Chapter 7 Ancient Greece
- 2. Conquest of Greece Greece became a land of conflict & distrust following Peloponnesian War City states formed alliances City states put their interests above the common good of Greece Macedonia Land north of Greece King Philip II came to the throne Brought his people together under one rule & wanted to do the same in Greece Philip II had spent part of his life in Greece and learned the culture
- 3. Alexander Son of Philip II Learned how to be a fearless warrior At 13 was taught by Aristotle Learned to appreciate the cultures of other people Philip’s Macedonian soldiers Well trained & fearless Spartans could not even stop them 338 B.C. Philip controlled most of the Greek peninsula, including Athens Did not conquer to destroy Greece (Philip did not want to make great changes to the lives of those he conquered) City states became free to manage themselves Did make a law that Greeks could not fight one another Greece was at peace, united by an outsider
- 4. Building An Empire 336 B.C. Alexander followed in his fathers footsteps after he died Wanted to rule not only Greece, but the whole world Eastern Europe, northern Africa, & western Asia Began by conquering the Persians 334 B.C. Alexander & 35,000 soldiers went from Greece to Asia Minor Seized Greek colonies under the control of the Persians Alexander the Great Built new cities & helped spread Greek culture Cities became centers of learning
- 5. Named each city after himself Alexandria, Egypt became center of Greek culture People throughout empire learned to speak Greek & worshiped Greek gods Time of Alexander’s rule became known as the Hellenistic Age Alexander conquests made him a ruler of a multicultural empire Adopted customs of conquered people & introduced Greek culture to them 331 B.C. Empire stretched from Danube River in Europe to the Nile River in Africa & east to Asia Alexander had conquered Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, & Persian Empire (Without losing a single major battle)
- 6. The Breakup of the Empire Alexander still wanted more land Wanted to lead soldiers to India Soldiers refused to follow 323 B.C. Alexander became ill with a fever & died Before his death Alexander told his soldiers that the rule of the empire should go to the strongest No leader proved strong enough to replace Alexander & the empire quickly broke up after his death Split into 3 parts: Macedonia, Syria, & Egypt Often at war with each other & destroyed much of what Alexander created
- 7. Alexander’s Legacy Empire did not last, but Hellenistic culture did Great thinkers shaped later cultures during Hellenistic Age Euclid: studied line & angles & began the study of geometry Archimedes: used math to build useful machines Aristarchus: used math to discover that the Earth and the other planets move around the sun Scientists: built on the knowledge of medicine Alexandria, Egypt became center for study of medicine & surgery
- 8. Romans 146 B.C. Romans had grown strong enough to gain control of the Mediterranean world Romans borrowed religion, the art, architecture, philosophy, & language from the Greeks to build their own civilization