Preparing for War in the East

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Preparing for War in the East
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Checklistso far in your workbooks you should
have completed red most important

• Read p.14 Philips aims and policies p.15
  Steps taken by Philip to ensure his aims were
  fulfilled.
• P.16 Read To Helln back
• P.17 Read The Corinthian League
• P.19 Answer questions on Hamilton Worksheet The
  Corinthian League
• P.22-23 Read The murder of Philip
• P.24 Answer Questions on Hamilton Worksheet The
  murder of Philip II
• Read p.26-27 about Alexander as King of Macdeon
  and Hegemon and Strategos of the Corinthian
  League.
• Read p.29 Second Rebellion of the Greek States
• P.30 Answer Questions on Hamilton Worksheet The
  Destruction of Thebes

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Preparing for War in the East

• After the defeat of Thebes Alexander returned to
  Macedonia and prepared to fight Persia. He had
  proven himself as a military leader and there was
  no further trouble in Greece.
• Alexander appointed Antipater to the position of
  Regent of Macedonia and Deputy Hegemon of the
  League of Corith.
• To prevent against rebellions Antipater was left
  13,500 troops under his control
• Alexander Disposed of his personal property which
  indicated he did not intend to return.
• Parmenio was appointed second-in-command of
  troops headed for Asia. Sent ahead with a small
  army to prepare the way for the invasion.

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Leaving Macedonia and going to Asia Minor

• Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor
  in Spring 334. Philip had already prepared the
  way. As Alexanders boat neared the shore of Asia
  Minor he leapt into the water and wading ashore
  threw his spear at the land, this symbolically
  meant what?
• His first act was to visit the site of Troy and
  his ancestor Achilles tomb.
• In the Paul Artus book
• Read bottom of p. 76 His desire to outdo his
  ancestors
• Read all of p.77 Alexander and Achilles
• After completing the ceremonies at Troy he
  marched North to join the Army at Arisbe.

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Alexanders Army

• After Troy, Alexander moved north to Arisbe,
  where he joined the rest of his army led by
  Parmenio.
• It is estimated that Alexander had a total of
  45,000 troops.
• approximately 32,000 infantry
• approximately 5,000 cavalry
• Parmenios troops
• This is confirmed by Diodorus (what source is he
  from?)

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New and exciting words are coming your
way!Create a vocab list in your books

• Cuirass cuirass (kwî-ràs¹) noun A piece of
  armour for protecting the breast and back. a. The
  breastplate alone.
• Dardanelles Dardanelles (därdn-èlz¹)
  Formerly Hellespont (hèl¹î-spònt) A strait
  connecting the Aegean Sea with the Sea of
  Marmara. In ancient times it was the scene of the
  legendary exploits of Hero and Leander.
• Echeloned echelon (èsh¹e-lòn) noun A
  formation of troops in which each unit is
  positioned successively to the left or right of
  the rear unit to form an oblique or steplike
  line. a. A flight formation or arrangement of
  craft in this manner. b. A similar formation of
  groups, units, or individuals.Hoplites
  hoplite (hòp¹lìt) noun A heavily armed foot
  soldier of ancient Greece.
• Pan-Hellenic Pan-Hellenic also Panhellenic
  (pànhe-lèn¹îk) adjective Of or relating to all
  Greek peoples or a movement to unify them.

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• Phalanx phalanx (fâ¹làngks, fàl¹àngks) noun
  plural phalanxes or phalanges (fe-làn¹jêz,
  fâ-) A formation of infantry carrying overlapping
  shields and long spears, developed by Philip II
  of Macedon and used by Alexander the Great.
• Retinue retinue (rèt¹n-, -y) noun The
  retainers or attendants accompanying a
  high-ranking person.
• Sarissas A spear of Balkan origin used by the
  infantry.
• Satraps satrap (sâ¹tràp, sàt¹ràp) noun A
  governor of a province in ancient Persia.
• Triremes trireme (trì¹rêm) noun Nautical. An
  ancient Greek or Roman galley or warship, having
  three tiers of oars on each side.
• Add the words that are new to you as we work
  through the next pages of this powerpoint

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Alexanders Army

• The Phalanx
• Bulk of Macedonian troops
• Carried a 4.5m Sarissa (long spear)
• Carried a small bronze shield
• Fought in Phalanx formation
• Each man rested his shield on the man in front
• Well disciplined and highly trained

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Alexanders Army

• Hypaspists
• An elite infantry
• Were more mobile than the Phalanx
• More highly trained
• May have worn lighter armour
• Shorter Sarissa spear

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Alexanders Army

• Thracian Peltasts
• Lightly armed missile troops
• Arches, slingers and javelins
• Named for their distinctive shield
• With little armour they were able to evade the
  charge of heavily armoured troops

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Alexanders Army

• Companion Cavalry
• The elite troops of the Macedonian army
• Made up of Macedonian nobles
• Charged in a wedge shape
• Commander in front
• Fairly heavily armoured
• Metal helmet, bronze body armour, bronze shin
  guards.
• Carried a 4m Sarissa

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• Sarissa
• From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• The sarissa (or sarisa) was a 3 to 7 meter (13-21
  feet) long double pointed pike used in the
  Macedonian phalanx.
• It was very heavy for a spear, weighing over 5 kg
  (12 pounds). It had a short iron head shaped like
  a leaf and a bronze shoe that would allow it to
  be anchored to the ground to stop charges by
  enemy soldiers.
• Its great length was an asset against hoplites
  and other soldiers bearing smaller weapons,
  because they had to get past the sarissa to
  engage the phalangites.
• The tight formation of the phalanx created a
  "wall of pikes", and the pike was sufficiently
  long that there were fully five rows of pikes in
  front of the front rank of meneven if an enemy
  got past the first row, there were still four
  more to stop him. The back rows bore their pikes
  angled upwards in readiness, which served the
  additional purpose to deflect incoming arrows.
• The Macedonian phalanx was considered all but
  invulnerable from the front, except against
  another such phalanx the only way it was ever
  generally defeated was by breaking its formation
  or outflanking it.

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• The invention of the sarissa is credited to
  Philip II, father of, Alexander the Great. Philip
  drilled his hitherto demoralized men to use these
  formidable pikes with two hands. The new tactic
  was unstoppable, and by the end of Philip's reign
  the previously fragile Macedonian kingdom
  controlled the whole of Greece, Epirus and
  Thrace.
• His son Alexander used the new tactic across
  Asia, conquering Egypt, Persia and the Pauravas
  (northwest India), victorious all the way. The
  sarissa-wielding phalanxes were vital in every
  early battle, including the pivotal battle of
  Gaugamela where the Persian king's scythe
  chariots were utterly destroyed by the phalanx,
  supported by the combined use of companion
  cavalry and peltasts (javelineers).
• Alexander gradually reduced the importance of the
  Phalanx, and the sarissa, as he modified his
  combined use of arms, and incorporated 'asian'
  weapons and troops.

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Persian Troops

• Persian Immortal
• Professional soldiers
• Carried a bow, short spear and short sword

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Persian Troops

• Persian Heavy Cavalry
• Carried
• two iron headed javelins,
• a Greek sword
• Wore bronze scale leg protection

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Persian Troops

• Light Cavalry
• Wears typical head dress
• Two heavy throwing javelins
• Some carried a battle axe rather than a sword
• Infantry
• Shows Greek influence
• Hoplon shield and sword
• Did not have much body armour
• Short thrusting spear

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Homework, in your workbooks

• Read Alexanders Army p.30-33
• Read p. 34 Why did Alexander visit Troy?
• Answer Questions, p.35 about Alexander at Troy.