Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age

The Hellenistic Age 336-30 BC

The Hellenistic Age was a time when Greeks came in contact with outside people and their Hellenic,
classic culture blended with cultures from Asia and Africa to create a blended culture. One man,
Alexander, King of Macedonia, a Greek-speaker, is responsible for this blending of cultures. Look at his
rise to power and legacy. Determine on your own if you think Alexander even is “GREAT”!

DOCUMENT 1 – RISE TO POWER

As you remember, the Greeks fought in a phalanx, a solid block of men. Watching the Spartans fight Thebes
in the Battle of Leuctra Alexander’s father, King Philip learned the Phalanx war tactic as a young. Philip was a
hostage in Thebes, as Thebes controlled Macedonia at this time. Philip returned to Macedonia in 365 BC. Six
years later, in 359 BC, Philip became King of Macedonia. As king, Philip used both diplomacy and war to
expand Macedonian territory. Philip married into the families of the surrounding kingdoms, and captured a
gold mine, which provided Macedonia with wealth. The Macedonian phalanx, created by Philip II, was
sixteen rows deep and sixteen rows wide. Each man carried a sarrisa, a 20 ft. long pike, which was held with
two hands. A small shield was attached to a leather strap that went around each soldier's neck.
DOCUMENT 2 – RISE TO POWER

In 338 BC, at the Battle of Chaeronea, King Philip II of Macedonia used similar tactics to those that he
witnessed at the Battle of Leuctra to defeat a Theban and Athenian army sent to meet him. King Philip's 18-
year-old son, Alexander, commanded the Macedonian cavalry, which found a gap and attacked the enemy
phalanx from behind. Philip was now clearly the master of the Greek-speaking world. He created the
Corinthian League of Greek allies. These allies vowed not to fight each other, and to provide troops for
Philip's planned invasion of the Persian Empire.
DOCUMENT 3 – RISE TO POWER

Philip's plan of conquest was cut short when, in 336 BC, at his daughter's wedding, he
was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards. Many people believe the assassin did not act
alone, and that Olympias, Philip's fourth wife, was behind the plot to murder the king. The crown
of Macedonia passed to Alexander, Philip's son by Olympias. Alexander was only twenty years
old when he became king, but had fought at Chaeronea two years before, leading the left wing
of his father's cavalry. To unite the Greeks and the Macedonians, Alexander began to conquer
the Persian Empire. Alexander fought, marched, ate etc., with his troops and expected no special
treatment.
DOCUMENT 4 – RISE TO POWER

In 334 BC, Alexander crossed the Hellespont with his Macedonian and Greek army and into the Persian
Empire. His first stop was the ruins of the City of Troy. The Iliad and Odyssey were Alexander's favorite books,
and it was said that he always carried a copy of them wherever he went. It was natural then, that he would
want to visit the legendary city. It was at Troy that Alexander pulled the shield of Achilles from off the wall of
a small museum amid the ruins. He would use the 900-year-old shield in all of his battles. Alexander learned
to appreciate the Iliad and nature from his teacher Aristotle, a Macedonian who studied in Athens at Plato's
Academy.
In the next 11 years, Alexander fought and successfully conquered Egypt and named himself Pharaoh,
conquered the rest of the Persian Empire, and destroyed the capital city of Persepolis. After the Battle
of Hydaspes River, with a friend in Porus to the west, Alexander wished to continue east to China on his quest
of total world domination, however, after the hard-fought victory against Porus, his troops had had enough.
Many soldiers hadn't seen their families for ten years and wanted to return to Greece and
Macedonia. Alexander's army refused to follow the king any farther east. After retreating to his tent to sulk
for two days, Alexander emerged saying that the gods willed that he should return home.
DOCUMENT 5 - DEATH

When Alexander reached the coast, he used ships to bring many of the original soldiers of his army back to
Greece and Macedonia, and the others he marched back through a desert. There was little water, and many
of his soldiers died during this desert crossing. Alexander survived the crossing, making it back to Babylon,
the capital of his empire. In 323 BC, while in Babylon, Alexander got very sick with a fever and died. He had no
plans for a successor to his empire, and his infant son was too young to rule. As his generals gathered around
their dying king, they asked him whom he would leave his empire to, Alexander replied, "To the
strongest!" Alexander's generals took his advice, and began to fight against each other, each general trying
to carve out a large portion of the empire for himself. This period was known as the Wars of the Diadochi
(Successors). In the end, military generals ruled sections of the areas that Alexander conquered.
DOCUMENT 6 - LEGACY

Alexander spread Greek culture throughout the Persian Empire, including parts of Asia and Africa. Alexander
respected the local cultures he conquered and allowed their customs to continue. Alexander himself
embraced local customs, wearing Persian clothes and marrying Persian women. Alexander encouraged
his soldiers to marry Persian women, in this way, the children of these marriages would share both Persian
and Greek cultures.

Although he had died, Alexander is given credit for the Hellenistic Age, a time when Greek culture mixed with
the various cultures of Alexander's Empire. This was a time of advances in learning, math, art, and
architecture. Some of the great names of learning in this Age include Archimedes, Hero, and Euclid. Because
of the relative peace during the Hellenistic Age, travel and trade increased. Antipater of the city of Sidon,
created a poem around 140 BC that listed Seven Wonders of the World. Antipater picked these buildings and
statues for their art and architecture. The list became a set of tourist attractions for people of the ancient
world.

The great cities of the Hellenistic Age included Antioch in Syria, Pergamum in Asia Minor, and Alexandria in
Egypt, with its Library of Alexandria, the largest library of the ancient world. Although none of these cities
were in Greece, they all had Greek architecture.