Monday, March 18, 2013

On to the Next Chapter

Today we took a test in Western Civilization. We're now moving onto Chapter 5! So here we go....


Map of Macedonia pasted above.

Hellenistic - It is the word used to refer to the "international" period of Greek history, in which much of the Mediterranean and most of Southwestern Asia were ruled by Greece. Period of Greek history between the death of the Macedonian king and Alexander the Great.

Why did the mighty Athenians lose?
       There were multiple reasons which contributed to the loss of the Peloponnesian war for the Athenians. The main three broad ways in which they lost from is natural disaster, poor leadership and damage to weaponry. Firstly, a devastating plague hit Athens during battle. This battle killed about one third of Athenians! After that, Athens was never quite the same. They now started a long string of careless, sloppy leaders. They made bad decisions and tried multiple times to re-cooperate Athens which failed. One in which members agreed to pay money to reconstruct Athens' triremes.

       Also it was a poorly strategized plan. They over extended themselves, already having an issue with Corin. There wasn't even a necessary reason to attack Sparta in the first place. They just got cocky with their victories so far and they figured they could thrive again. They were wrong.

        The next thing that greatly caused the loss is damage. Athens lost two thirds of their fleet when they went on an escapade against Sparta. Also, Sparta had a little help from another one of Athens' competitors  The spiteful Persians helped the Spartans! Alas, this plan was successful! The Persians helped to fund the Spartans to build an even larger fleet aka navy. Yet again, in another battle with their larger fleet, Sparta dominated the Athens in another battle in 405 B.C. The navy and trade being destroyed, the Athenians were forced to be starved and surrendered so some of them could survive in the year of 404 B.C.

        In 359 B.C., Macedonia was now ruled by King Phillip II. King Phillip II was a determined man. He wanted to gain control of the vast majority of city states. He wanted to unite Greece with Macedonia so they could together, in unison, conquer and go up against the mighty Persians! He enhanced his army and had many aspirations. Finally, someone with a positive plan!







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