The Story of the Ancient Greeks - Full Documentary

[Music] the ancient greeks people of intelligence and arrogance a society that revolutionized science philosophy and war they created a flourishing culture that inspired western society a prosperous society ahead of its time but constantly threatened by destruction a true diamond in the roof the story of the greek starts long before the construction of the great temples for anyone feared their nation before nations even existed humans have been living in the area of greece for tens of thousands of years for them other species like homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis lived in the area these humans were hunter-gatherers they had little technology and were likely nomadic this era of stone age tribes would end as the neolithic era began the neolithic era was the last division of the stone age it started with the domestication of crops and animals in the near east this technology would soon spread to the rest of the world the earliest evidence of agricultural economies date back to 9 000 years ago the first greek speaking tribes arrived in the greek mainland in the neolithic period they spoke a language that was a predecessor to the mycenaean language neolithic times would gradually transition into the early bronze age this occurred around 3000 bc bronze would slowly work its way into the greek economies cultures would emerge including the cycladic and minoan civilizations the cycladic culture is a significant early bronze age culture that is best known for its schematic flat female idols carved out of the island's pure white marble [Music] the minoans were also a significant culture in the greek area it was plagued by natural disasters and cataclysms such as the volcanic eruption of thera in 1628 bc already at this time greek culture was producing impressive palaces the minoans excelled at this practice and made the great palace of gnosis [Music] these two civilizations would transition and merge with the mycenean civilization [Music] it emerged in 1600 bc when halitic culture and mainland greece was transformed under the influence of the minoans this was the last phase of the bronze age in greece the myceneans were the first advanced and distinctly greek civilization they displayed the ability to produce advanced works of art urban organizations and even a writing system unfortunately they had not yet made leaps in the field of politics mycenean civilization was dominated by a warrior aristocracy around 100 bc the mycenean civilization collapsed numerous cities were sacked and the region entered the dark age during this period the greek population declined and so did their literacy archaeologists are not certain what caused this collapse but a hostile enemy is thought to be the cause the dorians were one of the four major ethnic groups of greeks they were thought to have been one of the reasons this collapse happened they were thought of as uncivilized and ended up ceasing the land these dorians are thought to have been the ancestors of the famous spartans during this time mycenean cities became more fortified inevitably the collapse happened and palaces were burned and structures were abandoned the macedonian dorian tribes marched into peloponnese and subjugated local tribes these tribes settled in south peloponnese this is where the legendary warrior society known as sparta formed in greek mythology the trojan war was waged against the city of troy by the greeks it was started after paris of troy took helen from her husband millennius the king of sparta the war is one of the most important events in greek mythology and included legendary figures like achilles and hector the story is told through both the iliad and its sequel the odyssey these two works are said to have been created by the author homer but the existence of this man is in question the works were created hundreds of years after the events are thought to have occurred the books cover two different short periods of the war and other stories contain much more information these two stories are thought to be works of greek mythology rather than history and the existence of troy and the siege of troy has been a heavily debated topic regardless these two books are very important texts the iliad and the odyssey have been compared to the bible and its importance to the greek people for modern audiences these texts offer a glimpse into an ancient story rather than a historical account the ancient olympic games were originally a festival or celebration for zeus here they would worship the massive statue of zeus this statue was one of the seven wonders of the world and was over 12 meters or 40 feet tall the games were a series of athletic competitions among representatives of different city-states during the games a truce was enacted so that athletes could travel from their cities to play in the game safely the prizes for the victors were olive leaf crowns as well as fame the games became a political tool used to assert dominance over rivals the games included many different forms of athletics sprints and long distance running were among the first games to be added there was even a game where contestants would run in full armor boxing and wrestling were important games as well as a game called pancraytheon this game involved wrestling boxing kicks and chokes it was an ancient equivalent to modern mixed martial arts other famous games included the long jump discus throw javelin throw and games involving horses the games were always held at olympia rather than moving between different locations as seen in the practice of modern olympic games victors of the olympics were honored and their feats chronicled for future generations the festival was also a time where great minds all over the greek world could come together and share what they have been working on this included architecture and literature the olympic games have persisted through history and now in modern times athletes from all over the world participate [Music] sparta a land of warriors and slaves it was unique in ancient greece for its social system and constitution this unique structure of government was introduced by the almost mythical figure of lycurgus he configured the entire society to maximize military proficiency social institutions focused on military training and physical development the society was all separated by classes spartiates were spartan citizens with full rights moeth moethaks were non-spartan men raised as spartans hellots were state-owned slaves slaves played a major role in spartan society and were the backbone of its industry though the slaves worked hard they did not work as hard as many of the sparshates did sparshiats underwent the rigorous agogi training and education program all male citizens had to go through this program the training involved cultivating loyalty military training pain tolerance hunting dancing singing and social communication it was not just military training but education as well one must understand that an individual spartan soldier was not much better than any other greek warrior what made them so deadly was their training to fight in a phalanx formation because of such rigorous training the spartan phalanx brigades were widely considered to be among the best in battle spartan women also went through a lot of training and education they had a lot more rights than women typically had in classical antiquity and were thought to have been some of the most beautiful of their time [Music] to the north lie the prosperous city of athens athens has been an important center since the mycenean civilization the famous acropolis was a site of a major mycenean fortress the people that inhabited this city-state were known as the ionians the ionians were one of the four major ethnic groups of greece athens was troubled like every other greek state by the 6th century bc widespread social unrest led to the reforms of solon they would pave the way for the introduction of democracy by kleisthenes in 508 bc this movement is what made athens what it was every free male citizen had an equal vote athens free culture would attract many intellectuals it was home to many great philosophers and excelled in other fields including math and science the city was built around the acropolis it had long walls that extended out to sea this allowed the city to maintain a powerful navy and have bountiful trade networks in 496 bc athens used its powerful navy to help the ionian revolt against the persian empire the athenians and eritreans captured and burned sardis but had to retreat due to heavy losses in response to this raid the persian king darius swore to burn athens to the ground he was so angry that he had one of his servants say master remember the athenians three times a day before dinner the persians themselves were very powerful and had one of the most powerful nations on the planet at the time they would not accept a small city-state rebellion and war was inevitable this would be the first major conflict the greek world would face together [Music] darius and the persians first crushed the ionian cities that defied him he then made plans to subjugate all of greece after an initial successful campaign the persians captured the athenian ally eritrea they then sailed to attica landing in the bay near the town of marathon the athenians joined by a small force from plattea marched the marathon and succeeded in blocking the two exits from the plane of marathon the athenians also sent a message to the spartans asking for support the spartans were involved in a religious festival at the time and gave this as a reason for not coming to the aid of the athenians in reality it was more likely the spartans feared a slave revolt if most of their soldiers were to leave the athenians and their allies chose a location for the battle with marshes and mountainous terrain that prevented the persian cavalry from joining the persian infantry the athenian general militia days ordered a general attack against the persian forces the persian force was composed primarily of lightly armored missile troops he reinforced his flanks and lured the persians best fighters into the center the inward wheeling flanks enveloped the persians routing them the persian army broke in a panic towards their ships and a large number were slaughtered at the end of the battle there were 192 dead greeks and 6 400 dead persians the persians had less discipline and broke rank as they ran the greeks met little resistance slaughtering them the defeat at marathon marked the end of the first persian invasion of greece and the persian force retreated back to asia minor darius then began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate greece however in 486 bc his egyptian subjects revolted indefinitely postponing any greek expedition after darius died his son xerxes restarted the preparations for the second invasion of greece the battle of marathon was a watershed in the greek all-persian wars showing the greeks that the persians could be beaten the battle also showed the greeks that they were able to win battles without the spartans as they had heavily relied on sparta previously the victory was short-lived though soon the persians would be back to test the greeks once again the second invasion of greece began in 480 bc king xerxes of persia sought to conquer all of greece his father had attempted to invade greece once again but could not muster the forces in time after his death xerxes spent several years planning an invasion to avenge his father he mustered an enormous army and navy to ensure victory [Applause] this invasion was known in greece and greek forces had time to prepare this time the might of sparta would be included in the allied greek forces about a tenth of the greek city-states joined the allied effort but most remain neutral or submitted to xerxes rule in the spring of 480 bc the persian army crossed the hellespont and marched through thrace and mastodon to thessaly the only way for the persians to march such a large army to greece was through a small pass at thermopylae the hot gates [Music] this pass was very narrow with sometimes mountains at both sides or a mountain on one side and the sea at the other it was said that some parts of the pass were only six feet wide while others were over fifty the spartan warrior king leonidas led a small force to stop the land invasion leonidas was the king of the fearsome spartans typically in greece the king's firstborn son did not participate in military training instead they were groomed for their role as a future king leonidas was not the firstborn son and in turn was sent to harsh training in the agogi later when his brother came into power he was found to not be fit for rule and deemed insane leonidas being the last of his surviving brothers rose to the throne he was no politician but rather a warrior when the call to action came he and 300 of his warriors went out to war the reason that more spartans were not brought to this conflict was likely because of a slave revolt would form in sparta if the soldiers were not there the 300 soldiers that he had chosen were based on their skill in battle and if they had a son this way their bloodline could continue after the inevitable death at the battle of thermopylae each spartan likely knew that their death was soon to come and were more than happy to die for sparta death in battle was one of the greatest accomplishments for a spartan warrior the spartans were the most elite warriors of their day and 300 of them would hold the hot gates other greeks helped defend the past including 4 000 peloponnesians and 3 000 other greek forces simultaneously to the land battle a battle was fought at sea as well the athenian general themisticles planned to block the advance of the persians at sea the mysticalese was a brilliant athenian politician and general he was part of a new wave of non-aristocratic politicians who were strong advocates for democracy prior to the second invasion of greece the mysticals convinced the athenians to build a 200-ship fleet of advanced triremes this way they could defend against the naval attack his prediction of a naval invasion came true and this is what caused the battle of artemisium at the battle of thermopylae the spartans met an army estimated to be over 150 000 men the persians were stalled for four days before the battle began the greeks were able to make a defensive fortification out of an old wall that existed on the pass the persians thought the small force was laughable but they knew many casualties would come in the battle xerxes ordered them to drop their weapons and in response king leonidas said come and take them the persian army was running out of food and had to attack on the fifth day the battle began xerxes sent small forces of weak and expendable soldiers by the end of the day only a few greeks had died while tens of thousands of persians had perished the spartan's superiority came from a lifetime of training preparation and good equipment the spartans were covered in tough bronze armor and had large bronze shields they also carried large spears and two different kinds of short swords spartans would stand in a shield wall called the phalanx formation this formation provided near impervious protection from projectiles the formation took advantage of a long spear to stab any incoming enemies if the enemy ever broke through then short swords could be utilized to kill the enemy the reason so many persians died is because they had no way to defeat the spartans the first forces sent forward had little armor weak wicker shields and poor offensive equipment archers rained arrows on the spartans but these weak arrows simply bounced off their bronze armor the first day the persians were absolutely massacred on the second day the same thing happened until xerxes sent in the immortals they were called this because when one would die they would immediately replace them this gave them the appearance that the force was immortal they had heavier armor and fought in a tough formation the spartans outsmarted them by fainting a retreat when the immortals chased after them they went back into formation quickly and decimated the force by the end of the day a few more greeks had died but the persians lost over ten thousand after the second day of battle a local resident named mufialtes betrayed the greeks by revealing a small pass used by shepherds when kinglionitis became aware his force was being outflanked he diminished the bulk of the greek army the king and his 300 men stayed along with a few hundred other greeks they had to stay for a number of reasons one of these reasons was to stop the elite persian cavalry from charging and killing the retreating army with 300 spartans and 700 thespians king leonidas made his final stand against the ensuing force the spartans were thirsty for blood and inflicted heavy casualties on the persians they fought with everything they had eventually the warrior king was killed in battle the remaining soldiers viciously fought for his body and defended it until their death xerxes was infuriated and crucified leonidas body usually the persians respected the death of brave warriors but the angry king had none of it and took his head and body back to persia much later the bones were finally returned to sparta king leonidas selfless act would immortalize him in western culture for eternity though the tyrant king was victorious he lost tens of thousands of men to only a few thousand greeks this was an embarrassing win and gave the greeks a fierce reputation around the ancient world once the last spartans fell the naval blockade disbanded and the persians flooded into greece the persians took a number of cities including athens athens was prepared and they entered a vacant city but it was still burnt to the ground a large allied army fortified the narrow ismith of corinth this protected much of the greek mayland from being taken the war was far from over and the navy still had a plan to defeat the persians both sides sought a decisive naval victory the athenian general the mysticallys succeeded in luring the persian navy into the narrow straits of salamis a large number of persian ships became disorganized and were beaten by the allied fleet wary of being trapped xerxes withdrew much of his army to asia in the process he lost much of his forces to starvation and disease still focused on conquering greece xerxes left his general mardanias to complete the war the following spring the allies assembled the largest hoplite army ever they proceeded to march north from the isthmus to confront mardanias then the ensuing battle of plateau the greek infantry again proved its superiority they inflicted a severe defeat upon the persians and killed mardanias in the process on the same day across the aegean sea an allied navy destroyed the remnants of the persian navy at the battle of macleo with this double defeat the invasion was effectively ended and the persian power in the aegean was severely dented the greeks would now move to the offensive eventually expelling the persians from europe and the aegean islands the greeks had defended their land against the oppressive forces twice their defiance to the great persian empire won them fame around the ancient world the following 200 years saw the rise of the classical greek civilization these two wars are often seen as the turning point of prosperity for the greeks the spartans and athenians had worked together for the greater good but even this would not stop the hatred from each other the ending of the war would mark the golden age of athens the delian league was an alliance of greek city-states led by athens and formed in bc it was made to liberate eastern greek cities from persian rule and for defense from future persian conflicts by the early 5th century the alliance of over 300 cities would transition into what is effectively the athenian empire from then on the athenian economy flourished with trade and prosperity trade from not only other greek city-states but from all over the mediterranean in less than a generation athens had become the dominant power in the mediterranean it was a stunning example of a successful democracy with the influx of wealth coming into the city renovations were made the acropolis is the center of athens it is a rocky hill that has been used as a defensive structure and a site of worship for hundreds of years unfortunately when the persians came to the city they burned all of the old temples new temples were commissioned to be built by pericles this building cost over 5 000 talents in the first year alone that translates to a total budget of a billion dollars in today's terms thousands of tons of marble was used intricate structures were embedded all over the walls in only 15 years it was completed inside the temple was a 40-foot tall statue of the god athena it was covered in gold and ivory and studded with jewels this temple was and still is the symbol of athens beauty during this time intellectuals flourished in athens annex scores was a philosopher and astronomer that was the first to determine the moonshine due to reflected sunlight herodotus was the first historian to use objective reasoning when looking at past events instead of telling fabricated stories the shulies and euripides were both playwrights who pioneered the telling of a certain type of play called a tragedy this was a very famous practice in the greek world and some of their plays survived today thales malettis was a greek philosopher and mathematician he is credited with calculating the height of the pyramids using complex trigonometry he also advocated for a more rational view of the natural world instead of turning to the gods socrates was one of the most influential philosophers of all time and is thought to have been one of the founders of western philosophy he and his students explored all facets of the human mind and represent a period of enlightenment in ancient greece this period of prosperity would be threatened by increased military ambition by the athenian empire athens was the head of a new empire and it was ambitious to conquer land and resources it carried out an aggressive war against the weakened persian empire athens also became more controlling over the other city-states in the delhi in league it controlled almost all of greece except for sparta and its allies the other city-states were coerced into funding athens powerful fleet in which its power derived from during this time a piece was enacted between sparta and athens this prevented war but a sort of cold war was in place originally after the persian sacked athens the spartans did not want athens to rebuild its walls instead athens made its walls bigger and better than before in another instance sparta was dealing with a slave revolt and needed help athens sent a sizable force of 4 000 hoplites and other city-states sent forces as well when the athenians arrived the spartans told them to leave and that they were not needed while they let the other greek forces stay these two seemingly minor acts display how the people and governments of these two city-states still held resentment for each other now that athens was becoming more and more powerful sparta grew jealous the cold war got hot in 459 bc athens took advantage of a war between its neighbors megara and corinth both of these states were spartan allies athens helped megara and in turn gained a critical foothold on the isthmus of corinth athens large navy also bullied the now obsolete corinthian navy by inciting conflicts in its colonies these acts would be the beginning of the first peloponnesian war the first major battle of the war was at the battle of tanagra in 457 bc the battle wasn't all that important but it did show the athenians that they were outmatched on land by the elite spartan infantry other minor battles occurred but the war was effectively ended when a 30 years piece was signed between the two leagues this was not just athens vs sparta but nearly the whole peloponnese including corinth and other city-states against the athenian empire [Music] this peace agreement did little to stop the conflict and would end in less than 15 years corinth was jealous over the control athens had with its massive navy and the city convinced sparta to reignite the war the spartan superior infantry marched on athens and set ablaze to the countryside they wanted a land battle but the athenians did not give them one the athenians knew that they would lose a head-to-head battle and instead hid behind their massive walls at this time athens had massive walls all around the city as well as walls leading to its main port this way it could maintain its grain shipments from africa as well as its superior navy the athenians had been planning this strategy for some time with the brilliant pericles as its leader pericle's strategy was to use athens navy to block any trade from coming into peloponnese as well as raid sparta's allies this strategy was effective until tainted grain shipments carrying plague came to the city the crowded city became full of disease and an estimated one-fourth of the population died eventually even pericles had perished sparta began to slow down the offensive war effort and fear of catching the plague the athenian survivors became more aggressive and began attacking the peloponnesian coast they even made forts that encouraged the spartan slaves to flee to another peace attempt was made but it was in vain athens was too desperate for the upper hand and turned to foreign lands for an advantage the wealthy city-state of syracuse on the island of sicily controlled much of the mediterranean trade they figured if they could take control of state they would have much more power athens sent over ten thousand hoplite troops and most of its navy to the conquest the battle was a disaster the generals disagreed on a plan and the infantry and navy were slaughtered they lost ten thousand men and two-thirds of their navy ships could be rebuilt but the greatest loss was the thirty thousand professional oarsmen further disaster happened when twenty thousand athenian slaves were freed from their work in silver mines athens attempted to gain funds from other cities in the dalian league but they became furious around this same time sparta accepted persian gold to build a fleet for themselves now the peloponnesian navy was much stronger than the athenians and they were decisively beaten in a battle sparta now blocked trade going into athens and they are forced to accept an embarrassing surrender sparta won the war but many lives were lost with so many of its elite troops dead sparta was weak and so was most of peloponnese this allowed a new empire to conquer the land philip ii of mastodon was born in 382 bc he was the youngest of a king and was held as a political prisoner for much of his youth while captive he received a formal military and diplomatic education in 364 bc he returned back to macedon after hearing of the death of his eldest brother he gained control of the throne and became the sole ruler his military training and expansionist mindset brought him early success he not only knew the art of war but also reformed macedon's army his most important innovation was the introduction of the phalanx infantry corpse this formation was used by other greek forces but not in the same way his troops were armed with the famous cyrissa pike it is a very long spear that was held by multiple lines of soldiers this intimidating wall of spears could not even be approached by cavalry or foot soldiers unlike many other greek forces philip also took advantage of an array of light troops cavalry missile-throwing troops and skirmishers philip took over much of northern greece in an array of marriages and wars in 356 bc his son alexander was born in 353 bc he was able to take over thessaly and control nearly all of northern greece central greece was the next target for the victorious king no hostilities were made with athens but his ambition was clear through more brilliant ambitious treaties alliances and war philip slowly controlled all of central greece except for sparta and its allies with key greek city-states in submission philip ii turned to sparta he sent a message saying you're advised to submit without further delay for if i bring my army into your land i will destroy your farms slay your people and raise your city the spartan's laconic reply was one word if philip decided to leave them alone this is not necessarily because he feared them sparta at this time was much smaller and less powerful than it used to be philip likely left it alone because his ambitions lied elsewhere philip had succeeded in conquering most of greece this was a monumental task and his greatest accomplishment philip turned east and had successful battles against the archimedean empire this is the same empire which had attempted to subjugate greece before now with the might of greece combined philip was able to fight back their rule around the aegean in 336 bc in the capital of the kingdom of macedon the court gathered for a celebration of a marriage between king philip's daughter and alexander 1 of eparus the king was entering unprotected into the town's theater where he was killed by one of his own bodyguards the assassin tried to escape to some horses but he tripped on a vine and the other bodyguard slayed him the reason for the assassination is unknown to modern historians now the spot as the king of the united greek world was open for the taking and it was taken by his 20 year old son alexander [Music] alexander was no ordinary son of a king he is one of the most famous historical figures from classical antiquity he was born from his father's fourth wife olympias although she was not his only wife she was his principal wife for some time stories surrounding his birth are almost mythical some stories claim that philip was not even his father and rather zeus was also on the day of his birth the temple of artemis one of the seven wonders of the world burned to the ground some interpreted that it burned down because the god artemis was attending alexander's birth alexander was raised in the manner of noble macedonian youths learning to read hunt ride and fight when alexander was 10 years old a trader brought philip a horse the horse refused to be mounted and philip ordered it away alexander asked to tame the horse which he eventually managed philip was overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition he kissed the boy's head and said my boy you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions alexander named it busafallas meaning ox head this horse would be his main steed in battle for a very long time when alexander was 13 philip chose aristotle to tutor his son aristotle is one of the world's greatest philosophers he founded dozens of schools and wrote countless works on topics such as physics biology logic ethics music rhetoric psychology economics politics and much more aristotle provided a complex synthesis of various philosophies existing prior to him it was above all from his teachings that the west inherited its intellectual lexicon as well as problems and methods of inquiry as a result his philosophy has exerted a unique influence on almost every form of knowledge in the west and it continues to be the subject of contemporary philosophical discussion he is one of the greatest minds of our species and alexander had the privilege of learning from them he was taught at the temple of nymphs at mesa the temple was like a boarding school for alexander and many other macedonian youths ptolemy fashion and cassandra all attended this school and would go on to become his famous generals this group is commonly known as the companions aristotle taught alexander and his companions about medicine philosophy morals religion logic and art [Music] under aristotle's tutelage alexander developed a passion for the works of homer and in particular the iliad aristotle gave him an annotated copy which alexander later carried on his campaigns during his youth alexander was acquainted with persian exiles at the macedonian court this gave the macedonian court good knowledge of persian issues and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the macedonian state at the age of 16 alexander's education by aristotle ended and he immediately began to campaign he was given a small force of his own and his father used him to keep the empire from falling apart he led his soldiers into battle and stopped revolts as he became more experienced he began to fight in major battles with his father he showed to be intelligent and cunning as a leader as well as a good cavalry man family drama came when philip's love interest swayed from alexander's mother this caused alexander to leave macedon in a rage only to return a few months later though alexander was great and loved by many he was still not the clear heir to the throne when his father was assassinated he quickly had any rivals assassinated after news of the death of the king many revolts happened the new king was quick to stop the revolts in person on this tour around greece alexander was recognized as the leader of the fragmented greek world a war with persia was known up for some time and the greek world would trust alexander and his father's veteran military to defeat it in 334 bc he led his army across the helispont into asia minor his army was about 40 000 strong his infantry was commanded by his general parmenon the bulk of his army lied in his 9 000 macedonian phalangites these groups of soldiers formed up in a wall of spears that was 16 ranks deep the phalanx formation is great in front but it is hard to maneuver and is susceptible to counter attack at its rear or sides because of this alexander had 15 000 more hoplites that could block the flanks and defend the rear thousand lightly armored troops were used as skirmishers and as missile troops some of the most effective troops in his army were the one thousand chalk cavalry known as the companions alexander would personally lead these groups into battle on many occasions over 2000 other cavalry were also used when alexander crossed the hellespont the persian world quickly took notice a skilled greek general in persian service urged the persians to take a scorched earth strategy they would burn all crops and take all the food out of the area [Music] the persian satrap did not want to see his province burned and instead decided to test his army at the battle of granicus alexander's army met ten thousand persian cavalry and ten thousand greek mercenaries the two armies were separated by a shallow river [Music] alexander led his elite cavalry across the river and met heavy resistance [Music] he bought time for his phalangites to cross the river alexander was in the thick of the fighting he was struck in the head by a sword which broke his helmet he struck down his enemy with his lance but another persian came from behind with his sword raised alexander was saved when a companion took off the persian's arm the phalangites crossed the river and the persian cavalry was forced to retreat the fast-paced blitzkrieg ask attack prevented the enemy greek mercenaries from joining the battle alexander surrounded them on all sides and massacred them all this was alexander's first great victory but persia was a vast land he made his way through asia minor taking cities with little resistance the persian navy threatened his supply lines he decided to attack the nearest harbors in milletas the cities put up a strong resistance but were eventually taken alexander continued his advance at the city of gordium he was shown the gordium not it was a length of rope in which no one could untie it was said whoever could untie it would rule all of asia alexander drew his sword and slashed it in half 18 months had passed since alexander first crossed into persian lands he made his way through syria not knowing the persian royal army led by king darius was behind him king darius was determined to end his campaign in syria with his army that was almost twice the size of alexander's darius blocked his way out of syria which was only a few miles wide this narrow battlefield suited alexander's smaller army king darius's army was about a hundred thousand strong including the ten thousand persian immortals the two armies met between a river at the battle of isis the macedonian army was positioned in a typical fashion with the phalanx at its center reinforced by hoplites and lighter troops and cavalry on its flanks the persian army maintained its position in typical alexander formation he charged across the river the speed and shock of the macedonia advance caused heavy persian casualties the phalanx had trouble keeping up with the cavalry and its formation became disordered it was slowly being pushed back alexander and his companions charged straight into the persian center the phalanx was able to push the persians back alexander then charged king darius himself darius fled with a large number of men this caused the number of men to route and flee but the battle was maintained as the men fled the battle turned into a massacre at the end of the battle a relatively small number of greeks had died while the persian losses were in the tens of thousands alexander captured darius's wife mother and three children they were all taken alive and well treated by alexander he made his way around western areas of the persian empire he met little resistance until he came across the island of tyre alexander made a causeway to the island which carried out two giant siege towers after seven months of brutal fighting the city was breached and the city fell gaza met the same fate when alexander made his way to egypt the persian satrap surrendered the entire province along with the royal treasury the egyptians hailed alexander as a hero and crowned him as pharaoh on the coast of egypt he found a new city which he would call alexandria the first of many cities to be named this back in greece the spartans attempted a revolt against the macedonian rule a general in macedonia marched on sparta and fought the spartans head-on even the spartans were no match for the calculated superiority of the macedonians the spartans were crushed and the king of the spartans died with them alexander continued his campaign through the heart of persia darius pleaded for peace and offered him his daughter in marriage a large sum of gold and half of his empire half was not enough alexander wanted it all he headed east seeking a final battle against darius and his army in 331 bc alexander met the last of the royal persian army darius had chosen the location for the battle he chose a large open area this allowed him to take advantage of his numbers as well as use his fearsome war chariots the persian army was 80 000 strong while alexander's was likely under 50 000. this diverse army had units from all over the empire including armenians syrians and indians there were 200 giant war chariots led by four horses and had sides to chop down enemy troops the army even had a number of powerful war elephants alexander's army was positioned in its typical formation alexander led a charge far out to the right of the massive persian army the persians did the same but had to take troops from their center to do it this weakened their center and even the playing field for alexander a massive cavalry battle ensued on the right darius decided it was time to send the chariots forward into alexander's main lines javelin throwers decimated the forces and many of the remaining chariots simply ran right by the greek infantry next alexander sent the phallics forward against the bulk of the enemy army the brutality of alexander's cavalry and the efficient phalanx broke the persian forces and sent them running darius fled but alexander's left wing was still in danger alexander was forced to give up the chase and attacked the remaining forces only about a thousand macedonian troops had died while over 40 000 persians lay dead in their homeland darius fled and alexander went on to tour his new empire he went to the city of babylon where he was recognized as the new ruler he even sat on the royal throne at the city of souza at a small mountain pass courageous persians held up alexander's entire army for a month a small pass was revealed and the persians were finally defeated this story mirrors the battle of thermopylae in many ways alexander made it to the ceremonial capital of persia known as persepolis here he burned the city to the ground as payback to the invasion of greece and the burning of athens sacred temples he now headed north to finally capture darius darius tried to form an army but he was murdered by one of his own governors alexander returned darius's remains to the royal tombs and paused his campaign he organized his empire before continuing to capture the eastern province alexander marched on through the eastern province crushing small rebellions and armies local tribes were an issue but they were really no match in the far reaches of the former persian empire he founded the city alexandria escate meaning alexandria the furthest he had made it to the furthest reaches of the persian empire but he was not done he still had to march south to india alexander's army became unhappy with the constant war they had marched across the known world and it seemed like the war had no end in sight also alexander began to dress like a persian and many viewed him poorly he spiraled into tyranny and even killed one of his own generals assassination plots were being uncovered day by day alexander continued his conquest through northern afghanistan here he faced the king porus of paravas [Applause] in this battle he lost many the enemy war elephants were deadly but alexander was still victorious he began to push on through india but his men mutinied they had marched thousands of miles fought countless battles and had not seen their homes in eight years they also feared giant armies waiting for them in far-off regions alexander turned his army around but still fought battles in western india in a siege he was wounded in the chest and nearly killed part of his army entered ships and went back to persia while the rest of the army fought their way through the desert on return to persia he punished many of his governors for malpractice and also married many greek nobles the persian nobles he paid all of his soldiers and trained new massive armies many of his greek soldiers mutinied again but alexander was able to win their trust once more in a great speech he returned to babylon and celebrated his great victories he planned his next campaign through arabia and beyond this is when he developed a sudden fever and died days later at only age 32 he had accomplished more than any man in history he was the king of perhaps the most powerful empire ever to exist at the time he never lost the battle despite usually being outnumbered he led his army from the front and received a number of life-threatening injuries in the process perhaps his most important legacy lies in his appreciation for eastern culture and his willingness to share it this cultural diffusion combined eastern and western ways and had a profound impact on the ancient and modern world his death caused the start of the hellenistic period this period saw the rise of new comedy alexandrian poetry the formation of new philosophies such as stoicism epicureanism and pyronism greek science became even more advanced and the religious fear expanded to include new gods such as greco-egyptian serapis eastern deities such as atis and sibeli and syncretism between hellenistic culture and buddhism in bactria and northwestern india with the death of alexander came the collapse of his empire with no obvious successor the empire fragmented and many greek and persian rulers took over different areas this was the end of an era and the world would never be the same interestingly alexander's tomb would become a symbol of power in the ancient world his massive gold sarcophagus would be carried around and passed from one ruler to the next meanwhile wars were fought around the former empire the greek world revolted against the macedonians city-states would gradually gain independence but macedon remained a powerful nation philip the fifth of macedon was the last greek ruler with both the talent and the opportunity to unite greece the next great threat for the greek world was the ever-increasing power of rome rome had been gradually growing and conquering its neighbors for decades they would eventually expand and face the fearsome macedonian phalanx head on the past century had seen the greek world dominated by three primary successor kingdoms of alexander the great's empire ptolemaic egypt macedonia and the seleucid empire the imperial ambitions of the seleucids after 230 bc were particularly destabilizing the seleucid set out to conquer egypt egypt responded through a major campaign this campaign led to military victory against lucid incursions but in 205 bc when ptolemy iv was succeeded by a five-year-old ptolemy v the newly armed egyptians turned against each other the result was a major civil war between north and south seeing that all of egypt could now be easily conquered the macedonians and seleucids formed an alliance to conquer and divide egypt between themselves this represented the most significant threat to the century-old political order that had kept the greek world in relative stability this political turmoil threatened to weaken greece and a powerful nation could take advantage rome was the nearest and most threatening power to greece yet the roman and greek worlds weren't all that different greek people did not hate or fear the civilized people of rome and the roman people saw them as a similar people in a different situation the roman republic was ambitious in its expansion but wasn't particularly interested in the immense challenge it would be to conquer greece and was already dealing with a lot of other hostile nations rome was a powerful nation though and the subjugation of greece was likely inevitable it controlled all of italy and many more territories in the mediterranean the republic was able to gradually take over the italian peninsula with the help of cunning politics and military dominance in this period it developed its unique military strategy many militaries at this time relied on the classic hoplite army or more advanced phalanx formations often attempting to copy the famous macedonian phalanx at one point rome also used this type of military but evolved its forces to use close fighting instead of relying on long spears it used short swords to fight in close quarters it also relied on the protection of its forces the main forces were heavy infantry covered in tough often steel armor and held large rectangular shields called the scutum this armor made him very effective against spears and they could push through attacks and come in close for the kill the main strength of the roman army was how disciplined the legions were it also took advantage of cavalry missile troops skirmishers and auxiliaries rome was in a war against the military genius hannibal at this time philip v of macedon decided to ally himself with hannibal and carthage the roman senate did not take this lightly and dispatched forces to combat the nation they sent troops to greece but did not plan for a full war this war known as the first macedonian war consisted of small raids and skirmishes rome did not wish to have a full-out warp and rather kept macedon busy while they dealt with carthage increased military ambition by king philip of macedon would be the beginning of the second macedonian war philip was waging campaigns against greek cities that were allies to rome rome gave him an ultimatum to stop but he decided to test the strength of the romans rome was surprised to hear of this and decided to make an example out of the foolish greek rome was not messing around and sent a powerful army of romans and greek allies philip's army buckled under the immense pressure of the roman and greek army roman troops made it to thessaly by 198 bc in 197 bc the romans decisively defeated philip's last forces causing him to sue for peace rome sanctioned the power of the greeks through treaties and attempted to stabilize the region they then left leaving no military force behind they still had little interest in the region and only wanted to vanquish an enemy egypt and macedonia was very weak this allowed the seleucid empire to become increasingly ambitious and aggressive when rome pulled out of greece at the end of the second macedonian war they thought they had left behind a stable piece however by weakening the last remaining check on seleucid power they left behind the opposite the remaining macedonian nation and philip himself now asked for rome's help to defend greece from the expansion of this lucid empire the situation made worse by the fact that hannibal was now a chief military adviser to the seleucid emperor and the two were believed to be planning an outright conquest not just of greece but also rome this threatened the existence of rome and the republic began to plan a large offensive the seleucids were very strong and they controlled much of the former persian empire and by this point they had almost entirely reassembled alexander the great's former empire a major roman greek force was mobilized under the command of the great hero of the second punic war scepio africanus and they set out for greece this began the roman syrian war after initial fighting that revealed syria's seleucid weaknesses the seleucids tried to turn to roman strength against them at the battle of thermopylae they believed that they could recreate the famous battle of thermopylae and defeat the romans the seleucids lost the battle and were forced to evacuate greece the romans pursued the seleucids by crossing the hellespont this marked the first time a roman army had ever entered asia the decisive engagement was fought at the battle of magnesia resulting in complete roman victory the sluicid sued for peace and rome forced him to give up their recent greek conquests after the conquest rome pulled out of greece again assuming that the lack of a major greek power would ensure stable peace though it did the opposite upon philip's death in macedon in 179 bc his son perseus of macedon attempted to restore its international influence when perseus was implicated in an assassination plot against an ally of rome the senate declared the third macedonian war initially rome did not fare well against the macedonian forces in its 168 bc roman legions smashed the macedonian phalanx at the battle of pidena convinced now that the greeks would never have peace if the greek world was left alone rome decided to establish its first permanent foothold in the greek world the kingdom of macedonia was divided by the romans into four client republics even this proved insufficient to ensure peace as macedonian agitation continued the fourth macedonian war fought from 150 bc to 148 bc was fought against macedonian pretender to the throne named adridicus he was destabilizing greece by attempting to re-establish the old kingdom the macedonians truly could just not let their kingdom die the romans swiftly defeated the macedonians at the second battle of pardona in response the arcane league in 146 bc mobilized for a new war against rome until this time rome had only campaigned in greece in order to fight macedonian forts allies and clients rome's military supremacy was well established it defeated the macedonian phalanx already on three occasions and defeating superior numbers against the seleucids in asia the aquian leaders almost certainly knew that this declaration of war against rome was hopeless rome had triumphed against far stronger and larger opponents and the roman legion had proved its supremacy over the macedonian phalanx the wise knew this war was suicidal but the nationalist believes victory would bring glory back to the nation the kian league was swiftly defeated and as a lesson rome utterly destroyed the city of corinth in 146 bc the same year that carthage was destroyed after nearly a century of constant crisis management in greece which always led back to internal instability and war when rome pulled out rome decided to divide macedonia into two new roman provinces greece was finally conquered and stabilized by one of the greatest empires ever to exist though it was conquered by this foreign nation greek culture reigned supreme as the old saying goes rome conquered greece but greece conquered rome rome took over greece physically governmentally and militarily but it was the greek religion philosophy science and thought that rome adopted and helped rome become so great rome conquered greece physically but in every other manner greece's ways of life overcame rome and this is among greece's greatest legacy not the military victories or the great city-states but the rich culture that proved superior to many others this culture has gone on to conquer the world and has affected nearly all nations in some way ancient greece is a distant memory but its stories of man great words of philosophy and culture remain valuable and important to us even thousands of years in the future and in this way we shall remember greece for eternity thank you for watching my most ambitious project ever i worked tirelessly on this project and i hope it was worth watching i have plenty of other videos that i've made that you should check out and i also have a few other documentaries including one on native americans make sure to like and subscribe and also leave a comment on this video telling me how you liked it also it would be nice if you could check out my patreon and instagram both of those links can be found in the description it has been an honor to entertain you and i'll see you guys on the next one [Music] bye [Music] you

Channel: NORTH 02

Views: 452,592

Rating: 4.7622719 out of 5

Keywords: dinosaur, ancient animal, documentary, north 02, trey the explainer, paleo profile, animal, fossil, evolution, dino, paleoanthropology, human evolution, science, discovery, greece, sparta, spartan, athens, philosophy, athenian, odyssey, iliad, homer, socrates, history, alexander the great

Id: Y_B0bh7MXgI

Length: 65min 4sec (3904 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 04 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/nabetsEz]

nice!