Aim Did Alexander the Great deserve his name

Aim: Did Alexander the Great deserve his name?

I After the Peloponnesian War A) Although Sparta won the Peloponnesian War (with the help of Persia), Sparta was not able to unite the Greek mainland. B) The Greek poli (city-states) were weakened from fighting. C) King Philip II of Macedonia (a land north of Greece) conquered the Greek mainland in 338 BCE. *The one area he could not conquer was Sparta.

Empire of Philip II of Macedonia D) King Philip II respected Greek culture, which is why he hired Aristotle to tutor his son Alexander. E) Philip’s dream was to conquer the Persian Empire, but in 336 BCE he was assassinated by his own bodyguard at his daughter’s wedding. On Philip II’s alcoholism: “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. ” Alexander the Great on his father.

II The Rise of Alexander (b. 356 – d. 323 BCE) A) At 16 years old, Alexander had served as an official in his father’s Empire. B) After his father’s assassination in 336 BCE, Alexander became the leader of the empire, and of the dream to conquer Persia. C) Alexander secured his position by quickly executing any of his enemies. He then went with an army of 50, 000 to Asia Minor by crossing the Hellespont. (Recall that Xerxes had crossed this same spot into Greece during the Persian Wars. ) From Asia Minor he conquered Palestine, Egypt, Babylon, Persia and northern India. HE NEVER LOST A BATTLE. “My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambition. Macedon is too small for you. ” – Philip II to his 10 year old son Alexander

III How did Alexander Do It? A) 335 BCE Alexander heard about revolts in Thebes. He ordered a massacre of the city, killing 6, 000 and enslaving 30, 000. This sent an early warning to anyone who dared to rebel. B) Alexander’s army used the phalanx formation, with the help of catapults and siege towers. He often changed strategy during a battle. C) He conquered port cities of Persia before going inland. This prevented Persia from access to their ships. D) When Alexander’s troops showed signs of homesickness, Alexander forced them to marry local women.

How Did Alexander Do It Continued… E) Alexander showed respect to local cultures. ü In Egypt he went to a priest to be declared the son of Amun (the Egyptian Sun God) and a pharaoh ü He married Roxanne (a dancer) while in Afghanistan ü 333 BCE Alexander battled the Persian King Darius III at the Battle of Issus in Syria. When Darius fled, he left behind his wife, children and mother! Alexander treated them with the respect of royalty. … “(Alexander) let them know Darius was not dead, and that they need not fear any harm from Alexander, who made war upon him only for dominion; they should themselves be provided with everything they had been used to receive from Darius. ” –Plutarch, The Life of Alexander the Great üWhen Darius III (King of Persia) was murdered by a Persian, Alexander caught the murderer and had him executed. “Alexander sent Darius' body to Persepolis to be buried in the royal tombs, like the kings before him. ” –Plutarch, The Life of Alexander the Great ü When conquering cities, he would always make sure to leave temples, art & libraries alone. The exception was when he burned the

IV The Death of Alexander A) 323 BCE in Babylon Alexander developed a high fever & died at 33 years old. B) As he left no heir, his Empire was divided up into 4 kingdoms; the Seleucids (Southwest Asia), Ptolemies (Egypt), Cassander (Macedonia), and Lysimachus (Thrace). C) The last Macedonian ruler, Cleopatra VII committed suicide 30 BCE in Egypt. Alexander’s Empire was now largely controlled by Rome. Historians to this day still debate the cause of Alexander’s death, from poisoning to malaria, the West Nile Virus, or even alcoholism.

V The Legacy of Alexander the Great A) Alexander spread Hellenism (Greek culture) throughout his Empire. This is why his empire is often called the Hellenistic Empire. B) He founded cities in his name, including Alexandria in Egypt, which would later house the Library at Alexandria, one of the wonders of the Ancient World. C) The Library at Alexandria produced some of the greatest discoveries in science and astronomy. üPythagoras invented the Pythagorean Theorem (A 2 + B 2 = C 2) üAristarchus discovered that the Earth rotates on its axis, and orbits the sun. *This knowledge was lost to Europe for over 1000 years! üArchimedes invented the Archimedes Screw (see next slide). D) The Lighthouse at Alexandria on the island of Pharos: A dumbwaiter was used to transport fuel up to the fire. Staircases lead to the beacon chamber where there was a large curved mirror, used to project the fire's light into a beam.

Archimedes Screw This is a modern Archimedes Screw in Sweden. Archimedes' machine was a device with a revolving screw-shaped blade inside a cylinder. It was turned by hand, and could also be used to transfer water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation canals.

Reconstruction of Alexandria, Egypt

Lighthouse at Alexandria Reconstruction

The Library at Alexandria “It is believed that around 295 BEC, the scholar Demetrius convinced Ptolemy I to establish the Library at Alexandria. Demetrius envisioned a library that would house a copy of every book in the world… There were lecture areas, laboratories, observatories, botanical gardens, a zoo, living quarters, and dining halls, as well as the Library itself… During the reign of Ptolemy II… more than 100 scholars were housed within the Library, whose job it was to carry out scientific research, lecture, publish, translate, copy and collect not only original manuscripts of Greek authors… but translations of works from Egypt, Assyria, Persia, as well as Buddhist texts and Hebrew scriptures. One story goes that the hunger of Ptolemy III for knowledge was so great that he decreed that all ships docking at the port should surrender their manuscripts to the authorities. Copies were then made by official scribes and delivered to the original owners, the originals being filed away in the Library. An often quoted figure for the ancient Library holdings at its peak is half a million documents. . .

The Library at Alexandria Continued… “The destruction by fire of the Library of Alexandria, with the consequent loss of the most complete collection of ancient literature ever assembled, has been a point of heated debate for centuries. Who was responsible for its burning? Possible suspects: Julius Caesar… in 48 BCE, he found himself hemmed in by the Egyptian fleet in the harbor. For his own safety he had his men set fire to the Egyptian ships, but the fire got out of control. . . In 391 CE, as part of his attempt to wipe out paganism, Emperor Theodosius I officially sanctioned the destruction of the Temple of Serapis at Alexandria. The Library, located close to the Temple, may also have been razed to the ground at this time… In 640 CE the Arabs under Caliph Omar captured Alexandria after a long siege… the Arabs heard about [the library]. . . But the Caliph apparently stated 'they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous. ‘ The manuscripts were then gathered together and used as fuel for the 4, 000 bathhouses in the city. In fact there were so many scrolls that they kept the bathhouses of Alexandria heated for six months. ” by Brian Haughton, 2011

Are the Kalash Descendants of Alexander? “The DNA of the Kalash people, a population isolated in a remote valley in Pakistan, showed evidence of input from Europe or the Middle East between 990 and 210 BCE — a period that overlaps with that of Alexander the Great. Local Kalash tradition holds that they are descended from Alexander the Great's army…” Cossins, Daniel. 2014. http: //www. nature. com/news/modern-genes-yield-atlas-of-ancientinter-ethnic-sex-1. 14718 The Kalash are polytheistic pagans living in fear of the Taliban.

Focus Questions 1. Fill in your civilization chart for the Hellenistic Empire. 2. What did Alexander the Great mean by the quotes below? A) “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. ” B) “I had rather excel others in the knowledge of what is excellent, than in the extent of my power and dominion. ” 3. Do you think Alexander deserved the name “the Great”? Why or why not? 4. What has the world lost with the destruction of the Library at Alexandria? 5. Had Alexander lived, what may have been the result? Do you think he would have attempted to conquer eastern Asia or delve further south into Africa? Would his men have attempted a coup?

Key Vocabulary ü Alexander the Great ü Alexandria ü Archimedes Screw ü Aristarchus ü Cleopatra VII ü Cultural Diffusion ü Hellenism ü Hellenistic Empire ü Hellespont ü King Darius III ü Library at Alexandria ü Lighthouse at Alexandria ü Macedonia ü Persian Empire ü Philip II ü Pythagorean Theorem