the spoils he sends three hundred suits of armor to be dedicated to Athena, in the Acropolis; Phrygia and Sardis submit. Alexander proclaims liberty to the Lydians, and restores the democratic government of Ephesus. Continued success along the coast. 334 TO 330. Battle at Issus. Alexander meets Darius, king of Persia, and destroys his army; Darius, escaping to Babylon, raises a second; Damascus and Sidon submit to Alexander, who wins Tyre by a difficult siege; he gains the submission of Egypt and founds Alexandria. On his return to Phoenicia, he celebrates festivals and contests in the Greek style. Thence he starts for Babylon, meets Darius at Arbela, thoroughly defeats him, and becomes the master of the Persian Empire; he apportions its satrapies to his followers or friends; occupies Susa and Persepolis. 330 ΤΟ Alexander marches eastward, receiving the submission of the tribes, and founding cities; 323. pressing through mountain passes, crossing deserts and rivers, he reaches India. The soldiers refuse to go further. Alexander offers sacrifice and finds the omens unpropitious; erects altars to the great Greek gods and starts homeward. He prepares a fleet, which coasts the Indian Ocean from the Indus to the Euphrates, through waters before unknown to Europeans. On his return to Susa he marries the daughter of Darius, and about ten thousand Macedonians also take Persian wives. He goes to Babylon and prepares to circumnavigate Arabia and explore the Euphrates; but dies from the effect of a drunken revel. 323 ΤΟ Wars of the generals of Alexander for the right of dominion over his empire. In 301 is fought the battle of Ipsus, in Phrygia, which finally settles the division of the Alexandrian or Hellen 301. istic kingdoms: the chief of these are Egypt, which falls to the Ptolemies; Syria under the Seleucida; Pergamos, in the north-western part of Asia Minor, ruled by the line of Attalids; Macedon itself, to which Greece remains more or less subject. These kingdoms maintain an independent existence under absolute rulers, supported by standing armies that are officered by Greeks and Macedonians, until they become part of the Roman dominion in the first and second centuries B.C. The period from 323 to 146 B.C. is marked in Greece by a series of attempts at local independence and social and political reform; these attempts are made, sometimes by individual cities, notably, by Athens under Demosthenes, and by Sparta under its kings Agis and Cleomenes, and sometimes by the Greek leagues, notably, the Achæan and Ætolian. Each of the cities in these leagues has its own local government, but their common business is done by an assembly or council chosen by all, in which each city has one. vote. QUESTIONS ON I. In the name of what people are the conquests of Alexander made? Name all the proofs of this. How far is he himself Greek? Proofs. Why does the conquest of a country mean the conquest of its cities? Of what value are his conquests to commerce? Why should the motto on p. 119 be chosen? On the face of it, what fault is there in the Greek attempts at independence? In these leagues what new political form do you note? What modern governments do they somewhat resemble? NOTE. See Map facing p. 75. Alexander himself is said to have founded more than seventy towns; in each he left a permanent Greek-speaking garrison, ruling the native population according to Greek political forms and ideas. QUESTIONS ON MAP AND NOTE. How does the size of this empire compare with that of those before noticed? What element of unity does it possess? What element does it lack? Why should Alexander turn eastward rather than westward for conquest? What wisdom is displayed in choosing the coast-route rather than in striking for the interior? What is the use of his establishing towns along his route? What great cities of the world are due to the foundations of Alexander and his successors? Of what value is the position of Alexandria? What does his march alone tell us of the character of Alexander? Of his greatness? What civilizations are brought into mutual contact by these conquests? 2. List of Famous Names and Works in the Kingdoms of the Diadocha (Successors of Alexander). |