Chapter 9-3: Alexander the Great

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Chapter 9-3 Alexander the Great
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Alexander the Great

• The Big Idea
• Alexander the Great built a huge empire and
  helped spread Greek culture into Egypt and Asia.
• Main Ideas
• Macedonia conquered Greece in the 300s BC.
• Alexander the Great built an empire that united
  much of Europe, Asia, and Egypt.
• The Hellenistic kingdoms formed from Alexanders
  empire blended Greek and other cultures.

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Main Idea 1Macedonia conquered Greece in the
300s BC.

• Phillip II became king of Macedonia and targeted
  Greece for an invasion.
• He beat Athens, and the rest of Greece agreed to
  make him their leader after seeing Athenss
  defeat.

• Phillip was a brilliant military leader.
• His soldiers fought as a phalanx with spears that
  were longer than the Greeks.
• He also had a cavalry and archers supporting the
  phalanx.

• When Phillip died, his throne and his plans were
  passed on to his son, Alexander.

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Why were the soldiers spears so long?
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Main Idea 2Alexander the Great built an empire
that united much of Europe, Asia, and Egypt.

• Alexander began his rule by ending the revolt in
  Thebes, setting an example to the Greeks not to
  rebel.
• He then set out to build an empire and earned the
  name Alexander the Great.
• He went on to conquer Egypt and was crowned
  pharaoh without a fight.
• He then defeated Persia and became the ruler of
  the Persian Empire.
• Alexander wanted to push into India, but his
  troops were exhausted and refused to go. He began
  the march home, but died from sickness before
  making it back to Greece.

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1. About how long was the route of Alexander from
   Pella to Babylon?
2. What bodies of water did Alexander cross?

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Spreading Greek Culture

• Alexanders empire was the largest the world had
  ever seen.
• An admirer of Greek culture, he worked to spread
  it throughout his empire.
• He encouraged Greek settlers to move to the new
  cities he conquered.
• These settlers passed along the language and
  culture of Greece.
• Alexander also encouraged people to keep their
  own culture, so Greek and native customs blended.
  Historians call the culture Hellenistic, or
  Greek-like.

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Main Idea 3The Hellenistic kingdoms formed from
Alexanders empire blended Greek and other
cultures.

• After Alexander died, his generals fought for
  power and divided the empire among themselves.
• The three kingdoms were Macedonia, Greece, and
  Syria.

• Macedonia had the weakest government and had to
  put down Greek revolts.
• Syria was weakened by rebellions.
• Egypt, especially Alexandria, became a great
  cultural center.

• Each empire was eventually taken over by the
  Romans.

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Quick Questions

1. In your own words, define the term phalanx.
2. Philip wanted to conquer the Persian Empire. Was
   he successful? Why or why not?
3. After Athens and Thebes were defeated by Philip,
   why did the rest of Greece agree to make Philip
   their leader?
4. Why is Alexander called the great?
5. Using the information on this page (274) and in
   the map of Alexanders empire, summarize
   Alexanders efforts to conquer the world.
6. How did Alexander help spread Greek culture
   throughout his empire?
7. What does Hellenistic mean?
8. Why did Alexander model new cities after the
   cities of Greece?
9. What happened to Alexanders empire after his
   death?
10. Do you think Alexander was successful as a
    conqueror? Should he be called great?