Today, Greece’s landscapes are universally known; the immaculate white houses with their blue roofs are even one of the main reasons tourists set out to explore this Mediterranean country. But have you ever wondered why these dwellings scattered across the Greek islands are blue and white?
According to the Greek City Times, the colors of these houses have long been associated with those of the Greek flag, but there are also other, much more practical reasons…
Cooling the Rooms
The first reason is heat. According to a website about Greece and Cyprus, the Cycladic islands, which regularly face waves of extreme heat, were once devoid of accessible wood, and the houses were traditionally built from dark stone. The dark hue of these stones easily absorbed sunlight—and therefore heat. To remedy the stifling and unlivable interiors, locals began to paint their houses white to reflect the sun’s rays and cool the rooms.
Nowadays, as we explained to GEO in 2022, Athens, the Greek capital, is renovating many of its neighborhoods with light-colored coatings (albedo 0.55) to reduce the increasingly scorching temperatures linked to climate change.
Cholera Epidemic
The white color of traditional Greek foundations is also associated with preventing the spread of cholera during the 19th century. This disease, a major scourge of the time, is a waterborne infection that spread rapidly in densely populated areas.
Thus, explains Real Greeks, to limit the risk of large-scale transmission, past governments encouraged residents to paint their houses white. In fact, the limewash used was made from limestone, whose composition had disinfectant properties.
Blue and White, “the Colors of Patriotism”
Finally, more recently, the military dictatorship established in Greece in 1967—following the coup led by Brigade General Stylianos Pattakos—played a major role in the famous colors of Greek cities.
In 1974, six years after the coup, the military dictatorship adopted a law requiring that island houses be painted white and blue to represent the patriotic colors of the country, explains the Greek media outlet In.
Today, although the law is no longer mandatory, these colors have become an important marker of “Greek aesthetics” and, at the same time, a major tourist attraction.
Around 500 BC, Greek coastal communities in Asia Minor rose up against the Persian Empire and its leader, Darius. Athens, as a city-state, attempted to send aid, but it was unsuccessful. The insurrection was crushed, and the Emperor decided to launch an invasion of Greece as vengeance. Thus began the First Persian War in 492 BC, which culminated in the surprising defeat of the Persians. Darius’s son Xerxes, who became king after his death, is ready to get revenge for the insult his father suffered. The Second Persian War started in 480 BC, after several years of buildup. It’s a stunning and unlikely triumph for the Greeks once again. A turning point that ushered in the classical period and signaled the end of Persian expansionism.
FIRST PERSIAN INVASION OF GREECE (492 BC to 490 BC)
Battle of Marathon.
What caused the First Persian War? (First Persian invasion of Greece)
The Persian king Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great)’s reign in the sixth century BC saw the expansion of his modest kingdom into a massive empire that spanned from India to the Mediterranean. After a string of military victories, he conquered the Lydian kingdom along the Aegean Sea in 547 BC, seizing several Greek coastal towns in Asia Minor in the process. Twenty years later, the newly installed Persian emperor Darius I made the strategic decision to expand the realm by successfully initiating the invasion of Thrace and the seashores of the Sea of Marmara. By virtue of this expansion, Persia was now de facto in charge of the maritime commerce between the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea, and therefore the Mediterranean. A great threat to Greece.
Greek towns of Ionia, which were part of the Persian Empire under Cyrus but enjoyed considerable autonomy, saw their power diminish under Darius. He levied excessive and unfair taxes, sparing only the emperor’s loyal subjects. The Greeks’ rebellion against the Persians was inspired by a sense of injustice and the longing for freedom.
The Ionian Revolt started in 499 BC. The Ionians went to Sparta, the leader of the region’s most powerful army, for help when things seemed bleak, but Sparta, like most other towns on the peninsula, refused to participate despite pleas for “Greek brotherhood.” But Athens alone provided military aid. The naval battle of Ladae, which began in 494 BC and was first won by the Ionians, was ultimately reversed when the Persians recovered their early advantage. When the Greek fleet was attacked, it was completely destroyed. Miletus (Milet, Miletos), a city in the region, was captured and afterwards destroyed.
During the First Persian War
Darius planned an invasion of mainland Greece in 492 BC as retaliation for Athens’ aid to the revolutionaries. To put it simply, this was the first shot fired in the First Persian War (First Persian invasion of Greece). In 491 BC, the Persian Empire sent envoys to every city in Greece, demanding surrender. Some countries agreed, but Athens and Sparta rejected the offer and had the diplomats killed. The First Persian War officially kicked off when the Persian army sailed across the Aegean Sea in 490 BC.
One by one, the Cyclades islands that lied between the two coasts were conquered. Rapidly advancing to Euboea’s southernmost point, the Persian expedition then pushed north to the allied city of Eretria, which had previously been under Athens’ protection. The first stage of the emperor’s vengeance was the swift seizure of its populace and deportation to Mesopotamia.
After that, the Persians continued on toward Athens. When the Persians attacked Athens, the Athenians could have waited there to defend the city, but instead they chose to meet them on the plain of Marathon. In the middle of September in 490 BC, the two sides engaged in a decisive fight. Even though the odds were against them, the Athenians were able to drive back the Persian army’s massive infantry and thick armor.
Who won the First Persian War?
The Greek people quickly adopted Athens’ triumph as a symbol, since it proved that the Persians were not unbeatable. In the wake of their glorious victory at Marathon, the Athenians wanted to further cement their position as the dominant power in Greece. Against this background, the military tactician Themistocles rose to prominence and played a pivotal role in the establishment of a military alliance among several Greek towns known as the Delian League.
Since the Persians achieved many crucial goals during the war, including control of the Aegean Sea and the establishment of subservient governments on all of the islands, the defeat was nonetheless seen as a relative failure on their side. A surprise uprising in Egypt, which had been ruled by the Persians since 525 BC and which likewise sought its freedom, soon diverted Darius’s focus.
SECOND PERSIAN INVASION OF GREECE (480 BC to 479 BC)
The Spartans throw Persian envoys into a well. M. A. Barth – ‘Vorzeit und Gegenwart”, Augsbourg, 1832
What caused the Second Persian War? (Second Persian invasion of Greece)
Death came for Darius in 486 BC, after he had spent his last months crushing an Egyptian uprising. His son, Xerxes I, succeeded him with the goal to “blow a wind of horror across Greece” and revenge the defeat suffered by the Persian army at the hands of the Athenians. He spent over five years planning a massive military campaign, consisting of a marine and land assault. Some modern historians put the number of men involved at between 300,000 and 500,000.
This was accompanied by the mobilization of 600 ships. The Greeks had also been getting ready for the approaching fight, albeit they had less resources at their disposal (about 370 galleys and less than 100,000 troops). Athens supplied the majority of the fleet; using money from the Laurion mines, it had 200 ships built.
The Persian Empire was numerically superior over the Greek possessions in Sicily, but Xerxes still didn’t want to take any chances, so he formed an alliance with Carthage. By allying himself with some of the locals, the emperor also took advantage of the historical rivalry between the several towns. A large number of Greek towns opted to take a neutral stance and not join the Delian League. The Persians won a string of successes in the early months of the war.
How was the Second Persian War
Spring of 480 BC. marked the beginning of the Second Persian War. The Persian army swiftly conquered Thessaly and Pieria, and then pressed on to Athens. The two battles of Artemisia and Thermopylae in the summer of 480 BC resulted in a definite Persian victory but proved more difficult and arduous than predicted, with a strong storm robbing Xerxes of part of his naval fleet and the Greek allies inflicting enormous casualties on the Persian soldiers.
After conquering Boeotia, Xerxes moved on to Attica. Due to the severity of the threat, Athens was forced to evacuate its citizens. In September, the Persians made an incursion into Athens, devastated the city, and slaughtered its remaining inhabitants. The Greeks realized they needed a drastic change if they want to restore power. Xerxes was alerted that numerous Greek generals intended to desert and sought to be let to go. It was a sentiment shared by the Emperor, who was anticipating a triumphant outcome.
Even yet, it was all a ploy, as the Greek ships quickly took advantage of the circumstance to surround the Persian ships, cutting off the emperor’s supply of warriors. When half of the Persian fleet and the ground troops vanished during the Battle of Salamis, it was clear that the tide had turned. Xerxes abandoned his army and sought safety in Asia Minor.
The Persians re-invaded Attica in the spring of 479 BC, reigniting hostilities between the two countries. After initially taking a backseat in the struggle, Sparta now decided to act and join in the combat on an equal footing with the other parties. After a decisive victory in the Battle of Plataea, the combined Greek and ally forces drove the Persians out of Europe. The autumn of 479 BC saw the culmination of the Greek counterattack with the naval victory at Cape Mycale in Ionia.
Who won the Second Persian War?
The outcome in Greece was now certain. The Spartans went home, thinking this is the end. The Athenians decided to keep fighting and, in particular, to lay siege to the Persian-held city of Sestos. A few months later, the Persian commander at Sestos was captured by storm and crucified. Historians like Herodotus and Thucydides wrote that the end of the Persian Wars was signaled by the fall of this city.
That so, there isn’t universal agreement on this, and conflict between the Persians and the Greeks went on for decades. The Athenians gained power and prestige as a result of the war; they used the booty from the Persians to fund the city’s reconstruction, they led the Delian League to victory, and their navy eventually came to dominate the Mediterranean. During the Battle of Eurymedon, which occurred between 469 and 466 BC, Athens and its League allies soundly destroyed the Persian army. In this way, the possibility of another Persian invasion of Greece and the conquest of Greek towns in Asia Minor by the Empire was eliminated.
The aftermath of the Persian Wars
Athens and Persia signed the Peace of Callias in 449 BC to end their wars. To ensure the independence of the Greek towns in Asia, Artaxerxes I (son of Xerxes) swore he would never send ships into Greek seas or troops within three days’ march of the shore. Herodotus, a Greek historian, started writing his magnum opus, the Histories, on the rise and fall of the Persian Empire and the Persian Wars, about 445 BC.
As a result of its pivotal role in the Greek troops’ triumph against the Persians, Athens expanded its dominance to the disadvantage of Sparta. The Peloponnesian War, which lasted from 431 to 404 BC, was fought between the Delian League (under Athens’ dominance) and the Peloponnesian League (under Spartan hegemony).
KEY DATES OF THE GRECO-PERSIAN WARS
The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent under Darius the Great.
498 BC: Capture of Sardis
The Greeks made an invasion in the Asia Minor city of Sardis and attempted to dislodge the Persians from their control there. The lower city was burned to the ground, but the citadel was holding strong. The governor of Sardis controlled the Persian-installed tyrants in the Ionian towns (located around the Aegean Sea, mostly in modern-day Turkey). This partial triumph, however, portended an eventual loss at Ephesus and the implementation of harsh new repressive measures by Darius I, King of Persia.
494 BC: Sack of Miletus
It was only fitting that the Persian Empire took its anger out on Miletus, the catalyst for the uprising of the Ionian towns. Women and children were taken as slaves to the east as the city was sacked. This devastating loss, brought on by disunity among the Greek towns, foreshadowed the First Persian War; on the other hand, Athens’ future dominance was resting on this spirit of cooperation.
490 BC: Darius destroys Byzantium
The city of Byzantium was sacked, looted, and razed to the ground by Darius the Great’s Persian army during the First Persian War. Byzantium, which had been occupied by Greeks since the city’s founding, perhaps two centuries before, was one of the Persian king’s most pressing goals. However, its location on the shore of the Bosphorus, between Asia and Europe, gave it an advantage. Darius, on the other hand, still planned to get revenge on Athens for its role in fomenting rebellion against him.
September 13, 490 BC: Battle of Marathon
As the Persian army arrived on the plain of Marathon, Miltiades, in command of the Athenian hoplites, an assault began. Despite their numerical advantage, the Persians soundly defeated. Only 192 Greeks were killed while 6,400 Persians were killed. However, the tradition claims that a soldier named Pheidippides ran all the way to Athens to spread the news of the triumph before collapsing from weariness. This magnificent competition was being held to celebrate the Marathon tournament. Upon this plain, the First Persian War came to a close, and the golden age of Athens and democracy began.
486 BC: Death of Darius I
Persian King Darius I passed away while on an expedition to put down an uprising in Egypt. Upon his death, his son Xerxes I ascended to the throne with the goal of reversing his father’s failure in Greece. With lightning speed, he started the Second Persian War and set his sights on Athens, the city that had rescued the Greeks in 490 BC. Once upon a time, the Achaemenid dynasty ruled supreme over the vast and strong Persian Empire, and it remained so until the rise of Alexander the Great of Macedon.
483 BC: Discovery of the Mines of Laurion
The Athenians exposed the Laurion silver mines on their own land. As well as contributing to the development of the city, this discovery turned to be crucial during the Second Persian War. Themistocles amassed this fortune by building 200 triremes during the wars with Aegina. But since he thought the threat extended beyond Greece’s borders, thus these sleek vessels became crucial in the Battle of Salamis.
July 480 BC: Junction of the Persian Troops
The Persian army is using Thessalonica as a hub to assemble a massive fleet of ships and warriors, maybe 150,000 strong. Afterwards, the ships follow the shoreline so as to maintain a constant distance from the on-the-ground forces. The Greeks, having reached a consensus at the Congress of Corinth in the summer of 481 BC, coordinate and resolve to evacuate the northern part of Greece. At the pass of Thermopylae, a small spot that limited the advantage of large units, they waited for the Persians.
September 17, 480 BC: Beginning of the Battle of the Cape of Artemision
Three hundred Greek triers, the vast bulk of whom hail from Athens, stood ready at the Cape of Artemisia for the massive Persian fleet. The outcome of the subsequent battles was uncertain, although stopping the Persian assault was the Greeks’ primary objective. The former’s fleet was so intimidating that the Greeks had to retreat. A few days later, though, things begin to change. Even though the Persian fleet had sailed away from the shore, a large portion of it was destroyed by the storm.
19 September 480 BC: Heroic defeat of Leonidas at Thermopylae
Fighting with the support of seven hundred Spartan, Theban and Platonic volunteers, King Leonidas I of Sparta heroically resisted several thousand Persians who surround him. The Lacedaemon leader and his men fought to the death to force the bulk of the Greek troops to retreat. After an unexpected betrayal, the Persians found a way to strike the Greeks in the back, thus disrupting their defense plan. The Greeks then retreated to concentrate on the isthmus of Corinth. Athens was now sacked by the Persians and the Parthenon, then built of wood, and was burned.
29 September 480 BC: Victory of the Greeks at Salamis
Since the Persian fleet was larger and about to deploy Xerxes I’s troops on Greek soil, the Athenian fleet was performing retreat. In the Strait of Salamis, they faced the Persians. But it was a trap, since the Isthmus connecting the island to the mainland was too narrow. The Greek boats, which were easier to control, under the direction of the Athenian tactician Themistocles, were able to destroy the enemy ships that had been trapped in this narrow strait. From a high point in Attica, Xerxes saw his army crushed.
August 27, 479 BC: Death of Mardonios at Plataea
Persian commander Mardonius was slain leading an attack against a Lacedemonian force. The Greeks, led by Pausanias, then defeated the Persians in battle at Plataea, located to the north of Athens. After the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes handed over leadership to Mardonius and went to Persia for the winter. The fighting had continued since the spring, but it paid off for the Greeks. The Persians started to leave the towns of Ionia that they had ruled over since the turn of the last century.
478 BC: The Spartan Pausanias takes Byzantium
Regent of Sparta, Pausanias took the reins of the Greek army against the Persians. After distinguishing himself at the Battle of Plataea, he marched on Cyprus and then seized the city of Byzantium. The city was rebuilt after being completely destroyed by Darius a few years before. General Alcibiades of Athens conquered it in 409 BC.
478 BC: Formation of the Delian League
Some Greek towns joined a league inspired by Themistocles and Aristides, and eventually the league’s leadership was brought back to Athens. The city of Delos remained the official name of this coalition. The purpose of the Delian League was to forestall a fresh Persian onslaught, and it focused only on the navy rather than the land forces. Even when the city was still basking in the glow of its victory in Salamis, an imperialist shift was being signaled.
472 BC: Aeschylus presents “The Persians”
In Athens, Aeschylus staged a play of “The Persians.” The text of this ancient Greek tragedy, which recalled the Second Persian War and, more specifically, the Battle of Salamis, was the first of its kind to survive. Aeschylus, who participated in these conflicts personally, provided graphic and bloody details, but more than anything else, this writer revolutionized the genre by having several actors appear onstage instead of just a narrator and a chorus.
Bibliography:
Davis, Paul. 100 Decisive Battles. Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 1-57607-075-1
Higbie, C. The Lindian Chronicle and the Greek Creation of their Past. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Powell J., Blakeley D.W., Powell, T. Biographical Dictionary of Literary Influences: The Nineteenth Century, 1800-1914. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. ISBN 978-0-313-30422-4
Fuller, J.F.C. A Military History of the Western World. Funk & Wagnalls, 1954.
Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), one of history’s most successful conquerors, ruled over ancient Macedonia for 13 years. Alexander was a Greek king, explorer, and general. From the time of his first victory at the age of 18, he always moved his soldiers quickly into battle before the enemy lines were ready. He never lost a battle throughout his career. During his 13 years as King of Macedonia, Alexander the Great established an empire that stretched from Greece to what is now northwest India.
Alexander, King of Macedon
Detail of Charles Le Brun’s painting “Alexander and Porus” depicting Alexander the Great; it is located at the Louvre in Paris, France.
Alexander became King in 336 BC following the assassination of his father, Philip II, and was educated by the scholar Aristotle. In 336 BC, after crushing multiple uprisings, Alexander launched a massive invasion into Persian territory. Alexander started with repeated wins, eventually taking over almost the whole Persian Empire. Following his victories at Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, Alexander set his sights on India next. He went as far as the foothills of the Himalayas, after which he returned to Babylon to rule over his conquests. The cultural legacy that his dominion spread to the East, however, did outlive him.
In general, knowledge of ancient Macedonia’s past is poor. During the Neolithic Era, several migratory peoples made their way there (c. 6200 BC). After 3000 BC, the mountainous areas between Mount Olympus and Mount Pindus were settled by people who spoke Greek. It was amid the fertile alluvial plains of Haliacmon and Axios that Perdiccas I of Macedon founded his empire in the 7th century BC. Philip II led his nation to new heights of success and growth in the 4th century BC. In 338 BC, he achieved victory against the Greeks and united Greece and Macedonia into a single kingdom.
Alexander, the son of Philip II and Olympias, the Princess of Epirus, became King of Macedonia at the age of 18 (336 BC) after his father’s assassination. He was a student of Aristotle, who provided him with a rigorous education that helped cultivate his intrepidity, bravery, and innate disposition for battle. His whole upbringing had been shaken by tales of Hercules and Achilles, mythical forebears of the Macedonian throne. He had already made his mark in his father’s army as a young man, showing great skill in battle. Because of his magnetic charisma, Alexander was unrivaled in his ability to inspire his troops to victory in the face of adversity. Not only did the young prince learn to ride very well (his horse’s name was Bucephalus), but he also helped his father in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, where he gained invaluable experience in the art of combat.
Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus by Domenico Maria Canuti (1645-1684).
Philip II of Macedon, who had recently conquered the Greek towns, was just getting ready to attack the Persian Empire when he passed away. Although Alexander was determined to carry out his father’s plan, he postponed it while he put down a rebellion in his nation. It had been 150 years since the Persians had made another effort to conquer Greek land. Since then, the Persian Empire’s decline continued unabated. However, King Darius III was able to raise significant troops in all four corners of his immense realm, from the Mediterranean to the Indus. His riches greatly surpassed that of Alexander.
This massive size, though, may end up being a hindrance. It took weeks for the messages to travel throughout the Persian Empire and months for the warriors to assemble into their regiments. Although they outnumbered their enemies, the Persian army was so disorganized and disparate that it was difficult to keep them under control. Conversely, the legendary Macedonian phalanx, although well-equipped and over-trained, demonstrated mobility and brittleness when faced with military tactics. Unlike his contemporary Darius, who was weak and unimaginative, Alexander was a strong and inspiring leader.
At the meeting of the Greek states held in Corinth (the League of Corinth) at the end of the summer of 336 BC, Alexander established his position in Greece and obtained the leadership of the Greek armies. So the new king of Macedon handed over the regency to his mom, Olympias. In 335 BC, Alexander launched a great military effort on the outskirts of the Danube to suppress a revolt by the Thracians. Upon its return to Macedonia, he swiftly crushed the rebellious Illyrians and Dardanians at the Lake of Prespa and then made a beeline for the insurgent city of Thebes. He subjugated approximately 30,000 people to slavery and demolished the city, saving only the shrines to the gods and the house of the poet Pindar. Now that he was unburdened, Alexander was able to focus his attention eastward.
The Conquest of Persia
Alexander cuts the Gordian Knot, painting date 1767.
After Alexander handed over power in Macedonia to one of his generals, Antipater, in the spring of 334 BC, he embarked on a military campaign against the Persian Empire, marking the beginning of a new “Iliad,” that of an aficionado of Homer. He led 35,000 warriors over the Hellespont (the present-day Dardanelles), accompanied by his top generals, Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. According to legend, he fought 40,000 Persians on the banks of the Granicus near ancient Troy, losing just 110 men in the process. The myth claims that at that point Alexander failed to untie the mythical Gordian Knot during his walk in Phrygia. He then sliced it with his sword. He afterwards ruled over Asian nations all the way in Afghanistan to the east.
After his first major victory at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, Alexander, at the age of 22, conquered Asia Minor and freed the Greek towns on the coast from Persian rule. But his fleet didn’t let him gamble on a naval battle since the Persians could turn the tables in a maritime battle at any moment. Refusing to make a further incursion inside, Alexander instead crossed Syria and traveled down the Mediterranean Coast to Phoenicia, where the Persian fleet was based. Along the way, he defeated Darius’s Persian army in the Battle of Issus (333 BC).
After then, the Persians offered Alexander little opposition. In return for their submission, these towns and regions saw this skilled leader as kind, since he promised not to increase taxes and kept his warriors from putting them into slavery. The strategy worked, as several towns capitulated rather than suffer devastation and looting. However, some cities, like Tyre, the largest Phoenician harbor, stubbornly held out. The Greek and Macedonian forces besieged the city for eight months before finally taking it. The city’s remaining inhabitants were then forced into slavery.
With the security of this key port in his grasp, Alexander turned his attention to Egypt, which for two centuries had been under the rule of the Persians. Memphis, the ancient capital, greeted him as a liberator and anointed him king. After establishing the city of Alexandria in the Nile Delta, Alexander the Great traveled to the oasis of Siwa in the desert, where he planned to see the oracle of Amon and learn that he was indeed the son of the Greek god Zeus, not Philip. Alexander’s fame became so large that even he started to see himself as a god.
Alexander the Great in the East
Francesco Fontebasso (1709-69), defeated Porus at the Battle of Hydaspes in 326. (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Alexander the Great left Egypt in October 331 BC to launch an assault on the core of the Persian Empire. Darius III suffered a second defeat at the Battle of Gaugamela, although his army outnumbered Alexander’s Macedonian army by a factor of six to one. Alexander took control of the Persian capitals of Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis, the last of which he burned as a symbol. Darius departed, having lost all hope. He died soon after being killed by relatives.
The Greek-Macedonian army continued their voyage in Central Asia for three years, finishing the conquest of the Persian Empire, which vanished forever in 327 BC. Then, Alexander headed in the direction of northern India. When Alexander reached the Himalayan foothills, he fought and won a decisive battle on the Hydaspes River (north of current Pakistan) in the Battle of the Hydaspes against the King Porus.
His weary army, on the brink of a coup, asked him to turn around. Although he would have happily pushed on to the east forever, Alexander conceded and turned back. With his army in tow, he followed the Indus to the Gulf of Oman and then began the arduous trek over the Gedrosian Desert (in Iran). In 324 BC, he was back in Babylon, his new capital.
“Alexander Entering Babylon” by Gérard Audran (1640-1703).
In June 323 BC, at the young age of 32, Alexander the Great died abruptly in Babylon, most likely as a result of his alcoholism. He had been preparing for further conquests in the Persian Gulf and the East. He had become a dictator after concluding that he was a god. Due to his failure to establish a strong central administration, his kingdom soon disintegrated into chaos.
The descendants of Alexander were quickly eliminated while still infants. Alexander’s generals, to whom he had committed the administration of the conquered provinces, fought amongst themselves in a series of conflicts, eventually dividing the territory between them to form separate sovereign kingdoms. Only Ptolemy in Egypt (the Ptolemaic Kingdom, founded 305 BC) and Seleucus in Persia (the Seleucid Empire, founded 312 BC) established long-lasting dynasties.
Alexander the Great’s lasting impact
Alexander the Great had conquered much of Asia, including the Indus Valley, and brought with him the culture of the Greeks. Greeks flocked by the tens of thousands to the new towns built in the conquered lands, many of which were named after Alexander. Alexander’s conquests encouraged economic transactions and the movement of individuals and ideas, both of which contributed to the spread of Greek culture and language among the people he conquered.
This time of dominance in the Mediterranean and Near East is known as the Hellenistic period. Stunning metropolises like Alexandria, Pergamon, and Seleucia supplanted Athens as the cultural capitals of the Hellenic world. Arts and sciences thrived, and scientists, mathematicians, and astronomers like Archimedes, Euclid, and Eratosthenes helped to define the era. However, only the upper classes were exposed to Greek culture, with the masses sticking to their traditions.
Due to Rome’s rise to dominance, the Hellenic World inevitably declined. Midway through the 2nd century BC, the kingdoms of Greece and Macedonia submitted. For them, the fall of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties in 64 and 30 BC was decisive. The Greek civilization, particularly in architecture, science, literature, and mythology, was much respected by the Romans, who seamlessly assimilated the legacy of Alexander. The Bible and the Quran both refer to his deeds.
Alexander served as an example for countless conquerors throughout history. Even today, aspiring military strategists research the illustrious wars of Alexander the Great, who, with a small army of a few thousand men, successfully extended the recognized frontiers of his era.
Frequently asked questions regarding Alexander the Great
Which philosopher has often been credited for training Alexander the Great?
The Greek philosopher Aristotle got young Alexander interested in science, medicine, and philosophy. He also taught him a lot about rhetoric and literature.
Which empire did Alexander the Great conquer?
Persepolis served as the primary capital of the Persian Empire, which was established by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC. After Alexander the Great beat Darius III in the Battle of Issus in 330 BC, he took over the Persian Empire.
How did Alexander the Great die?
In the spring of 323 BC, Alexander the Great returned to Babylon after a campaign that had taken him to the Indus River’s borders. The sickness he had in June ultimately proved fatal. His mysterious absence left his huge empire in shambles, with his top generals fought amongst themselves for control.
Bibliography:
Bill Yenne, (2010), Alexander the Great: Lessons from History’s Undefeated General.
David George Hogarth, (1897), Philip and Alexander of Macedon: Two Essays in Biography.
Peter Green, (2007), Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age.
