Lesson video

Hi, I'm Miss Miah.

Thank you so much for joining me in this lesson.

Let's get started.

In this lesson, you'll be able to explain how Alexander created a great Macedonian Empire through Military conquests.

Your keywords, mercy, pharaoh, tactics, Babylon.

Great, let's find out what these words mean.

Showing mercy is treating someone kindly when you have power over them.

The leaders of Ancient Egypt were called pharaohs.

Tactics are the plans armies use in battle to defeat their enemies.

Babylon was an ancient city in the Persian Empire that was located on the Euphrates River.

Super, let's move on.

This lesson is all about Alexander's conquests.

We have three lesson cycles today, and our first lesson cycle is where were Alexander's first conquests?

Then, what happened in Egypt?

And lastly, how did Alexander expand his empire?

I'm super excited about this lesson.

I hope you are too.

Let's begin.

Alexander was King of Macedon.

Alexander wanted to defeat and conquer the Persian Empire.

In 334 BCE, Alexander gathered his troops and set off from the Macedonian town of Pella.

Here is a photo Marble bust of Alexander III of Macedon.

Over to you.

True or false?

Alexander was king of Ancient Greece.

Is this true or is this false?

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've got the answer to the first part.

So what did you get?

It is false.

I'd like you to justify why.

Is it because A, Alexander was king of Macedon?

Or B, Alexander was the king of Persia?

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get?

If you got A, you are correct.

Alexander was the King of Macedon.

Let's move on.

From Pella, Alexander and his army headed east into the Persian Empire, towards the City of Issus.

So here we can see a map showing the route Alexander's army took.

On the way to Issus, many small Persian towns and villages were conquered.

Alexander became known for the mercy he showed to the Persian people living there.

This was unusual for the time and earned him respect.

On the right here, we can see a silver coin with image of Alexander III of Macedon.

In 333 BCE, Alexander and his army reached Issus.

In battle, Alexander showed great bravery by fighting alongside the men he commanded.

This earned him more respect.

On the right here, we can see a photo.

This photo shows the statue of Alexander as a warrior on horseback.

Alexander's army was victorious.

Darius retreated to another city to plan how he would defend the rest of the Persian Empire.

Over to you.

30-second word challenge.

How many words can you think of to describe Alexander?

Go.

So, how did that go?

Well, you may have come up with words like this.

Greek, king, soldier, warrior, strong, brave, heroic, respected, merciful, kind.

Macedonian.

over to you.

Which statement is correct?

A, king Darius defeated Alexander in battle at Issus.

B, the battle of Issus was not the first time Alexander defeated Darius, or C, Alexander defeated King Darius in battle at Issus.

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've got the answer.

So what did you get?

Well, if you got C, you are correct.

Alexander defeated Darius in battle at Issus.

Super, let's move on.

Task A, I'd like you to explain your learning partner why Alexander was respected by many people during his first conquest.

You could include the following in your answer.

Mercy, brave, fought alongside.

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've completed this task.

So, how did that go?

Well, your answer could include something like this.

"Alexander was respected by many people during his first conquests because he showed mercy to the Persian people and because he was very brave and fought alongside his soldiers in battle instead of watching from a distance.

" Well done if you managed to include those key points.

Let's move on.

What happened in Egypt?

Next, Alexander and his army headed southwest towards Egypt.

Here's a map showing the route Alexander's army took.

Now we have a map of the Persian Empire after conquering Egypt in 525 BCE.

Egypt had been under Persian control since 525 BCE, when King Cambyses II had conquered it and crowned himself pharaoh.

Over to you.

Why did Cambyses make himself pharaoh?

A, Pharaohs were the rulers of Ancient Egypt, and he was the new ruler.

B, Pharaohs had large pyramids, and he wanted to have a large pyramid, or C, he thought the title of Pharaoh was better than the title of King.

What do you think?

You could pause the video here and click Play when you got the answer.

So what did you get?

Well, if you got A, you are correct.

Pharaohs were the rulers of Ancient Egypt, and he was the new ruler.

Let's move on.

In 332 BCE, Alexander and his army marched into Egypt.

The Persian rulers were thrown out of Egypt.

The Ancient Egyptians were so great to Alexander that they crowned him as the new pharaoh.

And on the right, we see a photo.

Alexander in Egyptian hieroglyphs inside a cartouche.

This meant pharaoh.

An important new city was built in the north of Egypt and named Alexandria in his honor.

Jacob says, "I don't think Alexandria in Egypt was the only city named after Alexandra The Great.

" Sophia says, "You're right, Jacob.

There were 17 other cities named Alexandria in his honor.

" Over to you.

Alexander and Cambyses II both became Pharaoh of Egypt, but in very different ways.

Talk to a partner about how it was different in each case.

You can pause the video here and click Play once you've had that discussion.

So, how was your discussion?

Well, you may have mentioned these key points.

"Cambyses was pharaoh 200 years before Alexander.

His army conquered Egypt, and he crowned himself pharaoh.

" Alexander conquered Egypt as well.

But he removed the Persians.

Then, the people made him pharaoh.

Let's move on.

Task B.

Below is a diagram.

In the left circle, I'd like you to write what it meant for the people of Egypt, that Alexander was crowned Pharaoh.

In the right circle, I'd like you to write why it was important that Alexander founded the city of Alexandria.

And in the middle section, where the circles are overlapping, write what these two events have in common.

How both of them showed Alexander's importance of power in Egypt.

You can pause the video here and click Play once you've finished this task.

So, how did it go?

Well, you might have written something like this.

On the left-hand side, we've got "The Egyptians had been ruled by Persians for over 200 years.

They were happy Alexander freed them from Persian rule.

Only the most important rulers were called pharaoh.

His name was written in a cartouche, like real Egyptian kings.

" Now, let's look at the right-hand side of this diagram.

We can see that Alexandria became an important place for learning, trading, and culture.

It still exists today and is visited by people from around the world.

It reminded people of Alexander's time as ruler in Egypt.

In the middle section here, we've got, "It showed how powerful and respected Alexander was in Egypt.

It made him more than just a conqueror.

He became a real leader.

And lastly, it showed how the Egyptians accepted him as their own ruler.

Well done if you managed to include those key points.

Let's move on.

How did Alexander expand his empire?

Let's begin.

In 331 BCE, Alexander led his army northeast again to the Persian city of Gaugamela.

And here, on the map, we can see where Gaugamela is.

And again, it's showing the route Alexander's army took.

Gaugamela was the second time that Alexander faced King Darius on the battlefield.

Darius and his army had chariots for battle.

They were confident that these would help them to win.

And here, we have an illustration of battle chariots.

Alexander was a great soldier, and he knew a lot about tactics.

On the right, we have an illustration of Alexander's tactics.

Before the battle, Alexander told his army his tactics, and it was not long before they were winning.

Over to you.

True or false?

Gaugamela was the first time that Alexander and Darius met in battle.

Is this true or is this false?

You can pause the video here for this first part.

So what did you get?

If you got false, well done.

I'd like to justify your answer.

Is it because A, Alexander and Darius both took part in many battles before Gaugamela?

Or B, Alexander and Darius met for the first time in battle at Issus, and for the second time at Gaugamela.

What do you think?

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've got your answer.

So what did you get?

If you got B, you are correct.

Alexander and Darius met for the first time in battle at Issus, and for the second time at Gaugamela.

Alexander and his army then traveled south where they conquered Babylon.

And here, we can see where Babylon is on the map.

The army continued on towards the Indus Valley.

And here, we have a map of the Persian Empire after conquering the Indus Valley in around 490 BCE.

Alexander succeeded in defeating the Persians in 326 BCE.

He had created the largest empire ever to exist in the ancient world.

Alexander became known as Alexander the Great after his death.

Alexander and his troops began the long journey home.

In 323 BCE, Alexander mysteriously became ill and died in Babylon.

Historians do not know for certain why he died.

Here we have a drawing of Alexander's body being carried in a procession.

Onto our check for understanding.

Thinking about how Alexander expanded his empire, decide if these statements are true or false.

Here are the statements.

The Persian army used chariots at Gaugamela.

King Darius won the battle of Gaugamela.

Alexander conquered Babylon before Gaugamela.

In the Indus Valley, Alexander successfully defeated the Persians.

Alexander died in Babylon before making it home to Macedon.

Are these sentences true or false?

You can pause the video here and click Play when you've got the answers.

So what did you get?

Well, our first sentence is true.

The Persian army did use chariots at Gaugamela.

False, King Darius did not win the battle of Gaugamela.

False again, Alexander did not conquer Babylon before Gaugamela.

In the Indus Valley, Alexander successfully defeated the Persians.

This is true.

Alexander died in Babylon before making it home to Macedon.

This is true.

And we are unsure as to how he died.

Onto the main task for this lesson cycle.

The map shows Alexander's empire.

We can see here, one, Pella, two, Alexandria, three, Issus, four, Gaugamela, and five, Babylon.

I'd like you to write one sentence about each location, one to five.

You could describe a historical event that happened there, or state a historical fact about it.

You can pause the video here and click Play once you've completed this task.

So, how did that go?

Well, you may have said, one, "Pella was where Alexander's army set off from.

" Two, "Alexandria was built in Egypt and named in honor of Alexander.

" Three, "There was a battle in Issus in 333 BCE between Alexander's army and King Darius's army.

" Four, "Alexander used excellent tactics to defeat King Darius at Gaugamela.

" Five, "Alexander conquered Babylon and later died there on his return journey.

" We've now reached the end of this lesson.

Let's summarize our learning.

Alexander left Pella in 334 BCE to conquer the Persian Empire.

Along the way, he was very brave in battle and showed mercy to the Persian people, earning him respect.

Alexander first defeated King Darius III at Issus.

He then drove the Persians out of Egypt, and the Egyptians made him pharaoh.

He defeated King Darius III for a second time at Gaugamela because his army had better tactics, even though the Persians had chariots.

He conquered Babylon, then went east to the River Indus, where he finally defeated the Persians in 326 BCE.

He died in Babylon whilst returning home in 323 BCE.

Thank you so much for joining in this lesson.

Bye.