Alexander "the Great?"

       The young King of Macedon was named Alexander "the Great" for valid reasons. He is a great historical figure and was a great ruler and conquer. It is true the Alexander III of Macedon was great but what actions built him up to achieve this title? First, some background on Alexander the Great, he was born Pella, which at the time was capital of Macedonia during the year 356 B.C in July. Alexander was the child of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, his wife. An interesting fact is that Alexander's tutor was Aristole. When Philip II died in 336 B.C Alexander inherited the kingdom and throne, but to assure that this would be the case, he had all his potential threats to his title killed. This made sure that no one would challenge his leadership, meaning he kept a straight path for success. Extending an kingdom from Macedonia to India is not an easy task, it took great displays of military strategy. These strategies were so impressive that they influenced today's lessons in military. This is definitely a way Alexander the Great influenced modern day. A real great action that Alexander the Great would do was that he would actually be on the front lines during his battles, something that many rulers of that time did not actually do! Along with fighting along with his soldiers we paid them all for their service and supplied best equipment for them to use. He also led Macedonia is the journey to defeat Persia and was successful, but before his conquer he took over Egypt, which hated the Persians but was under their rule.  Age 33, 323 B.C is when this legend died of a fever, Alexander's life ended but it was not in vain because he had accomplished so much in his shorter life than many did in their long ones. I believe Alexander the Great was great because of the big influence he had in ancient Greece, and further. He took cultures and spread them around taking other cultures and shifting them around. He accomplished this so young showing us that age is also just a number.

Want To Know It. "Why was Alexander the Great so 'Great'?" Want to Know it. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 

     2011. <http://wanttoknowit.com/why-was-alexander-the-great-so-great/>. 

BBC Writers. "Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C)." BBC - History. BBC, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. 

     <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml>. 

A Day in the Life: Ancient Greece

Talia’s feet padded on the smooth marble as she moved down the hallway. Thud, thud, thud went the rhythmic sound as she took each step. She could not be caught, if one of the slaves, or even worse her mother, found her she would be sent right back to the living room to sew or to the kitchen to attempt to create something palatable. Yet today was different, today she needed to get outside, so Talia set her sights on the heavy wood door and the end of the hall and continued on her way. When she got to then end she took a small breath and sighed with relief and with great strain not to make a single peep she slid behind the door like a shadow. Then like taunt rubber band being sprung, she was of, she ran weaving though the olive. It belonged to her father, a respected citizen it Athens, and along with the respect of her father there came the expectations of his family. These expectations were ones that Talia disagreed strongly with. Of course she would never voice these thoughts, but if society thought that at her mere 12 years of age she would want to already spend all her time sewing and cooking and then in a few years get married? Then society was wrong. The fire in her chest had been ignited, along with the dull ache of her legs, but Talia pushed through. As girl if she wanted to do something that only men were allowed to do she had to be better than the best. Finally though, she could go no more, the fire had become a full blown inferno and engulfed her body and Talia slumped down next to a big Sycamore that had grown up, as if it had been trying to reach Mt.Olympus to talk to the gods. She looked at the sun, trying to deduce the time and thinking back to what her father had told her, but was it East or West? North or South? She shook her head, erasing over, unimportant thoughts from her head. She needed all her focus on one thing today, one very important thing. The Olympic Games were a great celebration and everyone enjoyed them… well, everyone who could go. Anger bubbled inside of Talia, right near the pit of her stomach, she knew it was bothersome, but it was true, being a girl she couldn’t watch or, god forbid, compete in the Games. Yet she knew what she wanted and she had to come up with a plan. She got up to quickly from her sitting position and felt a brief moment of dizziness, taking a step back to regain her balance and then sprinting off again, back to the house. When she was back in the house, the sun had flooded into the whole foyer. Stealthily, on the tips of her toes, she snuck into her father’s room. It was a grand room, with a monumental bed in the center, draped with soft linens. Yet Talia was interested in something different, the closet. Inside she found all her father’s clothes, from fine cotton to her father’s night clothes. Talia grabbed a long, white tunic, and draped a stark, brown cloak. She then slipped on a pair of his rugged sandals and was off. She then went to the kitchen, moving quickly and swiftly, she found a boar, fresh from the market. It’s head was lolled to one side and it was hanging of a hook, and Talia made a face of disgust. She felt around and found it’s scruff, then started lopping of huge hunks of it. Taking the hunk of hair, she moved over to some clay pots, inside she found tough little pellets of mastic. She popped these in her mouth and chewed on them until they were sticky. Using the sticky mastic Talia made and almost, fake beard ensemble as a disguise. Satisfied with her work, she walked to the door. Talia silently stepped out of her house and turned onto the street, it was deserted. Of course, Talia thought, all the men must be at the celebrations and the women are at home, cooking, sewing, and what not.  So she quickened her pace and hurried down the dusty road. Talia heard the Games before she saw them, they must just only be starting she thought excitedly, but as she drew closer her heart started to beat fast. She had known what the punishment was prior to her plan, but it only started to sink in now. She could be killed, executed, for simply watching the games. So what? The thought shot up fiercely into her brain. She loved this as much as any man, and if she couldn’t do what she loved, she wouldn’t do anything at all. Talia mustered up all her strength and simply walked into the arena. The sound was deafening from the start, the roar of the spectators, like a thousand horns trumpeting. She scanned the rows for and empty seat and found one that was isolated in the back, perfect. The runners were lining up, some jogging in place, bouncing on their feet getting ready to go and the sound. At there it was, and they were of, and she watched them. Their limbs were glistening in the afternoon sun and droplets of sweat forming here and there.  Then as Talia caught a runner’s eye, she could see it on his face. It was the feeling, the feeling she knew oh to well. It was as if you were flying, as if it could cure anything in the world, as if you were free. She shared that feeling with him and him with her, an unexplainable bond. A tear, a single tear slid down her sun burnt cheek and dropped upon the open palm of her hand. She felt her heart soar along with the runner, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a man pointing and shouting, she had been found out. She looked up to the sky, and saw a bird swooping and dipping, chasing the sunlight. As hands clasped around her, yanking off her disguise and chaining her up, she smiled.

The Spartan Way

 Spartan Life
Similar to the ancient Greeks in Athens, the Spartans held certain traits or qualities that they thought there people should encompass; strength, deceit of an enemy, and a fearlessness of death. Maybe it was believing in these traits that made Sparta the most powerful city-state for over 200 years, but it was also because of Sparta's ruthless and all powerful army. Yet what was the reason for such a powerful army? The main reason for Sparta's need for an strong army was it's neighbor Messenia, and there relationship. When Sparta conquered Messenia, they gained control over vast amounts of fertile land, they then
proceeded to take half of all food grown by the people of this land. Logically, the people of Messenia were not happy about this treatment, so they rebelled. This sparked decades of conflict between the two city-states. This pushed Sparta to create a strong and "indestructible" army. Along with conflict between Messenia, Sparta also had a famous feud with another rival, Athens. With it's tough army to thanks Sparta dominated ancient Greece 600 B.C-371 B.C. Lycurgus, a great lawgiver, created Spartan laws that made it the all powerful city-state we know about today.
 Growing up in Sparta
Out of the men in Sparta, 10% were what were called equals, there job was only that but to serve as soldiers to the army. Through an equals life, every bit of it was controlled by the government or traditions such as, when the baby was born a city elder would inspect it and if there was signs that he was sickly, they would leave them to die on a mountainside. Another example, at age seven, military training began for boys and they were taken from there families. The Spartan military training was ruthless, a trainee was taught to listen and obey any order given and to put up with quietly or endure pain. Trainees were also not supposed to mak even the slightest mistake or show any sign whatsoever of suffering. "The boys also steal whatever provisions they can, there by learning how to pounce skillfully upon those who are asleep or keeping guard carelessly, but a boy is beaten and goes hungry if he is caught." There were other tough rules that the Spartan's had, such as luxury was looked down upon and the food actually tasted bad on purpose! A visitor who once came to Sparta once said, "After eating Spartan food, he understood why they are so willing to die in battle." Since the main job of a man in the Spartan culture was to be a soldier, the women had the task of having children. The women of Sparta had to be equally athletic as men, yet there were fewer restrictions for them then for the men. The men of Sparta, even though it was a though one, only had one job, to be a soldier. Since the city-state of Sparta was not constantly fighting in war, the Spartan men had a lot of free time, "Except when they were [fighting battles]" one historian wrote "all there time was taken up by choral dances, festivals, feasts, hunting expeditions, physical exercise, and conversation."
The end of the Spartans
 Loyal and powerful army and soldiers are what created the great city-state and it is said that "opposing armies crumbled at the very sight of Spartan soldiers marching toward them" yet this was because all the people knew that Spartan soldiers were expected to fight till death. Athens was conquered by Sparta in a war called the Peloponnesian war which lasted from 431-404 B.C. Athens, being conquered, lost the war and never managed to get back to the zenith it was at before. Yet good things do not last for to long, because than in 371 B.C, the end of Sparta's leadership of Ancient Greece came when it was dominated by Thebes.

The Ancient Olympics from The Olympic Games by Theodore Knight

Poster for first modern Olympic Games

The Olympics games originated in Ancient Greece and were originally made as a honor to the gods. They were held at sacred places such as in Olympia located in western Greece.  These games brought together all the people in Greece and united them as one. Winning was the ultimate honor. Even though these games were practiced before, the first official Olympic Games that took place were at an Olympic festival during the year 776 B.C. A man named Coroebus won a 200 yard, which is 180 meter, run. The victory of this man, sparked the official start of the Olympic games.  There were originally there were rules, to compete in the Olympic games you had to be a male Greek citizen, if you were a foreigner, slaves and women were not allowed to participate in competition. Even if women attempted to be a spectator they could be put to death. So women were so desperate to see the games, they even disguised themselves as men to get in!
   "One story tells how the mother of a young runner named Pisidorus did just that. When the young man's father died while training him, the mother took over the training and then attended the race disguised as a man. When Pisidorus won the race, the mother's cries of joy were so loud she was discovered. She was not put to death, however. To this day, no one knows why."
Yet by the 128th game women were finally allowed to participate and watch the games.  All competitors had to swear under an oath that they had been training for these games ten months prior to the actual games. Yet the Olympics were mostly for the wealthy, since they had to be able to provide for travel and, if they won, a lavish banquet for all. There were at the beginning, only few games that could be played at the Olympic games, but as the years progressed there were a variety of different things added. Things such as footraces, chariot races, wrestling, boxing, pancratium and tathlon. The Roman Empire conquered the the Greek Empire around the time 100 B.C, the Greek way of life and their games changed, the Romans turned them into something brutal, and the Olympics simply lost the whole idea of celebrating patriotism and religion." The Games themselves became brutal forms of entertainment." Some people started to complain about the simple prize of an olive branch for winning them games and money started to become involved. This sparked bribery and cheating in the games. The Olympics games had continued through well over 12 hundred years but it ended and then did not start until 15 hundred years after and was revived again by Baron Pierre and the first Olympic games in the modern world were held in Athens, Greece during the year 1896.

Knight, Theodore. The Ancient World. New York City: n.p., 2010. Print. Article:
     The Olympic Games