Macedonians

• descended from the Dorians
• Macedonian language incorporated many Greek words
• Greeks looked down on Macedonians as backward mountaineers

Philip II

• became king of Macedonia
• was determined to do 3 things: 1) create a small standing army, 2) unify the quarreling Greek city-states under Macedonian rule, 3) destroy the Persian Empire

Demosthenes

• great Athenian orator who appealed to citizens to fight for their liberty; did not want Philip to control them 
• lost battle; by 338 B.C. Philip had conquered all of Greece except Sparta

Why was Philip unable to carry out his plan of going to war against Persia?

• Philip was murdered either by a Persian agent or by an assassin hired by his first wife, Olympias
• Olympias's son, Alexander, later known as "Alexander the Great," became king

Alexander

• only 20 when he became the ruler of Macedonia and Greece
• commander in Macedonian army; was highly respected by soldiers for courage and military skill
• was extremely well educated; tutored by Aristotle

Alexander's Persian Conquests

• First, Alexander moved East and freed Ionian city-states from Persian rule and drove out Darius III
• He moved south along the Mediterranean coast and eventually invaded Egypt.  Egyptians welcomed Alexander and declared him a pharoah.  In Egypt, Alexander established a new city and named it Alexandria after himself
• Captured key cities of Persian Empire: Babylon, Persepolis, and Susa

End of Alexander's Life

• conquered as far East as India
• he wanted to conquer further, but his soldiers refused to go further
• made Babylon the capital of his empire
• fell ill with fever (malaria) and died at 33 yrs. old

Alexander's Imperial Goals

• First, Alexander wanted to punish Persia for invading Greece
• Alexander's goals changed- he then wanted to unite Europe and Asia into one empire and combine the best of both Greek and Persian cultures
• He imitated Pesian dress and royal court life
• Encouraged men to marry Persian women
• Enrolled Persian men into his army
• Founded 70 cities to spread Greek language and culture

Domains

• territories
• After Alexander's death 3 of his generals (Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Antigonus) divided up his massive empire

Divided Domains

• Ptolemy- Egypt, Libya, and part of Syria
• Seleucus- Syria, Mesopotamia, Iran, Afghanistan
• Antigonus- Macedonia and Greece

"Hellenistic"

• combination of Greek (Hellenic) and Middle Eastern culture

City Life

• Hellinistic culture was concentrated in cities
• Alexandria was the largest and wealthiest city
• Straight streets
• Double harbor and lighthouse were assets to trade
• Museum with library, research center, zoo, botanical garden--intellectual center
• Women's status improved-could read and write, hold jobs (lower class could not)

Hellenistic Philosophies

• 3 systems of thought:Cynicism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism

Philosophers

• Diogenes-Cynic-people would be happy if they gave up luxuries/materials and lived simply with nature
• Epicurus- Epicureanism-people should avoid both joy and pain by accepting world as it was, ignoring politics and living simply and quietly with close friends
• Zeno-Stoicism- people should ignore emotions and follow reason; they accepted difficult circumstances and did their duty

Hellenistic Art and Literature

• art showed powerful emotions
• playwrights wrote comedies instead of tragedies
• ***like philosphers, artists ignored problems of the outside world

Science/Medicine

• Aristarchus- sun is larger than earth, earth revolves around sun, stars lie at large distances from earth and sun
• Eratosthenes- estimated earth's circumference
• doctors dissected corpses to learn more about human anatomy
• discovered human nervous system, brain and liver, and learned how to use drugs to relieve pain

Math/Physics

• Euclid-organized elements of geometry
• Archimedes- invented compound pulley (moves heavy objects easily) and cylinder-screw (used to lift water for irrigation), discovered buoyancy, and demonstrated the principle of the lever