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Greece and Persia > Greece (Alexander the Great) > Flashcards

Greece (Alexander the Great) Flashcards

1
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Agrarians

A
  • an elite group in light infantry
  • javelin throwers with no armour or shields
  • placed on right hand side next to companion cavalry
  • used for speed when phalanx was impractical
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2
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Light infantry

A

divided into specialist groups
primary function was to harass the enemy from a distance, whilst also providing protection for their own army (using javelins)

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3
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Hypaspists

A
  • elite infantry force
  • carried large shields
  • estimated 3000 accompanied alexander across hellespont
  • in granicus, used on left hand side with phalanx
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4
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Phalanx

A
  • core part of army
  • would engage in close combat
  • fought in tightly packed, rectangular formation
  • used a sarissa (long spear) - very effective, because it was very long. it could be held 4-5 rows back and still protect the front
  • wore light armour
  • trained to endure long and fast marches
  • weak at back and sides
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5
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Cavalry

A
  • companion cavalry and greek cavalry
  • extremely important part of army
  • alexander fought with the companion cavalry
    the most prestigious was the companion cavalry, which included the royal squadron
  • considered best cavalry in the world
  • fought on the right wing
  • relied on shock tactics: scaring the oponent with mass of the horse to intimidate the enemy into running away, so the cavalry could get in amongst them and cut them down
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6
Q

FEATURES OF ARMY- Thessalian cavalry

A
  • position on left side
  • tasked to protect the flank of the phalanx and prevent encirclement
  • fought notably in Issus and Gaugamela
  • the reliability of this force allowed alexander to focus on the right flank where he could strike the definitive blow with his companions, safe with the knowledge that the thessalian’s would hold the other flank.
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7
Q

GRANICUS RIVER: Formation

A

right side left side
companion phalanx greek cavalry hypaspists Parmenion
———————————————————————

———————————————————————
[———————persian cavalry —-——————-]
[ greek mercenaries/ infantry ]

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8
Q

GRANICUS RIVER: reasons for victory

A
  • primarily focused and defeated the persian centre before attempting the flanks- meaning he weakened the main part of the army FIRST
  • parmenios well timed cavalry charge led the persians to flee
  • parmenio was able to distract the fight on the flank, preventing the persian troops he was distracting, from joining the centre- this possible would have led to alexander’s defeat otherwise
    -better weaponry
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9
Q

GORDION KNOT + arrian

A
  • eagle lands on yoke of a man’s wagon
  • man goes to women from prophetic family- she tells him to sacrifice to zeus, so he does
  • the man and woman marry and had a son, Midas
  • Years passed, a civil war amongst the Phrygians began.
  • He arrived to a political discussion in that wagon and was chosen to be king- because the man who arrived on a wagon, was said by the prophecy to have solved the civil war.
  • whoever undid the knot on the yoke of the wagon was destined to rule all of asia.
  • ARRIAN says alexander cut the knot with his sword
  • ARISTOBULUS claims it was done using a pole
  • This decreases the overall accuracy, as there are two different accounts
  • Arrian states he is not sure himself of what happened
  • Alexander wanted to undo the knot out of desperation- he was desperate to prove himself, perhaps due to what was seen as a flaw in his heritage.
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10
Q

ISSUS: lead up

A
  • Darius heated about alexander’s victory against him at Granicus, and heads for alexander.
  • alexander moves east, his army falling ill in (Cilicia???) (city in Issus) - so i’ll, they were there for months
  • Darius was awaiting alexander in Assyria
  • Darius goes to Issus because he thought alexander was too scared to show up, which is where he found the sick troops that alexander left behind. Darius killed them all.
  • At that point, Alexander was heading to Myriandus, and when he heated what darius had done, he turned his troops around.
  • Met at battlefield by Pinarus river
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11
Q

ISSUS: statistics

A

PERSIA: Arrian claims 600,000
diodorus and justin: 400,000
MACEDONIA 40,000

very likely persian numbers are exaggerated, to
emphasise and glorify Alexander’s victory

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12
Q

ISSUS: Formation

A

Right Left

Persian Greek Persian Greek
Cavalry merceneries immortals merceneries
———-————————————————————
Pinarus River
———-————————————————————
Left Right

Thessalian Macedonian hypaspists compa
Cavalry, Phalanx peltasts nion
Parmenio cavalry,
Alexander

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13
Q

ISSUS: Alexander’s tactics

A
  • deployed troops similarly to granicus river
  • companion cavalry managed to hack their way through persian infantry
  • to help the phalanx, alexander ride behind the persian centre, allowing the macedonian phalanx to move forward and anhilate the centre
  • macedonian phalanx moved forward to engage with the centre
  • formation was always the same
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14
Q

ISSUS: Rolę of his army

A
  • companion cavalry managed to hack their way through persian infantry
  • alexander rode behind the persian centre to allow the macedonian phalanx to move forward and anhilate the centre = the persians got sandwiched
  • Once alex spotted darius, he and his best soldiers charged at his unit
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15
Q

ISSUS: weaknesses of persians

A
  • as alex was furiously charging at his unit, darius decided to retreat
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16
Q

ISSUS ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCES: Sarcophagus

A
  • made based of a painting by Philoxenes who painted the painting at the time of Alexander’s life
  • Sarcophagus made in late 4th century BC, discovered in 1887 in Lebanon.
  • Believed to be the sarcophagus of Abdalonymus, king of Sidon, who was appointed by alexander after the battle if Issus.
  • made to look Alexander look amazing: this was a cavalry based battle, in which the macedonians clearly dominated
17
Q

ISSUS ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCES: Mosaic

A
  • Found in Pompeii, in a private collection in The House of Fawn
  • Eruption partially destroyed the mosaic
  • described to be based off a painting, just like the sarcophagus, however the painting has been lost and not found since.
  • as a piece of artwork, it’s aim isn’t to depict the truth, but to glorify and entertain
18
Q

ARRIAN: Factfile

A
  • commander in Roman Empire: makes gina good judge of character
  • not a contemporary source
  • Gets his information from Alexander’s companions: Ptolemy and Aristobulus, as well as Callisthenes, Alexander’s personal historian
19
Q

TYRE: lead up

A

after issus, darius flees to inland persia whilst Alexander moves south along the coast. He did this to prevent the persian navy from attacking greece, to the west of persia. As he went south, he took Marathon, Babylon And Sidon. Only Tyre resisted.
During all this, Darius has time to build an army. This is a weakness for alexander.
If alexander could take control of Tyre, he’d be able to secure the last persian harbour base for the persian navy.

20
Q

TETRADRACHMS

A

minted by lysimachus to legitimise himself as successor to alexander

21
Q

GAUGAMELA:

A
  • represented another crucial victory for alexander and his hellenic league: marked the collapse of the persian empire
22
Q

ARCHEOLOGY: Babylonian astronomical diary

A
  • mentions the battle of gaugamela
  • produced in 330, year after the battle
  • written in cuneiform
  • describes omens before the battle, the fight itself and the heavy defeat
  • references to darius and alexander and the details about the timing of this battle suport the much later written sources, such as arrian, that exist
  • limitation: provides few details about the course of battle itself
23
Q

PERSIAN GATES: general

A
  • battle against ariobarzanes, satrap of persia
  • narrow and dangerous mountain pass to take the persian capitol
  • place to known to be a very vulnerable ambush
  • failed once
24
Q

PERSIAN GATES; aftermath

A
  • by winning this battle, he was able to capture the most valued place in the persian empire, Persepolis and it’s treasures
  • modern historians believe to be his biggest challenge as it was his only failure
25
Q

INDUS VALLEY: hydaspes river

A
  • fought against indian king Poros
  • some ancient sources state that it was during this battle that Bucephalus was killed
  • diodorus explains use of elephants by poros and alexander
26
Q

INDUS VALLEY: archeological source

A
  • silver tetradrachm minted by Ptolemy I depicting alexander with elephant scalp headdress
  • dates between 305-282Bc, just after his death
  • ptolemy, ruler of egypt, would have been eager to establish his legitimacy as a successor to alexander: this image of alexander wearing an elephant headdress may have conjured up the memory of alexander’s formidable and memorable campaign in india, and thereby have helped boost ptolemys own reputation.
  • glorified alexander, but also shows that his conquests in the east became legendary.
27
Q

mutiny at hyphasis

A
  • summer 326, men refused to join their king in his attempt to reach ganges valley after so much time away from their homes.
  • alexander reluctantly turned back, this leaving much of that territory unconquered
28
Q

CHANGING OF AIMS

A

Before alexander embarked on his campaign, his initial view of persia was essentially the same as his fathers, namely to regard persia as a proven enemy of greece and a dangerous threat to macedon.
quite early on in his campaign however, it emerged that alexander’s mission seemed to be bound up with a rather more personal agenda, namely a conquest between himself and darius: once darius was dead, alexander’s relationship with the persians appeared to alter.
Although alexander was to all intents and purposes still a foreign invader of persia, he was not overly hostile in his approach towards the persians. He often treated them and their culture with great respect, such as adapting the persian dress, and to certain formal customs of deference such as proskynesis. Sources also attest to a series of marriages between macedonians and persians that alexander entered into himself.

29
Q

murder of cleitus

A
  • killed in 328, sogdiana
  • alexander was allowing the mockery of macedonian generals, they felt disrespected
  • cleitus spoke up about this
  • took a spear from his guard, and ran it through him
  • then attempted to impale himself
30
Q

Mass marriages at susa

A

-324
- leading comrades of army marrying local persian woman
- alexander married darius eldest daughter
- celebrated according to persian custom
- REFLECTS AN INGENUITY OF ALEXANDERS PART AND A REAL ABILITY TO CONSOLIDATE POWER THROUGH NON VIOLENT MEANS

31
Q

Death of alexander

A
  • 323
  • PLUTARCH: attended a long drinking binge, after which he fell into a raging fever, drank more wine to satisfy thirst, became delirious and died
  • ARRIAN: describes same circumstances.

they both use no longer surviving journals, extending the reliability and accuracy to a high degree, given they were writing at different times. Although the journals no longer survive, the detail plutarch and arrian give in their retrospective accounts reflects the use of some sort of log of movements. Plutarch also mentions aristobukus as a source
Arrian too makes it clear that he was relying on aristobukus and ptolemy for information

32
Q

TYRE: Tactics

A
  • phoenician city of tyre, best fortified cities in history
  • did not have navy: overcome by building a bridge, guarded by mobile siege towers, covered in wet hyde and catapults and ballista used to hurl rocks at city walls
  • got help from cyprians
  • blockaded both ports in tyre with cyprian and ionian ships
  • made a small breech in the wall on the south bend of the island
  • anchored ships near walls of tyre: tyrian’s sent divers to cut them, to which alexander responded by replacing them with chains
  • lasted 7 months
  • points to the patience, ingenuity and total determination of alexander and his men.
33
Q

TYRE: entering the city

A
  • 8000 tyrian’s massacred
  • 30,000 women and children sold into slavery
  • he did grant pardon to those this sought shelter in the temple of heracles
34
Q

Tyre: Accuracy

A
  • arrian gives insight on how severe alexander could be if he sensed that people had defied authority
  • arrian provides a detailed account with specific figures which might persuade us of its historical accuracy: however, it’s important to ask which source arrian is using here, as he cites none:
  • it’s noteworthy that Curtius Rufus, roman historian of the -st century, observes that 6000 fighting men were killed and 2000 were crucified, which alligns with Arrians statistics, meaning we can place greater reliance on his account
35
Q

relationship with army

A
  • Arrian description of granicus: alexander treated wounded men, showing care in how they contributed to the war effort
  • alexander commemorated the dead by commissioning statues of bronze to be made of them and made sure they’re buried the next day
  • alexander ordered tax breaks to be given to families of dead soldiers
  • gaugamela, day before battle, u like darius, he let his soldiers rest: confirmed by both plutarch and arrian, placing a greater reliance on it.
  • before gaugamela, speech was given: alexander suggested that his men needed no encouragement since they were all courageous enough already and he praised them for their heroism. This speech serves as an index of the trust alexander placed in his men and the high esteem in which he held them. This may be questioned by plutarch, as it’s quoted word for word
  • not always a harmonious relationship: later during the campaign, closest friendships began to deteriorate
36
Q

Reasons for persian invasion

A
  • from pan hellenic perspective, fundamental reason for this expedition was to exact revenge from the persian empire which had attacked greece the century before in the persian wars.
  • persian empire was an expansionist one, and greek city states and macedon had every reason to want to deter from such incursions in the future.
  • Artaxerxes III was dead, leaving persia potentially more vulnerable: strategically, an opportune time to invade
  • Upon phillips death, alexander inherited the leadership of the greek cities, and with it the planned campaign against persia. It’s unsurprising that he resolved to continue his father’s military expedition- Possible reflecting the respect and admiration he held for phillip.
  • alexander was always keen to outdo his father phillip.
37
Q

PARMENIO

A
  • son; philotas, in charge of companion cavalry alongside alexander
  • trusted parmenios judgement: at gaugamela, arrian depicts alexander following his advice, meanwhile in granicus, their disagreements are highlighted: parmenio advised the delay the crossing of granicus until the morning, given the river was deep and dangerous. To this, alexander responded saying that granicus river was nothing compared to the hellespont, and that postponing would provide the persians with the confidence they needed to win.
  • Plutarch; gaugamela: parmenio asks alexander to send troops urgently to protect the camp, which alexander dismisses because he was confident of winning and if they lost the supplies, they could take their enemies: this may be illustrative of his genius. Yet can we rely on plutarch on this front? Arrian who also includes an account of gaugamela, only states that parmenio sent a message for help to which alexander responded. Plutarch was prone to error, yet he does cite callisthenes as a source. However, clalisthenes being the chronicler of alexander’s campaigns, had a vested interest in presenting the facts in a way that would glorify alexander and his achievements, and to prove that alexander was victorious because he understood things that no one else did: Callisthenes may be seeking to blame parmenio for the lack of a decisive victory at gaugamela
38
Q

Hephaestion

A
  • laying wreaths at troy for achilles and patroclus, reputed lovers in homers Iliad.
  • died in 324 in ecbatana (modern iran) , alexander was overwhelmed with grief: arrian provides an account of this

Greece and Persia (7 decks)

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