S10_Macedonia & Alexander the Great

• Macedonia came under the rule of Philip II in 364. He had been held hostage in Thebes at the age of 15, and had learned Epaminondas’ infantry tactics. He united Macedonia and began to take control of northern Greece.
• In 356, his son Alexander was born by his wife Olympias. In Athens, the orator Demosthenes, who overcame a speech impediment, spoke out against the increasing power of Macedonia. Isocrates spoke in favor of Philip and Macedonia.
• The rivalry between Thebes and Athens prevented them from uniting against the Macedonian threat until it was too late. Eubulus was a financial officer in charge of the Theoric Fund during this same period of Philip’s increasing power and influence.
• Onomarchus, a Phocian king, was the only man to defeat Philip.
• Eventually, Philip defeated Onomarchus. Demosthenes’ (born in 384) main speeches against Philip were called Philippics. Athens and Macedonia went to war. They agreed to the Peace of Philocrates in 346. The peace lasted from 346 to 341. Then war began again. In 338, Philip, with Alexander commanding the cavalry, defeated the combined forces of Thebes and Athens among others at the battle of Chaeronea. This victory made Philip master of Greece. In 336, he was assassinated.
• In 335, Thebes revolted. In 334, Alexander defeated the Persians at the battle of Granicus.
• In 333, Alexander entered the town of Gordion and cut the famous Gordian knot with his sword. Later that year (333), he defeated a Persian army 100,000 strong led personally by the Persian king Darius III at the battle of Issus.
• In 332, Alexander took the island city of Tyre by building a giant causeway after a seven-month siege. Alexander then conquered Egypt late in 332 and founded Alexandria in early 331. Alexander defeated Darius and a 200,000 strong Persian army at the battle of Gaugamela later in 331.
• The Greeks sacked the Persian capitals, Susa and Persepolis. Darius was murdered by his general, Bessus. Alexander’s horse, Bucephalus, was killed in a battle in India and Alexander founded a city named after him.
• Alexander fell ill and died at Babylon in 323 on June 13 at the age of 33.