How Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) managed to accomplish the impossible in several years - to create greatest empire the ancient world? There are many answers to this question, and over time there are more and more hypotheses, assumptions and theories. The Munich archaeological collection dedicated the exhibition "Alexander the Great - Ruler of the World" to the personality of the ancient commander, which examines the Alexander phenomenon from a biographical point of view. The exhibition consists of ten parts and shows the life of the ruler and commander, starting from his youth at the Macedonian court in Pele and ending with the mythological image that took shape after death - the image of an eternally young hero, a great leader, whom many were inclined to deify.
For this exhibition at the gallery in Rosenheim (Lokschuppen Rosenheim), 450 items from German and European collections were collected, which give an idea of the conditions in which Alexander the Great and his army found themselves during their campaigns to the east. The exhibition catalog, in addition to describing the exhibits, provides a brief overview of the points of view existing in modern scientific circles, from which ten reasons can be distinguished as to why Alexander became truly Great.
Origin
Alexander was the son of the Macedonian king Philip II and the daughter of the Epirus king Olympias. His father, who initially ascended the throne as the guardian of his young nephew, was a talented military leader and cautious politician who managed to fortify Macedonia and make it the center of Hellas. Alexander's mother, the power-hungry and despotic Olympias, had a great influence on his childhood. Both on the paternal and maternal side, Alexander was a descendant of Hercules and Perseus, the greatest heroes of ancient Greek myths. They became an example for him.
Upbringing
Despite the fact that, in addition to Olympias, Philip II had other wives, Alexander received an upbringing worthy of the heir to the throne. Together with his friends from aristocratic families, he studied with Aristotle, who at that time was not as famous as later. In addition, Philip II took his son with him on campaigns. In the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) against the united army of the Greek city-states, Alexander commanded a cavalry whose attack ensured victory for the Macedonians.
When Philip II was killed in 336, his troops were in Asia Minor to repel the Persian army. More than two decades of military campaigns of Philip II made his army an impressive force: six regiments of heavy infantry - 9000 soldiers, armed with long spears; 3000 hypaspists, also with long spears, but more maneuverable; 6,000 lightly armed soldiers; 1200 gaiters (heavy cavalry), guards and 600 scouts. In addition, the army of Philip II included 7,000 Greek hoplites, many mercenaries and several thousand horsemen.
General talent
Alexander was exactly the person who was able to properly dispose of this army. The huge, clumsy army of the Persians had no chance against the Macedonians. During the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander, discovering that the Persians had covered the battlefield with thorns against the cavalry, made a tactical maneuver that forced the enemy army to split up, after which the Macedonian cavalry, avoiding the thorns, attacked the positions of the Persian king. In addition, Alexander could trust his generals and his army, which followed him to the ends of the earth. 
Pragmatism
However, it was not the army that made Alexander the Great the ruler of the world, but, above all, his policies. His power was not based on dogmas, but on a sober analysis of the existing conditions and on the search for practical solutions. It was guided by practical considerations that Alexander took over much from the system of government of the Persian Empire.
First of all, Alexander refused to turn Asia into a province of the Macedonian-Greek Empire. Instead, he brought the local nobility closer to his court, which he secured places in the army and government bodies. Unlike his predecessors, Alexander treated the inhabitants of the conquered lands not as a conqueror, but as the legitimate ruler of their state, respecting their traditions.
Ruthlessness
Whether Alexander was magnanimous only by calculation or not, he was ruthless towards those who resisted him. When Thebes and Athens rebelled against him shortly after his accession to the throne, Alexander not only destroyed the armies of these cities, but also wiped out Thebes from the face of the earth. The Phoenician city of Tire, which was located on a rocky island and was considered impregnable, refused to submit, but after seven months of siege it was taken and then destroyed.
The general Parmenion and his son Filota were executed. Alexander killed his friend Klyt, who saved his life during the battle on the river Granik, with his own hands, as he opposed the borrowing of Eastern customs. Some consider the return of the Macedonian army through the deserts of Gedrosia, which cost the lives of 45 thousand soldiers, as punishment for the riot on the banks of the Gypas.
City building
Alexander founded more than twenty cities in the territory from Egypt to India, they were settled by veterans and local residents. These cities were to become not only strongholds for the army, but also centers of Greek culture. Alexandria of Egypt was the most famous of them - one of the centers of trade and sciences of the ancient world. This and other cities founded by Alexander became a kind connecting link between East and West. 
Development of sciences
Like Napoleon two millennia after him, Alexander kept a large staff of scientists with him. Thus, his campaign became also a large-scale expedition, the purpose of which was to reach the end of the world. In order to pave the route from the Indus to the Euphrates, entire flotillas were built. Scientists and philosophers have explored and described Asia. The court chronicler Callisthenes, the great-nephew of Aristotle, made sure that the world learned about the discoveries made during the campaign. However, in the end, Callisthenes fell out of favor, because he resisted the introduction of Persian customs at court (namely, the tradition of prostrating before the ruler), was subsequently executed for alleged participation in the conspiracy.
Deification
After the founding of the city in the Nile Delta, Alexander visited the Siwa oasis in the desert, where the oracle of the god Amun greeted him, calling him "the son of a deity", which befits him as the new ruler of Egypt. This fact only strengthened his conviction to follow the path of Hercules. In addition, as the ruler of a huge empire, Alexander was automatically ranked among the cult figures. In the cities he founded, he also received honors on a par with the gods. The literally superhuman desire to unite Europe and Asia, which took possession of him in the last months of his life, suggests that in the end he himself perceived himself more as an almost divine person than as a mere mortal.
Pursuit
"Longing desire" - wrote the ancient authors when they tried to characterize the motive of Alexander the Great. In fact, it was an all-consuming desire that made him imitate the heroes of antiquity, especially Achilles. Alexander wanted to prove that he is one of these heroes, but not in legends, but in reality. He took a fortress in northern Iran only because it was said that Hercules had failed in its siege. From the Indus he wanted to reach the Ganges in order to reach the borders of the lands developed by people there. His troops were ready to seize the Arabian Peninsula, and after him, and Carthage, but the death of the great commander prevented these plans from being realized. However, the "passionate desire" still helped Alexander to fulfill his dream: no one else had created such a huge empire.
200 years before the campaigns of Alexander the Great, Persia was considered the most invincible country in the world. She successfully conquered countries one by one, destroyed cities and had hundreds of thousands of prisoners, the number of which increased after each battle. That is why most historians have a logical question why Alexander the Great was able to conquer the Persian state. There are many answers to this question, including frankly mystical, logical and fully substantiated by historical documents.
Persia is powerful and weak
If you start to consider the reasons why Alexander the Great was able to conquer the Persian state, then you should immediately focus on time - 200 years have passed since the time of a powerful country with a huge army. During this war, it was not Xerxes who ruled, but Darius III, the soldiers had little experience, and the main goal of the government was two actions:
collection of taxes from subordinate lands;
fighting off attacks from smaller neighbors.
The strengths included a large army, a large number of fortified castles and huge reserves of gold that were exported from all over the world. King Darius III was a very proud commander, and his army consisted of well-armed infantry and heavy cavalry, which terrified most opponents. In addition, Greek mercenaries occupied a special place.
Campaigning
It was the appearance of a strong army that became the first reason why the Persians lost all key battles in turn. Among the most significant mistakes of the commanders of the once mighty empire are:
Granik. The army was grouped only on one section of the coast, thanks to which the cavalry of the still inexperienced Alexander surrounded and destroyed the defenders without any problems. The Greek mercenaries were not even admitted to the scene of the hostilities, after which they were also killed.
Rock of Sogdiana. The defenders in the mountain fortress did not expect that a detachment of military men would climb the rocks without weapons, which is why the day before they made fun of the besiegers instead of preparing all possible options. In the morning, a surprise awaited them in the form of a crowd of military men looking from above, after which the surrender took place without a fight.
Gaugamela. Darius III kept his army all night in full uniform, because he was afraid of an attack from the Macedonians, and the latter were getting enough sleep at that time. As a result, the meeting with a ratio of 20 to 1 ended with the victory of a small, sleepy army.
Considering all the factors described above, there is no longer any doubt why Alexander the Great was able to conquer the Persian state. Such an end to the campaigns was logical and natural for a young and talented commander, while the time of the old empire and its relevance had long been exhausted.
Most historians agree that the reasons for the victory were several criteria at once: the genius of the commander and the use of military affairs as a science, as well as the unpreparedness and relaxation of the armies of the Persian Empire.
Herodotus visited Scythia in the 5th century. BC e., but only described the history of the Persian Wars. And the events that took place in the Black Sea region in his time remained unknown to us. Other authors were also not interested in this - their passions were seething in the Aegean world. Battles with the Persians, the war between the Athenian and Spartan coalitions, political squabbles. Although in Scythia, of course, life went on as usual. It was in the V century. BC e. here the magnificent capital, the Kamenskoe settlement, described earlier, is being built. And in the Kerch Bosporus kingdom in 438, the Greek dynasty of Archeanaktids was replaced by the Thracian dynasty of Spartokids. Why and how the Thracian kings came to power there, history does not know.
Somewhere around this time, clashes between the Scythians and the Sarmatians began. Sarmatians are the generalized name of the Aryan nomadic tribes that lived in the steppes of Kazakhstan and Central Asia... In language, way of life, they were close to the Scythians, and many ancient authors considered them one people, differing only in a number of features. So, it has already been noted that the eastern neighbors of Scythia were the Sauromats. Women who played an important role in the tribal organization - they were priestesses, queens, warriors. Herodotus reported that the Sauromats speak the Scythian language, but "with mistakes." And he expounded the legend that they came from the mixing of the Scythians with the Amazons.
Like, during the battle near the Termodont River, in the east of Asia Minor, where Greek myths traditionally placed the "kingdom of the Amazons", the Greeks defeated these warriors, and the prisoners were loaded onto three ships. But in the sea, the Amazons killed the men, they did not know how to manage the ships, and they were brought into the Sea of Azov to the mouth of the Don. Where they met with the Scythian youths, the people of the Savromats arose. About their customs, he reported that girls fight on an equal basis with men, and when they get married, they leave "in reserve" - married women took up arms only when a national militia was convened. The Greeks also wrote that the girl could enter into marriage only after she killed the enemy. Moreover, the further the author lived from Scythia, the more exotic these lands were for him, the more killed enemies he needed for marriage - two, three, five.
But here it is necessary to touch upon the question - and who were the legendary "Amazons" who so often figure in myths? In the stories about Hercules, Theseus, Dionysus' invasion of Greece, the Trojan War. Plutarch describes how they besieged Athens from time immemorial. Their very name was translated by the Hellenes from "a-maza" - "chestless", claiming that for the convenience of archery, they burn out their right chest. Without thinking about how women, after such a procedure, retain the ability to bear children. And mythological heroes could hardly fall in love with crippled girls and marry them.
The existence of a kingdom or a separate people of the Amazons is, of course, fiction. But based on real facts. The root "ma" or "ama" means "mother" in many Aryan languages. (For example, among the Hindus, the supreme female deity was named Uma and Ambika - "Mother"). As already noted, initially the supreme deities were female. They were often considered virgins, like the Greek Artemis, the Roman Diana, the Slavic Dzevonna and Dzevanna. That is, they personified mother nature, feeding everyone at the same time, but at the same time always virgin. This can be seen from the Slavic languages, where the Indo-Aryan "devi" - "goddess", was transformed into "virgin", which implies chastity.
And these same goddesses in ancient times served as warriors. Traces of such functions are imprinted in the folklore of many peoples. In the myths of Arcadia, the mighty maiden Atalanta appears, in the Thracian legends - the warlike Harpalika and Polyphonte, among the Iranians - Gurdafarid, among the Irish - Scathates, among the Germans - the Valkyries maidens, and the Spartans before the battle prayed to the Muses, who played a role similar to Valkyria in them. ... Among the Indo-Europeans, the servants of the female deities were women. And in some "virgin" cults, they also had to take a vow of celibacy - like the priestesses of Artemis of Ephesus, the Roman vestals. There were also cruel cults, where, in order to "consolidate" such a vow, the attendants were actually subjected to the procedure for removing the mammary glands. Naturally, this ceremony did not apply to all women.
But goddesses like Artemis were also considered the patrons of young people under marriageable age. And at the sanctuaries there were communities where girls, under the guidance of priestesses, underwent training, rituals of initiation and initiation. Including, from some peoples, they learned to wield weapons, to hunt, they carried the protection of sanctuaries. And they sent troops to the war. And the "graduates" kept in touch with their communities, periodically gathered to participate in religious rituals and special women's festivals. Such organizations were later recorded among the Slavs. And among other peoples, the existence of female phratries, secret female cults and mysteries, preserved from similar communities of ancient mother goddesses, is known.
Apparently, it was precisely these traditions that existed among the Savromats. And not only among them, but also among the tribes of the Issedons, Iksamats, Pisamats. The warrior queen among the Massagets has already been mentioned above. Although, in principle, it was common for women in northern countries to own weapons and participate in battles in that era. However, more often women fought only when necessary, the war was still considered a man's occupation. The Savromats did not make such a distinction. It was their warriors who were imprinted in Russian fairy tales in the guise of beautiful but cruel warriors from the fields.
Savromatskie burials, attributed to the Prokhorov archaeological culture, are often found in the Lower Volga, the Urals, in the Orenburg region. In the burials one can come across decorations, dishes, maces of leaders characteristic of the Sarmatian tribes and "multi-barrel" pipes made of bone. And weapons. Knives, arrows, long, more than a meter, swords. There are also women's graves with rich military decoration, with traces of magnificent funeral rituals, human and horse sacrifices. That is, they were queens or some important "commanders". The Savromats were nomadic pastoralists; settlements were built only for wintering cattle. And they were very militant people - burials are often collective, and the remains bear traces of damage received in battle.
We do not know when and for what reason the Sauromats fell out with the Scythians. When Darius was repelled, they acted as allies. However, all authors of the IV-III centuries. BC e. already call these peoples blood enemies. They point out that the Scythians most often fight with their eastern neighbors (and neighbors), and mutual forays and collisions are called an everyday occurrence. But at first the matter was limited to border fights, Scythia was still too tough for the enemies.
In the middle of the IV century. BC e. it reappears in the pages of the Hellenic chronicles. At this time, King Atey ruled it, under whom the Scythian Empire reached its maximum power. Ancient sources portray him as a very bright personality - a wise ruler, a caring "father" of his people and a commander, somewhat reminiscent of Suvorov. A dry old man, but energetic, fearless, merciful to the vanquished and very witty. Many of his sayings were circulated throughout Greece as aphorisms. He was always on campaigns, personally leading them. He conquered the Agathirs, made the tribes of the Caucasus, the North, and a number of Western peoples tributaries of Scythia. His army also visited Transcaucasia.
In the Balkans in the same period, the star of another commander, Philip II of Macedon, rose. He spent military reform, having created a professional army from the mountaineers-shepherds, introduced a new system, the "Macedonian phalanx", subdued Epirus, Thessaly, the coast of the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara. And he began to extend his power to the Hellenic states. Which, I must say, after a short bright take-off quickly degraded. Athens and Sparta, as a result of protracted feuds, strained and fell into decay. Thebes, Agrigent, Corinth tried to lead, but the elevation turned out to be fragile. Morals have changed beyond recognition. The Athenians, who lived in seclusion 100-200 years ago and were considered a model of virtue, were now famous throughout the Mediterranean as the most licentious and skillful debauches. The former patriotic Spartans emigrated and became mercenaries in all Asian armies. However, mercenarism became the most common craft among all Greek warriors.
The vaunted Hellenic "wisdom" has completely degenerated. The scholastics came into vogue, who considered it the height of scholarship to prove any statement, and then prove the exact opposite. The cinemas were also very popular and openly hooligans. For example, the famous Diogenes lived in a barrel, was rude to everyone he met and deliberately insulted them, publicly masturbated or caressed his followers. And this was recognized as a genius in the Hellenic world! Well, types like Demosthenes, who raised the Greeks to fight the Macedonians - but who did it for a generous payment from the Persian king, became a model of "civic consciousness". Moreover, having roused his compatriots to stand up for "freedom", Demosthenes himself used to not get into a fight, but to leave in advance. It was not difficult for Philip the Great to subjugate such states.
King Atey did the same. He, one after another, brought the Greek city-states of the Black Sea region under his rule. Some themselves expressed their obedience to him. Others, for example, Nikoniy, he had to take by storm. But even the cities taken in battle, Atey did not ravage and did not give them to the soldiers for plunder, as the "civilized" conquerors of that time usually did. Satisfied with the ransom and recognition of citizenship. He also captured part of the trans-Danube Thrace. But here his interests collided with Philip the Great, who in 339 BC. e. spoke to the Scythians. When the ambassadors of Macedonia arrived at the Scythian court, and they were escorted to Atey, they saw that the 90-year-old king-soldier was cleaning the horse with his own hand. He asked if Philip was doing the same. And when he found out that he had not, he was surprised: "How then can he go to war with me?"
However, Philip won. True, according to the testimony of contemporaries, he managed to gain the upper hand only with the help of some kind of trick - specific versions on this score differ. The Scythian army suffered a severe defeat in Thrace, and Atey was also killed. But Philip turned out to be more prudent than Darius. He captured only Thrace, but did not go into the depths of Scythia. Preferred easier prey. In 338 BC. e. under Chaeronea, he defeated the Athenians and Thebans with their allies and became the master of Greece. Then he began to prepare a campaign against Persia. But in 336 BC. e. was killed - apparently, at the head of the conspiracy was his extravagant wife Olympias. And her son Alexander III became the king.
He also visited the north, subjugating the fallen Thracians anew, even crossed the Danube, to the Scythian territory, although purely symbolically, for the sake of a gesture - immediately returning. The Greeks had to be pacified anew, but this was done quite easily. And it is curious that the Macedonians, who were formerly considered "barbarians", were immediately recognized by the Greeks as an equal "cultured" people after a thrashing. And then Alexander realized his father's idea and moved to Persia.
But he also saw the conquest of Scythia among his goals. In 332 BC. e. by order of Alexander, his commander and governor in Thrace, Zopirion, set out for the Danube with 30 thousand Macedonian infantry and numerous auxiliary formations of vassal peoples. The size of the army was about the same that Alexander himself led against the Persians. Zopirion was ordered to conquer the Black Sea region and unite with his king on the "Tanais" - as previously indicated, the Greeks considered the Don and the Syr Darya to be the same river. We do not know anything about the details of Zopirion's campaign for one simple reason - no one left Scythia. The army perished to the last man. However, if you imagine in the bare steppe a clumsy Macedonian phalanx, surrounded by cavalry and bombarded with arrows, the result of the battle is not difficult to predict. Or maybe it did not come to the battle, and Zopirion was given the same thing as Darius, only this time they brought the destruction to the end.
Alexander was much more fortunate. Which is not surprising. The Persian state lost the remnants of militancy 150 years ago. She was purely peaceful, only fighting off attacks from her neighbors. The mobilization armies could put up huge, but these were untrained militias, retinues of the nobility, archaic chariots. Its best soldiers were the same Greek mercenaries and the Central Asian steppe dwellers. But they were lost in a heterogeneous mass, sewn on a living thread and uncontrollable. And the very size of the armies allowed the Macedonians to effectively beat them and win impressive victories, demoralizing the Persians.
But in the historical literature an ugly tradition has developed to depict all the eastern conquerors in a purely negative way, but for some reason to oppose Alexander the Great to them, to consider them an outstanding hero, a kind of "kulturtrager" who spread the high civilization of "Hellenism" to half the world. With validity, such views did not even come close. The Macedonians were so "cultured" that they did not even know footwear, only the nobility and the elite "shield-bearers" of Alexander flaunted in sandals, and the personnel of the famous phalanx spanked barefoot into battle. Alexander himself, for the first time in his life, saw a bath among the trophies taken from Darius, and said with admiration: "This is what it means to reign!" He was a cruel man, mentally unstable. One by one he executed his own friends, generals. And the Macedonians rolled across Asia with a terrible, truly barbaric invasion.
All the inhabitants of Tire, who dared to resist, Alexander ordered to be crucified. And his soldiers did not hesitate in the least, tying to the crosspieces or nailing to the doors and walls of the houses of defenseless old men, screaming in terror of children, girls who had just been raped. Alexander ordered to kill all the prisoners taken at Gavgamellas - and tens of thousands of people were slaughtered. The savage Macedonian horde defeated richest cities Phenicia, destroyed the luxurious ancient culture of Persia and Turan. For the sake of drunken amusement, according to the idea that hit the head of the transport whore Thais of Athens, the magnificent capital of Iran, Persepolis, was burned. The king and his entourage sent home the stolen treasures, turning unique products of oriental masters into gold and silver scrap. And when the army was too burdened with precious booty, they were simply burned by Alexander's orders - getting an incentive for new plunder.
In 329-328 BC e. the army reached Central Asia and began to conquer it. Local Scythian-Sarmatian tribes retreated beyond the Syr Darya, and Alexander, naturally, did not meet Zopirion on this river. All his chronicles describe only brilliant victories, but the facts show that he was given a sensitive dose here. Ancient sources dimly mention several of his "separate units", destroyed by the Sakas. And when Alexander with the whole army moved beyond the Syr Darya, for some reason he was forced to retreat very quickly.
The Black Sea Scythians, by the way, tracked the movements of the Macedonians and knew well the location of their troops. Several times they sent embassies, offering friendship and alliance, which the king of Scythia (name not mentioned) was ready to seal with a dynastic marriage and give his daughter to Alexander as wife. The conqueror found the idea of marrying a "savage" ridiculous and made fun of such a proposal. But he treated the ambassadors kindly and assured them of his friendship. Although this was nothing more than a diplomatic ruse.
He did not leave projects for the conquest of Scythia. Having assured himself of "invincibility", he could not come to terms with the unavenged death of Zopirion's army. In addition, he began to consider himself the heir Persian kings... So, according to his convictions, he had to pay for Darius. With the returning delegates of Scythia, he sent reciprocal ambassadors from among his closest "hetaires", all with the same empty phrases about friendship. Their real task was intelligence - "to get acquainted with the nature of the Scythian land and find out whether the population is large, what are its customs and with what weapons it goes to war." Unfortunately, the fate of this embassy and any of its reports remained unknown to us.
But at the same time, the Khorezm king Farasman offered Alexander an alliance against Scythia and volunteered to lead an army to the Black Sea around the Caspian. Probably, an alliance with the Savromats was also assumed - Farasman and the satrap of Media Atropat, wishing to please the Macedonian, presented him with a hundred "Amazons". Arrian writes: “They were dressed like male horsemen, only instead of spears they held axes and light shields instead of heavy ones. They say that their right breast is smaller than the left; during the battle they have it outside. " As for the different-sized bust, Arrian, of course, twists himself in order to somehow dock the information with the myths, where the right breast should not be at all. And then she suddenly appears in place and even "out", in all its glory. Alexander, however, was not impressed by the "Amazonian" charms and, in general, remained indifferent to this kind of troops. But Farasman's proposal interested him. He concluded an anti-Scythian alliance with the king of Khorezm. However, he considered the trip to the Black Sea region untimely, "asked to postpone his help."
First I decided to conquer India. And his horde rushed to destroy the flourishing states of Hindustan. By the way, it is completely pointless to destroy. Even when it became clear that the conquests were over, on the way back, they still burned and plundered the cities, destroying the inhabitants - since they had already fallen under the arm. And finally, the great commander foolishly ditched most of his army when, contrary to advice, he led it back to Persia through the desert along the shores of the Arabian Sea ... There is evidence that Alexander the Great, in his future plans, also envisaged a march to Scythia. But in 324 BC. e. died in Babylon at the age of 32. There is a version that from the poison - he got literally all of his subordinates.
By the way, if we make a comparison with other famous conquerors: Balamber, Genghis Khan, Batu, Tamerlane, then the comparison will turn out far from in favor of Alexander. They still acted in the interests of their own peoples, and the king of Macedonia - only for the sake of personal "glory". His troops grumbled, protested, and they had to be pacified, then demobilized, replenishing the army at the expense of the conquered peoples. The listed conquerors were patriots of their national traditions, and the empires they created lived for at least several generations. Alexander, however, was completely stunned by the luxury of the East, began to adapt to the customs of the vanquished, and in the end he planned to recreate the same Persian state, but with himself at the head. And his "empire" lasted only ... 9 years!
As soon as the king died, his closest comrades-in-arms, the diadochi, immediately fought among themselves, tore the conquests to pieces and almost killed each other. And the culture of the Greeks began to penetrate into the lands, devastated and depopulated by them, cleared by the mouth of any culture. And this is called the triumph of "Hellenism"! However, we also note that the peoples, agitated by the Macedonian invasion - the Persians, Armenians, Turanians, caught classic Greek culture. Past centuries. And in the very "epicenter of Hellenism", Greece and the Aegean region, the degradation and decline of this culture continued.
Alexander the Great did not have to meet on the battlefield with Scythia. It may well be that only because of this he managed to remain "invincible" in history ... But Lysimachus, one of the Diadochi, who received Macedonia during the division of the empire, launched a war against the Thracian Getae, who had withdrawn from citizenship. He decided to invade beyond the Danube and defeated the Scythians, although he did not deal with their entire army, but only with the border tribes. But when he undertook a second campaign to the north, the Getae, with the support of the Scythians, utterly defeated him and took him prisoner. Then, however, they let go - just like that, with a broad gesture of the soul. Somehow they liked him.
It is curious that in the early Polish chronicles of the 12th century. - Gallus Anonymous, Vincencia Kadlubeka, some legends about the victories of the Poles over Alexander the Great have been preserved. Obviously, this is an echo of the battles that the Scythians fought with Philip the Great, Zopirion and Lysimachus together with the Proto-Slavs. And Nizami, who created in the XII century. Russians are opponents of Alexander in their poems. And the Macedonians fail to defeat them, after the battles that ended in a draw, the parties conclude an honorable peace.
History lesson in grade 5
Goals: to acquaint students with the eastern campaign of the Greco-Macedonian troops; to bring students to an understanding of the reasons for the death of the Persian kingdom and the formation of the state of Alexander the Great; continue the formation of skills to work with a historical map, based on the text of the textbook and the document, give a description of the participants in historical events, an assessment of their activities.
Equipment: map "Ancient Greece in the 5th century. BC e. ".
Information for the teacher
Based on the requirements of the program in history lessons, children should learn to characterize and evaluate the activities of participants in historical events. Therefore, in this lesson, it is advisable to acquaint students with a special memo that will help them in this. Moreover, the lesson material (the activities of Alexander the Great) allows you to do this.
Assessment checklist statesman
- What class interests did you express? What were the goals and aspirations of this class?
- What personal qualities did you have? To what extent were they suitable for solving the set goals?
- What means did you use to achieve the goal? Rate them.
- What results did his activity have? Rate them.
During the classes
I. Organizational moment
1. Preparation of an oral answer to card number 37.
CARD No. 37
Read the question carefully and prepare a detailed answer to it:
- Why did Greece lose its independence?
To do this, remember:
- What was the army of the king of Macedonia Philip armed with?
- Why did the Greeks live unfriendly and fought among themselves?
- What did Philip's tactics give to quarrel opponents?
Make a conclusion.
Sample student response
In the middle of the IV century. BC e. at the head of the Macedonian kingdom was the smart and energetic king Philip. He created a powerful and strong army, which consisted of cavalry and infantry. Each infantryman had a six-meter spear. In battle, the first six rows put spears on the shoulders of those in front. The last rows of the phalanx turned to face the enemy. Then the phalanx "bristled" and was unapproachable. Philip's army had siege towers. With such a strong army, Philip was able to conquer Hellas, since the Greek city-states were at war among themselves. Each of them wanted to be at the head of Hellas. In addition, Philip could bribe and quarrel among opponents. Thus, as a result of the listed reasons, Macedonia was able to conquer Greece.
2. Working with the class. Solving problems.
Objective 1. They say that there were cities in Macedonia, but there were no policies. What does this mean and is it true? (Polis is an urban republic. In the Macedonian kingdom there was no city government, there were only royal fortresses and the capital of Pella.)
Objective 2. Why did not a single city of Hellas manage to unite the whole country under its rule, and the Macedonians managed to do it? (Philip the Macedonian had 5-10 times more military forces than Athens or Thebes, but much less than the combined military resources of the policies of Hellas. However, Philip was a king and could gather all his forces together, and the Greeks were too envious of each other and did not want Philip, unlike Xerxes, had a good command of the Roman wisdom: "Divide and rule!")
3. The student's oral answer to card number 37 and feedback from classmates (for the recall plan, see lesson number 10).
III. Go to study new topic
So, we found out that Greece lost its independence under the onslaught of a strong Macedonian army. After the death of Philip, his son Alexander became the head of state. He continued the work of his father, carried out a campaign to the East. The powerful power of the Persians collapsed under the blows of the Macedonian army. Why? This is what we will learn today in the lesson.
IV. Learning a new topic
Plan
1) Victories of the troops of Alexander the Great.
2) The death of the Persian kingdom.
On the desk: lesson topic, new words: R. Granik, city of Iss, Parmenion, s. Gaugamela.
1. Work on the historical map (p. 194 Vigasin or p. 206 Mikhailovsky).
- Remember how the parts of the world are located on the map.
- What color is indicated on the map Macedonian kingdom? (In brown.)
- What color is the Persian kingdom? (In green.)
- In what states known to us did Alexander the Great made his campaigns? (To Egypt, Phenicia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, India.)
- In which part of the world are most of these states located? (In the east.)
- What are the most important cities founded by Alexander the Great on the conquered territories? (These were cities with the name Alexandria, in honor of Alexander the Great, more than 20 of them were founded (in some sources the figure is more than 30. Encyclopedia for children. Volume 1. M .: Avanta +, 2000. S. 138.).)
- What strait separates Europe from Asia? (Dardanelles.)
2. The teacher's story.
Assignment for children: from the teacher's story, understand and write down the reasons for the fall of the Persian state.
In the spring of 334 BC. e. hundreds of ships transported the infantry and cavalry of the Macedonian king Alexander through a narrow strait to the coast of Asia Minor. From here, Alexander began his campaign in the heart of the huge Persian state.
The young king had a small army. A total of 30,000 selected and battle-hardened infantry, 5,000 horsemen, a fleet of 160 ships. The wagon train carried stone combat vehicles and formidable battering rams to smash the walls of enemy fortresses.
The Persian power stretched from the Indus River to the Mediterranean Sea. The peoples of Egypt, Assyria, Phenicia have long suffered from the rule of the Persians, they dreamed of throwing off the hated yoke of the Persians' oppressors.
The Persian army was enormous. The best part of it consisted of the tsarist guard and detachments of mercenaries of different nationalities. Satraps robbed and plundered the local population. An army consisting of
people of the conquered peoples, was poorly trained and did not know how to withstand difficult campaigns. The Persian nobility continuously fought for power, the country was tormented by uprisings, coups and civil wars.
Alexander's adversary, Tsar Darius III, was a weak, indecisive man and a talentless commander.
Upon learning of Alexander's crossing of Gelespont, the satraps of Asia Minor gathered a large army. They had about 20,000 horsemen and 20,000 Greek mercenaries. One of the commanders, the Greek Mem-non, an experienced commander, advised avoiding the battle, retreating, devastating the country so that Alexander could not find refuge anywhere. But they did not listen to him. The Persians took up a position on the right bank of the small mountain river Granik.
A fierce battle took place here. Hot hand-to-hand combat began to boil. Alexander's victory was complete. The rule of the Persians in Asia Minor fell.
In the city of Gordia, the ancient capital of Phrygia, Alexander's army stopped for the winter. Here Alexander was shown the famous chariot that belonged to King Gordius. A knot of belts was made on it, with which the drawbar was attached. There was an ancient prediction that whoever untied the knot would take possession of Asia. Alexander made an attempt to untie the knot, but to no avail. However, he was not taken aback: drawing his sword, he broke the knot in half with one blow. But the conquest of Asia was still far away.
3. Independent work pupils with the text of the textbook.
4. Conversation on the read.
- Where is the city of Iss located? (On the Mediterranean coast.)
- Thanks to what the Macedonians were able to break into the city of Tire? (They used battering rams and throwing machines. They destroyed the walls and took over the city.)
- Why did the Egyptians meet Alexander as a liberator? (They are tired of the power of the Persians, of their claims.)
- What new character traits appeared in Alexander the Great? (He was intoxicated with victories, agreed that his priests declared a god.)
- Which city was founded by Alexander in the Nile Delta? (City of Alexandria, on the island of Pharos.)
- What major battle did Alexander win on the territory of Mesopotamia? (The battle at the village of Gavgamela.)
V. Consolidation of the studied material
1. Conversation on questions.
- Why was Alexander the Great able to conquer the Persian state?
Answers:
a) The Persian army consisted of mercenaries, and they could fail at any moment, they were not interested in the results of military operations.
b) The nobility of the Persian state fought for power, the country was restless, therefore such a state is easier to conquer.
c) The peoples conquered and tired of the power of the Persians could side with the Macedonian army, since they wanted to free themselves from the yoke of the satraps.
d) The leadership talent of Alexander the Great played an important role in the defeat of the army of the Persian state.
2. Assessment of the personality of Alexander the Great (use the memo).
Vi. Lesson summary
During the campaigns of Alexander, two civilizations collided, which had very different foundations from each other. Alexander's empire contributed greatly to their synthesis.
Homework: read § 42 Vigasin or § 36 Mikhailovsky; prepare a detailed answer to the question: “Why was Alexander the Great able to conquer the Persian state?”; workbook (issue 2), task No. 52 (p. 37); for the curious: how could 40,000 Macedonians defeat 200,000 Persians at Gaugamel?
Additional material
Death of Alexander the Great
In 324 BC. e. Alexander began to prepare for new campaigns. But the king did not have time to complete what he had begun. June 23, 323 BC e. Alexander the Great, the ruler of half the world, died in Babylon from a fever, without fulfilling all his plans. The coffin with Alexander's body was taken to his part of the possessions by the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy Lag, who made Alexander the patron god of his kind. The mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias, upon learning that her son had been lying for a long time without burial, grieved and said: "Child, you aspired to the share of celestials, now you are denied even what all people on earth receive - in the grave." Ptolemy sent Alexander's body in a barrel of honey to Alexandria, where he buried it. Its unexpected and mysterious death at the thirty-third year of life, she took everyone by surprise. It is said that when the generals asked the dying king to whom he intended the throne, Alexander replied: "To the most worthy."
A long memory has remained in the centuries from Alexander the Great. And the reason for this is not his state, which disintegrated immediately after the death of the king. Nor was he the founder of a new dynasty: his two sons - Alexander and Hercules - died as young people in bloody strife. His youth and the ease with which he conquered half the world evoked delight and envy. How many future great commanders repeated the words of Alexander: "20 years - and nothing for immortality!"
Caesar thought with admiration of amazing fate Alexander the Great. Napoleon and Suvorov read books about his campaigns. How many legends circulated around the world and how many eastern rulers derived their lineage from Iskander the Two-Horned (as Alexander was called in the East).
And let the Spartans, whom the tsar forced to esteem themselves as an Olympian, mockingly declared: “Imagine Alexander, if he so wants, to call himself a god,” - he nevertheless became one. He became the idol of young minds, the embodiment of good luck, an exciting legend and an amazing pain for his contemporaries and descendants.
Encyclopedia for children. Volume 1.M .: Avanta +, 2000.S. 138-139.
Lesson 47. The campaign of Alexander the Great to the East
Objectives: to acquaint students with the eastern campaign of the Greco-Macedonian troops; to bring students to an understanding of the reasons for the death of the Persian kingdom and the formation of the state of Alexander the Great; continue the formation of skills to work with a historical map, based on the text of the textbook and the document, give a description of the participants in historical events, an assessment of their activities.
Equipment: map “Ancient Greece in the 5th century. BC e. ".
Information for the teacher
Based on the requirements of the program in history lessons, children should learn to characterize and evaluate the activities of participants in historical events. Therefore, in this lesson, it is advisable to acquaint students with a special memo that will help them in this. Moreover, the lesson material (the activities of Alexander the Great) allows you to do this.
Memo for the assessment of a statesman
1. The interests of what class did he express? What were the goals and aspirations of this class?
2. What personal qualities did you have? To what extent were they suitable for solving the set goals?
3. What means did you use to achieve the goal? Rate them.
4. What results did his activity have? Rate them.
During the classes
I. Organizational moment
II. Updating the basic knowledge of students on the topic "The cities of Hellas are subject to Macedonia"
1. Preparation of an oral answer to card number 37.
CARD No. 37
Read the question carefully and prepare a detailed answer to it:
Why did Greece lose its independence? To do this, remember:
What was the army of the king of Macedonia Philip equipped with?
Why did the Greeks live unfriendly and fought among themselves?
What did Philip's tactics give to quarrel opponents? Make a conclusion.
Sample student response
In the middle of the IV century. BC e. at the head of the Macedonian kingdom was the smart and energetic king Philip. He created a powerful and strong army, which consisted of cavalry and infantry. Each infantryman had a six-meter spear. In battle, the first six rows put spears on the shoulders of those in front. The last rows of the phalanx turned to face the enemy. Then the phalanx "bristled" and was unapproachable. Philip's army had siege towers. With such a strong army, Philip was able to conquer Hellas, since the Greek city-states were at war among themselves. Each of them wanted to be at the head of Hellas. In addition, Philip could bribe and quarrel among opponents. Thus, as a result of the listed reasons, Macedonia was able to conquer Greece.
2. Working with the class. Solving problems.
Problem 1. They say that there were cities in Macedonia, but there were no policies. What does this mean and is it true? (Polis is an urban republic. In the Macedonian kingdom there was no city government, there were only royal fortresses and the capital of Pella.)
Problem 2. Why did not a single city of Hellas manage to unite the whole country under its rule, while the Macedonians managed to do it? (Philip the Macedonian had 5-10 times more military forces than Athens or Thebes, but much less than the combined military resources of the policies of Hellas. However, Philip was a king and could gather all his forces together, and the Greeks were too envious of each other and did not want Philip, unlike Xerxes, had a good command of the Roman wisdom: "Divide and rule!")
2. The student's oral answer to card number 37 and the feedback from his classmates (for the recall plan, see lesson number 10).
III. Moving on to learning a new topic
So, we found out that Greece lost its independence under the onslaught of a strong Macedonian army. After the death of Philip, his son Alexander became the head of state. He continued the work of his father, carried out a campaign to the East. The powerful power of the Persians collapsed under the blows of the Macedonian army. Why? This is what we will learn today in the lesson.
Why was Alexander the Great able to conquer the Persian state?
III. Learning a new topic
Plan
1. Victories of the troops of Alexander the Great.
2. The death of the Persian kingdom.
On the blackboard: lesson topic, new words: p. Granik, city of Iss, Parmenion,
S. Gaugamela.
1. Work on the historical map (p. 194 Vigasin or p. 206
Mikhailovsky).
Remember how the parts of the world are located on the map (north and south)
What color is the Macedonian Kingdom indicated on the map? (In brown.)
What color is the Persian kingdom? (In green.)
To what states known to us did Alexander the Great made his campaigns? (To Egypt, Phenicia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, India.)
In which part of the world are most of these states located? (In the east.)
What are the most important cities founded by Alexander the Great in the conquered territories? (These were cities with the name Alexandria, in honor of Alexander the Great, more than 20 of them were founded (in some sources the figure is more than 30. Encyclopedia for children. Volume 1. M .: Avanta +, 2000. S. 138.).)
Which strait separates Europe from Asia? (Dardanelles.)
2. The teacher's story.
Assignment for children: from the teacher's story, understand and write down the reasons for the fall of the Persian state.
In the spring of 334 BC. e. hundreds of ships transported the infantry and cavalry of the Macedonian king Alexander through a narrow strait to the coast of Asia Minor. From here, Alexander began his campaign in the heart of the huge Persian state.
The young king had a small army. A total of 30,000 selected and battle-hardened infantry, 5,000 horsemen, a fleet of 160 ships. The wagon train carried stone combat vehicles and formidable battering rams to smash the walls of enemy fortresses.
The Persian power stretched from the Indus River to the Mediterranean Sea. The peoples of Egypt, Assyria, Phenicia have long suffered from the rule of the Persians, they dreamed of throwing off the hated yoke of the Persians' oppressors.
The Persian army was enormous. The best part of it consisted of the tsarist guard and detachments of mercenaries of different nationalities. Satraps robbed and plundered the local population. An army consisting of
People of the conquered peoples, she was poorly trained and did not know how to withstand difficult campaigns. The Persian nobility continuously fought for power, the country was tormented by uprisings, coups and civil wars.
Alexander's adversary, Tsar Darius III, was a weak, indecisive person and a talentless commander.
Upon learning of Alexander's crossing of Gelespont, the satraps of Asia Minor gathered a large army. They had about 20,000 horsemen and 20,000 Greek mercenaries. One of the commanders, the Greek Memnon, an experienced commander, advised to avoid the battle, retreating, to devastate the country so that Alexander could not find a refuge anywhere. But they did not listen to him. The Persians took up a position on the right bank of the small mountain river Granik.
A fierce battle took place here. A hot hand-to-hand fight began to boil. Alexander's victory was complete. The rule of the Persians in Asia Minor fell.
In the city of Gordia, the ancient capital of Phrygia, Alexander's army stopped for the winter. Here Alexander was shown the famous chariot that belonged to Tsar Gordius. A knot of belts was made on it, with which the drawbar was attached. There was an ancient prediction that whoever untied the knot would take possession of Asia. Alexander made an attempt to untie the knot, but to no avail. However, he didn’t get lost: drawing out his sword, he broke the knot in half with one blow. But the conquest of Asia was still far away.
3. Students' independent work with the text of the textbook.
Find out what major battles Alexander could win
Macedonian during the military campaign to the East.
3. Conversation on the read.
Where is the city of Iss located? (On the Mediterranean coast.)
Thanks to what the Macedonians were able to break into the city of Tire? (They used battering rams and throwing machines. They destroyed the walls and took over the city.)
Why did the Egyptians meet Alexander as their liberator? (They are tired of the power of the Persians, of their claims.)
What new character traits have appeared in Alexander the Great? (He was intoxicated with victories, agreed that his priests declared a god.)
Which city was founded by Alexander in the Nile Delta? (The city of Alexandria, on the island of Faros.)
What major battle did Alexander win on the territory of Mesopotamia? (The battle at the village of Gavgamela.)
1. Conversation on questions.
Why was Alexander the Great able to conquer the Persian state?
Answers:
A) The army of the Persians consisted of mercenaries, and they could fail at any moment, they were not interested in the results of military operations.
B) The nobility of the Persian state fought for power, the country was restless, therefore such a state is easier to conquer.
C) The peoples conquered and tired of the power of the Persians could side with the Macedonian army, since they wanted to free themselves from the yoke of the satraps.
D) The leadership talent of Alexander the Great played an important role in the defeat of the army of the Persian state.
1. Assessment of the personality of Alexander the Great (use the memo).
Vi. Lesson summary
During the campaigns of Alexander, two civilizations collided, which had very different foundations from each other. Alexander's empire contributed greatly to their synthesis.
Homework: read § 42 Vigasin or § 36 Mikhailovsky; prepare a detailed answer to the question: “Why was Alexander the Great able to conquer the Persian state?”; workbook (issue 2), task No. 52 (p. 37); for the curious: how could 40,000 Macedonians defeat 200,000 Persians at Gaugamel?
Additional material
Death of Alexander the Great
In 324 BC. e. Alexander began to prepare for new campaigns. But the king did not have time to complete what he had begun. June 23, 323 BC e. Alexander the Great, the ruler of half the world, died in Babylon from a fever, without fulfilling all his plans. The coffin with Alexander's body was taken to his part of the possessions by the ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy Lag, who made Alexander the patron god of his kind. The mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias, upon learning that her son had been lying for a long time without burial, grieved and said: grave ". Ptolemy sent Alexander's body in a barrel of honey to Alexandria, where he buried it. His unexpected and mysterious death in the thirty-third year of life took everyone by surprise. It is said that when the generals asked the dying king to whom he intended the throne, Alexander replied: "To the most worthy."
A long memory has remained in the centuries from Alexander the Great. And the reason for this is not his state, which disintegrated immediately after the death of the king. He was not the founder of a new dynasty: his two sons - Alexander and Hercules - died in bloody strife when still young. His youth and the ease with which he conquered half the world evoked delight and envy. How many future great commanders repeated the words of Alexander: "20 years - and nothing for immortality!"
Caesar thought with admiration about the amazing fate of Alexander Veliky. Napoleon and Suvorov read books about his campaigns. How many legends circulated around the world and how many eastern rulers derived their lineage from Iskander the Two-Horned (as Alexander was called in the East).
And let the Spartiats, whom the tsar forced to honor themselves as an Olympian, mockingly declared: “Imagine Alexander, if he so wants, to call himself a god,” - he nevertheless became one. He became the idol of young minds, the embodiment of good luck, an exciting legend and an amazing pain for his contemporaries and descendants.
Encyclopedia for children. Volume 1.M .: Avanta +, 2000.
Pp. 138-139.
Lesson 48. In ancient Egyptian Alexandria
Objectives: to bring students to an understanding of the reasons for the death of the Persian kingdom and the formation of the state of Alexander the Great, to acquaint them with the spread of Greek culture in the countries of the Ancient East; continue to develop the skills to correctly show historical objects on the map, work with the text of the textbook and its illustrations, and compose a story.
Equipment: the map “Conquests of Alexander the Great in the IV century. BC e. ".
During the classes
I. Organizational moment
II. Updating the basic knowledge of students on the topic
"Campaign of Alexander the Great to the East"
1. Preparation of an oral answer to card number 38.
o CARD NO. 38
o Prepare a detailed answer to the question: “Why Alexander
o Macedonian was able to conquer the Persian state? "
o To do this, remember:
o Why was the army of Alexander the great stronger than the army of the Persians?
o What did the Persian state want to know?
o Why did many peoples of the Persian state meet Alexander the Great as a liberator?
o What role did Alexander the Great personally play in this campaign?
o Which states were conquered by Alexander the Great? Use the card.
o Make a conclusion.
Sample student response
The Persian army consisted of mercenaries, and they could fail at any moment, they were not interested in the results of military operations. The nobility of the Persian state fought for power, the country was restless, therefore it is easier to conquer such a state. The peoples conquered and tired of the power of the Persians could side with the Macedonian army, since they wanted to free themselves from the yoke of the satraps. The commander's talant of Alexander the Great played an important role in the defeat of the army of the Persian state. Alexander the Great conquered the following states: Egypt, Phenicia, Mesopotamia, Babylon, India.
1. Individual work (5-6 people, in writing on pieces of paper). Test13.
2. Working with the class. The solution of the problem.
Homer's poem "Iliad" accompanied Alexander the Great on all campaigns. He kept the book under his pillow along with the dagger. The king believed that the study of the Iliad - good remedy to nurture military prowess. Was Alexander right? (Alexander the Great was right, since the poem is about the Trojan War, about one of its heroes, Achilles. The Greeks won this war, which is probably why Alexander took this poem with him.)
1. The student's oral answer to card number 38 and the feedback from his classmates (for the recall plan, see lesson number 10).
II. Moving on to learning a new topic
Immediately after Alexander the Great died, his generals began to divide the lands that were part of his power. At the beginning of the III century. BC e. the state of Alexander the Great disintegrated into many states. The most important of them were: Egyptian, Macedonian and Syrian. Even during the implementation of his military campaigns, Alexander founded new cities in the conquered territories. The names of the cities bore his name. Alexandria, the capital of the Egyptian kingdom, became one of the most beautiful cities in the Eastern Mediterranean. In many ways, this city was like the cities of Greece. Why?
Let's get acquainted with the sights of the city of Alexandria.
IV. Learning a new topic
OPTION 1
Plan
1. In the port of Alexandria.
2. On the streets and squares of the city.
On the chalkboard: the topic of the lesson.
1. Work on the map.
A) S. 199 Vigasina.
What color are the states into which the state of Alexander the Great disintegrated? (Brown - Macedonia, orange - Syria, yellow - Egypt.)
B) S. 200 Vigasin or p. 211 Mikhailovsky.
What objects can be distinguished on the territory of the city of Alexandria? (This is My sey, gymnasium, theater, stadium, hippodrome, lighthouse, royal palace, port.)
1. Working with a historical document.
Strabo. Geography. XVII, 7-9
In Alexandria, on the other hand, the Nile, filling with the beginning of summer, fills the lake as well, preventing the formation of swamps that could produce harmful fumes. At the same time, trade winds blow there at the same time, thanks to which the Alexandrians spend their summer very pleasantly ... The whole city is crossed by streets convenient for riding horses and carriages; the two widest streets, a hundred feet, intersect one another at right angles. The city has the finest public sanctuaries and royal palaces, covering a quarter or even a third of the city's total space. Indeed, each of the kings tried to add some kind of decoration to the public monuments, and at the same time, each of them built a special palace for himself, increasing the number of those that existed before him ... All palaces are connected with each other, with the harbor and with everything outside the latter. Part of the royal buildings is also Mussey, which contains a place for walks, a meeting room and a large room where the dining room of the scientists who are under Musa is located. This collegium enjoys state support and has a priest, the head of My si, who was once appointed by the kings, and now by Caesar. Another section of the royal palace is the so-called Sema, a room for the royal tombs and for Alexander ... Ptolemy transported Alexander's corpse to Alexandria, buried it in the place where it lies now, although not in the same coffin; the present coffin is made of glass, and Ptolemy put it in a gold one ... In front of the big hawana, at the entrance to it, on the right side, there is the island and the tower of Pharos, on the other side - the underwater rocks and Cape Lohiada with the royal castle. On the left side, for those entering the harbor, there are the inner royal dwellings connected to Cape Lochiada, in which there are many different living rooms and gardens ...
Yu.S. Krushkol Reader on the history of the ancient world.
M., 1987.S. 171-172.
3. Conversation on questions to the document.
Was there a special development plan for the city? (Yes, it did, since the streets intersect at right angles.)
What buildings existed in the city? (These are the palaces of the kings, which are interconnected, the sanctuaries where all the inhabitants of the city could go.)
What is Mussey (or Museum)? (These are scientific and educational institutions, a library and a place where scientists lived and worked.)
What means did the scientists live on? (They had a salary that they received from the state.)
What part of the royal palace was called a tomb? (This is the part where the kings were buried, including Alexander the Great.)
OPTION 2. CREATIVE TASK
The teacher, having previously asked the students to familiarize themselves with the materials of the paragraph, suggests writing an essay "Was the state of Alexander the Great doomed to disintegration?" (the composition is designed for 30 minutes, students are allowed to use textbooks and notes).
V. Consolidation of the studied material
Why did Alexander the Great built the city of Alexandria similar to the Greek cities? (He probably understood the importance of the culture of the ancient Greeks, so he tried to learn the best from them.)
The word "headlight" comes from the name of an island near Alexandria. What is the connection between car headlights and the name of the island? (A lighthouse was built on the island, which illuminated the way for ships, headlights illuminate the way for the car.)
Why are the Alexandrian Musei and the museums of our day called the same word? (Because the museum is a kind of source of information, human knowledge.)
Vi. Lesson summary
Additional material
The House of the Muses - a museum in Alexandria - had a huge library, the fame of which spread throughout the world. Up to 500,000 books were kept here. There were books in Greek, Latin and other languages on various branches of science and literature: poems, historical, medical, mathematical, philosophical works. All over the world the Egyptian kings collected books for their libraries.
The ancient book was not at all like ours. It was written on sheets of papyrus. When the author (or the scribe) finished the sheet, another was glued to it, and a long column was obtained. There were books a hundred meters or more in length! The end of such a book was attached to a rod (a stick made of wood, metal, bone) and the book was rolled up into a scroll. It was not very convenient to read such a book, it was necessary to gradually unwind it. Ancient people never wrote or read at the table or at the desk. The low tables were for food, and they wrote and read either holding the bundle on their knees, or standing behind a high music stand, similar to the one at which the conductor stands in the orchestra these days.
The finished book was tied with a cord, and, if it was a valuable book, it was placed in a tube made of wood. In ancient times, there was no cardboard, it was replaced by parchment, on which they began to write from the II century. BC e.
What is parchment? This is the thin, well-dressed skin of young cattle. The skins of kids, camels, lambs, donkeys, piglets were cleaned of hair and subcutaneous fat, polished and polished, whitewashed, stretched and cut into sheets of the correct shape. Papyrus grew only in Egypt, and parchment could be made anywhere. They say that when the king of Egypt forbade the export of papyrus from the country, in the Kingdom of Pergamum (Asia Minor) they began to make writing material from the skins of cattle, and this material was therefore called parchment. Good parchment resembles a thin and dense translucent cardboard of the same thickness as a postcard or student notebook cover. It is enough to look at the pioneer drum to see the parchment. But now they no longer write on parchment, the drummer's sticks are beaten into it.
At first, the Egyptians made book cases from parchment, but then they realized that parchment is stronger than papyrus and that you can write on it from both sides. You can clean off the old text (for this, a porous and very light stone was used - pumice, which replaced in ancient time our eraser) and write on the sheet again. Scientists can, in special complex ways, study even completely invisible and cleansed text between the lines of a new letter. This allowed scientists to learn a lot about the life of ancient people, about their literature and science.
The parchment book was also rolled up. Much later, they began to bend a sheet of parchment in half or four times and, thus obtaining a notebook (from the Greek, a notebook is a quarter, that is, one fourth of a sheet), they sewed it with threads. It turned out to be a book similar to ours.
Ancient Greece. Book to read. JL, 1958.
S. 332-333.
Lesson 49. Traveling Ancient Greece(control-generalizing lesson in the form of the game "Brain-ring")
Objectives: systematization of students' knowledge of the history of Ancient Greece; continue the formation of skills to work with a historical map, think logically, draw conclusions, generalize, express your point of view; on the example of the history of Ancient Greece, its culture, to continue to educate in children a sense of beauty, in the course of the game - a sense of camaraderie, duty, respect for their friends.
Equipment: map "Ancient Greece (until the middle of the 5th century BC)"., Painting "Battle of Salamis", image of the Trojan horse, Prometheus.
Information for the teacher
This lesson can be taught in different ways (at the teacher's choice). The first option is the "Brain-ring" game, the second option is the test. Both versions of the lesson are given below.
During the classes
OPTION 1. GAME LESSON
I. Organizational moment
Student challenge: To review the history of Ancient Greece.
II. Conducting the game
1. Preliminary preparation for the game: the class is pre-divided into five teams.
2. The rules of the game.
1. Each team must take part in the game at least once.
2. The team captain monitors the activity of the players, leads the discussion of the issue, makes a choice - to whom to answer on behalf of the team.
3. The correct answer is 10 points, the answer with inaccuracies is 5 points, the addition of teams is 3 points.
4. For a prompt, 1 point is deducted from the team, the question is replaced.
5. For the 1st place the participants of the game are given a mark "5", for the II and "III" - "4".
The opposing teams are chosen by lot and occupy the gaming tables in the center. During the game, for the answers, the players receive tokens with points. According to the number of points, the winner of the round is selected, who chooses an opponent for himself.
First tour
1. Name and show on the map three parts of Greece. (South, Middle, North.)
2. What were the main sources of slavery in Ancient Greece? (Captivity, piracy, self-reproduction, debt - before Solon's reforms.)
3. Who in ancient Greece was called the father of history? (Hero ¬ dota.)
Second round
1. The Golden Fleece, dragon, Jason, Argonauts, Medea - do these words speak about a real or mythical event in the history of Ancient Greece? (The myth of the Argonauts.)
2. What is the name of the square in the ancient Greek city where trade is conducted? (Agora.)
3. Task on the board - cards with dates are attached to the timeline.
594 BC e. 490 BC e. 480 BC e. 776 A.D. e.
Who will name more historical events by dates associated with the history of Ancient Greece? (594 BC - reforms of Solon, 490 BC - Marathon battle, 480 BC - battle of Salamis, 776 AD - Olympic Games.)
Third round
1. An image of a horse is hung on the board. Attention to the screen! Question: How can the image of this animal be connected with the history of Ancient Greece? (Trojan War, capture of Troy.)
2. Based on an excerpt from a conversation between father and son, determine in which Greek state it could have happened: “I would be nice if I listened to your complaints,” said the father, pushing his son away. “I ought to rip you out for letting some helot tie you up. This is a shame not only for you, but also for me, your father. Steal, but don't get caught! " What was the purpose of education in this state? (Sparta, the goal is to educate a warrior.)
3. Task on the board - cards are posted. ■
o city-state
o helots o demos o comedy o colony o aristocrat
Whose team will give more definitions of these terms.
Fourth round
1. Who could have been a participant in the Olympic Games? (Greeks other than women and slaves.)
3. Task on the board - cards are posted.
Fifth round
1. Assignment on the board - the card depicts grapes and a vessel for wine.
To which of the gods of Ancient Greece can these items belong? (To Dionysus)
2. One Athenian, bringing the news of victory to his comrades-in-arms, exclaimed: "Rejoice, Athenians, we have won!" - and died. To which battle of the Greco-Persian wars can this expression be attributed? What year did it happen? (Marathon battle, 490 BC)
3. What did the ancient Greeks call their homeland? (Hellas.)
Sixth round
1. Assignment on the board - the image of the triremes and the painting “The Battle of Salamis”.
A fragment of which battle from the Greco-Persian Wars is depicted here? (Battle of Salamis.)
1. Task on the board - a card with the image of Prometheus chained to a rock.
What myth is this drawing dedicated to? What did the Greeks revered the hero of this myth for? (Prometheus brought fire to people.)
1. What are the names of vessels with a narrow neck and two handles? (Amphora.)
Seventh round
1. In what state of Ancient Greece was a woman revered for her inability to cook? (In Sparta.)
2. What did the ancient Greeks call themselves? (Hellenes.)
3. What was the name of the form of government in Athens? (Democracy.)
Eighth round
1. The sculptor Phidias in ancient times was called "the father of the gods." What works of Phidias do you know? (Statues of Zeus, Athens.)
2. How many days did the Olympic Games last? (Five.)
3. What does the word "tragedy" mean? (Song of the goats.)
Round nine (solve the problem)
1. By what finds can archaeologists say (determine) with confidence that there was an ancient state in the excavation area? (The shackles in which the slaves were taken, the burial of people with a different number of things.)
2. The ancient Greeks had the god of fire and forges Hephaestus, the goddess of land Demeter, the patron saint of trade Hermes. What precise conclusions can be drawn from these facts? (By the names of the gods, one can learn about the occupations and implementation of the religion of the ancient Greeks.)
3. In Spartan houses there have always been strong locks on the doors. In the houses of the helots, the Spartans not only prohibited constipation, but also removed the handles from the doors. What were the reasons for this difference? (The Spartan boys were poorly fed, they had to get their own food; the Spartan boys hid during the day, killed strong helots at night, fearing their uprising.)
Additional questions
1. Where is Greece located? (On the Balkan Peninsula.)
2. Who among the ancient Greek scientists expressed the brilliant idea that the whole world consists of the smallest particles - atoms? (Democritus.)
3. What vases were called black-figure vases? (There is a black image on a red background.)
OPTION 2
I. Organizational moment
II. Testing 14
III. Lesson summary
Homework: prepare a report on the activities and life of the inhabitants of Rome (1 student
