The Alexander Mosaic:  Head of Alexander
PHILIP II AND

ALEXANDER THE GREAT
The Alexander Mosaic: The Head of Darius III



CHANGES INTRODUCED
  • (1) New military technology (brought from Sicily)
    New military technology (invented in Macedonia: SARISSA: spear)

  • (2) Wide use of bribery on friendly parties in Greek poleis

  • (3) Corruption of Delphic Council (Philip II makes himself president)

  • (4) The League Against the Persians revived by King Philip (338/7) as a way of 'uniting' the Greeks under himself (as 'hegemon': commander-in-chief) to fight the Persians (at least that's what he said). Forced Greek unity in violation of eleutheria ('liberty').

  • (5) Crusade of Hellenes against Asia (Philip and Alexander): expands the idea of what is Greek and brings Greeks into contact and gives them dominion over many other (older) civilizations

  • (6) Colonies of military veterans: urbanization

  • (7) Alexander's policy of intermarrying himself and his chieftains with members of the Iranian aristocracies of the Persian empire (e.g. Alexander himself and Roxane from Bactria/Afghanistan)

  • (8) Alexander's policy of founding new cities (32 ALEXANDRIAS): Greek language, Greek architecture, Greek gymnasium culture, Greek political institutions, but very mixed and mostly non-Greek citizens. The definition of 'Hellene/Greek' is no longer racial, ethnic, national-family, or even cultural in a natural develomental sense. 'Hellene' is a cultural term thereafter, but anybody can be a Hellene by adapting.

  • (9) Appearance in Greek cities of new artifacts, ideas, habits from other civilizations: new interpretations of reality (Aristotle)

  • (10) New religious cults and attitudes change the basic ideas of the Greek polis religion, as well as the meaning of life and death, reward and punishment (dualism of Mesopotamian Zoroastrianism)

  • (11) The breakup of Alexander's empire produces four separate monarchies (Ptolemies of Egypt, Seleucids of Syria-Mesopotamia, Attalids of Pergamum, Antigonids of Macedonia), who interfere in polis politics, to the point of severely damaging their political integrity through intimidation, domination.





See my Alexander the Great Bibliography.

Return to the Handouts List.




© J. P. Adams Revised: 7/23/1996
 

 

September 14, 2006 10:06 AM

John Paul Adams, CSUN
john.p.adams@csun.edu

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