HST 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Stoicism, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Celtic Art
The Hellenistic Word
Philip and Alexandra the Great
Macedonia and Philip II
Macedonia (north of Greek mainland)
o A group of “barbaric” tribes
o Briefly united under a king
o But was invaded
o Looked down upon by greeks
o Thebes: Thebans began to influence Macedonia
Philip II (359-336 B.C.)
o Young prince of Macedonia, taken hostage to Thebes
o Wasn’t the heir to the throne at the time, but becomes the heir
o Philip learned Greek culture and education
▪ Educated in military and politics by general Ethomenandas
▪ Taught Philip the things he uses to make Macedonia a major power
o Philip goes back to Macedonia and becomes King
Reforms Macedonian military
o Creates the Macedonian phalanx that uses the sarissa which is a much much longer
spear and a smaller shield
o Extremely effective
o Sets up engineers to create new forms of siege weapons
Athenian reaction to Philip
o As Philip begins to conquer the Macedonian area the Athenians argue that Philip
would make a good ally to bring Athens back to the forefront
▪ Because Athens is being lorded over by thebes
o This is argued mainly by Isocrates
o An orator Demosthenes opposes this idea
▪ Says Philip would come down and lord over Greece instead of letting
Athenians be independent
▪ He sways the Athenians to ally against Philip with the Thebans
o Battle of Chaeronea (338 B.C.E)
▪ Philip wins and punishes Thebes but leaves Athens alone
▪ Had a respect for Athens
Sets of the Corinthian League
o The greek city-states swear that they will corroborate with one another and maintain
control over their own city-states
o But accept Philip as the hegemon of the new league
▪ Foreign policy and final decisions
Alexander the Great (356-323)
Philip’s son who helped lead the cavalry in the battle of Chaeronea
o Learned from Philip
Before Philip can invade Persia he is assassinated by a body guard in 336 BCE
o While entering into a theater to witness the marriage of his daughter
o Could have been anyone, likely Alexander and his mother so Alexander becomes
King
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He implements Philip’s idea to invade Persia
He was an effective Leader
o Worked within his army
o He was a good responder
He had Philip’s Reforms
o Brought back cavalry
o Benefited from Philip’s changes
He liberates the places he invades
o A lot of the places surrender or put up little resistance because they prefer him to their
Persia n rule
Invasion of Ionia 334 BCE
o Enters with a smaller Army than Persia
o Gordian knot
▪ Whoever could untie the knot would be a great ruler of the world
▪ Alexander slices it in half and frees the cart
o Diogenes: creation of skepticism/cynicism
▪ Self-interest
▪ Anti-establishment
▪ Alexander meets him and is greatly amused by him
o Meets the Persian king Darius III
▪ Alexander choose the place of meeting: issus
o Battle of Issus (333 BCE)
▪ Very narrow area and Darius’s army couldn’t fit, but Alexander’s could
▪ Leveling out the advantage
▪ Alexander wins the battle
Tutored by Aristotle
o Taught to think about the world as a place to explore and see
o He wanted to build a legacy
o Improved the places he conquered
Syria and Canaan 332 BCE
Has to face Tyre
o Tyre is where the Persians had their naval fleet and shipbuilding area
o Alexander had to take tyre to conquer the Persian empire
o He builds bridges to cross the crossway and builds siege endines to take down the
wall and takes the city
After hearing about the destruction of Tyre other cities begin to capitulate without a fight
o Jerusalem – saying that Alexander is prophesized
o Egyptian cities do as well
▪ Alexander takes the title named “son of Amon” the son god
▪ Adopting Egyptian culture to make them feel better
Mesopotamia and Persia
o Battle of Guagemela (331 BCE)
▪ Major battle
▪ Darius chose a large battle field
▪ Alexander saw a hole in Darius’s forces and ode his horse straight through the
line and Darius flees
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• He gets away, but one of his advisors assassinates him and they chose
Alexander to be the new leader
• Alexander felt that only a king could kill another king
Alexander takes Persia
o Unifies greek and Persian culture
He starts to push towards India
o He builds cities and forts along the way
o He enters India by 327
o Has some success, but is getting pushed back
▪ Founds a city after his horse Busefela
o His men are dissatisfied
▪ They want to go home
▪ His men mutany and they go home
Go a long route to the capital of Babylon
o Roxanne was his favorite wife
o He does not work to produce an heir
▪ Possible was gay
▪ Hephesteon his best friend was very close to him
o Hephestion was poisoned and killed in 324 BCE
o Alexander becomes deeply depressed
▪ Drinks heavily
o A year later he gets ill and on July 13th 323 he dies
Roxanne is pregnant but there is no current heir
o Alexander told his generals that his empire should be left to the strongest
o Roxanne’s baby is male and generals assassinate her and the child
He left behind the spread of Greek culture
o His kingdom is split into monarchies ruled by his generals
o But Greek culture mixes in other cultures leading to the Hellenistic world
Politics & Society After Alexander
Hellenistic Kingdoms
Disintegration of the Empire
Four Successor Kingdoms based on the generals of Alexander
o Macedonia – Antigonid family
▪ Antigonus general
o Syria – Seleucid family
▪ Selucias general
▪ most powerful kingdom
▪ push towards India
• Chandragupta pushes back
• India creates own empire because of his son Asoka
• Indian culture gets into Greece and Persia and vice versa
• East and West meet
o Pergamum – Attalid family
▪ Attolis
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Document Summary
Macedonia (north of greek mainland: a group of barbaric tribes, briefly united under a king, but was invaded, looked down upon by greeks, thebes: thebans began to influence macedonia. Reforms macedonian military: creates the macedonian phalanx that uses the sarissa which is a much much longer spear and a smaller shield, extremely effective, sets up engineers to create new forms of siege weapons. Athenians be independent: he sways the athenians to ally against philip with the thebans, battle of chaeronea (338 b. c. e, philip wins and punishes thebes but leaves athens alone, had a respect for athens. Sets of the corinthian league: the greek city-states swear that they will corroborate with one another and maintain control over their own city-states, but accept philip as the hegemon of the new league, foreign policy and final decisions. Philip"s son who helped lead the cavalry in the battle of chaeronea: learned from philip.
