Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Era (C. 338 BC – 146 BC)
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Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Era (c. 338 BC – 146 BC) • The Threat of Macedonia The Greeks looked on their northern Macedonian neighbors as barbarians. They lived in groups rather than cities, but by the end of the 5th century B.C., they were a powerful force. Under the leadership of Philip II Macedonia they defeated the Greek city-states and forced them to unite under him with the idea of jointly attacking Persia (338 B.C.) Before that could happen Philip was assassinated and his son Alexander took over. The 20 year old Alexander had been groomed for the job. He was interested it he glory associated with defeating the Persians, but he was particularly interested on avenging the 480 BC burning of Athens. • Alexander’s Conquests 334 B.C. Alexander began his assault on Persia. By 332 B.C. he had conquered Syria, Palestine, and Egypt (founded Alexandria). In 331 he finished his conquest of the Persian Empire and moved east into Pakistan and by 326 crossed the Indus River into India. There his troops balked and he began his trek back. Traveling through Iran he lost many men to heat and lack of water. He returned to Babylon and in June 323, inebriated, and ill from his travels and wounds he died at the age of 32. • Legacy of Alexander - He was obsessed with Homer’s Iliad an the character of Achilles (kept a copy and a dagger under his pillow) He brought Greece and Macedonia great wealth and is credited with the creation of monarchies (although mainland Greeks remained committed to city-states). Alexander brought Greece and Macedonia great wealth and spread the Greek language, architecture, literature, and art throughout Southwest Asia and the Near East. He also carried culture back from these same areas. The far reaching empire established by Alexander quickly fell apart after his death. Even so, Greek colonists and the supporting architects, engineers, dramatists, and actors all contributed to the spread of Greek culture as far as Afghanistan and India. The Hellenistic Kingdoms • Hellenistic Era (Hellenistic – to imitate Greeks). Alexander’s empire quickly began to fall apart after death. Syria, Pergamum, and Egypt survived for a time and then fell to the Romans. He had planned to untie the Greek and Persian empires by appointing Persian officials and encouraging his soldiers to take Persian wives. His successors appointed Greek and Macedonian leadership and imposed the Greek language. Greek colonists spread across the region as did needed architects, engineers, dramatists, and actors, all of which further spread the Greek culture reaching as far as Afghanistan and India. Hellenistic Culture • Alexandria, Egypt was home to poets, writers, philosophers, and scientists. They had the largest library of ancient times with more than 500,000 scrolls. Their architects and sculptors sought to replicate what was going on in Greece and the leadership and patrons were glad to help. Literature was also highly subsidized. Science and Technology • There were numerous advances made in Astronomy and mathematics. Aristarchus is known for his theory that the sun is the center of the universe while the earth rotates around it in an orbit. Eratosthenes determined that the earth was round and estimated its circumference at 24,675 miles (within 185 miles of being right). Euclid wrote Elements, a textbook on plane geometry which is still used. Archimedes of Syracuse is famous for his work on the geometry of spheres and cylinders as well as establishing the value of the mathematical constant pi. He is credited with numerous inventions some used in defensive warfare. He is also credited with the idea of specific gravity based on his displacement of bathwater. He is quoted as telling the king of Syracuse “Give me a lever and a place to stand on and I will move the earth” Hellenistic Philosophy • During the Hellenistic Athens remained the headquarters of Greek philosophy. During this era, four new philosophical schools flourished; the Cynics, Sceptics, Epicureans and Stoics. Cynics - rejected all types of conventions including marriage, manners, religion, housing, and even decency. Sceptics - contended that all alleged truths were open to investigation and no one could ever really know the truth because no investigation could ever be satisfactorily completed. Epicureans - founded by Epicurus, advocated the pursuit of emotional happiness by following one’s self interest. They only believed in the material world. Today, to be called epicurean means pursuit of physical pleasure. Stoics – Stoicism was the most popular philosophy in the Hellenistic world and later flourished in the Roman Empire. It originated with Zeno who taught in Athens at the Painted Portico (Stoa Poikile) hence stoicism. It was concerned with how to find happiness. The idea was that happiness could be found when people gained inner peace by living in harmony with the will of God. Public service was regarded as noble and one needed to be a good citizen. Stoics believed everything that happens is due to divine providence; therefore, whatever misfortune occurs should be accepted without complaint. According to stoics the pursuing (not achieving) happiness is important since the outcome of our attempt is not fully under our own control. .