2.5: Alexander the Great

• History
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 1

2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

5. Alexander the Great

What you will learn in 

this lesson

• who Alexander the Great was
• what Alexander the Great achieved in his life
• what Alexander's empire was
• why his empire declined after his death
• what Hellenistic is

Alexander's father

In 338 BC, Macedonia became the most powerful city state in Greece. Led by king Philip, it defeated the other city states. Philip then led a Greek expedition to Persia. He wanted to defeat the Persians (who had previously captured Macedonia several times) so heavily that they stopped attacking Greece. 

Philip set off for Persia, leaving his sixteen year-old son, Alexander, in charge in Macedonia. Two years later, Philip died.

Source A

Facial reconstruction of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great

 

Archaeologists found a skull in a rich tomb at Vergina in northern Greece.

The injury on the skull seems to reflect the injuries that Philip suffered in his life. He lost an eye during the siege of Methone in northern Greece in 354 BC. We can't be absolutely sure these are Philip's remains but the rich grave goods associated with them suggest that this was someone very important.

1a. Source A is meant to be a facial reconstruction of king Philip of Macedonia, Alexander's father

1. true
2. false

1b. Source A is a secondary source, based on a primary source, which was a skull, found in a rich grave in Greece.

1. true
2. false

1c. Why do historians think that the skull may have been that of Philip?
Write down two reasons.

Alexander's empire

Alexander took over as ruler of Macedonia and made sure that the rest of Greece understood that Macedonia was still the most powerful city state. He was, in effect, ruler of Greece (map 1). In 334 BC he set off with 40,000 soldiers to finish the conquest of Persia his father had started (map 2). 

Eleven years after he left Greece, Alexander was dead, aged just 32. He had changed the map of the world. He had built Greece a huge empire and was worshipped in many places as a god. 

He named thirteen cities after himself (Alexandria) and one after his horse, Bucephalus. He is known as 'Alexander the Great' for his amazing military achievements.

Map 1

Map 2

2. map 1
Philip had conquered Greece, including both Athens and Sparta

1. true
2. false

Alexander and his soldiers

Alexander's soldiers were totally loyal to him.

This was partly because he was brave and always led the way into battle. He knew how important this loyalty was. In 327 BC, after three years of fighting in what is now Afghanistan, his soldiers were exhausted. They had been away from Greece, fighting, for seven years. They had defeated the Persians and then taken more land for Alexander. 

Still, Alexander wanted them to go on, further east, into parts of the world that were unknown to them. In 326 BC the soldiers told him they would not go any further. Alexander accepted his first defeat, at the hands of his own men, and turned back. 

The picture shows Alexander in a famous mosaic.

Click the small picture (left) to see the whole mosaic.

Click here for the wikipedia page about this artwork

Source B

The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic originally from a villa in the Roman city Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia and measures 2.72 by 5.13 metres. The original is preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.

3a. Describe briefly what the mosaic depicts. Use the wikipedia page for information.

3b. What type of source is this for a historian who studies Alexander the Great?

1. primary + written
2. primary + non-written
3. secondary + written
4. secondary + non-written

3c. What type of source is this for a historian who studies the Roman city Pompeii?

1. primary + written
2. primary + non-written
3. secondary + written
4. secondary + non-written

3d. Pompeii was destroyed by a volcanic eruption more than 400 years after Alexander died. What does source B tell us about his reputation?

Alexander's death

Alexander never made it back to his homeland. He became ill and he died of fever in Babylon in 323 BC. 

Alexander had no adult son. He had no one to take over as ruler.

So, his empire fell apart rapidly after his death. His best generals split his empire between them (see map).

The Greeks revolted against the rule of Macedonia in the same year, and became disunited again. 

4a. Why did Alexander's empire decline after his death?

4b. After Alexander's death, his general Ptolemy
became pharaoh of Egypt

1. true
2. false

4c. The Rosetta Stone was made by the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy V in 196 BC. Can you now explain why the text on the stone was also in Greek?

the Hellenistic Period

As Alexander conquered Persia he built colonies and cities modelled after Greek cities. He left behind Greeks to rule these cities. Many Persians adopted the Greek way of living. They learned the Greek language, worshipped Greek gods and read Greek literature. In addition, Alexander also adopted Persian things. For instance, he began to wear Persian clothing and he brought Persian soldiers into his army.

Alexander hoped by mixing these two cultures that the Persians would not see Greek rule as alien. Thus they would not rebel against the Greeks.

Eventually, the Greek influence became so widespread that the period from Alexander’s rule to 146 BC became known as the Hellenistic Period. Hellenistic means “Greek-like”. The art and culture of the Hellenistic Period was a mixture of Greek and Eastern art and culture.

Source C

Persian warriors, as seen on a part of the wall of Babylon, from before the 4th century BC.

5. Hellenistic is a mixture of

1. Greek and Persian culture
2. Macedonian and Greek culture
3. Greek and Hellas culture
4. Spartan and Athenian culture

It is obvious to anyone who makes a fair assessment of the king that his strengths were due to his nature; his weaknesses due to Fortune  or his youth. His natural qualities were: incredible mental and physical energy; great courage and generosity; mercy to those he defeated; too great a desire for fame and glory (to be pardoned by his youth); kindness to his soldiers and friends. 

Fortune led him to see himself as equal to the gods and act wildly when oracles advised it. 

His youth led him to be quick to anger and drink too much. However much he owed to his virtues, his greatest debt was to Fortune. How often she rescued him from death! How often she shielded him from the consequences of reckless action!

Written by the Roman author Quintus Curtius Rufus in about AD 40.

Fortune

the Latin (Roman) name was "Fortuna".  She was the goddess of luck and fate. She could bring a person good luck or bad luck.

DVD disc sticker of the film Alexander, 2004

6a. Why did Alexander owe Fortune a great debt, according to the source?

6b. Look at the dvd disc.
What is the head figure on Alexander's chest? Did the film director make this up or did he use a source?
Explain your answer.

to cut the knot

Sometimes we use phrases that are very familiar to us and everybody knows what they mean. But actually, they make no sense whatsoever.

Have you ever really cut a knot when you made a decision? Because that is what it means.

Many of these phrases come from stories or events from history. Cutting the knot comes from a story about Alexander the Great.

Check it out here

7. How did Alexander untie the Gordian knot?

Word Duty

Lesson 2.5:

• expedition
• exhausted
• Hellenistic

Copy this in your notebook and fill in the gaps.

Summary lesson 2.5: Alexander the Great

King Philip made _____________ into the most powerful city-state. He wanted to conquer _______, but he died.

His son Alexander succeeded Philip. He became ruler of_________ and set off to conquer Persia. With his soldiers he defeated the Persians, but Alexander wanted to go further _________.

In 326 BC his soldiers did not want to go further. Alexander turned back but died in ___________ in 323 BC

His empire was __________ between his best _______________.

Alexander had built many ______________ and cities in Persia that looked like __________ cities. The Persians ________________ the Greek way of living. The Greeks also copied __________ things.

The period from Alexander’s rule until ____________ is called the __________________. 

Hellenistic means “____________”. It was a ________________ of Greek and Persian art and culture.

What you have learned in 

this lesson

• who Alexander the Great was
• what Alexander the Great achieved in his life
• what Alexander's empire was
• why his empire declined after his death
• what Hellenistic is

Which question(s) would you like to be discussed in class when we check this lesson?

congratulations

QUIZ: THE GREEKS

things to study:

LessonUp (LU) Greeks 0,1,2,3,4,5

1. The learning texts (yellow background). You can also find these in the pdf in SomToday + most of them in your textbook.
   
2. The summaries in your notebook
   
3. notes in your notebook (Greek gods: Zeus, Apollo, Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Athena. Learn names + function/task. Note of Persian Wars)
   
4. word duty (you get the description, you must write down the word).
   
5. questions about the learning texts
   
6. In a map you must be able to point out: Athens, Sparta, Olympia, Macedonia, Aegean Sea, Crete, Troy, Persian Empire, Babylon, Persepolis, Alexandria (Egypt)
   
7. dates: Homeros, Athens becomes democracy, Persian wars, Alexander invades Persia, Hellenistic period
   

Binder:

• video questions The Greeks: 1,2,3
  

Read, but do not learn:

• sources + source questions