Before Alexander the Great, the Greek city-states (poleis) were in decline due to shifting trade routes, civil wars, and being blocked from the West by Carthage. Philip of Macedon unified Greece and Macedonia through military victories over northern barbarians and Greeks, combining infantry and cavalry, and rallying Greeks against Persia. In 336 BC, Philip was assassinated and his son Alexander launched a war of conquest against Persia, expanding Greek control throughout Central Asia and India before his death at age 33, leaving a Hellenistic world that was a mixture of Greek and Asian influences.

1. Before Alexander: Shifting Trade Routes and the Decline of the Poleis Greeks had to import coinage, food and raw materials from the West They paid with olive oil and wine Italian Greeks became self-sufficient and Carthage blocked access to the West by 338 BC The civil Wars of the poleis was also a cause of poverty and decline

2. Philip of Macedon: The Gifts of the Father * The Story of the 10,000 Mercenaries (401 BC) and the significance of the phalanx First told by Xenophon, it became legendary Philip unified Macedonia and the Greeks with four methods: (1) He defeated Northern barbarians (2) He defeated the Greeks by exploiting the civil wars and practicing the art of divide and conquer (3) He combined the phalanx with light infantry (4) He rallied the Poleis to battle against Persia by reminding them of the glory of Plataea

3. Philip’s methods From 350 BC on, Philip planned a war of reprisal against the Persians which would also export Greek energies and violence outward and open up Eastern colonies for exploitation Since Persia could bid higher for Greek mercenaries, Philip called the laggard Greeks traitors to Hellenism, and either massacred them or enslaved those who would not go along

4. Alexander the Great In 336 BC, just before Philip was to launch his war, Philip was assassinated Alexander, as student of Xenophon, was inspired by the story of the “10,000” At 20 in 334 BC, Alexander launched the war that would lead to the greatest territorial conquests in history Overthrew Persia, expanded Greek control to Afghanistan and India Spread Greek and Hellenistic ideas everywhere At 32 or 33, with no more worlds to conquer, he caught a cold and died

5. Alexander’s Legacy An egotistical giant whose cruelty we forget (the story of Cassander) Alexander relished the oriental tradition of the god-king Later leaders would be inspired by his example to copy him He burnt the temple in Persepolis to avenge past Persian outrages He tried to enforce a Hellenic empire but after his death it disintegrated into a Hellenistic world, something not fully Asiatic or Greek but a mixture of the two, something new

6. The Hellenistic Period, 323 BC-30 BC The ancient period most like our own Authoritarian Irrationalism was popular Narcissism and self-obsessions Popularity of magic and faddism Valuing things on a grand scale The focus moves from the Polis to the personal Escape from politics Popularity of drugs A sense of rootlessness