SECTION 3 Alexander the Great

What You Will Learn… If YOU were there... Main Ideas RhnZk^Zlhe]b^kbgma^fhlmihp^k_neZkfrbgma^phke]'Bgcnlm 1. Macedonia conquered ^b`amr^Zkl%rhnZg]rhnk_^eehplhe]b^klaZo^\hgjn^k^]Zg Greece in the 300s BC. ^ghkfhnl^fibk^'Ghprhnk`^g^kZepZgmlmhinla_Zkma^kbgmh 2. Alexander the Great built an empire that united much of ngdghpgeZg]lbgl^Zk\ah_`k^Zm^k`ehkr';nmrhnÍk^mahnlZg]lh_ Europe, Asia, and Egypt. fbe^l_khfahf^%Zg]rhnaZo^gÍml^^grhnk_Zfberbgr^Zkl' 3. The Hellenistic kingdoms formed from Alexander’s Do you agree to go on fi ghting? Why or why not? empire blended Greek and other cultures.

The Big Idea Alexander the Great built a ;NBE=BG@;:Greeks had long dismissed the Macedonians as unimportant. They Asia. thought of the Macedonians as barbarians because they lived in small villages and spoke a strange form of the Greek language. But Key Terms and People the Greeks underestimated the Macedonians, barbarians or not. Philip II, p. 272 phalanx, p. 273 Alexander the Great, p. 274 Hellenistic, p. 275 BVXZYdc^V8dcfjZgh> became king of Macedonia. Philip spent the fi rst year of his rule fi ghting off invaders who wanted to take over his kingdom. Once he defeated the invaders, Use the graphic organizer online to he was ready to launch invasions of his own. take notes on Alexander the Great Philip’s main target was Greece. The leaders and how he spread Greek culture. of Athens, knowing they were the target of Philip’s powerful army, called for all Greeks to join together. Few people responded.

272

6-8_SNLAESE485805_C09S3.indd 272 5/11/10 12:40:38 PM DRAW CONCLUSIONS: After Athens and Thebes were defeated by Phillip, why did the rest of Greece agree to make Phillip their leader?

As a result, the armies of Athens and its After conquering Greece, Philip turned RECALL: Phillip wanted to chief ally Thebes were easily defeated by his attention to Persia. He planned to march conquer the Persian the Macedonians. Having witnessed this east and conquer the Persian Empire, but he Empire. Was he defeat, the rest of the Greeks agreed to never made it. He was murdered in 336 BC successful? Why or why not? make Philip their leader. while celebrating his daughter’s wedding. When Philip died, his throne—and his E]^a^e»hB^a^iVgnHigZc\i] plans—passed to his son, Alexander. Philip defeated the Greeks because he was a brilliant military leader. He borrowed  Å Summarizing How was and improved many of the strategies Greek Philip II able to conquer Greece? DEFINE: In your own armies used in battle. For example, Philip’s words, define the soldiers, like the Greeks, fought as a pha- term phalanx. 6aZmVcYZg7j^aYhVc:be^gZ lanx (FAY-langks). A e]VaVcm was a group of warriors who stood close together in a When Philip died, the people in the Greek square. Each soldier held a spear pointed city of Thebes rebelled. They thought that outward to fi ght off enemies. As soldiers in the Macedonians would not have a lead- the front lines were killed, others stepped er strong enough to keep the kingdom up from behind to fi ll their spots. together. They were wrong. Philip improved upon the Greeks’ idea. He gave his soldiers spears that were much 8dcigdaa^c\i]Zcavalry and his father had been. He immediately went archers into battle to support the phalanx. south to end the revolt in Thebes.

The Phalanx With men holding 16-foot-long spears, a phalanx marches into battle. Why were the soldiers’ spears so long?

THE GREEK WORLD 273

6-8_SNLAESE485805_C09S3.indd 273 5/4/10 10:00:18 AM Within a year, Alexander had destroyed D D a a n n Thebes and enslaved the Theban people. u u b b e e

He used Thebes as an example to other Ri Ri ver ver Greeks of what would happen if they Ja Ja EXPLAIN: xa xa Aral Aral ( rt( rt turned against him. Then, confi dent that NIA NIA Sy eSsy es Why is Alexander DO DO Sea Sea r D Rr D R E E a i a i AC AC B l B l r v r v a c a c y e y e called “the Great”? the Greeks would not rebel again, he set M M k k a a S S r r e e CAUCASUSCAUCASUS ) ) Pella Pella a a out to build an empire. MOUNTAINSMOUNTAINS C C O O AlexandriaAlexandria AegeanAegean a a x x Alexander’s efforts to build an empire s s u u EskhataEskhata (A s( A s ThebesThebes GranicusGranicus p p m Rm R i i u ivu iv made him one of the greatest conquerors AthensAthens 334 BC334 BCGordiumGordium a a D e D e a a n n r r Sea Sea ry ry BACTRIABACTRIA a a in history. These efforts earned him the SardisSardis ) ) SpartaSparta S S name 6aZmVcYZgi]ZCrete 333 BC333 BC MINORMINOR AlexandriaAlexandria on onHINDUHINDU 7j^aY^c\VCZl:be^gZ the Caucasusthe CaucasusKUSHKUSH AlexandropolisAlexandropolis AlexandriaAlexandria KabulKabul NicaeaNicaea Like his father, Alexander was a brilliant CyreneCyreneM M GaugamelaGaugamela AlexandriaAlexandria e d e d T T BucephalaBucephala i i i 331i BC331 BC commander. In 334 BC he attacked the Per- t e t e g g r r r r r r A A i i a a r r

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AlexandriaAlexandria trained and ready for battle. They defeated Susa Susa E E ArachotonArachoton Alexandria Alexandria u u EMPIREEMPIRE s s p p (Kandahar)(Kandahar)u Opianau Opiana the Persians time after time. h Babylonh Babylon d d N N r r n n MemphisMemphis at at I I According to legend, Alexander vis- es es W W River River E E PasargadaePasargadae ited a town called Gordium in Asia Minor AlexandriaAlexandriaPersepolisPersepolis INDIAINDIA S S EGYPTEGYPT N N AlexandriaAlexandria while he was fi ghting the Persians. There i i le le CarmanaCarmana R R P P AlexandriaAlexandria i i e e he heard an ancient tale about a knot tied v v Red Sea Red Sea ArabianArabian r r e e s s r r i a i a PattalaPattala by an ancient king. The tale said that who- Alexander’s empire n n PeninsulaPeninsula G u G u ever untied the knot would rule all of Asia. Major battle site l f l f MA>BFI:India. But page and in the map of He surrendered without a fi ght in 332 BC his exhausted soldiers refused to go any Alexander’s empire, and crowned Alexander pharaoh. farther. Disappointed, Alexander began summarize Alexander’s efforts to conquer the world. After a short stay in Egypt, Alexander the long march home. set out again. Near the town of Gaugamela Alexander left India in 325 BC, but he (gaw-guh-MEE-luh), he defeated the Per- never made it back to Greece. In 323 BC, sian army for the last time. After the battle, on his way back, Alexander visited the city the Persian king fl ed. The king soon died, of Babylon and got sick. He died a few days killed by one of his nobles. With the king’s later at age 33. After he died, Alexander’s death, Alexander became the ruler of what body was taken to Egypt and buried in a had been the Persian Empire. golden coffi n.

HRW HRWWorld World History History wh06as_c10map013aaHRWwh06as_c10map013aa World History 274 CHAPTER 9 AlexanderAlexander the Great's thewh06as_c10map013aa Great's Empire, Empire, c. 323 c. BC 323 BC Alexander the Great'sAPPROVED(3) Empire,APPROVED(3) c. 10/28/04 323 BC10/28/04 Legend FINAL 8/11/04

6-8_SNLAESE485805_C09S3.indd 274 5/4/10 10:02:34 AM Alexander the Great’s Empire, c. 323 BC

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P Carmana Alexandria e Arabian r s i a Pattala n Peninsula G u  l f    Å  Å  Arabian Sea 1 . M o v e m e n t About how long was the route of Alexander from Pella to Babylon? 2 . R e g i o n What bodies of water did Alexander cross?

HegZVY^c\Greek art, literature, and  Å Sequencing What steps science spread into surrounding lands. did Alexander take to create his empire?

THE GREEK WORLD 275 =ZaaZc^hi^X@^c\Ydbh Unhappy with Hellenistic rule, many DESCRIBE: of these people rebelled against their lead- When Alexander died, he didn’t have an What happened to ers. Weakened by years of fi ghting, the Alexander’s empire after his obvious heir to take over his kingdom, kingdom slowly broke apart. Finally in the death? and no one knew who was in power. With 60s BC the Romans marched in and took no clear direction, Alexander’s generals over Syria. fought for power. In the end, three pow- erful generals divided the empire among =ZaaZc^hi^X:\nei themselves. One became king of Macedo- The rulers of Egypt encouraged the growth nia and Greece, one ruled Syria, and the of Greek culture. They built the ancient third claimed Egypt. world’s largest library in the city of Alex- =ZaaZc^hi^XBVXZYdc^V andria. Also in Alexandria, they built the EVALUATE: Museum, a place for scholars and artists As you might expect, the kingdom of Mace- Do you think Alexander to meet. Through their efforts, Alexandria was successful as a donia and Greece was the most Greek of became a great center of culture and learn- conqueror? Should he the three. However, it also had the weakest be called “Great”? ing. In the end, the Egyptian kingdom government. The Macedonian kings had lasted longer than the other Hellenistic to put down many revolts by the Greeks. kingdoms. However, in 30 BC it too was Damaged by the revolts, Macedonia conquered by Rome. couldn’t defend itself. Armies from Rome, a rising power from the Italian Peninsula,  Å Analyzing Why were three marched in and conquered Macedonia in kingdoms created from Alexander’s empire? the mid-100s BC.

=ZaaZc^hi^XHng^V NFF:KR:G=L IK>OB>P Alexander the Like the kings of Macedonia, the rulers of Great caused major political changes in Syria faced many challenges. Their king- Greece and the Hellenistic world. In the dom, which included most of the former next section, you will learn about artistic Persian Empire, was home to many differ- and scientifi c advances that affected the ent peoples with many different customs. lives of people in the same areas.

Section 3 Assessment ONLINE QUIZ Critical Thinking Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People Building an Spreading 1. Identify What king conquered Greece 4. Generalizing Empire Culture in the 300s BC? Review your notes 2. a. Describe What territories did Alexander the on Alexander. Then, Why Alexander was important Great conquer? write one sentence b. Interpret Why did Alexander destroy Thebes? explaining why he is an important historical fi gure. c. Elaborate Why do you think Alexander named so many cities after himself? FOCUS ON WRITING 3. a. Recall What three kingdoms were created out of Alexander’s empire after his death? 5. Evaluating Alexander Add Alexander the Great b. Explain Why were these kingdoms called to the table you created earlier. Remember that Hellenistic? although Alexander was a military man, not all of his accomplishments were in battle.

276 CHAPTER 9

6-8_SNLAESE485805_C09S3.indd 276 5/4/10 9:35:29 PM