When Philip II was King of Macedonia, his main goal was Greece. He admired their culture and the land itself, and after the Peloponnesian Wars, he set out on a huge war of conquest.
Back in Athens, they knew Philip was coming. Leaders were called together, but few responded. Therefore, they were overtook by Philip's massive army and were now subject to his rule.
While at his daughter's wedding, Philip was assassinated, and his son Alexander was left the throne. Like any other empire, word spread around fast, and soon there was a rebellion in Thebes. As it turned out, not many knew Alexander was at the throne, and when he figured out about this revolt, he sent out his army with no hesitation.
When he arrived, he fought the Theban people and enslaved the citizens, letting it be an example of what would happen to anybody that questioned his rule.
Soon, Alexander led his army throughout Asia and Europe and conquered many civilizations and former rivals, such as Persia. He wished to conquer Persia not only because it was a Greek enemy, but because of the riches it held.
Soon, Alexander began to build cities named after himself, and established a new culture- called the Hellenistic culture. It was a mixture of Greek, Persian, Syrian, and many other cultures combined. It was widely accepted throughout his empire, as Alexander was considered a descendant of the Gods and was to be obeyed. This tells us how Alexander used religion to enforce the rules and expectations of how his subjects were to behave.
One day, Alexander got malaria. His generals wanted to know who would inherit the throne, and he responded "the strongest". However, nobody could come to a consensus on who was the strongest, and therefore his empire was divided into three parts, all of which were conquered.
In conclusion, Philip and Alexander changed the empire in many ways, with Alexander fulfilling the dreams of his father and finishing what he started, all in hopes of creating a great empire with inspiration from the Greeks. He worked to spread Greek culture despite its decline, and fueled an age of information where some of the best scholars and teachers known to this day were born.
