an accomplished general and leader.
However, when Alexander became king; he and his kingdom were in a precarious situation.
Nations abroad were threatening Macedonia (due to their warrior king being dead), and conspirators at
home were interested in taking the throne from Alexander. However, he swiftly dealt with all of the
issues. Alexander executed all people who were threatening his claim to rule Macedonia. After this,
Alexander went to the kingdom of Thessaly and captured it. This essentially reinstated Macedonian
control of the area that is modern day Greece.
In addition to gaining control of all of Macedonia, Alexander was ready to complete the journey
that his father had not been able to. This was the conquest of Persia (modern day Iraq) which
Alexander began in 334 B.C.E.. Persia had invaded and conquered Greece in 490 B.C.E. and now
Alexander was looking for revenge (156 years later). There is also some debate between historians that
it was at this point that Alexander’s “deity-complex” began, and he was interested in conquering Persia
because he thought he was a god.
In 334 B.C.E., Alexander led 35,000 Macedonian’s into Persia. The Persian army came out to
meet Alexander and his soldiers at the Granicus River. Alexander had a specially trained unit go forth
to begin breaking down the Persian army. It worked. It worked well enough to cause the Persian
leader, Darius III to swear he was going to defeat Alexander and his army. Darius raised an enormous
army (50,000- 75,000 men) to defeat Alexander’s. They marched on the Macedonian forces. Alexander
realized that he was outnumbered, however, he found the weak point in the Persian army and charged
toward Darius. Frightened, Darius fled. After this, Alexander gained control of Darius’s land.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Power corrupts, Absolute power is kind of neat” - John Lehman
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 6 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: __________________________________________
Alexander the Great
King of Egypt
Once Alexander III the King of Macedonia had conquered the lands belonging to King
Darius III of Persia, he was ready to gain control of even more land. As king of Macedonia, as well
as Anatolia (modern day Turkey), Alexander was gaining confidence. It is also fair to say that the king
was becoming Ego-Centric. Alexander seriously thought the world belonged to him.
After Alexander conquered in Anatolia, he decided to move into different areas. The first area
he looked toward Egypt. Alexander entered Egypt around 331 B.C.E. At this time, Egypt was a
Persian territory. As a Persian territory, Egyptians were not happy with their current situation. When
Alexander moved into Egypt, the Egyptians looked at Alexander not as another problem, but as a
liberator. The Egyptian’s welcomed Alexander with open arms because they hoped he would be fairer
ruler than Darius. Alexander did much while he was in Egypt.
Alexander had many lasting effects on Egyptian and World history at this point in time. One of
the first things that he did was to establish the city of Alexandria. Alexandria exists in modern times
and has remained an important port city for Egypt since this time period. It is important to note that
the city is named Alexandria. Alexander would establish many “Alexandria’s” throughout his
conquests, however, this is widely considered to be the first.
Additionally, Alexander created the idea of an Egyptian monarchy. While visiting the temple of
Zeus Ammon, Alexander was declared the ruler of Egypt, or Pharaoh. This idea of a “Pharaoh” ruling
over Egypt would be continued by the next by Ptolemy, creating the “Ptolemaic Dynasty”. It is from
this dynasty that Cleopatra of Egypt would come from.
Sources: Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” - Thomas Edison
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 7 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: __________________________________________
Alexander the Great
A Complete Persian Conquest
Alexander III of Macedonia had proven his worth a hundred times over by the time he was
26 years old. He was King of Macedonia, Anatolia, and Egypt, he had successfully succeeded his
warrior-king father on the throne of Macedonia, and had proven a skillful leader, riding into battle
since his childhood. However, Alexander still had a major goal he was yet to accomplish. This was the
complete conquest of the Persian Empire. Alexander was working to extract revenge over 100 years
after the Persian Invasion of Greece.
Alexander had recently conquered the territory of Egypt, which was controlled by Persian king,
Darius III. After he gained control, Alexander again headed toward Persia. King Darius, though he
had already lost battles to Alexander, once again went on the offensive and assembled an army. The
armies of Darius and Alexander met at the village of Gaugamela (331 B.C.E.). The Macedonian army
once again broke through the Persian lines and Alexander’s forces once again saw victory in battle.
Once Alexander officially beat Darius’s forces, he moved all over Persia without any problems.
Alexander and his forces were able to take control of major Persian cities without any
opposition and he gained control of Babylon (modern day Iraq), Susa (modern day Iraq), and
Persepolis (modern-day Iraq). It was from these cities that Alexander gained much wealth. Near the
end of Alexander’s stay in Persepolis, which was the capitol of Persia, a massive fire broke out in the
city. This fire burned Persepolis to the ground. It is a matter of historical contention about the cause
of the fire. Some historians state that the fire was set to “Signal the total destruction of the Persian
Empire” (pg. 130). Some state that the fire was set as a symbolic act to avenge the destruction of
Athens by Persia. Other historians state that the fire was not even intentional.
It is worth noting that during this trip to Persia, Alexander captured a tribe of Persians. He
would eventually marry the daughter of the leader of the tribe. Her name was Roxane or Roxana, and
she would eventually bear Alexander a son. Alexander also had a second wife named Barsine. He
married one of Darius III’s daughters to create good feelings between Mesopotamia and Macedonia.
His best friend also married one of Darius’s daughters.
Sources: Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
“No single man makes history. History can not be seen, just as you can not see the grass grow.”-Boris Pasternak
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 8 of 9_______________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period:___________________________________________
Alexander the Great
Conquest of India
Alexander III of Macedonia was king of Macedonia (northern Greece), Anatolia (modern
day Turkey) and Persia (modern day Iraq and Iran). He had held his own throne, defeated other
kings to gain theirs, and spread his control throughout Asia Minor. He was in his late twenties and he
controlled most practically all of the modern day Middle East.
It was around the year 326 B.C.E. that Alexander the Great began his final conquest. Shortly
after his marriage to a Persian woman named Roxane, Alexander and his troops headed into India to
gain control of that vast area. Alexander and his company gained access to India by crossing over the
Indus River. Alexander and his troops carried on until they reached the river Hyphasis. It was at this
point that Alexander’s troops stopped. Seriously. The men in Alexanders army had been marching
over mountains, through rivers, across valleys. Some of the men had marched with Alexander since
the beginning of his conquests. Some men had been doing nothing but march and fight for 7-9 years.
They were tired, and they did not want march any more. So they stopped.
Alexander, on the other hand, was not ready to stop. He had an enormous empire, but he also
wanted control of India. However, his army refused to go any farther. So, Alexander conceded and he
and his men began their journey home. Before he left India though, Alexander made a point to talk to
the wisest men in India. He spoke with these Brahmins (Priests or holy men) and they debated topics
relating to philosophy and religion. It was during these interludes that Alexander the Great became
well known in Indian history as a wise man and leader.
After Alexander and his men made their journey through India, they returned to Macedonia.
Alexander would remain in Macedonia until his death.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Oh who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried” -Lord Byron
Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School
Mr. Feric ~ Classical Civilizations
Page 9 of 9___________________________________________________
Name: __________________________________
Date: ___________________________________
Period: __________________________________________
Alexander the Great
The End
King Alexander III of Macedonia was one of the greatest leaders the ancient world had ever
seen. In his twenties, he gained control of his family seat, Macedonia and through conquests and
warfare, he became king of Persia (modern day Iraq), Egypt, Anatolia (modern day Turkey), and
Parts of India (It was a Persian holding). He was married to two women, Roxana of Persia, and
Barsine (one of the daughters of Darius III, the former king of Persia).
In 323 B.C.E., Alexander returned home after a series of disappointments and heartbreaks. On
their way to gain total control of India, Alexander’s troops had stopped and refused to go any further.
Additionally, Alexander’s best friend Hephaestion passed away. Some historian’s claim that the pair
were closer than friends, and this was the reason that Alexander was so upset. In any case, Alexander’s
spirits were low. He and his army returned to Babylon. When they reached Babylon, Alexander began
setting up control of his empire from his home base. Alexander, it seems, began setting up for his
demise.
Alexander the Great passed away in June of 323 B.C.E. There is some debate between
historians as to the cause of Alexander’s death. Some historians argue that Alexander simply fell ill.
There is a theory that he contracted Malaria or Typhoid fever. There is another idea that Alexander
was murdered by some of the people within his court. All of these theories are plausible, and
unfortunately historians have no way of telling the truth.
Shortly after Alexander’s death, his wife Roxana and his son; along with his second wife Barsine
and her son were killed. The empire that Alexander created was broken into three great empires, ruled
by former generals of Alexanders. The area of Egypt was ruled by Ptolemy, the area of the Middle
East was ruled by Antigonus, Eastern Persia and India were ruled by Seleucus, and Greece and
Macedonia were controlled by Cassander.
Sources: wso.williams.edu/~junterek/index.html
www.royalty.nu/Europe/Balkan/Alexander.html
www.historychannel.com
Alexander- Empire Builder (Pgs. 128-131) World History Book
“Life isn’t fair, It’s just fairer that death, that’s all” -William Goldman