World Empires

August 29, 2012

The Golden Age of Athens

Time of Athenian political and economic hegemony in the Aegean (5th Century BC)
Begins with Delian League victory over the invading Persian army of Xerxes at Salamis and Thermopylae
Themistocles & Leonidas

Athens is the center of Greek politics, culture, and commerce

Herodotus (historian), Hippocrates (physician), Socrates (philosopher), Pericles (statesman/general), Aeschylus (playwright)

Athenian naval and economic superiority solidify Athens dominant political position in the region.
Growing dissatisfaction amongst the other members of the

Sparta Rises, Greece Falls

Around 550 BC Sparta formed its own league of citystates, the Peloponnesian League (PL), which was largely overshadowed by the economic and cultural dominance of the Delian League (DL) over the next century.
After the defeat of Xerxes in 480 BC Athenian dominance and arrogance led to growing discontent within the DL.

Viewing the DL as weakened the Spartans led the PL into war, primarily against Athens.
The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431-404 BC, when Sparta (with timely aid from Persia) forced Athens to surrender after crippling the Athenian fleet.

For the next half-century Athens, Sparta, and Thebes would fight a bloody civil war for control of the Aegean, weakening all three while allowing foreign rivals to develop unimpeded.

Philip II and the Rise of Macedonia

Philip II of Macedon (383-336 BC) took the throne in 359 BC. Philip viewed Greece (which looked down on Macedonians as uncivilized and barbaric) as disordered and divided. Decades of war left the region weak and vulnerable.
Philip, highly ambitious and a brilliant tactician, set out to unite Greece under Macedonian rule.
Used bribery, deceit, and assassinations to gradually undermine Greek city-states politically and diplomatically.

Simultaneously crushes military opposition through tactical skill and military innovation.
The Macedonian Phalanx An evolved version of Greek infantry; Sarissa (14-20ft) combined with complex drilling.

Philip was assassinated in 336 BC by one of his bodyguards (and lover) Pausanias, probably with the help of his wife, Olmpias.
Was preparing for an invasion of Persia at the time of his death.

Alexander The Great

The Expansion of Macedonia

Alexander III (356-323) was Philip IIs son and succeeded him as king of Macedonia after his assassination.
Tutored by Aristotle, fought under Philip in Greece, was 20 when he assumed the throne. Unbelievably ambitious and a brilliant military commander from the beginning.

Alexander sought to continue Philips dream of attacking the Persian Empire.

In 334 BC he crossed the Bosporus into Asia Minor with 45,000 men, 5,000 cavalry, and a relatively small navy.

Through the Middle East

Alexander quickly conquered Asia Minor, capturing vital coastal cities along the Mediterranean, and turning toward Syria in 333 BC.
Alexander engages the main Persian army, under King Darius III, at Issus.
Alexander crushes an army twice the size of his own, sending Darius fleeing deeper into Persian lands.

Alexander continued down the coastline, conquering Persian cities with relative ease while Darius regrouped in Mesopotamia.
Conquers the coastal city of Tyre in 332 BC. Central to Persian naval dominance in the Mediterranean.

30,000 enslaved
Patience and Ingenuity over brute strength

Into Mesopotamia
After conquering all of Persias coastal cities, including Jerusalem and all of Egypt, Alexander received a ceasefire offering from Darius.
All of the Persian Empire west of the Euphrates.

Alexander refused, and crossed the Euphrates in 331 BC.

Alexander again crushed Darius with an army less than half the size of the Persians. Darius is forced to flee deeper into Mesopotamia. His army is broken, his power gone.

Alexander enters Babylon in 330 BC, now controlling Mesopotamias oldest, richest, and most strategically important city. At this point Alexander had, quite literally, conquered all of the Known World
The old empires of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and Babylonia were his.

Into India
Alexander, never satisfied, continued to push East. He conquered the Bactrian empire in modern Pakistan.
Took a Bactrian princess, Roxane, as his bride.

Alexander then turned south, attempting to cross the Himalayas into northern India in 327 BC.
In 326 BC Alexander crossed the Indus River into India, were he defeated King Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes.

At this point his army, battle-weary and homesick, began to turned against him. Alexander, realizing that he could not continue without the full support of his men, agreed to turn back and regroup.
Returned to Babylonia in 324 BC, died in 323 BC from sickness.

What Made Alexander Great?

Leadership
Alexander was renowned for his charisma. He was able to motivate an army of men who had never left Greece to follow him to the end of the known world Alexander was raised in the military and fought alongside his men in battle. He led from the front, was wounded in combat numerous times, and was known as an excellent horseman.

Generalship
Alexander is regarded by military historians as one of the most brilliant tacticians in history. From Tyre (patience and ingenuity) to Gaugamela (cunning and decisive) he showed a unique ability to adapt his tactics to any situation. In particular, his use of heavy cavalry and phalanx infantry in tandem was revolutionary at the time.

The Spread of Greek Culture

Alexander founded over twenty cities that bore his name.
Alexandria, in Egypt at the mouth of the Nile River, was the first and by far the most important.
Became the cultural center of the region. The library of Alexandria held many of the most important scientific and philosophical works of the time.

The remnants of Alexanders army headed a new class of rulers and merchants who dominated politics and trade.
The Greek slave trade expanded alongside them

Greek philosophy, art, and science came to dominate the region as well. Centers of learning like Alexandria and Antioch became melting-pots for Persian and Greek ideas.
These ideas formed the intellectual foundation of Western society up to the time of the Scientific Revolution in the 16th

The End