Arcaia

Ellada
(Ancient Greece)

Packet #3
Name:______________
Class hour:____

1

(Alexander the Great)








Philip II

Alexander, Before he was the

Great

Warfare in the Age of
Alexander

2

(Alexanders Conquests)







Conquests of Alexander











Tyre











Guagamela (Arbela)






3

(Reading)

The motivation of Alexander the Great was clear: He wanted revenge for the terrible attacks
on Greece that the Persians had wrought under Darius the Great and Xerxes. The purpose
of Alexander the Great cannot be agreed on by historians: Did he want to conquer all
of Persia? Did he want to teach Darius a lesson? Did he really want to be welcomed as a
conquering hero in Egypt and to be looked on by surprise in Bactria and India, so far from
the beloved home of his beloved soldiers? Whether he wanted all of these things or not, he
got all of them and more.

Greece had weakened the Persian Empire by winning the heroic battles
at Marathon, Salamis, and Plataea. But the Greeks soon descended into civil war, from
which, technically, Athens emerged the big loser and Sparta the big winner; the reality was
that all of Greece lost, for the city-states were too weak after the many years of fighting
each other and were ripe for takeover.

Ready to do some conquering of his own was Philip II of Macedon. His civilization at that
time was just to the north of Greece boarder. Macedon was strong and had strong-minded
soldiers, many of whom both envied and despised the Greeks. Philip and his troops moved
on Greece, picking off the city-states one by one. Publicly, Philip
insisted he was building a federation, one he called the Federal League
of Corinth. Privately, however, he wanted all of Greece.

This Federal League was announced and put into action in 338 B.C.
This followed the major defeat of the Greeks at the Battle of
Chaeronea. Of the major city-states, only Sparta was not involved. (In
other words, Philip hadn't conquered Sparta yet.) Philip, however,
decided to pursue bigger targets: He wanted a piece of the Persian
Empire.

Philip was a brilliant military commander and politician as well. He

juggled the warring sentiments of the Greeks long enough to keep
them ready for assimilation, then assembled them all under his banner into what was really
a kingdom designed as a federation. He was a great tactician, and his plans for invading the
Persian Empire were brilliantly executedby his son.

Philip was assassinated on the eve of his invasion of Persia. His

son, Alexander, took over the reins of both army and kingdom
and put the invasion plans in motion. He was 21.

Schooled in war and politics by his father and in everything else

by the legendary Greek philosopher Aristotle, Alexander was filled
with knowledge of the world and ambition for conquering it. Like
his father, he dreamed of defeating the Persians in battle,
something the Greeks had been able to do before, but this time
on their own soil. In 334 B.C., two years after Philip's death,
Alexander led his troops into Asia Minor.

Historians disagree on just how many (or how few) troops that Alexander started his
invasion with: A generally agreed-on figure is 30,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. (These
last would come in especially handy. Alexander was a master of the cavalry charge.)

4
Astonishingly enough, Alexander brought with him few fighting ships and very little in the
way of treasury. His troops had weapons and food and the hunger for conquest, but that
was about it. This would not be the last time that Alexander's determination to succeed
despite long odds would be nearly the only thing that carried him to victory.

Directions: Answer the following questions in complete sentences (in your own words!)

1. Where was Macedonia?



2. What did Philip II want?



3. What happened to Philip?



4. What was Alexanders education focused on?



5. Was Alexander ever outnumbered?

5

(Alexander the Great writing prompt)


Directions: answer the following question below using your own previous knowledge from class
on Alexander the Great. Answer the question in at least 1 paragraph (5-7 sentences).

Prompt: Alexander was relatively young for a leader of such huge power and influence. Could
a leader his age succeed today? If the young Alexander was around today, would people take
him seriously as a leader? Explain why or why not.


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6

(Press Conference)

Alexander Press Conference Prompts & Rubric

Directions: as a group, your team will pick one of the following prompts and recreate a press
conference with Alexander the Great. First, you will talk it over with your group members to
brainstorm ideas for questions and answers for Alexander. Second, you will write down your
questions and answers. Third, you will practice your roles and lines. The roles will be listed
below. Finally, your team will record the press conference and present them to the class.

Roles:
- Alexander
- Darius (prompt B only)
- Reporters/Interviewers (2-3)
- Writers (1-2)

Prompts:
Scenario A:
Alexander is having an empire-wide televised news conference at an important point in
his rule
- What questions might reporters ask?
o Come up with 1 question per reporter/interviewer
o How will Alexander respond? (answers to the questions, what will his
body language be like?

Scenario B:
Alexander and Darius appearing together as guests on a television talk show after the
battle at Gaugamela
- How will the conqueror and the defeated rival treat each other?
- What issues will cause arguments between them?
- What role will the show's host play?
o What questions will be asked? What will be the answers

Scenario C:
Alexander close to death, granting an interview to a writer for the Inquiring Macedonian
- What kind of publication is the Inquiring Macedonian?
- What questions would the interviewer want to ask Alexander? What would his
responses be? (think of questions along the lines of accomplishments, regrets, last
words, etc)

7
Rubric:
3 2 1
questions Includes many Includes some Lacks adequate
substantive substantive questions questions/quest
questions about about real events in the ions not based
real events in life of Alexander on Alexanders
the life of life
Alexander
answers Answers are fully in Answers are somewhat in Lacks full
character of Alexander character and somewhat answers/answers are
and historically accurate historically accurate not historically
accurate
style The press interviews/ The press interviews/ The press
conferences are in a conferences are slightly interviews are
conversational awkward/moderate incomplete
style/mimic modern structure (choppy)
day interviews
Roles Each student has a role Most students have a role Students roles are
and successfully and most complete tasks incomplete or not
completes their tasks visible

Total: ____/12

8

(The Legacy of Greece)



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