The Greek Empire

Lesson 4

The Big Picture

During the time of the Peloponnesian War Persia was a huge empire. Egyptians, Phoenicians, Jews, Indians and Babylonians all lived under the

Rule of the Persian Kings Connecting this empire was a system of roads and messenger service

Like our postal service today

Alexander traveled the roads of the Persian empire between 334 B.C. and 323B.C.

He conquered many areas and became known as “Alexander the Great”

As a result of his victories Greek language and traditions spread

Alexander of Macedonia

The Peloponnesian wars ended in 404 B.C. This left the Greek city- states weakened and open for attack. By 336 B.C Macedonia (kingdom in the north) took over most of Greece Macedonia's king was a 20 year old man named Alexander. He was

proven to be a very bold and educated commander Aristotle, one of the most famous teachers in Athens had been his private teacher

Because of Aristotle teachings, Alexander developed a deep respect for the Greek culture

Expanding the Empire

In 334 B.C Alexander and his armies set out to conquer Persia Everywhere they went they seized food and whatever else they needed to

continue their journey The powerful Macedonian army never lost a battle. In 331 B.C Alexander

was declared ruler of Persia’s empire (which included Greece) In a few more years his troops entered the Indus River Valley in Asia. They

defeated many armies that used elephants (they had never seen this animal before)

After his victory Alexander became sick, unable to complete his journey he died in June of 323 B.C in Babylon

A City in the Empire

About 9 years before Alexander died he planned a city to be built in Egypt. It was going to be named Alexandria named after the soon emperor Became one of the most important cities The city is an example of how Greek civilization and ideas were carried

far beyond Greece

A Blending of Cultures The city Alexandria mirrored a Greek polis; it even had an agora and many

Greek temples and statues Alexandria's harbor became a major hub of trade in the Mediterranean At the mouth of the harbor was a lighthouse. The beam of light that came

from the lighthouse guided many sailors This was one of the first lighthouses in the world

There was a mixture of cultures in Alexandria There were temples to honor the Greek gods and goddesses and a temple was planned

to honor the Egyptian goddess Isis

Craft workers made Greek styled pottery

Egyptian and Macedonians took part in democratic assemblies Egyptians and Jews had their own courts

A Legacy of Learning In Alexandria there was a “museum”. This is where scholars

studied the world and how it worked. They used books from the library near by. Alexandria’s library had

almost 500,000 books written on papyrus rolls

An Alphabet

Scholars from many countries came to Alexandria's library to study The skills of reading an writing became very important Unlike the Egyptian hieroglyphics and Mesopotamia's cuneiform the Greek

alphabet was a simple alphabet Each symbol represented a sound. A person had to master less than 30

symbols. This made it easier for people to learn how to read and write