Early European History Part 28

6. How much can you see and describe in the Alexander Mosaic (ill.u.s.tration, page 123)?

7. Compare Alexander's invasion of Persia with the invasion of Greece by Xerxes.

8. Distinguish between the immediate and the ultimate results of Alexander's conquests.

9. Comment on the following statement: "No single personality, excepting the carpenter's son of Nazareth, has done so much to make the world we live in what it is as Alexander of Macedon."

10. How did the Macedonian Empire compare in size with that of Persia?

With that of a.s.syria?

11. What modern countries are included within the Macedonian Empire under Alexander?

12. How did the founding of the h.e.l.lenistic cities continue the earlier colonial expansion of Greece?

13. Why were the h.e.l.lenistic cities the real "backbone" of h.e.l.lenism?

14. Why do great cities rarely develop without the aid of commerce? Were all the great cities in Alexander's empire of commercial importance?

15. Show how Alexandria has always been one of the meeting points between Orient and Occident.

16. How did the opening of the Suez Ca.n.a.l in 1869 A.D. affect the commercial importance of Alexandria?

17. Name some of the great scientists of the Alexandrian age.

18. What were their contributions to knowledge?

19. Using the maps on pages 76 and 132, trace the growth of geographical knowledge from Homer's time to that of Ptolemy.

20. What parts of the world are most correctly outlined on Ptolemy's map?

21. "The seed-ground of European civilization is neither Greece nor the Orient, but a world joined of the two." Comment on this statement.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Webster, _Readings in Ancient History_, chapter xii, "Demosthenes and the Struggle against Philip"; chapter xiii, "Exploits of Alexander the Great."

[2] Philippi became noted afterwards as the first city in Europe where Christianity was preached. See _Acts_, xvi, 9.

[3] See the map between pages 68-69.

[4] See page 275.

[5] See page 39.

[6] See page 272.

[7] See page 90.

[8] See page 36.

[9] See John Dryden's splendid ode, _Alexander's Feast_.

[10] See pages 20 and 39.

[11] See pages 39-40.

[12] Arrian, _Anabasis of Alexander_, vii, 26.

[13] See the map facing page 128.

[14] The term "h.e.l.lenic" refers to purely Greek culture; the term "h.e.l.lenistic," to Greek culture as modified by contact with Oriental life and customs.

[15] See page 81.

[16] The lighthouse on the island of Pharos was considered one of the "seven wonders" of the ancient world. The others were the hanging gardens and walls of Babylon, the pyramids, the Colossus of Rhodes, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the mausoleum at Halicarna.s.sus, and the statue of Zeus at Olympia.

[17] See page 120.

[18] See page 89.

[19] See page 74.

[20] Not to be confused with King Ptolemy (page 127).

[21] See page 125.

[22] See page 48.

CHAPTER VII

THE RISE OF ROME TO 264 B.C. [1]

47. ITALY AND SICILY

THE APENNINES

The shape of Italy is determined by the course of the Apennines. Branching off from the Alps at the gulf of Genoa, these mountains cross the peninsula in an easterly direction, almost to the Adriatic. Here they turn sharply to the southeast and follow the coast for a considerable distance.

The plains of central Italy, in consequence, are all on the western slope of the Apennines. In the lower part of the peninsula the range swerves suddenly to the southwest, so that the level land is there on the eastern side of the mountains. Near the southern extremity of Italy the Apennines separate into two branches, which penetrate the "heel and toe" of the peninsula.

DIVISIONS OF ITALY

Italy may be conveniently divided into a northern, a central, and a southern section. These divisions, however, are determined by the direction of the mountains and not, as in Greece, chiefly by inlets of the sea. Northern Italy contains the important region known in ancient times as Cisalpine Gaul. This is a perfectly level plain two hundred miles in length, watered by the Po (_Padus_), which the Romans called the "king of rivers," because of its length and many tributary streams. Central Italy, lying south of the Apennines, includes seven districts, of which the three on the western coast--Etruria, Latium, and Campania--were most conspicuous in ancient history. Southern Italy, because of its warm climate and deeply indented coast, early attracted many Greek colonists. Their colonies here came to be known as Magna Graecia, or Great Greece.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, ANCIENT ITALY AND SICILY.]