Alexanders Empire :: essays research papers

Alexanders EmpireThe ancient dry land of Macedonia, situated in the north of modern Greece,was established by Perdiccas I about 640 B.C. Perdiccas was a Dorian, althoughthe Macedonian tribes included Thracian and Illyrian elements. Originally asemibarbarous and fragmented power, Macedon became tributary to Persia to a lower place thePersian fagots Darius I and Xerxes I and thereafter struggled to maintain itselfagainst Thracians and other barbarians and against the Greek cities of theChalcidice as well as Sparta and Athens.A new stage began with Archelaus (d.399 B.C.), who centralized the kingdomwith a system of roadstead and forts he also fostered the Hellenization of hispeople by inviting famous Greek artists, Euripides among them, to his court. a few(prenominal) regions gave much thought to Macedonia. The area was so primitive thatit seemed to belong to another(prenominal) age- it was a rude, brawling, heavy-drinkingcountry of dour peasants and landowning warriors. The languag e was Greek, but so defile by barbarian strains that Athenians could not understand it. Macedoniaremained an outland. Growth of trade in the early fourth century promoted therise of several cities, yet when Perdiccas III, king of Macedonia, fell in 359B.C. while fighting the Illyrians the seaboard of his state was more often than not underAthenian control or in the hands of the Chalcidian league, assort aboutOlynthus.Philip (382-36), brother of the dead king, was made regent for the infantheir, soon set aside his nephew, and became outright king.Once power was his, the young sovereign swiftly brought order to his domainby armed force when necessary, by diplomatic guile whenever he could, Philip setout to make Macedon the greatest power in the Greek world.Alexander was born in 356 to the commencement exercise wife of Philip. As a teenagerAlexander was educated by Athenian philosopher Aristotle. By the year 337 all ofthe Greek city-states had been conquered or squeeze into an al liance by Philip.He was planning to lead their joint forces for an onset of the Persian empirewhen he was assassinated in 336. Thus at the age of 20, Alexander became king ofthe Macedonians.After Philips death, some Greek cities under Macedonian rule revolted. In335 B.C. Alexanders army stormed the walls of the rebellious city of Thebes and destroy the city. About 30,000 inhabitants were sold in slavery. Alexandersaction against Thebes discouraged, for a time, rebellion by other Greek citiesWith Greece under control, Alexander turned to his fathers plan for struggle the Persian Empire. In 334 B.C., he led an army of about 35,000 metrical foot and cavalry across the Hellespont from Europe to Asia.