History 2

Philip and Alexander

Spartans and Peloponnesian League won the Peloponneisian war but in Hellas, new powers were rising, Thebes, followed by Macedonia. Macedonian Philip II was the youngest son of king Amyntas III. He was sent as a hostage to Illyria and also held in Thebes which was the leading power of that time. He got military and diplomatic education from Epaminondas, the ruler of Thebes.

Philip became king, after his brother king Perdiccas III died in battle. He subjugated other Greek cities, kingdom of Thrace, Paeonia (roughly today's N. Macedonia) and part of Illyria. All these areas became part of Macedonian Empire. To strengthen an agreement, Philip married the daughter of Illyrian King Vardylis, Audata.

She was given the Greek name Eurydice, which was the name Philip's mother had. Philip and Eurydice had a daughter, Cynane. She had military training and fought several times on Philip's side. She was Alexander's half sister. Illyrians, were not Hellenes. Contemporary Greeks thouth partly originate from Illyrians and probably more from Thracians.

Alexander's mother was Olympias, the eldest daughter of Mollosian king Neoptolemus from Epirus. Alexander's teacher was Aristotle. He was Macedonian but got his education in Plato's school in Athens. Plato was Socrates's student. Both Plato and Socrates were Athenians. So, Alexander was taught by a Macedonian but his education was Athenian. Alexander had voluntary exiled himself in Illyria, when relations with his father deteriorated.

After some time, he returned to Macedonia and good relations with Philip were reinstated. That same day, Philip was assassinated and Alexander became king, in 336 BC, when he was twenty years old. Philip had created the Hellenic League in 338 BC and Alexander became hegemon (leader). Right away, Alexander began recruiting Thracian cavalry and javelin men.

Thracians assisted Macedonians and accompanied Alexander on his conquest. Odrysian prince Sitacles II led Thracian infantry. In only thirteen years, till his death in 323 BC, Alexander created one of the largest empires. He is considered one of the greatest military commanders in history, probably the greatest. Alexander's death was the start of Hellenistic period.

Hellenistic kingdoms

After Alexander's death, Macedonian Empire was divided by his generals, to kingdoms also called empires. Cassander got Macedonia and the rest of Hellas (Greece), except Epirus which became a separate Hellenistic kingdom. Lysimachus got Thrace, western and northern Asia Minor. Ptolemy got northern Egypt, Palestine, Cyprus and southeastern Asia Minor. Seleukus got eastern central Asia Minor, northern Middle East and the eastern part of the empire, all the way to India.

Southern Italy, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Marseilles, Carthage were also part of Hellenistic kingdoms after Alexander's death. Hellenistic period started with Alexander's death in 323 BC and ended with Cleopatra's death in 30 BC. Cleopatra erroneously is considered Egyptian by many. She was queen of Egypt but Macedonian, member of Ptolemaic dynasty. Cleopatra was daughter of Ptolemy XII and descendant of Ptolemy I, Alexander's general.

Hellenistic period lasted three centuries. The term Hellenistic was not used at that time but was coined later by historians. A characteristic of that period was the spread of Hellenic culture and civilization. At the same time there was influence from local cultures and civilizations that resulted in a fusion of Hellenic culture and civilization with other cultures and civilizations.

This fusion also happened during Alexander's reign but the time period was very short, only thirteen years. Hellenistic period was three centuries (323-30 BC) and what Alexander started continued. By the end of Hellenistic period, Thracians and Paeonians were to a large degree hellenized, much more than Illyrians. Paeonians were Thracians and Illyrians mixed. At the second half of 3rd century BC, Illyrian tribes had united and formed a proto-state.

Roman rule

Macedonia remained Greece's leading power until Roman conquest which started with the three Macedonian wars between 214 and 148 BC. Thracians fought on Macedonians' side against Romans, although there were some rebellious Thracian tribes that assisted Romans. The battle of Pydna, in 168 BC, determined the conquest of Macedonia and the battle of Lefkopetra, in 146 BC, the conquest of the rest of Greece. Thracian Gladiator Spartacus (103 - 71 BC) led an uprising against Romans.

Beginning of Roman Empire is considered 27 BC, which is the end of Hellenistic period. Its division into Greek (Hellenic) Eastern and Latin Western began under Diocletian in 286 AD and was finalized in 395 AD. In 330 AD, Constantine moved the capital of the briefly unified Roman Empire to Byzantium, a colony of Megara and renamed it Constantinople, city (polis) of Constantine.

Byzantine era

During this time, Rome was under Constantinople. The beginning of the Byzantine Empire is considered to be either 330 AD or 395 AD. Final division of Roman Empire was in 395 AD. After the division, Byzantine Empire and Western Roman Empire were separate and not connected. Rome was the capital of Western Roman Empire and Constaninople the capital of Byzantine Empire.

Most people are aware of Roman Empire. Fewer know about Byzantine Empire although it lasted much longer, more than a thousand years. It is also referred as Byzantium (previous name of Constantinople), a shortened name. There is a misconception that Byzantium was Roman. Byzantium started as Eastern Roman Empire but certainly wasn't Roman. It was more a continuation of the Hellenistic Empires. Hellenistic fusion continued in Byzantine Empire. 

Byzantium was Greek to a large degree but not entirely. It was mainly Greco-Thraco-Illyrian. The emperors of Byzantium came from the various regions of the Empire and were of Greek, Thracian or Illyrian origin. Constantine's father was Illyrian and his mother Helen was Greek. Indicatively, places of origin of some emperors were; Moesia, Pannonia, Constantinople, Thrace, Dacia, Isauria, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Paphlagonia, Bithynia.

Moesia was in northern Balkans and extended to today's Serbia, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldavia, Ukraine. Pannonia was next to Moesia and included Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Austria, Slovakia. Moesia was inhabited by Thracians, Dacians and Illyrians. Pannonia was originally inhabited by Illyrians who mixed with Thracians and Dacians. Dacians who lived in Dacia were a Thracian tribe, like the Getae.

The language of Byzantium was Greek and the culture Hellenistic. The religion was Orthodox Christianity. The inhabitants and the administration, in the first centuries, were mainly Greek, Thracian and Illyrian. In the later centuries, they mixed with Slavs who settled in large numbers, mostly peacefully. While we cannot say that Byzantium was purely Greek, it was Greek to a large extend. Most Balkan countries originate from Byzantine Empire.

For many centuries it was the most economically and technologically advanced state in the world and was also militarily powerful. Byzantium had developed very close commercial, political, religious, cultural relations with Kievan Rus. Today's Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians come from them. In western Ukraine, there are also people of Polish descent.

Crusaders' rule of Constantinople

In April 1204 AD, during the Fourth Crusade, Crusaders captured Constantinople. They overthrew Alexios V and crowned Baldwin of Flanders as Emperor of Constantinople. Crusaders stole an unfothomable wealth from Byzantines that had been accumulated in nine centuries. At that time, Byzantine Empire was prosperous and wealthy, relatively to other parts of the world.

After the sack of Constantinople, three Hellenic successor states emerged to claim the imperial throne. Emprire of Nicaea was the largest, founded by the aristocracy of Byzantine Empire, lead by the Laskaris family. Trapezuntine Empire was formed with the assistance of Queen Tamar of Georgia, under the rule of Komnenos family. The third successor rump state was Despotate of Epirus, lead by Angelos family.

Byzantium's last two centuries

Although it seemed that Despotate of Epirus would be the one to recapture Constantinople, it was eventually Empire of Nicaea that succeeded. In 1261 AD, fifty seven (57) years after the sack of Constantinople, Michael VIII Palaiologos defeated Crusaders and became Emperor of Constantinople. Some areas remained under Latin rule (Crusaders). Byzantine Empire lasted for two more centuries. The Palaiologos dynasty, originating from Asia Minor, ruled until 1453 AD, during the weakest point in Byzantium's history.

Seljuk Turks appeared on the eastern borders around the 9th century AD. The Ottoman Turks followed. They eventually seized Constantinople in 1453 AD and renamed it Instanbul. Constantine XI Dragases Palaiologos (1404–1453 AD) was the last Byzantine Emperor. His father was Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. His second last name comes from his mother who was a Serbian noblewoman, Helena Dragas or Dejanovic. The last emperor died defending the city. Byzantine Empire became Ottoman Empire. Some areas remained under Latin rule (Crusaders).

Ottoman era and war of independence

According to many scholars, Byzantium may have lasted much longer, if it was not for the Crusaders. It was weakened and Ottomans seized the opportunity. From 15th centrury, there were Greek uprisings. In 1814, a secret organization, Filiki Etaireia (Society of Friends) was formed in Odessa with the purpose to establish an independent Hellenic state. Greek Independence War started in 1821 and the New Greek State was established in 1828. Many areas remained under Ottoman rule. It took many decades for all the areas of contemporary Hellas to become independent.

Some points of recent history are in Politics and Economics

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