Macedon and the Hellenistic World

Sarissa

18 ft long pike that was established by the Macedonians that came to replace the poking spear that hoplites used in warfare. This weapon allowed the Macedonians to become a more offensive force rather than a traditional Greek defensive one. Each row of the phalanx created another row of defense for the front line. This kept casualties to a minimum because, even though their shields did not cover the same area as the Hoplon's did, the layers of weapons created a wall for the front line.

Peltasts

A trained soldier (rather than citizen soldiers like Hoplites) that used long 18ft long sarissas and small sheilds called peltas to fight in a revolutionary 16 person deep phalanx. They were a formidable force and completely changed fighting and allowed Macedonia to become a formidable and powerful force.

Chaeronea

A village and additionally a former municipality of Boeotia, Greece. It served as the site for many major battles including one between Philip II of Macedon and a group of southern Greek states in 338 B.C. The elite group the Sacred Band of Thebes was wiped out completely during the battle. After the defeat of Athens here the Athenians were forced to enter an alliance with Philip II called the League of Corinth

Koine Greek

Also known as Alexandrian dialect, this was the common regional form of Greek language and writing during Hellenistic and Roman antiquity. It developed due to the spread of Greece through the conquest of Alexander the Great in 4th century BC. It was primarily based in Attica and related Ionic speech forms, with some variations due to dialect leveling. Additionally, it was the dominant language of the Byzantine empire and developed further into Medieval Greek, the main ancestor of Modern Greek.

Demosthenes

Dignified Athenian statesman and orator of Ancient Greece during the 4th Century B.C. This man provided an intellectual insight on the political and cultural expressions in Ancient Greece. As a loyal Athenian, he delivered speeches called Philippies, in which he attacked Macedonia, but more specifically, King Phillip.

Alexandria

During Alexander the Great's reign, as he expanded and conquered new land, at the sites he would find, he would name these cities after himself. After the end of his reign, there were over 70 of these cities within Alexander's empire.

Gymnasium

During the 5th century BC Greek life and culture was expanded through means of public spaces. These were built in suburban areas because they were typically cooler and in the shade while also closer to a source of water. They became a site for the instruction of Greek culture, literature, language, and values.

Menander

He was a Greek dramatist and is known as the best representative of Athenian comedy. He was the author of over 100 comedies and took home the prize at the Lenaia festival exactly 8 times. There is very little record of him at the City Dionysia, but it can be inferred that he had similar success to his prior work. However, most of his work was lost during the middle ages. The only play that has been recovered almost entirely was Dyskolos.

Darius III

He was the King of Persia. When Alexander the Great was on his expedition to conquer Persia, one of the few battles he faced was against this king. The battle was called the Battle of Issus, 333 B.C. The Persian king was defeated by Alexander resulting in 100,000 Persians dead. Since this man brought his entire royal court with him, which was a Persian custom, the battle of Issus resulted in the capture of his wife and mother.

Corinthian League

Is the historical term given the alliance formed in 337 BC by Phillip II of Macedon, which consisted of all major Greek states except for Sparta. The two stated goals of this alliance were to maintain a common peace amongst the member Greek states and to avenge the previous Persian aggression against the Greeks. All member states were forced to take and maintain an oath that recognized Phillip and all of his decedents as hegemon (leader) of the alliance and commander of the war against Persia. The oath also stated that none shall break the terms of peace stipulated by the alliance, and all shall join forces in retribution against any state that does violate the terms of the peace. This simultaneously legitimized Philip II's domination of the Greeks while unifying them in a new cause against a familiar foreign foe

Philip II

King of Macedon from 360-336 B.C. Father of Alexander the Great. This man unified Macedonia and developed an offensive oriented military. He was able to unify Macedonia and the frontier by marrying for political reasons, founding cities that are under his control and waging war. Macedon became wealthy under his reign when they found a gold mine near the city of Phillipi (named after himself) that would accumulate 1,000 talents every year. This allowed for Macedonia to make an even stronger military and give this man enough power to conquer the Greek Poleis to the south. He died in 336 B.C right before the Macedonians and their Greek allies invaded Persia.

Isis

Means "Throne". She was the Egyptian goddess of health, marriage, and wisdom and is praised for her representation of pharaoh's power. She was first worshiped in Ancient Egypt but later spread in glorification throughout the Roman and Greco/Roman empire.

Persepolis

Persian capital when Xerxes was king. Alexander the Great sacked the city in 330 B.C. Significant to the Greeks because Xerxes sacked Athens when he invaded Greece. This is the only city that Alexander, once he conquered, sacked due to its significance to the Greek people. After the sack, Alexander the Great had accumulated 180,000 talents of gold from the city.

Alexander

Son of Philip II, King of Macedon, he becomes King at age 20, and reigned from 336-323 B.C. He became known as "the great" as he became the 1st clearly recognizable character in the Greek world. He planned the expedition against Persia, with only 37,000 troops, but they were very well trained, eventually capturing the Persian capital Persepolis. This man had many achievements during his reign as King, he founded new wealth, caused a spread of Hellenic culture (70 new "Alexandrias" were founded), caused a merging of cultures, and ended the rule of the city-state as the dominant unit of power.

Companions

The elite cavalry force of the Macedonian army, active under Phillip II and Alexander the Great. Chosen from the ranks of Macedonian nobility and were consequently well trained warriors. They were used for shock value and would flank the enemy after the phalanx had broken their formation.

Museum

This place , named after the dedication to nine muses - patron goddesses of the arts- , was founded by the Ptolemys'. This place was a government-funded facility with dining halls, dormitories and gardens that gave scholars a place to pursue their studies. Ptolemy I created a library that held up to 700,000 papyrus rolls of works in Greek. Both the Museum of Alexandria and the Library certainly paved the way for subsequent and modern academic systems.

Theoric Fund

This was established by Eubulus, a political leader in Athens, between 405 and 335 BC. Athens had become economically unstable after the Peloponnesian War and the reign of Philip II and his takeover of many of its allies. All fiscal deficits were to go this fund which supported the rebuilding and renewing of Athens. The money went to actual building projects such as roads and fortifications, but also to festivals and theatrical performances that promoted religious participation. This fund ultimately diminished tension that existed between the rich and poor citizens of Athens.

Olympias

This woman was the fourth wife of King Philip II of Macedonia and mother of Alexander the Great. She was daughter of Neoptolemus I, King of the Molossians, and according to legend is a descendent of Achilles as her family belonged to the Aeacidae. (Aeacidae referring to the descendants of Aeacus, grandfather of Achilles)

Philippi

Was a colonial city named by King Phillip II that was founded in what was then the Eastern region of the Macedonian Empire, which gave them control of the neighboring gold mines. The access to the gold mines gave the Macedonians a reported one thousand talents a year in revenue, a truly monumental sum. This colony not only illustrates the colonial difference of the Macedonian Empire versus the Greek Polis system in that the empire maintained control while expanding their boarders; but the practice of naming a new colony after the current monarch lead to the spread of Alexandria's under the rule of Alexander the Great.