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was a bungler。 First he lost his ships and then he lost his
army； and the few surviving Athenians were thrown into the
stone…quarries of Syracuse； where they died from hunger and
thirst。
The expedition had killed all the young men of Athens。
The city was doomed。 After a long siege the town surrendered
in April of the year 404。 The high walls were demolished。
The navy was taken away by the Spartans。 Athens ceased to
exist as the center of the great colonial empire which it had
conquered during the days of its prosperity。 But that wonderful
desire to learn and to know and to investigate which
had distinguished her free citizens during the days of greatness
and prosperity did not perish with the walls and the
ships。 It continued to live。 It became even more brilliant。
Athens no longer shaped the destinies of the land of Greece。
But now； as the home of the first great university the city began
to influence the minds of intelligent people far beyond
the narrow frontiers of Hellas。
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
ALEXANDER THE MACEDONIAN ESTABLISHES
A GREEK WORLD…EMPIRE； AND
WHAT BECAME OF THIS HIGH AMBITION
WHEN the Achaeans had left their homes along the banks of
the Danube to look for pastures new； they had spent some
time among the mountains of Macedonia。 Ever since； the
Greeks had maintained certain more or less formal relations
with the people of this northern country。 The Macedonians
from their side had kept themselves well informed about conditions
in Greece。
Now it happened； just when Sparta and Athens had finished
their disastrous war for the leadership of Hellas； that
Macedonia was ruled by an extraordinarily clever man by
the name of Philip。 He admired the Greek spirit in letters and
art but he despised the Greek lack of self…control in political
affairs。 It irritated him to see a perfectly good people waste its
men and money upon fruitless quarrels。 So he settled the
difficulty by making himself the master of all Greece and then
he asked his new subjects to join him on a voyage which he
meant to pay to Persia in return for the visit which Xerxes
had paid the Greeks one hundred and fifty years before。
Unfortunately Philip was murdered before he could start
upon this well…prepared expedition。 The task of avenging the
destruction of Athens was left to Philip's son Alexander； the
beloved pupil of Aristotle； wisest of all Greek teachers。
Alexander bade farewell to Europe in the spring of the
year 334 B。C。 Seven years later he reached India。 In the
meantime he had destroyed Phoenicia； the old rival of the Greek
merchants。 He had conquered Egypt and had been worshipped
by the people of the Nile valley as the son and heir of the
Pharaohs。 He had defeated the last Persian kinghe had
overthrown the Persian empire he had given orders to rebuild
Babylonhe had led his troops into the heart of the
Himalayan mountains and had made the entire world a Macedonian
province and dependency。 Then he stopped and announced
even more ambitious plans。
The newly formed Empire must be brought under the influence
of the Greek mind。 The people must be taught the Greek
languagethey must live in cities built after a Greek model。
The Alexandrian soldier now turned school…master。 The military
camps of yesterday became the peaceful centres of the
newly imported Greek civilisation。 Higher and higher did the
flood of Greek manners and Greek customs rise； when suddenly
Alexander was stricken with a fever and died in the old
palace of King Hammurabi of Babylon in the year 323。
Then the waters receded。 But they left behind the fertile clay
of a higher civilisation and Alexander； with all his childish
ambitions and his silly vanities； had performed a most valuable
service。 His Empire did not long survive him。 A number of
ambitious generals divided the territory among themselves。
But they too remained faithful to the dream of a great world
brotherhood of Greek and Asiatic ideas and knowledge。
They maintained their independence until the Romans
added western Asia and Egypt to their other domains。 The
strange inheritance of this Hellenistic civilisation （part Greek；
part Persian； part Egyptian and Babylonian） fell to the
Roman conquerors。 During the following centuries； it got
such a firm hold upon the Roman world； that we feel its influence
in our own lives this very day。
A SUMMARY
A SHORT SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS 1 to 20
THUS far； from the top of our high tower we have been
looking eastward。 But from this time on； the history of Egypt
and Mesopotamia is going to grow less interesting and I must
take you to study the western landscape。
Before we do this； let us stop a moment and make clear to
ourselves what we have seen。
First of all I showed you prehistoric mana creature very
simple in his habits and very unattractive in his manners。 I
told you how he was the most defenceless of the many animals
that roamed through the early wilderness of the five continents；
but being possessed of a larger and better brain； he managed to
hold his own。
Then came the glaciers and the many centuries of cold
weather； and life on this planet became so difficult that man was
obliged to think three times as hard as ever before if he wished
to survive。 Since； however； that ‘‘wish to survive'' was （and is）
the mainspring which keeps every living being going full tilt to
the last gasp of its breath； the brain of glacial man was set to
work in all earnestness。 Not only did these hardy people manage
to exist through the long cold spells which killed many
ferocious animals； but when the earth became warm and comfortable
once more； prehistoric man had learned a number of
things which gave him such great advantages over his less intelligent
neighbors that the danger of extinction （a very serious
one during the first half million years of man's residence upon
this planet） became a very remote one。
I told you how these earliest ancestors of ours were slowly
plodding along when suddenly （and for reasons that are not
well understood） the people who lived in the valley of the Nile
rushed ahead and almost over night； created the first centre of
civilisation。
Then I showed you Mesopotamia； ‘‘the land between the
rivers；'' which was the second great school of the human race。
And I made you a map of the little island bridges of the AEgean
Sea； which carried the knowledge and the science of the old
east to the young west； where lived the Greeks。
Next I told you of an Indo…European tribe； called the Hellenes；
who thousands of years before had left the heart of
Asia and who had in the eleventh century before our era pushed
their way into the rocky peninsula of Greece and who； since
then； have been known to us as the Greeks。 And I told
you the story of the little Greek cities that were really states；
where the civilisation of old Egypt and Asia was transfigured
（