Empires of the Classical Greek and Hellenistic Periods

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Section shuffle!
All students in section 2462 have been moved to section 2463, which meets at the same time (7th period) in Matherly 103.

I need five volunteers from section 2460, which meets 6th period in Turlington 2318, to attend section 2465, which meets 6th period in Fl Gym 275. You will stay registered for 2460, but switch TAs. Please see me after class or send me an email today if you can do this. I appreciate the help.

We may be moving to Keene Flint on Thursdays. Check the course website for an announcement today or tomorrow.

Active reading assignment selections due today.

Reading for Friday: Pagden 1, 2, 3 + Mattern chapter.

Extra credit assignment due Friday: EOL and EEBO.

 

hellenistic

Introduction

Empires of the ancient world: Assyrian, Egyptian, Achaemenid, Greek, Han, Roman

Time line of Ancient Greece

800-700

rise of the Greek city states and economy; Homeric epics

600-500

spread of commercial agr and rise of social protest (power of land-owning aristocrats challenged); nearly 300 independent city states by 600 (polis > politics)

550

Cyrus the Great forms the Persian empire

540-480

Persian Wars; Persian invasion of Athens (480)

500-449

Greek defeat of Persia; spread of Athenian empire

470-430

Athens at its height (Pericles, Phidias, Sophocles, Socrates…)

431-404

Peloponnesian Wars

c. 400-350

period of instability: periodic wars against the Persians and between Greek states; power vacuum

384-322

Aristotle

359-336

Philip II of Macedon; Macedonian conquests > spread of Greek culture into Egypt and western Asia

338-323

Madedonian empire; Alexander the Great

300-100

Hellenistic (=derived from the Greek) period

250-126

Flourishing of Hellenistic astronomy and mathematics

Source: Stearns, World Civilizations

classical Greece: c. 800-400 bce
Hellenistic period: c. 300-100 bce

significance and long-term influence of Greek culture and political forms

I. Greek society
A. identities
    civilization
    barbarians

B. slavery
    helots


II.  Empire building
A. early colonization

Greek city states and colonia


B. the Athenian empire

the Persian Empire

the Delian league

Peloponnesian Wars (431-404)

pelo wars

C.  Macedonian empire/ Hellenistic period

1. Philip II (382-336 bce)

cavalry

2. Alexander III (356-323 bce) [map]

alex

Persian conquest

Granicus (334)
Isus (333)
Egypt (332)
Gaugamela (331)
Babylon (331)

In the Footsteps of Alexander: "No Going Back"

Alexander in India

Gandara region (capital: Taxila)
rajah of Taxila (Ambhi)
crossed the Jhelum River ["Crossing the Jhelum"]
rajah Porus
mutinies
Magadha ["Monsoon Rains"]
Beas River
Mauryan Empire of Chandragupta

Kipling, "The Man Who Would Be King"

india

legacies of Alexander's empire

a. the nature of imperial power

conquest warfare

indirect rule/ collaboration

knowledge + power

b. ideology of empire building

cult of personality

universalism/ cosmopolitanism

policy of fusion