Hellenism The Spread of Greek Culture

1
HellenismThe Spread of Greek Culture
2
HellenismThe Spread of Greek Culture

• Philip of Macedonia
• Macedonia was a small country north of Greece
• In 359 BC, Philip became King of Macedonia
• As a boy Philip was held hostage in Thebes for 3
  years
• He thought of himself as Greek
• Philip as king
• Created a professional army with full time paid
  soldiers
• Equipped his soldiers with 18 foot lances,
  slingshots, and bows and arrows and used the
  phalanx formation
• Bribed Greek officials to make decisions he
  wanted
• Found ways for the city-states to fight each
  other
• Made a treaty with a polis (sometimes through
  marriage he had 7 wives) and then broke it
• Invaded Greece in 338 BC and defeated Athens and
  Thebes to take control of Greece
• In 336 BC, Philip was murdered.

3
The Spread of Greek Culture
4
The Spread of Greek Culture
5
The Spread of Greek Culture

• Alexander the Great
• Son of King Philip
• Was a student at Aristotles school
• At 20, in 336 BC, became king when Philip was
  murdered.
• Conquered Persian Empire and civilizations as far
  east as India
• Goal was to conquer the world and create one
  empire
• Wanted to unite Macedonians, Greeks and Persians.
  
• Greeks refused to treat Persians as equals
• Army refused to continue fighting east of India

6
The Spread of Greek Culture

• Alexander died in 323 BC of a disease
• Alexander built over 70 cities as king
• Named 16 of them Alexandria, and named one
  Bucephala after his horse
• Empire broke into 3 kingdoms Greece, Egypt, and
  Persia
• After his death, Alexanders influence continued.
  Cities he built and countries he conquered
  accepted and used Greek culture, language,
  calendar, and coins (Hellenism)
• Macedonians and Greeks moved to these cities
• These countries became known as Hellenistic
  countries
• The greatest Alexandria was in Egypt
• Alexandria, Egypt became center of trade and
  learning
• The Lighthouse and the Library in Alexandria were
  the biggest and best of the time.

7
The Spread of Greek Culture
8
The Spread of Greek Culture

• Math and Science
• The Museum, a school in Egypt, was were Euclid,
  Eratosthenes, and Archimedes, all studied and
  worked.
• Euclid created Geometry
• Eratosthenes was an astronomer who used math to
  calculate the size of the earth
• Archimedes created pulleys and levers