CLAS175 Notes as of 3/21/96

XX. End as of 2/27/96

To Notes as of 2/27/96

XXI. You may thank the Egregious Oxford University Press for, at length, canceling your Whitehead Order.

A. Note how long it too them to admit that they'd advertised what they didn't have.

B. Note that we got into this mess when Cambridge University Press did the same thing.

C. Would anyone care to speculate on the fall of the British Empire?

XXII. Now, you saw Philip building his army. Here's what he did with it:

A. The End of Greek History as we know it!

1. Philip first chewed up the semi-independent mountain tribes. There would be a price for Lyncestis.

2. Parmenio defeated the Paeonians, who became part of the kingdom, while Philip settled the Illyrians in 356, supposedly the same day his charming wife Olympias (Just like the girl/Who murdered dear old Dad!) gave birth to Little Alexaander.

3. Athens was reeling from the Social War of 357-4, and Philip wasted no time.

a) Philip took and KEPT Amphipolis almost immediately.

b) Athens' last fortress, Pydna, and Potidea were gone by 356, and with the Chalcidean League's support, Athens was basically out of Macedonia and Thrace.

4. Philip would have Thrace beaten by 352.

5. Meanwhile, some chickens were coming home to roost for Thebes.

a) Thebes had long been beating up on Phocis, the cork in Macedonia's bottle.

b) With Spartan support, the Phocians seized Delphi in 356 and showed how impiety could be a deadly weapon: they hired a huge mercenary army with the money from the temples and treasuries!

c) Athens got its image tarnished by backing the Phocians

d) Thebes hit and killed Philomelus in 354, but Onomarchus was a better general.

(1) Philip was only TOO GLAD to intervene in Phocis, but

(2) As I noted, Onomarchus was the one man who could beat him in the field--with field artillery! 353-2.

6. Philip accordingly went North to people he COULD beat...

a) When Philip starting leveling the cities of the Chalcidean League one by one (including Stagira, Aristotle's home town) Demosthenes (Plu. Dem. 16) screamed progressively louder (Athens allies, 352-1).

b) Remember what I said about the burden of history? Demosthenes carried it into his grave. (Don't laugh TOO hard at people like that--remember Maggie Thatcher?)

(1) He had tried to get Athens to preserve its 2nd Naval Confederation by rescuing Rhodes, which had successfully revolted from Athens in the Social War, from Mausolus, who had so kindly helped them become independent. He didn't get very far.

(2) He quite correctly realized that Philip was a threat after Amphipolis, but no one listened, or if they did, could do much about it.

7. When Philip laid siege to Olynthus in 349, you could hear Demosthenes scream in Aegina (The Olynthiacs, preserved).

a) Olynthus falls in 348, Greece full of Greek slaves as Philip finances his war machine.

b) That DID help make Demosthenes' point for him.

c) Note the trade-off at Perinthus and Byzantium, where the "cornered rat" defense worked (340), and, much worse, tarnished the image of Philip's invincibility.

8. Too late! Athens negotiates the Peace of Philocrates with Philip in 346, the SAME YEAR Philip smashes through Thermopylae and puts paid to their allies in Phocis. Uh- oh.

a) Principle here: Act while you are able to do so.

(1) Halsey and the typhoon of 1944

(2) "Ft. Pillow" Forrest and Julius Caesar's celeritas.

b) Modern term: retaining the initiative, or Rice's Rule #1: Never let the enemy control what you are going to do.

B. Philip was cleaning out Thrace (on the ROUTE to Persia), although he did get his pug bloodied at Perinthus and Byzantium (Plu. Dem. 17, 340-39) with some Athenian and Persian support. Now ATHENS is selling out to Persia!

1. Speaking of whom:

a) Could Philip expect to keep Greece with Persia there to finance revolts on all three of his border: Thrace, Illyria, and Greece?

b) Do you think Philip was unaware of how incredibly vulnerable Persia was at the time? Not if Isocrates could help it.

(1) Cyrus and Artaxerxes in 394 had let the 10,000 get in and get out, and Xenophon's book was a best seller, likewise his biography of Agesilaius.

(2) Artaxerxes Ochus had had a terrible time beating Egypt back into semi-submission (independent for the last time) from 404-343

(3) b)Thanks to dear sweet Parasatis he ended up killing his son and setting off a horrible struggle for the throne.

(4) Darius III was a distant relative put into power by the eunuch Bagoas, who had poisoned everybody who got into his way until Darius, meant to be a puppet, poisoned him first.

c) Persia had done well by decentralizing, but there was a price to pay:

(1) Several independent-minded such had staged the "Satrap's Revolt" of 373-358, in which our friend Mausolus had played his part.

(2) Rather than listen to central command in wartime, many would make their own decisions, either to fight at the wrong place or surrender. That'd cost the Persians.

d) Darius III had absolutely no military experience and oh, God, would it show.

C. Demosthenes pulls off the biggest political triumph of his life: Athens and Thebes ally against Philip and it comes to a conclusion at Chaeronea, 338.

1. Athens sends hoplites, among whom Demosthenes with the word "Hope" written on his shield. Unfortunately for Greece, Demosthenes left his "Hope" on the battlefield...(Plu. Dem. 19)

2. Philip hit the Theban army with his phalanx and the Sacred Band died where they stood trying to stop it (Lion of Chaeronea, B3 P. 440) while Philip's cavalry took them in the flank.

a) A note, strictly academic, on that subject.

b) Was Philip praising brave men or justifying his own lifestyle?

c) What does the anecdote say about the Greek attitude towards homosexuality? YOU decide.

3. 18 year old Alexander (what were YOU doing at 18?) let the Athenians chase him and the Hetairoi until Philip's infantry got behind them and he charged--2000 P.O.W.'s, 1,000 slain, Demosthenes himself contemplating a change of career as a sprinter(Plu. Dem. 20).

D. That's some kid, there.

1. He conquered his first people, the Madi, and founded his first city, Alexandropolis, at the ripe old age of 16 (Plu. Alex. 9) while Philip was at Perinthus and Byzantium.

2. He had a way with horses--Bucephalus anecdote: will, courage, and analytical abilty combined--and Philip's noting that! (Plu. Alex. 6)

3. Philip had also given him the best education that sheer power could buy, namely, Aristotle's (Plu. Alex. 8)

a) Aristotle was Plato's most formidable pupil and the fellow who had the idea of applying the "reasoned inquiry" of history to the other sciences.

b) Philip rebuilt Stagira and Macedonian money would fund Aristotle's school in Athens, the Lyceum.

c) Alexander's enthusiasm for science led him to take Aristotle's nephew Callisthenes and a team of scientists with him when he went a-conquering.

4. Brief note on education: Three of America's greatest generals were fiends on the subject of having their officers educated:

a) Washington was the one who urged Congress to found West Point

b) John Paul Jones, self-taught, argued for a naval academy.

c) Winfield Scott carried books to battle, destoryed the Mexican Army, came up with "the Anaconda plan" and trained nearly every successful commander in the Civil War.

d) George Marshall (Pershing the schoolmaster's pupil) established Ft. Benning and expanded the war college, and, incidentally, created the U.S. Army of WWII and since. Think about that.

E. Athens gets ready for Armageddon, but Philip (despite Demosthenes--quote) is more interested in Persia than in trying to crack the Iron triangle and offers a generous peace:

1. Here's another mark of a winning general (also an application of Rice's Rule #1): Pick your fights wisely. Philip didn't have to take Athens to do what he wanted to do.

2. The Corinthian League: Philip is Hegemon of the combined armed forces, with a dominant number of votes. Sparta stays out, gets slapped and ignored.

3. League votes to punish Persia for its acts of sacrilege (thanks to Phocis, that was on a lot of people's minds) during the Persian War

4. Philip has Parmenio and Amyntas in Persia by the end of 336 and is getting ready to head over himself when

F. Philip is assassinated at a grand festival in 336 by one Pausanias, a Lyncestian. Don't conquer a region and expect EVERYBODY to like it.

1. Who HAD spent a lot of time talking with Alexander about what a rat Philip was and

2. How Philip was not going to leave anything for the Next Generation (tm) to do... (Plu. Alex. 10)

G. Alexander inherited Philip's army, Philip's ambition, and started out in a very big shadow (Plu. Alex. 11)

XXIII. End as of 3/19/96

XXIV. Alexander III, King of Macedon, 336-323. Why the War?

A. Payback to the Persians: It was possible.

1. As Cimon, Xenophon, and the Spartans had shown, the Greeks COULD outfight the Persians. What they needed to do was to find a way to fight the Persians without ending up fighting each other.

2. Philip gave them that--conquest and the League of Corinth, again, and the cause.

3. Alexander used the Iliad as his personal bible and played the Trojan War thing (As Agesilaius had) for all it was worth

4. Also, once again, the gods were on their side: Xerxes had burned the Athenian temples and angered the (Greek) gods

B. Alexander set out to conquer the world by covering his back (335).

1. Alexander's first campaign was in the north against the Illyrians and Triballoi. The way for a civilized people to deal with barbarians is to destroy their wretched homes and means of support.

2. Alexander convened the League of Corinth and told them that he was sure they'd support him like they had his father: Surprise! The office of hegemon is hereditary!

a) Upon the completely inaccurate news that Alexander had died in Illyria, Demosthenes revives old coalition (Plu. Demo. 23; Alex. 11)

b) But Thebes was left to face Alexander alone and destroyed (Plu. Alex. 11)

3. What happened to Thebes set a horrible example of what happens when you make trouble. With Alexander, you always find a rational explanation for his actions, to an extent that it scares you.

4. If Alexander wanted more than Persia, he had to take Persia first. Persia could not risk a strong Macedonia.

C. King vs. King--Alexander vs. Darius III Codomannus

1. Darius was an excellent leader, but a lousy general. Alexander was superlative at both. Consider the modern examples:

a) Stalin/Zhukov vs. Hitler vs. Roosevelt/Marshall

b) Lincoln/Grant vs. Davis/Lee.

c) Saddam Hussein vs. Bush/Powell/Schwarzkopf

2. Persian assets:

a) VAST empire all loyal to the same man. Darius was effectively able to send huge armies into the field even after two of them had been entirely destroyed.

b) Like the Romans, excellent road system and communications (King's Eyes & Ears, again)

c) Incredible gold reserves from all those years of taxation and almost no major public spending which meant that

d) They had the best Greek soldiers money could buy:

(1) It was Greek mercenary troops who would in fact give Alexander his worst trouble in the West (Plu. Alex. 16)

(2) Mercenary commanders--such as Mentor, who had reconquered the Aegean Islands and coast, and Memnon, the most formidable single opponent Alexander ever fought. These men, I should note, were two brothers from Rhodes.

(3) They also tried the money bit--remember Demosthenes' activities, Plu. Demos. 20.

3. PHILIP, however, had set up counters

a) Physical occupation of Greece, which Alexander continued by leaving Antipater and the army. No more meddling behind the king's back.

b) League of Corinth's prohibition on any Greek serving with the Persian Army and authorization of a holy war (Plu. Alex. 14).

c) Foothold in Asia (Attalus and Parmenio since 336) so that the Persians couldn't turn it into a naval war at the Hellespont and the Bosphorus.

D. The War Itself, 336-330, Alexander's Strategy to win it.

1. First, get into Persia from Philip's bridgehead (Patton's 'rivers' policy).

a) Alexander at Troy, propaganda (Plu. Al. 15), a statue-op and reinforcement for that "crusade" theme.

b) Battle of the Granicus, 334

(1) Memnon vs. the Persian Satraps: withdraw and devastate (scorched Earth policy) vs. Satraps' arrogance and desire to protect the tax base

(2) Big Mistake--cavalry battle on the Macedonians' terms

(a) Did the Persians attempt a 'decapitation'/C3 strike?

(b) Story of Cleitus the Black

(3) Statues of 34 slain and dedication on the Athenian acropolis, "except the Spartans." (Plu. Alex. 16)

c) "Gordium," and Gordian knot--still more propaganda (Plu. Alex. 18)

2. Second, kill the Persian navy

a) Coastal strategy , but a question:

(1) Was Alexander really destroying the Persian navy's ports by conquering down the coast? The Persians could use the Aegean islands--their main fleet base outside of Halicarnassus was Samos.

(2) Or was he following Philip's policy of going for the vitals? When Alexander conquered Phoenicia, he ACQUIRED the Persian navy.

(3) Why was he so intent (otherwise) on taking Tyre? (333-2)

3. Always, kill the Persian army

a) Darius III ended up as Alexander's best general by mobilizing these huge armies for Alexander to destroy, e.g. Issus in 333.

(1) The Persian army was holding

(2) The Greek mercenaries had PENETRATED the phalanx. Alexander made a point of slaughtering them after the battle.

(3) When Darius fled, all was lost. The question here: Did the Persians have more to lose by Darius staying or running (each time).

b) Final big battle: Gaugamela, 10/1/331, some call it Arbela after a neighboring village),

(1) Set piece battle: Let Darius arrange things to suit him right down the line and accordingly commit all his availible resources to the battle

(2) Total (if at first chancey) rout, destruction of much of the Persian army, Alexander's subsequent effort to keep Darius on the run and unable to raise another.

XXV. Some Tactics Work Too Well: the Birth and Death of Empires.

A. Al destroyed Persia with a policy of divide and conquer

1. Ada and Caria (Plu. Alex. 22)

2. Separate and reduce Phoenicia

3. Egypt and Siwa--the new Pharaoh

4. Babylon--newest king, appropriate courtesy

5. New "Great King," Darius's mother, wife, and family (Plu. Alex. 21)

6. In Afghanistan (330-27) tried that, married Roxane, but had to go back to "wretched homes" strategy and blockhouses columns. It wasn't fun.

7. India--beat and pardon Porus at the Hydaspes (326), carve him out, then go on to the next petty ruler. Shame the army had had enough.

XXVI. End of 3/21/96

To Notes as of 3/28/96