Macedon's and Mongolia's Fall

INTRODUCTION

Macedon

Μακεδονία

Difficulties

Alexander the Third of Macedon - Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' ὁ Μακεδών -, or better known as Alexander the Great - Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος -, was able to build one of Earth`s vastest empires, as it extended from the Balkan region all the way to the Indus river (between India and Pakistan). But the empire`s greatness caused major issues:

1. Controlling the conquered population, as many sought independence just after being conquered.

2. The army, especially the Macedonian one, did not feel rewarded as they fought from Greece to the eastern Middle east but had seen no peace and no rewards, thus wanted to profit from the war's spoils.

3. Alexander conquered such a vast empire but the administration was weak, the method how Macedon was ruled worked as the country was diminished, but Alexander's Empire's size caused major problems in its administration.

4. As stated previously the administration was weak, hence the protection of the appendixes of the Empire was complicated; Alexander feared that outside smaller powers would take advantage of this and attack his Empire.

On the other side he also had different personal problems:

1. He was afraid of being assassinated, as he was loved and hated by many his fears over his life soon increased.

2. He did not have an heir, and he knew that without an heir his Empire would fall under the greediness of its generals.

Increasing Regional Power

In Karmania - modern day Kerman province in South-Eastern Iran - the supplies were beginning to lack, as their transportation was slow. The satrapy of Kermania - satrapy is like a province of the Persian Empire - could not be governed well because of this crucial lack, talks of inefficient governing in Kermania soon arrived in the Empire's heart: Persepolis. The local rulers of Karmania were accused of using force to extract wealth, extortion. But these satraps, rulers of a satrapy, were not the only ones who took the great advantage of the power-vacuum in Alexander the Great's Empire. The lack of a centralized power was felt in all of the empire, but the most autonomous regions were the ones of the far East: as they were the most distant ones. The Emperor failed to fix internal affairs and the different regional rulers, satraps, did not have any more powerful ruler to look up to, naturally they became more and more independent. Many of the Persian satraps did not change their system, and even if they were conquered by another power they did not feel the Greek presence, these satraps followed Persian norms and not the Macedonians ones. The new Greek and Macedonian conquerors caused confusions, the Balkan intruders were not used to the customs, rules and political system of Persia.

At the time public services were something nonexistent, and the rulers had no contact with the people they ruled. But this separation between the rulers and people being ruled was dramatically increase when the Macedonians conquered Persia, as they were not used to govern such a vast land. Rapidly corruption, abuse of power and misgovern devoured the country, again the Greek arrival amplified this. The Persian Empire before the Macedonian conquest was divided in satrapies, like Roman provinces, this system was kept by the Macedonians; often the names were Hellenized. The satraps began gaining more and more power, and becoming more and more independent. In a few years these satrapies which were part of an Empire were more similar to different independent states.

Greek Profligate Society

In was custom in Greece to spend money in wasteful ways during times of great profit, the capture of Persia introduced to the Greek world many different riches from the Middle East. So in Greece, especially in Macedon, people began spending in extravagant ways, as people gained money because of the war's spoils the money was lost because of different careless spending. The power of the Greeks was amplified: Macedonians controlled a very small region in Europe and in a few years their power expanded through most of their known world.

Alexander's Endeavour to Maintain Power

Many different satraps were accused of rebellionism, misgovernance and corruption; most were executed. Like the satrap of Kermania, Southeastern Persia, Astaspes - Ἀστασπεϛ - who was accused of abuse of power. What Astaspes did was what many different other satraps did, there was a lack of power and hence they could not do anything but take the region in their hands; but this was seen by many, and especially by Alexander, as abuse of power.

Each Persian satrap had two Greek or Macedonian officials, one was in charge of the economy and the other of the army. Many Persian satraps felt this as an offence, thus often were unloyal and mistrusted Alexander, as he was seen as an outsider. Whilst some satraps were very loyal, like Phrataphernes, Φραταφέρνεϛ. He was made a satrap by Alexander, because of his utility in war, and Phrataphernes saw this as a very cordial gift, hence he proved to be extremely reliable and loyal to Alexander.

In 324 B.C. Phrasaortes - Φρασαορτέϛ -, the satrap of Persis in Northwestern Iran near Lake Urmia, died unexpectedly and left no heir. Orxines, Ὀρξίνεϛ, took his power as there was no government. At the time Alexander was in India, he gave no instructions on what to do in such a situation. In the satrapy of Persis there was no other choice but for somebody to take control and wait Alexander's orders. Alexander was furious about Orxines' actions. Soon he was executed as a rebel. The reason why Alexander was so furious was not just because of Orxines rebellious actions, but accprding to some historians of the time he had mainly because years before Orxines offended Alexander.

Most of the Persian satraps were executed or their power was taken away, because they were mistrusted. Soon after Alexander's conquest of Persia most of the satraps were either Greek or Macedonians: Alexander's dream of a country with a balance Persian and Greek influence was destroyed. The new Greek and Macedonian satraps turned to be as unloyal as their Persian counterparts, again many were accused and executed. Cleomenes of Naukratis , Κλεομενές, seized control of Egypt but was not punished as he hastened the construction of Alexander's city, Alexandria.

Alexander's Dream of a Persian-Macedonian Empire

One of Alexander's greatest dreams was to fuse the Greek and the Macedonian cultures, to enhance this he organised the great wedding of Susa, Çūšā in old Persian and Σοῦσα in Ancient Greek. Susa - situated in Central-West Iran, known as شوش, Shush- was the home to one of history's greatest weddings: 80 Macedonian officials married Persian Aristocrats, soldiers married Persian women and Alexander himself married Roxane - Ῥωξάνη -, one of the daughters of Darius III; the general Alexander fought against to conquer Persia. Alexander married two other Persian princesses but less is known about them. This massive wedding was done to stimulate the combination and symbiosis of Greek and Persian culture. Some estimates say that 10'000 Macedonian soldiers married Iranian women, but from all estimates the wedding was described as humongous.

In public spaces Alexander began wearing Persian clothes and following the Persian ways, this was greatly accepted by the Persians but the Macedonians had a completely different opinion. The Macedonians saw this as an offence to their culture; hence Alexander had to choose if to please Macedonian or Persia.

Alexander's Troops Revolt

Alexander the Great was planning of expanding his Empire to the east of the Indus Valley. The Macedonian troops had fought for long, from the first to the last battles, hence they wanted to retreat in Makedon and delight themselves with the war's spoils. Alexander's dream from the beginning was to unite the entire world into one empire in order to bring peace and stability. In 227 BC after the conquest of Persia many different revolts sparked, thus he stopped to strengthen his influence on the northern satrapies; in all of the Empire he began building cities under the Greek and Macedonian style; all of these cities were called "Alexandria" and Greeks were sent to colonise and hellenise Persia.

After Alexander stopped the revolts in Persia his eyes now pointed to the Indus Valley, as he believed that at the end of the valley there was the great "Eastern Ocean", which was supposed to be the Eastern end of the world. His dream was to be the king of kings, and the king of the world. His campaign to conquer India began with 120'000 men, his attacks were very quick and successful: many states surrendered; thus no fighting was needed. Many other states surrendered after a minor conflict, he was able to reach China but then decided to go south. The strongest kingdom in the area was Pauravas, पौरव, who's king was Porus, Πῶρος. Pauravas was situated in modern Pakistan, even if the kingdom was powerful Alexander was capable of conquering his lands instantaneously. But soon after the conquer of Pauravas Alexander was forced to halt his attack as around 3/4 of his soldiers died. As stated before his attack of India was not so sanguine, as most of his soldiers were killed by tiresomeness, hyperthermia, disease and starvation. In November of 326 BC Alexander had to retrieve from India.

Alexander's Death

Alexander was disliked by many Macedonians, and few years before his death he was poisoned but he was not killed. This made historians think that maybe he did not die of a natural cause, he could have been killed. Alexander the Great died at the age of 33, on the 10th, some other estimates say the 11th, June 323 BC. The reason for his death is uncertain, some historians say he was poisoned, or died because of malaria, or because of cirrhosis due to the abuse of alcohol. Alexander had three wifes, but he had a child with only one Roxane. The baby, and heir of Alexander's Empire, was born soon after his father's death. As he was far too young to reign Alexander's Empire teared itself apart because his generals thought against who should be in charge. Macedonians did not see the heir as Greek, as his mother was not Greek. Alexander IV and his mother were killed in either 311 BC or 310 BC. The fight for the throne continues for more than 20 years after after Alexander the Great's death. The fight for power ended in 300 BC when the empire was divided apart into many small independent kingdoms. Most of these monarchies are known as the "Hellenistic Kingdom" as they underwent a great influence from the Greek world. Alexander's dream of making a multi-ethic and cultural empire was successful, but these empires were separated. These small kingdoms were a peaceful combination of Greek, Macedonian and Persia culture.

Hellenistic Civilisation

This Greek influence of the world created the "Hellenistic Civilisation" which began in 360 BC and ended in 30 BC. The Ancient Greek language was brought in all of the Middle East, this enhanced the sharing, communication between different lands, trade and development of knowledge and ideas. Libraries, like the famous one of Alexandria of Egypt, were build in all of the Middle East. This new community and culture was very tolerant in all ways, as it was multiethnic. This tolerance was passed to the Romans, as the "different" was greatly accepted among all peoples. The new government styles were a Greek and Asia combination, the rulers came from either Greece or Macedon but unlike in their motherlands they were idolised and venerated like gods, something common in Asia at the time. These kings and emperors were autocrats, greatly influenced by the East.

Before his death Alexander built around 70 cities in asia, most called "Alexandria" in his honour. People, especially farmers, were brought from the southern Balkan to colonize the East, often autocrats in search for power migrated to Asia seeking opportunities which would elevate their social status. All Greek-Asian cities had a great central square, common to all Greek cities and called Agora - Ἀγορά -. Many of these cities grew to become bigger as any other Greek state, like Alexandria of Egypt which at its golden age had over 500'000 inhabitants, and Antiochia in Turkey, modern day Antakya, with other 300'000 inhabitants.

These hellenistic kingdoms soon became immensely rich from the riches and trade routes that Asia gave the, But the difference between poor and rich was increment, due to an inflation all over the Middle East. But this had great positive effects on the general economy, money began to circulate more easily and the number of banks increased dramatically. As connection between different lands increased trade was enhanced, but again the poor were made even more poor. Farmers, the majority of the population, saw no difference, just more competition as the local farmers found it very complicated to compete against the large scale farming Greek communities. Urbanization increased, people began to move to the cities: jobs began harder and harder to find, many free men could not find any jobs.

The cultured was altered, as it soon began a Greek and Persian combination, but the most drastic effects were on the language. The new Greek leaders imposed Ancient Greek as the sole spoken language, in the matter of a few decades the Greek Language was being used not only in Asia Minor, Turkey, and Greece; but in most of the Middle East. For three centuries people from the Balkans all the way to Pakistan spoke the same language. But when a language is spoken in various regions dialects tend to form, and in this way Greek changed to become more and more different from the Hellenic Greek. New letters appeared, but these changes mostly happened among the farmers who did not receive and education.

Religion

Religions as is common to us, meeting in large places with many people was uncommon at the time. It was something deeply personal and these kingdoms were very open, any religion was welcomed. Religions varied from Greek gods, to the Asian ones which were called "mysterious" by the Greeks. The most common Afro-Asian religions were the cult of Isis, Osiris and the mother of Cybele. Many of these Asiatic cults had something in common: the desire of a better afterlife.

Knowledge and Research

Knowledge began to spread and travel much more rapidly, Alexandria of Egypt soon became the biggest and most important Greek city. Its museum became famous in the world, at the time museums were places where knowledge was stored. The aim was to preserve the Greek knowledge and ampliate it with the new discoveries from Babylonia, Egypt and Persia. The installation of museums began the transition of knowledge from voice to books, books were being used to store knowledge. This system was better as it did not alter the discoveries and copies of the same concepts could be made and used in different areas of the world. Researchers were also aided economically by the different governments, as they wanted to advance. In this period many greats discoveries were done, many of which are still used today. For example Archimedes' laws.

The idea of improving lacked in the ancient world, as many of the discovered laws machines were never used and put to practice. In this period the first threshing machine was invented, but it was never used. The idea of progress did not exist, they believed that the maximum of human technology would be living in cities, nothing more. People, unlike later, had a strong sense of limitation and it was believed that to reach true happiness somebody should never exceed his or her limits.

Remnants of Alexander's Empire.

As Alexander's Empire collapsed many different kingdoms and empires formed, but the most crucial ones were:

I. The Syrian Kingdom, or Seleucid Empire: Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν (323-189 BC).

The Seleucid Empire extended from Asia Minor all the way to Pakistan and it was populated by 30 million people, which at the time was an enormous amount. The name of the founder was Seleucus, Σέλευκος Α΄ Νικάτωρ, and he gave the name to the dynasty which ruled these lands. The capital was Antioch and the Emperor strengthened the Greek presence in the region. But their hold on the Eastern provinces did not last for long as it was a very complicated territory to stabilize; in 250 BC the Parthians, from Southeast Caspian Sea, won control over Persia. The Empire finally fell in 189 BC, when the Romans conquered their last territories in Syria.

II. The Egyptian Kingdom, or Ptolemaic Kingdom: Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία (323-30 BC)

This was the hellenistic kingdom which lasted for the longest period of time, the ruling dynasty was of the Ptolemaics. Again the name came from the founder of the kingdom: Ptolemy I Soter, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ. Egypt soon became very similar, culturally, to Greece. This was due to the vast migrations of Greeks in Egypt. The country was hellenized but the ancient culture was kept, this kingdom was one of the most successful hellenistic kingdoms.

It controlled trade between Africa, Asia and Europe due to its strategical position, and the Nile's water were able to sustain a great civilization. At the time the world's cultural and economical center was the Eastern Mediterranean, and Egypt was its conjunction. The kingdom ended in 30 BC because of the Roman conquest of Egypt. Its last queen is vastly known, she was Cleopatra, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ. When she lost the war against Rome she committed suicide, as people thought she was a goddess and she could not have been paraded in her land as a prisoner, hence she chose to end her life.

Alexander's Asian-Style Ruling

In the brief time that Alexander was able to rule his vast Empire he was greatly criticised by the Greeks. He ruled in a very Oriental way, and not in a very Macedonian or Greek method. As he conquered new lands, he absorbed some of their cultures and tried to respect their ways. This was something that the Greeks never did, they would never follow such barbaric ways, barbaric was the term used to refer to all the non-greek speakers. Often he was seen as a god by many of his subjects, something common in Asian monarchies but unseen in Greece's aristocracy.

For example when Alexander conquered Egypt the population was content, as they were pleased that the Persian suppression on their country ended. To be accepted as Egypt's supreme king had to say he was the son of Hammon-ra, ancient Egyptian god of the sun.

Mongol Empire Их Монгол Улс

Separation of the Great Khanate

The Great Khanate, or Mongol Empire, was the largest ever continuous country, it extended from China to modern day Hungary and Syria.

The Mongol Empire separated soon as it was too vast and the empire was lacking of any form of unity, people did not feel like part of a single state. The Mongol Empire began disintegrating soon after its maximal expansiontion in the late 13th century. The Mongols did not have a complicated ruling system and were not experts in administration. As the Mongols conquered they relied on local rulers, which soon were shown to be very inefficient and unreliable. For this rulers many foreign autocrats were brought into many of their territories, for example many western Asians were brought into China to help the Mongols to control the vast Chinese lands.

Reasons of Separation

Genghis Khan, also known as Chinggis Khan (Mongol-Cyrillic Чингис Хаан, same name in traditional Mongolian is found on the right of the text). He was the Emperor that began Mongolia's expansion, in 1222 as he was 61 the Great Khan organised a large family meeting to discuss, and possibly end, all heir related discussions that his sons were having. He had fours sons, and all wanted to become the Great Khans after Chinggis. Jochi was the eldest son, but it was contested if he was actually the Khan's sons. Thus the second oldest son, Chagatai wanted the floor; as it was sure that he was the emperor's direct son. After large discussions a compromise was found, and Ogodei, the third sone was the successor. In the Autumn of 1227 Genghis Khan died, but his eldest son Jochi died sox months before him. The different sons, and the sons of the sons, claimed different regions of the vast country. Ogodei, the one that was supposed to be the Great Khan, took the Eastern portion which included China; this portion of the Mongol Empire became the Yuan Mongol-Chinese dynasty. Chagatai took the Central Asian portion of the Empire. Tolui took the area of modern Mongolia, and Jochi's sons instead took European Russia and Eastern Europe.

The complete fragmentation and political disconnection happened in 1260. Before the great expansion outside of Mongolia they were organised in small and semi-autonomous tribes, leaving the connection between different tribes weak and complicated; later organisation was one of their biggest problems. The Mongols were not sedentary, as their cities moved along with them, but they were fascinated by the sedentarism in other cultures, many in Mongolia wanted to become more sedentary but some traditional Mongols opposed this as they saw it as something opposing their culture.

Fragments of the Mongol Empire

The Empire was fragmented into four different lands:

1. Il-Khanate (سلسله ایلخانی, Хүлэгийн улс) 1256 to 1353

Il-Khanate was the South-Western portion of the Mongol Empire, it was centred in the Middle East, but more precisely Persia. Il-Khanate means subordinary Khanate, as at the beginning it was supposed to be controlled by the Great Khan, but soon they lost contacts with him. Islam was the adopted religion and the major belief frequently changed between Sunni and Shi’a. In 1335 Abu Sa’id (ابو سعید بہادر خان , ᠪᠦᠰᠠᠢ ᠪᠠᠬᠠᠲᠦᠷ ᠬᠠᠨ), who was the Khan, died and as Genghis Khan did left no clear heir, hence the Il-Khanate fell apart rapidly.

2. Yuan Dynasty (大元, Yeke Mongghul Ulus) 1271-1368

The Mongol Dynasty of China, remained in 1271, into the Yuan Dynasty - often spelled Yüan- expanded from southern China to Manchuria and Mongolia, the dynasty’s initial aim was to unite all the bureaucracy. Between the rulers and their people there were nearly no connections, especially they had a completely different culture. All of this aided the short life of the dynasty. Different major revolts in the middle 14th century led to its fall, which happened in 1368. The Dynasty was replaced by the Ming one.

3. The Golden Horde (Алтан Ордын улс) 1240-1502

The Golden Horde was also known as the Kipchak Khanate, it included the Westernmost and Northernmost portions of the Mongol Empire. After its independence, in the fourth decade of the 13th century, the Empire expanded all the way from Kiev to Siberia. The Khanate survived in different form until 1502, as it disintegrated and formed smaller Khanates. The Khanate which lasted the most, until 1502, was the famous Khanate of Crimea.

4. Chagatai Khanate (Цагаадайн Хаант Улс) 1225-1680

The Chagatai Khanate was situated in Central Asia between China and the Caspian Sea. Chagatai was Genghis Khan’s second son and his lands became independent in 1259, and soon adopted Islam. The classical nomadic Mongol lifestyle was kept but in the first half of the 14th century the Empire succumbed.

Effects of the Mongol Conquest

Historians, still to this day, debate if the effects of the Mongols on Eurasia were positive or negative. It cannot be negated that they were brutal and the caused major amounts of disruption in all of Eurasia; and their conquests aided to strengthen the relations between Eastern Asia with Europe and the Middle East. Many say that the Mongols were the basis of the Silk Road, a route which not only transported goods but religions, ideas and science. All we know about the Mongols was from the people they conquered, as it was not in the Mongolian costumes to record their history. The Mongols did not leave a sedentary life, they moved and did not have the ideology of living in one place for all of their life. The Mongols were often strongly disliked as they were seen as sanguine barbarians; but most of the hatred was prejudice. Even the people that worked for the Mongols, and gained importance and wealth were very critical and negative when they described them. Thus it should be noted that many of the negative aspects of the Mongol conquests were exaggerated, but we do not know to which extent. In Russia, centuries after the end of the Mongol rule over their lands, some still blamed their problems on the Mongol expansion.

To measure the disruptive force of the Mongol War Machine different accounts from the conquered peoples have to be take into count, as said before the Mongol did not write what they did and if they did they were not precise. The presence of a major dispruption can be confirmed by archeological studies done in cities conquered and destroyed by the Mongols. Many locals said that the invaders destroyed not as a need but as a pleasure; but this was never proved archeologically. Something that cannot be debated is that they were extremely sanguine, if any city resist their conquest, once the city was conquered, all of the infrastructures would have been destroyed and the population would have been slaughtered. Even if the Mongols were not sedentary, they did appreciate cities, as the conquerers soon discovered their importance while conquering. It soon turned out not be be in their best interest to destroy all cities, as many of the settlements helped the conquers to control the newly gained land; cities also helped to have access to trade, and economical and human resources.

David Miller, a historian, tried to measure European Russia's economic state and development before, during and after the Mongol invasions of the land. He accomplished this by looking at the rate of how rapidly churches were build, a higher rate would have meant more resource; therefore more money and so a more agile economic state of the country. The historian noted that at the beginning of the 13th century, around the time of the the Mongol invasion, much of the constructions and restoration was alted, but soon continued. This sustains the theory that at first the Mongol impact was negative, and it took time for the conquered people to recover from the damages of the foreign invasion. Years after the Mongol invasion, in the 14th century the building rate saw a flourishing period, hence indicating a probable period of relative great wealth and economical growth. This time period coincides with what many people called the Pax Mongolica, see later section for more information. The increment of economical growth of the 14th century was when European Russia was known as the Golden Horde, one of the nations that were created after the collapse of the Mongol Empire. The study was done on the city of Novgorod, at the time the most important city - and capital- of the region. The beginning of the 14th century saw European Russia to gain importance and especially its most famous city began developing in this period: Moscow. Russia at the time had different princes, and many of them complained because of the high and severe Mongol taxation and tributes. But again, these figures and numbers were probably exaggerated through time as the Mongols were seen negatively by many.

Trade was always valued by the Mongols, and as soon as they exited Mongolia they admired and desire the benefits from it. The Silk Road - a road which connected in different ways the Mediterranean and China, and all of the lands in between - was largely due to Mongolia's direct promotion of the ties among European and Asian countries. The mongols built many infrastructures which improved the connection between these lands. Kublai Khan was astonished and inspired by many of the Western products, hence many craftsmen of different utensils brought from Persia to Mongolia and Northern China. One of the main reasons why the Mongol Empire fell was the competition for trade routes.

Some people blame the Great Black Plague of the 14th century on the Mongols, as their trade enhanced communication between Eurasia. But this would be very complicated to fully prove as the Black death of the 14th century came around after nearly a century of Genghis Khan’s conquests, and half a century after the fall and separation of the Empire. The Black Plague of the 14th century was the most severe plague seen by humanity, and estimate claims that between 30-60% of the European population died, see the map on the right to observe the spread of the disease between the 1346-53 A.D:

In conclusion the Mongolian conquest did cause initial destruction and despair, many cities were destroyed, people killed and major taxes and tributes were set on the conquered lands. Many of these states lost political freedom and independence, but in many regions improvements of governing happened. The Mongolia expansion can be directly liked to the great Eurasia economical expansion of the 14th century.

Pax Mongolica

The Pax Mongolica was a period which followed the Mongol expansions in Asia and Europe, where literature science flourished. At the time Asia was much more developed than Europe, especially Asia was more scientifically ahead than Europe. The Pax Mongolica was the basis of the silk road, as in this period of time development - in many different ways- flourished and the number of wars and conflicts in these Eurasian lands were relative few and minor.

During the Pax Mongolica combination of different cultures was enhanced; and people began to be more open to what was seen as "different". In Mongolia, even before the expansions, different religions were seen positively. Their culture was really open, and this helped them to expand as they did not persecute anybody; decreasing the chances of rebellions. Many of the Khans were curious and wanted to discover different religions; this enabled Islam to expand into Eastern Europe and Tibetan Buddhism to expand into Mongolia and Northern China. Even if the conquerers were Mongolian the language did not expand from the region, as the most common language was Arabic; at the time Arabic could be spoken from one side to the Silk Road to the other.

COMPARISON

Both of these empires could be analysed for ever, as there is to know about them is infinite: one could spend all of his/her life comparing and learning new aspects about them. But I will be focusing on the most important aspects.

Moment of Peace and Innovation after their Fall

As it was discussed in the previous parts after the fall of the Mongol and Macedonian Empire after both of the empires' fall two different periods of peace and development happened: the Hellenic Period of Asia and the Pax Mongolica. In both cases after these humongous empires collapsed a connective "line" was drawn in their middle: economy, trade, research and acceptance of one another happened and lasted for a few century. The Pax Mongolica did last for less time, but this can be debated as its effects, like the creation of the Silk Road, were heard and seen for many different centuries after.

The culture of Greece and of Mongolia were completely different, as often the Mongolians were neglected by other nations as seen as barbaric and uncivilized, as they did not have a sedentary lifestyle. The Mongolians as they expanded their territories were much more open than the Greeks, as the Greeks saw anything as not Greek as barbaric and negative. When Alexander adopted some Asian traditions, like transforming your emperor into a god, this was seen as inferior by the Macedonians and Greeks. On the other hand the Mongolians had a much more open mindset, as they expanded they wanted to learn more about different cultures and religions and accepted any type of change, as the people that they conquered despised them the Mongols instead were fascinated by the sedentarism of the other lands.

When the Greeks expanded in the Middle East their culture and language was brought with them, as between the 4th century to the 1st century B.C. the major language spoken by the rich and poor of Western Asia and Mediterranean Europe as Ancient Greek, but this did not happen during the Mongol period. During the Pax Mongolica the Mongols more than bringing their culture i other words created a bridge from China to Europe. As the Macedonians conquered Asia they build more than 70 cities and called all of them Alexandria and sent Greek and Macedonians to rule and live in them, hence the most powerful people in all of Western Asia soon became connected in some way to Greece. But instead the Mongols more than bringing their culture to distant places they brought other cultures around, as many Persians were brought into Asia to help rule, other Iranians instead were brought into Mongolia and Northern China as their artisan products were wanted; this resulted into an Asia which mostly spoke Arabic; they did spread a language and a culture but not theirs.

Reasons of their fall

Both vast empires did not last for long; even when both empires were still expanding their downfall did not seem so distant. In both cases the empires began to crumble soon after the emperor's death, this was partially due to lack of administration and clearance on who would take the power. Both Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great were great conquers, but their greatness as generals did not match their greatness while ruling. Both empires as they expanded they did not think of the future and on how they could keep their lands, for example the Romans expanded less than these two great emperors but their empire lasted more then 10 times more, as they expanded gradually and made the conquered people desire to become part of the Roman Empire. Instead the Mongols were despised by the peoples they conquered, increasing the chance of future rebellions.

The rapidity of both of these empire's expansion was extreme, as in half of a century two small states became the most influential and biggest powers at the time. But in both cases the major problem was "who will be the heir?". Alexander died young, at only 33, which destroyed his plans of making his own son his heir. When Alexander died his son, and the future emperor, was extremely young and hence was he exposed to major influences from other important generals which wanted the position. Even if Alexander would have died later the possibility for his son to never be accepted as the true heir was very high, as Alexander's spouse was Persian and not Greece; thus his son was not seen as a Greek in Greece; and in this was unaccepted and disliked. On the other hand Genghis Khan tried to split his land between his sons, as he nominated one Great Khan and the other would have been in charge regionally but this failed, as the regional Khans soon became more and more less influenced by the central Great Khan.

In both cases the regional power increase, until these regions became independent. This happened in different ways; as under Alexander's rule there was a major lack of a centralised power and so naturally the satrapies of the Macedonian Persia soon found more and more independence, until they became completely different states. Similarly in Mongolia the separation was also due to a centralised government but , as in Macedon, the crumble of the empire was majorly caused by the greed of its commanders: they wanted more and more and nothing could stop then and so in a very short period of time they crumbled vast empires.

Influence of conquered peoples

Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great both admired and respected the lands they conquered, and soon they fell in love with its culture. These two great generals were similarly affected by the people they conquered. Alexander enjoyed the Asia-style ruling, were the emperors had all the power and were admired like gods. Instead the Great Khan found the utility of sedentarism, he soon found its utility in trade. As the emperors absorbed cultural aspects from others, this was hated by many; especially in Greece. In Greece this idea of assimilating Persian ways was seen as barbaric, and in Mongolia many traditional figures at the time opposed the conversion of Mongolia into a sedentarist society.

Anyhow, regardless if the change was liked by the people or not the emperors were interested in the different ways of different empires, they did not oppose cultural mixture. In reality they both dreamed of a peaceful world ruled by a single country where the same language would be spoken all around, but Alexander dreamed more about this.

One big difference is the cultural difference they brought, as the remnants of the Mongol Empire soon lost the language, ties with the motherland and any Mongolian cultural influences but instead after the fall of the Macedonian Empire the cultural and linguistic effects were many, for around half a millennium after the languages spoken in some of the regions conquered was still Greek.

Work cited

Information:

Macedon

Caduta Dell'Impero Macedone. Bergamo; Mascheroni, 2013. Online
Grainger. John D.. The Collapse of the Macedonian Empire. London; Continuum Books, 2007. Online
Heckel, Waldemar. "Darius III." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
Johnson, Sara Raup. "Seleucid dynasty." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
Roisman, Joseph. "Alexander the Great." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.

Mongolia

Rossabi, Morris. "Mongolia." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2017. Web. 16 Jan. 2017.
"The Mongols in World History - Asia for Educators - Columbia University." 2005. 20 Nov. 2016 <http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/conquests_4.htm>
"Chagatai Khanate - Oxford Islamic Studies Online." 2008. 20 Nov. 2016 <http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e418>
"Il-Khan dynasty - New World Encyclopedia." 2008. 20 Nov. 2016 <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Il-Khan_dynasty>
"Yuan dynasty | Chinese history | Britannica.com." 2015. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yuan-dynasty>
"Golden Horde | ancient division, Mongol Empire | Britannica.com." 2015. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://www.britannica.com/place/Golden-Horde>
"Pax Mongolica - Silkroad Foundation." 2005. 20 Nov. 2016 <http://www.silk-road.com/artl/paxmongolica.shtml>
Chung-Chuen-Yeung, MK. "the evolution of materials in arms and armors ... - Temixwten.net." 2011. <http://www.temixwten.net/biblio/IQP-EvolutionOfMaterials-MedievalEra.pdf>
"Biography of Genghis Khan - Asian History - About.com." 2008. 20 Nov. 2016 <http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/GenghisKhanProf.htm>

Pictures and Names in Original Languages

Macedon

I. "File:Ptolemaic-Empire-300BC.png - Wikimedia Commons." 2013. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ptolemaic-Empire-300BC.png>

II. "Ptolemaic Kingdom - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemaic_Kingdom>

III. "Macedonia (ancient kingdom) - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)>

IV. "Seleucid Empire - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire>

Mongol

V. "Mongol Empire - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongol_Empire>

VI. "Genghis Khan - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genghis_Khan>

VII. "Ilkhanate - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilkhanate>

VIII. "Yuan dynasty - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuan_dynasty>

IX. "Golden Horde - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Horde>

X. "Chagatai Khanate - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagatai_Khanate>

XI. "Black Death - Wikipedia." 2011. 20 Nov. 2016 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death>

Report abuse