HIST 1001 : Exam 3
HIST 1001
Exam 3 Notes
3/3/08
Hellenistic Greece
The Rise of Macedonia:
• Where Aristotle is from (philosopher who created rival school- Lyceum)
• Geography: very high mountains, very snowy winters, vast forests
• Ship building industry in Athens- wood being shipped down from Macedonia
• Considered Greeks or not?
o Spoke separate language- really a dialect of Greek, elites of Macedonia spoke standard
Greek as well
o Practiced Greek religion- worshiped Olympian gods
o No urban culture and emphasis on wine and olive oil- instead lived in tribal units with
warrior elite- fighting between these tribes so Athens could take advantage of them
o Government: hereditary monarchy
• Seen as butt of all jokes- made fun of language, way they fight with each other- how will they
rise and end up taking over entire Persian Empire?
• Philip of Macedon- Macedonian king, tribal king, brilliant mind- figured out how to unite
Macedonian peoplen
o Unites them against a common foreign enemy, have to get rid of foreign presence
o Secret deals: treachery, bribery, assassination; unites the Macedonian people by first
attacking and exiling elirians, then going after Thracians
o Then acts against Athens- expelling Athenians ( at this time Athens is in battle against
Thebes), Athenians were not worried about them because they were just Macedonians;
Demosthenes would come to counsel and speak against Philip- tried to warn Athens
about him but most people did not listen to him; Athens and Athenian allies were taken
by surprise when Philip launched an attack on Southern Greece with Alexander on his
side (leads the cavalry) in Battle of Pyranea- gains control of this entire Greek area,
makes them pay tribute to him and bow down to him
o Philip plans massive invasion of Persia as form of revenge for Persian Wars, while
celebrating he gets assassinated by a body guard (2 years after Pyranea)
• Olympias- Philip’s wife from Thrace
• Alexander the Great- Philip and Olympias’ son, studied with Aristotle, becomes king at age 20
after assassination of Philip
o Alexander had difficult time regaining control of Macedonia but quickly regains power,
once regains unity in Macedonia has to deal with rebelling Greek city-states, threatens
to attack if Greek city-states if they did not pay their tributes, to show power he
attacked city of Thebes- burned the city to the ground except house of Pindar- poet that
Alexander liked, city-states quickly come into line
o Decides to follow in father’s footsteps and attack the Persians
o Much smaller troops than Xerxes had when attacking the Greeks
o First meets king of Persia (Darius III)- Alexander was victorious in battle, Darius retreats
back, moves south after winning battles instead of following Darius by attacking Persian
navy so that they cannot go attack the Greeks back home
o Portrays himself as a liberator- after he conquers areas he shows them that they are
free from Persians now
o After conquering Egypt he comes out dressed as a pharaoh- Egyptians loved him but the
Macedonian troops were not so sure, sets up city Alexandria (most famous one)
o Set up many city-states in places that he conquered, named many of them Alexandria,
named one after horse Persepholis
o Goes back into land to go after Darius- into Mesopotamia, once again Darius escapes
but is later found murdered by his own body guards
o At this point- 20 year old has conquered Greeks and almost entire Persian Empire
o Lets some Persian troops into his infantry- upsets his own troops- opposition from his
own men
o Orders his top generals and officers to marry Persian women to try to unite these
people in a universal empire- attitudes against not Greek speakers really comes into play
o Alexander pushes his troops and keeps going further eastward, goes into Bactria- very
difficult place to subdue militarily, conquers Bactria- gets dressed up in Bactrian clothing
and marries woman named Roxane
o Troops begin to rebel near Indus River- they want to go back home
o Agrees to march them back but marches them back through south in the Gedrosian
desert- many troops die
o Alexander lets many troops go home, but he does not and plans more attacks- age 32 at
this time, suddenly he gets sick- dead within 2 days
o Immediate problem: Alexander was absolute monarch over this area, who should take
over? His son is only 3 years old- too young and half Bactrian, Roxane and Alex Jr. are
murdered
o 3 of Alexander’s closest Macedonian generals come to an agreement to divide up his
empire into Hellenistic kingdoms
o Pg. 92 of sourcebook- Plutarch- emphasizes cities that Alexander established, impact of
conquest, most people are happy to be conquered by Greece
Hellensitic Kingdoms- all men become founders of dynasties in their areas
• Antigonus- Antigonids- home land (Greece, Macedonia) and Asia Minor
• Seleucus- Seleucids- Persia, Bactria, Syria, Palestine- most difficult because did not have the
power over them that Alexander had, new Persian dynasty comes in and kicks him out
• Ptolemy- Ptolemies- Egypt- Greek culture becomes dominant very quickly- esp. Alexandria-
population of ~300,000- huge for an ancient city, Jews in Alexandria- holy writing written in
Hebrew- begin using Greek- translate scriptures to Greek so more people can have access to
these writings, mostly harmonious transition
o pg. 97- plutonic philosophy- similarities between Plato’s philosophies and Jewish
religion
• Effects of Greek culture:
o Before- talking about mainland Greece and colonies
o Now- areas become Hellenistic (Greek-like), Greek culture being imported into areas
that did not have any Greek culture before; Greek language, religion, and philosophy
become dominant (Greek becomes language of rulers, elites, and trade)
o Not everyone was happy being suddenly changed- esp. in Palestine (Seleucids)- last time
we saw Jews they were rebuilding temple under rule of Cyrus- relative autonomy, when
Hellenistic kings take over they impose on Jewish culture and values- decides no more
circumcision- orders an alter to Zeus to be set up at the Jewish temple- orders sacrifices
of pigs
▪ Pg. 96- Jews of Jerusalem revolt under Judas Macabee- Hanukah celebrates
victory of this revolt
3/5/08
Origins of Rome 753-509
• Italian Geography- located on peninsula in middle of Mediterranean Sea so surrounded by
water, Tiber River- city of Rome is on this river and Po River- not great rivers- hard to navigate-
prone to flooding- so not essential, massive wall of mountains above it- difficult to cross so
formed a kind of protective barrier between water and mountains, will mainly be attacked by
navy, Apennine- high mountains dividing Italian peninsula east from west right down the
middle- makes it hard to move across, pretty regular rainfall, flat land great for agriculture-
farming, south of Italy- dry like Greece- emphasis on wine, grapes, and olives
• Greeks living in Southern Italy and Sicily- main function: trade
• Etruscan culture in Northern Italy- highly sophisticated complex civilization, mysterious
civilization because they were not Indo-European and not Semitic- don’t belong to either of the
2 main groups, language is still undeciphered so no sources, only know what Romans say about
Etruscans but the Romans hated Etruscans so can’t trust that source, know info from
archaeologists, many cities, built from wood (but decays quickly) and used stone for tombs,
buried their dead with their belongings and had family tombs- window into Etruscan society,
elaborate coffins- Etruscan sarcophagus lid in the shape of sofa with Etruscan couple, bronze
Etruscan warrior statues
o Findings show us: importance of family, not as gender segregated, woman have a voice,
used armor that later Romans used, many similarities between Romans and Etruscans-
Etruscans really did influence the Romans
o Religion: polytheistic, writing that did survive deals with prophesies and asking the gods
for help
• Tiny farming village on Tiber River- Rome- last guess that they would become massive world
power (Greeks in South and Etruscans in North were much more advanced), live on hills for
defensive reasons, live right on edge of Etruscans
o Hills of Rome:
1. Palatine Hill- evidence of earliest Rome inhabitants
2. Capitoline Hill- served as a religious center, main temple there
▪ Forum- area between the 2 hills, originally a swampy, marshy area, project to
drain swamp by leveling off tops of hills and filling area with it; monumental
center of life in Rome, judicial buildings, senate house
o Divided into 3 periods (Era of the Seven Kings, The Republic, and
o Legend of beginning of Rome: powerful king whose wife was pregnant with 2 sons
(Romulus and Remus), received prophesy that one day one of his sons would be the
founder of a great empire, upset about this so he exposes them and gives them to the
gods, put babies in boats and they go down the river, end up in the swampy region
between the 2 hills, she-wolf hears them crying and adopts them and raises them,
become young strapping boys, start a village in Rome, Romulus and Remus get in little
quarrel, Romulus kills Remus and becomes founder of Rome
▪ Tells us that they are a city of destiny; raised by wolves- means strong, tough;
negative attitude towards others- didn’t save him
Era of the Seven Kings (753-509 BC) (all have Etruscan names)- made up date, Romans want to show
how great their civilization is (more like 550 BC-509 BC)
Document Summary
Thebes), athenians were not worried about them because they were just macedonians; His son is only 3 years old- too young and half bactrian, roxane and alex jr. are murdered: 3 of alexander"s closest macedonian generals come to an agreement to divide up his empire into hellenistic kingdoms, pg. 92 of sourcebook- plutarch- emphasizes cities that alexander established, impact of conquest, most people are happy to be conquered by greece. Alexandria- population of ~300,000- huge for an ancient city, jews in alexandria- holy writing written in. Hebrew- begin using greek- translate scriptures to greek so more people can have access to these writings, mostly harmonious transition: pg. Hellenistic kings take over they impose on jewish culture and values- decides no more circumcision- orders an alter to zeus to be set up at the jewish temple- orders sacrifices of pigs: pg. 96- jews of jerusalem revolt under judas macabee- hanukah celebrates victory of this revolt.
