1. ALEXANDER THE
GREAT
Social Studies for 9th E.G.B. | Teacher: Mauricio Torres

2. Phillip II
 When Athens finally decided to
take action against a threat that
came from the north, it was
already too late.
 Athens and other Greek city-
states had lost their independence
to Macedonia’s king Phillip II.
 Yet this disaster ushered in a new
age in which Greek influence
spread from the Mediterranean to
the borders of India, this was the
work of his son, Alexander the
Great.

3. Macedonia
 To the Greeks, the
rugged mountainous
kingdom of Macedonia
was a backward, half-
civilized land.
 Their rulers in fact, were
of Greek origin.
 Phillip had lived in
Thebes and had come to
admired Greek culture.
He even hired Aristotle
to be his son’s tutor.

4. Phillip’s Dream
 When Phillip gained the throne in
359 BC he began conquering and
allying with other Greek city-states.
 By 338 BC, he was finally able to
conquer the allied Thebes and
Athens, bringing almost of all of
Greece entirely, under his rule.
 He had proven himself to be the
greatest commander of his era.
 His grander dream was to conquer
Persia, but he was not able to do
so, because he was murdered
, under very shady
circumstances, during his
daughter’s wedding.
 He was succeeded by one of his
sons, Alexander.

5. Conquest of Persia
 Alexander was only 20 years old when he came to the
throne, yet he was already and experienced soldier
that shared his father’s ambitions.
 By 334, with all of Greece under his control, he
crossed the Dardanelles into Asia Minor to begin the
conquest of Persia.
 The Persian Empire was weaker, torn apart by internal
rebellions, but it still proved to be a formidable foe.

6. Conquest of Persia
 Alexander won his first
victory against the
Persians at Granicus.
Then victory to victory he
moved on from Asia Minor
into Palestine and south to
Egypt.
 In 331 BC, he moved to
conquer Babylon. After
that he captured other
Persian capitals, and
before he could capture
Darius III, the Persian
emperor, he was

7. Onward to India
 After conquering the Persian Empire, Alexander chose to cross the Hindu
Kush mountains (modern day Afghanistan) into the Indus valley. It was a
formidable feat, even to this day.
 There, in 326 BC, his army faced war elephants for the first time ever.
 Although he never lost a battle, his soldiers were tired and wanted to return
home. Reluctantly, they turned back to Babylon.

8. Sudden Death
 Before he could set out again, Alexander fell victim to a sudden
fever.
 As he lay dying, his commanders asked him, to whom he left the
empire. His reply was: “To the strongest”.
 No one proved strong enough and his vast empire was split into
three parts.

9. Small Facts I
 From his
tutor, Aristotle, young
Alexander acquired a love of
learning and the arts, but he
was first and foremost a
warrior. When Thebes
rebelled, he ordered the city
to be burned to the ground
and its inhabitants killed or
enslaved.
 But he told his soldiers to
spare the house where the
Greek poet Pindar had once
lived.

10. Small Facts II
 Alexander had a favorite horse
named Bucephalus. According to a
historian, Alexander was 12 years
old when he won the horse. No one
could tame the animal, but
Alexander wanted to try. He
promised to pay for the horse if he
failed.
 Alexander succeeded by turning the
horse towards the sun, so it couldn’t
see its own shadow, which was
frightening it.
 He loved the animal so much, that
when Bucephalus died, Alexander
named a city – Bucephala – after
the animal.

11. Small Facts III
 A brilliant commander, he never lost a battle. He inherited his
father’s abilities, mastered them and improved them.
 Phillip had improved the phalanx by adding the sarissa, which was
a longer spear that could be used as a dissuasive weapon.

12. Alexander’s Character
 By reading the three
“Small Facts”, what can
you tell from
Alexander’s
character?
 List down at least three
attributes of his
persona.

13. Bibliography
 Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2009). World History.
(P. Hall, Ed.) Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey, US: Pearson Education INC.
 Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World
History (Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.).
(H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing
Company.
 Images taken from Google.