Historical Background: General

After the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 B.C.E., Greece was fragmented politically, with no major powers or power blocs. This situation changed in the middle of the fourth century with the rise of Macedon. Macedon was a tribal kingdom on the northeast periphery of the Greek world ruled by Philip II, a warrior-king. The Greeks considered the Macedonians semi-barbarians – that is, not fully Greek. The word barbarian derives from “bar-bar-bar,” which was how the Greeks described the sound of other languages. In 338 B.C.E., Philip II defeated a coalition of Greek city-states at the battle of Chaeronea and united Greece under Macedonian rule. Philip II's preparations to invade the Persian Empire were cut short, however, when he was assassinated in 336 B.C.E.

Philip II was succeeded to the Macedonian throne by his 18-year-old son, Alexander. Two years later (334 B.C.E.), Alexander launched an invasion of the Persian Empire, crossing the Hellespont and landing on Persian soil in the area of Troy. From there, Alexander marched eastward with his troops. The Persian king Darius III led his army against the invaders; over the next four years, he fought a series of battles against Alexander. Alexander was victorious in all the battles, until finally, after the last battle (at Gaugamela in 331 B.C.E.), Darius was murdered by his own men, paving the way for Alexander to become ruler of the Persian Empire. Alexander continued to march eastward with his army, conquering lands that had not been subject to the Persians, through Bactria and Sogdiana (modern Afganistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan), into southern Russia, and across the Indus River Valley into India. Alexander apparently planned to invade Arabia, but his Macedonian troops refused to go any farther, putting an end to future expansion and setting the limits of his empire.