Part 32

Learn about Alexander the Great and the Greek civilization in Civilization V, including their unique units like the Hoplite and Companion Cavalry.

The Greeks are very good with city-states, so your influence and gold spent there will last much longer compared to that of normal city states. Even if you piss them off, they will be happy once again, in a while. However, their greatest flaw will lie longer in the game where their units and power isn't as useful.

Their Hoplite is more powerful than the Spearman in terms of raw strength, whilst their Companion Cavalry is more useful as it has more power, better movement, and the unique ability to produce a Great General after going into battle, which isn't a bad thing at all. Everyone loves a nice Citadel to plop down next to their aggressive neighbour.

Alexander the Great

History

Alexander the Macedonian is unquestionably one of the great warlords of all time. In 17 short years he marched his army to victory after victory across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, conquering every civilization he could reach. Alexander was the son of King Phillip II, an extremely successful king and warlord who had restored his kingdom from the verge of extinction and then led his people to triumph by conquering Athens, Illyria, and Thrace - the three powers who, a few short years before, permanently expelled the Persian navy from the Aegean Sea. Following the defeat of Persia, the Athenians demanded large amounts of money from the other members of the Delian League, which they planned to use to rebuild the destroyed city. As the Athenians had by far the biggest navy, the island cities were forced to comply. The Athenians grew richer and more powerful than they had ever been in history, and the Delian League became in fact, if not in name, the Athenian Empire. Alarmed at Athens' growing power, Sparta formed the Peloponnesian League, an alliance with other concerned Greek land powers including Corinth and Elis. By 458 BC war broke out between the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League. The war ground on inconclusively for several years, until a peace treaty was signed in 445 BC. The uneasy peace lasted until 431 BC, when the two sides once again came to blows. The war continued for decades. The Spartan forces invaded Attica and besieged Athens, and the city fell victim to a massive and deadly plague which killed thousands, including the great leader Pericles. But Athens survived, and the Spartans were driven back. The Athenian navy harassed the enemy coastlines and overseas allies, draining the Peloponnesian League's larders and treasuries. Neither side was able to gain an advantage, and in 421 BC they signed another peace treaty. The "Peace of Nicias," lasted six years. It ended in 415 BC when Athens launched a massive invasion of Sicily, which contained a number of cities allied with Sparta. The Athenian attack was a long, costly catastrophic failure which resulted in the annihilation of the invading army and the almost total destruction of the Athenian navy. Athens was badly crippled, both at land and at sea. In 405 BC the Spartan navy (with the help of the Persians) defeated the Athenian navy and imposed an impenetrable blockade on Athens. Starving and with no hope of external aid, Athens capitulated. The victorious Spartans imposed heavy penalties on Athens, divested it of its overseas possessions and forbid it from building a navy. With the city-states of southern Greece badly weakened by decades of brutal warfare, the balance of power moved north, to Macedon. In 338 BC Philip II led an army south, accompanied by his 16 year-old son, Alexander, who had already proven himself in battle, having led a small Macedonian army to crush a Thracian revolt. After dispatching several smaller forces, Philip and Alexander thoroughly defeated a combined Theban and Athenian army at the Battle of Chaeronea. He then moved to Corinth, which capitulated without a fight. Philip made preparations to launch a major invasion of Persia, at the head of a large army of Macedonian and other Greek warriors. However, he was assassinated in 336 BC and at the age of 20, Alexander was proclaimed King of Macedonia. Upon news of Philip's death, the southern Greek city-states attempted to revolt, but Alexander moved south at the head of 3000 Macedonian cavalry, and the terrified city-states quickly surrendered. He then headed north into the Balkans, where, in a lightning campaign he defeated several armies much larger than his force. While Alexander was securing his northern borders, a number of southern city-states including Thebes and Athens rebelled once more. In response Alexander burned Thebes to the ground, selling most of its citizens into slavery. Athens immediately capitulated and pleaded for mercy. Having made his point, Alexander had no further trouble with the southern Greek city-states. In 334 BC Alexander led an army of 40,000 Greeks across the Hellespont into Persian territory. For here suffice it to say that in 10 short years Alexander conquered all of Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt, and parts of Western India. He died at the age of 32 in 323 BC with no heir, leaving his fragmented empire in the hands of his generals and their children. Greece did not remain unified after Alexander's death. As the polis returned to their squabbling, they fell piecemeal under the control of Rome, the growing power to the west. By 146 BC Macedon was a Roman province, and over the next century the rest of the country was taken. In 330 AD, the Byzantine Empire supplanted the Roman rule in Greece. The Byzantines remained in power for some 1,000 years, until they were supplanted by the Ottomans. The Ottomans ruled Greece from the mid-fifteenth century until the early nineteenth, when Greece regained its independence in 1829, almost one thousand, eight hundred and fifty years after the Roman conquest.