Alexander the Great

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Alexander the Great

• The Hellenistic Age

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Alexander the Great

• Became king in 336 BCE after assassination of
  father Phillip II.
• After destroying Thebes and thus re-securing
  Greece under Macedonian rule, he began a long
  campaign against Persia.
• Defeated Darius III at the battles of Issus and
  Gaugamela.
• Died in 323 BCE of fever. Empire was divided
  among three of his top generals.

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Alexanders Empire
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Alexanders Legacy

• Spread Greek culture throughout his empire.
• Brought eastern influences to the west. (Prepared
  way for Christianity later.)
• Prepared the way for the later Roman Empire to be
  accepted.
• Built the famous city of Alexandria in Egypt
  which became a center of Hellenistic learning.

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Hellenistic Achievements

• Three new philosophies emerge-
• Cynicism- people should live simply according to
  nature.
• Epicureanism- people should avoid both pain and
  joy and live simply with a few close friends.
• Stoicism- people should avoid emotion and follow
  reason and logic.

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Achievements continued

• More comedic play writing.
• Eratosthenes estimated the worlds circumference
  to within 1.
• Euclid wrote The Elements of Geometry.
• Archimedes invented the compound pulley and the
  principles of leverage.