EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E 
Alexander the Great
Guy MacLean Rogers, Wellesley College
https://www.edx.org/course/wellesleyx/wellesleyx-hist229x-was-alexander-great-850
C O U R S E   L E C T U R E 
Early Macedon
Notes taken on June 13, 2015 by Edward Tanguay
for most of its early history, Macedonia was a potential superstate
fitfully slumbered through most of that early history waiting for someone to come along and master its fiercely independent tribes and harness its rich resources
that person turned out to be Alexander's father, Philip II
the sheer size of Macedon potentially made it into a dominant power in Greece and even beyond
the Macedon city-state
Macedonia
refers to the empire that was carved during Philip and Alexander's reigns
Macedon
refers to the original political entity located north of Greece
in the end the terms have more overlapping similarities than differences
about 80% of the 1000-1500 Greek city states that we know to have existed at one time or another, had territories of around 200 square kilometers (Rhode Island has a territory of over 3000 square kilometers)
Greek city states were micro-states
Macedon, however, had a territory of over 20,000 square kilometers
it was gigantic compared to Greek city-states
unlike many Greek city states, it comprised two distinct geographical regions
Lower Macedon
formed by the alluvial plain created by two rivers
Haliacmon [Ἁλιάκμων]
Axios [Αξιός]
flowed into the Thermaic Gulf
climate
essential Mediterranean
short, rainy winters
long, hot summers
suitable conditions for growing grains, olives and grapes
the Macedonians were enthusiastic wine drinkers
the existence of several year-round rivers, rare in the Greek context
helped produce a much larger population than in any other Greek city-state that we know about
Greek city-state didn't keep very accurate records of their populations
but we know around 80% of them had populations over 1000
only about 10% had population over 10,000
the significance of these data is that since only half of the population could serve in the army at any given time
Greek city-states could put into the field Hoplite armies of somewhere between 500 to 5,000 or an absolute maximum of 10,000 infantry soldiers
on the other hand we know that in 334 BCE, the Macedonians could field an infantry army of 27,000 soldiers, roughly two and a half times as large as the army of any Greek city-state that we know about
it's not a historic accident that both Pella, the capital of 4th century Macedon, and Aigai [Αἰγαί] (modern Vergina), where the kings were buried, were located in lower Macedon
Greek archaeologist Manolis Andronikos unearthed the burial site of the kings of Macedon, including the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great
Upper Macedon
consisted of the uplands and mountains
stretched into the north and northwest
into Illyria and Epirus
where Alexander's mother was born
natural resources
mineral resources
Eastern Macedon around Mount Pangaion
silver mines
a talent of silver
6000 coins called drachmas
one silver drachma was the pay for one skilled artisan for one day's work
each year the Macedonian kings were getting 6 million drachmas worth of revenues from those mines alone
could buy a lot of body armor
climate of Eastern Macedonia
more continental, colder winters and warmer summers
tribes that Macedonian kings tried to bring under their control
the kings of Macedon had to struggle with other rings of enemies
forests of diciduous and evergreen trees
harvested timber for ships
oak wood which they used to lay the keels of the ships
enemies
east
tried to subdue tribes in Eastern Macedonia
inner ring
Thessaly to the south
Thrace
Caldedian League
to the north
Paionia
to the west
Epirus
to the far south
Greek city-states of central Greece
to the far east
Persian Empire
until the Macedonia kings were able to master their own areas in upper and lower Macedon
and fend off both rings of enemies around them
they could not entertain broader ambitions
unleashing Macedon's potential took over 200 years of constant warfare
led to the creation of a state that looked like a very different kind of place to most Greeks than the city states they lived in