William

=**The Late Classical Period** = 

==Climate and Geographic Factors  ==  -Mediterranean climate was semiarid[|"] -Had long, dry, hot summers and cool, moist winters[|"] -Northern Greece has a more continental climate[|"] -Western Greece rainier than eastern Greece[|"] -Water overall was scarce[|"] -Drought was common [|"] -Soil is rocky but moderately fertile, good for olive trees[|"] -Best soil was in deposits in small plains[|"] -Wood was abundant, but gradually became scarcer[|"] -Wood was beginning to be imported around 5th century BC[|"] -Overall climate was somewhat unpredictable[|"] -Droughts as well as torrential rainstorms were both constant threats[|"] -Drought could kill crops, but rainstorms could flood them especially in gullies[|"] -Aegean Sea was a concern for residents on the coast[|"] -The often calm sea could have sudden, unpredictable storms[|"] -Plants that grew well were barley, wheat, oats, grapevines, and olive trees[|"] -For protein Greeks were able to grow legumes and nuts[|"] -Supplemented their diet with vegetables, fruits such as figs, and a little meat occasionally[|"] -Wine was a favourite beverage; classical Greeks drank little milk and a lot of water [|"]

Events and Leaders
 -Sparta had unstable rule from 404-371 BC[|"]  -Many, small damaging, indecisive conflicts between Sparta and city-states[|"] -Thebes succeeded in defeating Sparta at battle of Leuctra[|"] -This forever ruled out Sparta as a major influence on Greece[|"]

-An unstable, war-weary, and vunerable Greece unprepared for new military power[|"] -In 359 Philip II rises to throne in Macedonia, a region of scattered tribes[|"] -Philip began organizing and unifying disorganized, weak tribes[|"] -Eventually united Macedonia and trained scattered militia into powerful army[|"] -Philip looked towards Athens as an opportunity for conquest[|"] -By 356 began educating his son Alexander, who showed promise[|"] -Aristotle, the prominent Athenian philosopher, tutored Alexander at request of his father[|"] -Instilled Alexander ideas of war and how war is justified[|"]

-While Alexander growing up, Philip made aggressive advances South towards Greece[|"] -Many Athenians ignored these conquests and advances[|"] -Orator Demosthenes warned of Philip’s designs on Greece[|"] -He protested Philip’s presence, called him barbaric and urged Athenians to rise up against Macedonians[|"] -Made a series of speeches, “Phillipics”, that criticized Philip and compelled Athens to take action [|"] -Most Greeks did not heed warnings until 346[|"] -In 346 BC Philip moved into southern Greece and took over Delphi Shrines[|"] -More people listened to Demosthenes now; united front formed to combat Philip[|"] -Battle of Chaeronea fought between 35,000 Greek hoplites and 30,000 of Philip’s forces[|"] -Philip’s superior strategy and more powerful army ensured victory for Macedonians[|"] -By now Philip could claim to control all of Greece [|"]  -Thought that he could unite and control Greeks by fighting against common enemy[|"] -Proposed Greek invasion of Persia in 337[|"]

-Philip assassinated the following year; Alexander his son took over[|"] -Continued plans to invade Persia; commanded 32,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry to Hellespont in 334[|"] -Alexander prayed for victory in Troy before beginning campaign[|"]   -Considered himself part god[|"] -Within three years Alexander captured eastern region of Persia[|"] -In 332, Alexander was welcomed into Egypt as a liberator[|"] -Believed in “Hellenization”, the spread of Greek culture to other lands[|"] -Spread culture by building temples, monuments, cities, etc.[|"] -Founded Alexandria near Nile River in 331[|"] -By now army numbered 40,000 infantry, 7000 cavalry [|"] -As Greeks prepared to approach Persian Babylon, leader Darius assembled 250,000 troops[|"] -Two forces met on October 1, 331[|"] -Darius planned to arm chariots with scythes to chop Alexander’s infantrymen[|"] -Alexander’s troops were too intimidating; eventually forced Darius to retreat[|"] -Once Darius fled, the whole Persian army retreated too[|"] -Alexander followed, killing 40,000 Persians and suffering 1000 losses[|"] -Alexander took the rest of Persia without trouble[|"] -Alexander moved east, conquering regions now known as Iran, Afganistan, and Pakistan[|"] -Continued to “Hellenize” Persians; ordered 10,000 of his troops to marry them[|"] -Alexander had further ambitions, but got sick and died at 33[|"] -By his death, Alexander’s empire stretched from Macedonia to Egypt to India and encompassed over a million square miles[|"] -Empire was divided among remaining generals -The remains of Alexander’s efforts continued to influence flourishing Greek culture in Hellenized regions <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype'; line-height: 14px;">[|"]

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">-Sociopolitical structure mostly designed around “Polis” culture[|"] -Polis was the Greek word for city[|"] -the definition of a city for a Greeks was the citizens themselves, rather than a geographic location[|"] -women, slaves, the poor without territory, and “metics” (aliens) were not considered citizens[|"] -A typical citizen was a warrior “Hoplite”, an infantryman equipped with a hoplon[|"] -l <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">and ownership was required for Hoplite status[|"] -Athenian citizens divided into four “official” social classes[|"] -citizenship itself was a class[|"] -post 451 BC, to be a citizen you had to have two citizen parents[|"] -while all citizens had right to speak, but aristocrats dominated assemblies[|"] -Aristocrats considered themselves the “handsome and noble”[|"] -The wealthy were considered more noble, and were valued because they contributed to the citizens through taxes called liturgies[|"] -Another class was slaves[|"] -Slaves could be craftsmen, laborers, miners, servants, prostitutes, or field workers[|"] -Slaves were called “metics”[|"] -Women were another social class on their own[|"] -They were either limited or empowered depending on whether looking from a modern or ancient perspective[|"] -Marriages were arranged[|"] -Ideally wives would stay at home[|"] -All women were under power of a guardian (kyrios)[|"] -Women had power in domestic and religious circles[|"] -Was normal for a woman to work as a baker, innkeeper, nurse, midwife, prostitutes or dancer[|"] -Some prostitutes were famous and respected and had influence on powerful male figures <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">[|"]

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Art, Literature, and Music
<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">-Drama main part of Athenian life [|"] -Comedies and tragedies performed for festivals [|"] -Obvious civic structure within theaters [|"] -Seats reserved for priests, magistrates, sons of war veterans, and ambassadors [|"] -Professional actors starred in plays; no metics or slaves allowed to participate [|"] -Early on, plays free or ticketed but in late Classical age a “theoric fund” created to make plays accessible to poor [|"] -The aristocratic thinker Socrates’ trial was in 399 BC [|"] -officially charged with “corrupting the youth” [|"] -Many accusations founded against him of elitism and supporting aristocratic causes [|"] -Many of his students came from wealthy families, which didn’t help his claim of being a regular citizen [|"] -The prosecution proposed a punishment of death; Socrates proposed a counter-punishment of “free lunch in the city hall” [|"] -This angered the ~4000 citizen jury, and more jury members voted to execute Socrates than voted him guilty [|"] -Socrates’ famous student was Plato [|"] -Plato was an influential philosopher during the fourth century [|"] -Most of his opinions were written as dialogues, without a clear angle or bias on the part of Plato [|"] -Plato wrote //Politeia//, which describes an ideal city and discusses power structures, the soul, the human body, and reincarnation [|"] -Especially interested in reality, perception, and relativity [|"] -Other dialogues examine love, poetry, and sexuality [|"] -Much of 4th century literature existed in prose and was not preserved well <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">[|"]

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">-One of the most famous scientists was the physician Hippocrates [|"] -Hippocrates wrote the “Hippocratic Corpus”, which still influenced medicine up until the 18th century [|"] -Aristotle was a great late Classical period scientist [|"] -Tutored Alexander the Great [|"] -Had ideas on a broad range of topics, including government, poetry, and natural science [|"] -Had abstract physics-related ideas related to weight, matter, and motion [|"] -Loved most to study animals through a biology lens, and learn about their anatomy, physiology origins, behavior, development, and classification [|"] -Described a wide variety of organisms [|"] -Had a logical view of nature; believed that every part of an animal had a purpose to help it survive [|"] -One of the only classical writers to make use of observations in addition to logic, second hand accounts, and literary tradition <span style="color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-family: 'Palatino Linotype';">[|"] <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">

<span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">
<span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">-Main staple of the classical greek army were hoplites [|"] -hoplites were quipped with a large sword that covered half the body and called a hoplon [|"] -shield and style of soldier was designed for a phalanx [|"] -Phalanx could be adapted to many different maneuvers [|"] -Philip II perfected the phalanx and Alexander made extended use of it [|"] -Full equipment included a shield, a bronze helmet, a heavy bronze corselet, bronze greaves to protect legs, and a long iron spear, and a back up short sword [|"] -hoplites bought their own armour [|"] -Other soldiers in a late classical hoplite army included archers, slingers, and javelin throwers [|"]

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;">**Essay** Classical Greece influenced our modern world broadly. Much if not most of our western culture has roots that go back to classics, whether it is our political system, our entertainment, our love of orators, rhetoric, and powerful speakers, our art, our architecture, our science and medicine, and the list goes on. What is important to remember, however, is that Classical Greece had so much influence on our current culture, not just because of the significance and magnitude of these achievements, but because they withstood hundreds and hundreds of years to still be impressive and influential in our modern society. The key to this legacy was the concept of Hellenization, widely used by Alexander. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">[|"] <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> His military achievements were exceptional, but the legacy of his empire would not be possible without Hellenization.[|"] Alexander taught us that cultural proliferation is the single most important factor in creating a dominant, powerful and enduring influence on the world.

By not focusing on one aspect of Greek culture, and distributing all of the dimensions of it, Alexander ensured that it would flourish by being relevant to all kinds of peoples and influence all aspects of future society. Alexander was highly educated as a child, and received much of his education from Aristotle, who helped instill in him a love of Greek knowledge and culture. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">[|"] <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> When Alexander reached Egypt, he decided to prove he was not only a conqueror and destroyer, but a progressive leader that could unify his new territories by spreading culture. Alexander spread Hellenic knowledge, such as the arts, ideas and language that flourished in the early classical period, to the Egyptian population. In every region that he conquered, Alexander ensured that seeds of culture in diverse areas of culture were spread, building temples theatres, gymnasiums, and even cities, the most famous of which was Alexandria. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;">[|"]  <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> The Egyptians were so impressed that their priests praised the new city and told Alexander that the city would be “prosperous in every respect”.[|"]

Upon Alexander’s death, his empire fell and was divided by his generals, but he left a legacy. Historian James Henry Breasted once wrote “Alexander has been well termed ‘the Great.’ Few men of genius - certainly in so brief a career - have left so indelible a mark upon the course of human affairs.” <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> [|"] The Greek arts, science, language and architecture extended throughout the empire, and succeeded particularly in Alexandria and other Hellenized cities. The cities’ inhabitants spread these ideas to future generations, ensuring they live on even today. Greek politics, art, language, architecture, and science are present in our society, and we have learned a great deal from these achievements in the Classical period. However, we would not know about them without Alexander’s broad propagation of them. If we want our current 21st century culture to leave a lasting impression, all we have to do is learn from the widely effective efforts of Alexander.

Current society can learn from successes, but also from failures. Proof of how key the importance of Alexander’s strategy of Hellenization was in his expeditions lies in the empire before him, that of the Spartans. Before the rule of Alexander, Sparta conquered Greece but could not control it. In 404 BC, when Athens and its allies surrendered to Sparta and lost the Peloponnesian war, Sparta had limited control over Greece and never had any strong power. Sparta was not able to rule the Greek city-states effectively, having abolished democracy and replaced in with oligarchy without any transition periods. Sparta attempted to force Greece to conform to its conservative values and political system. This may seem similar to Alexander’s methods, but the key difference is that Alexander constantly reminded the territories he took over that he was building up their society by providing them with new artwork, ideas, buildings, and prosperous cities, which made territories like Egypt welcome him. In contrast, the destructive policies of Sparta provoked small, damaging wars between the Spartan rulers and various city-states. Eventually, in 371, Thebes handed Sparta a crushing blow in the battle Leuctra, effectively ending the tyrannical reign of Sparta. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> [|"]

These models of colonization and how effective they are are visible in our current world as well. Take westernization, for example. The unimposing spread of Western culture to regions such as Asia and the Middle East is quite effective. Many citizens who have experienced western culture positively view it as something that can be adapted to their own society, and welcomed it as a new way to enjoy mainstream western entertainment, arts, language, and ideas. Unintentionally, English has become the default international language because of the pressing but not overbearing influence of American and European culture, much like Alexander promoted Greek as a language. However, Spartan methods of American military conquests in the Middle East have proven ineffective, largely because the culture spread is imposing and insulting to the local people. <span style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','serif'; color: rgb(64, 64, 64); font-size: 10pt;"> [|"] A forced English culture has promoted backlash from various insurgent groups, as well as individual citizens themselves, creating disarray and minor skirmishes that make Iraq’s occupation a disaster.[|"] America is ignoring the valuable lesson of Greek history and following the failing example. We, as a culture, have much to learn from Alexander about promoting a culture to leave a positive lasting impression, not a backlash. Moreover, the tyrannical military dictatorships and world leaders can learn that a lack of cultural diversity and individual freedoms will lead to dissatisfied citizens and a neutered empire, and a legacy that is either infamous or forgotten.

Even within the exploding influence and positive reach of western culture, there is much room for improvement. The globalized, westernized pop culture of today owes its success to the imitation of the concept of cultural proliferation laid down by Alexander.[|"] But Alexander did much more than churn out Hollywood movies for the masses’ enjoyment. By focusing on the aspects of Greek culture he knew were important and would make a lasting impression, Alexander ensured that the Hellenic ethos would survive hundreds of years. While the West has great influence today, a majority of the culture we create has a short term, pop-culture style to it, which means that only a small portion of it will go beyond a global fad to a long-term inspiration for future civilizations. Alexander had a dream of a united world, and most current cultural ideas do not have enough substance to be pillars for a peaceful, globalized, and unified earth. Until we learn to popularize the substantial rather than the shallow, like Alexander our current culture does not stand a chance against the test of time.

For a society to have great influence over others, it is not simply enough for it to produce popular material for others to consume. Modern societies have much to learn from Alexander’s strategic, selective spread of Hellenic culture which ensured he became a world superpower. Alexander has shown that the most effective way to come to power and leave a legacy Is by spreading culture throughout all lands a region wants to influence, and strategically placing lasting remnants of it by building cities and architecture while spreading ideas. The ideas and culture must have substance, however, and not be imposed or forced upon regions in order for to prospective ruling society to succeed. Until these lessons are learned by the world, we will constantly have conflict, damaging differences, and a divided global society. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-size: 17px; line-height: 25px;"> <span style="color: rgb(38, 42, 44); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 37px;"> ** <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">~"Explore: Greece - Agriculture." Oracle ThinkQuest Library. 2001. ThinkQuest. 02 May 2009 <http://library.thinkquest.org/C0122667/greece/agri.html>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">~Knox, Skip. "Alexander the Great." History of Western Civilization. Boise State University. 21 Apr. 2009 <http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/alexander/04.shtml>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">~Nagle, Brendan D. The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History **<span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2010. review copy <span style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">~Nardo, Don. **<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Ancient Greece ** <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1994. <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">~Pomeroy, Sarah B., Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. **<span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">Ancient Greece A Political, Social and Cultural History. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 2007. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">~Winks, Robin W. Ancient Mediterranean World from the Stone Age to A.D. 600. New York: Oxford UP, 2004. <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);">~"Alexander the Great." __Thucydides: Now and Then or Then IS Now__. 11 May 2009 <http://www.thucydides.netfirms.com/ancient/alexander.html>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">~Arrian. __Alexander The Great Selections From Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, And Quintus Curtius__. Boston: Hackett Company, 2005. ~"The Classical Origins of Western Civilization." __AbleMedia LLC - A Knowledge Company__. 11 May 2009 <http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/stdygde.htm>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> ~"Monte Polizzo: The central question, what was Hellenization?" __Stanford University__. 11 May 2009 <http://www.stanford.edu/group/mountpolizzo/hellenization.htm>. <span style="color: rgb(0, 128, 0);"> Image credits: click on images to reveal sources.
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