Greek diaspora
108-473: Greek diaspora Constantinople and Asia Minor : Africa : Other regions : Other groups : Other languages Greek Canadians ( Greek : Ελληνοκαναδοί ) are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Greek heritage or people who emigrated from Greece and reside in Canada . According to the 2021 Census , there were 262,140 Canadians who claimed Greek ancestry. Provinces and territories with
216-484: A Greek citizen through naturalization if they can prove that a parent or grandparent was a Greek national. The Greek ancestor's birth and marriage certificates and the applicant's birth certificate are required, along with birth certificates for all intervening generations between the applicant and the person with Greek citizenship. Greek citizenship is acquired by birth by all persons born in Greece who do not acquire
324-643: A Greek invasion of Arabia . In the years following his death, a series of civil wars broke out across the Macedonian Empire, eventually leading to its disintegration at the hands of the Diadochi . With his death marking the start of the Hellenistic period , Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism that his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism and Hellenistic Judaism . He founded more than twenty cities , with
432-486: A Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury. On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days. Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes I and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for
540-477: A classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira , which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile. Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy , Hephaistion , and Cassander . Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as
648-561: A fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000 drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace , Paionia , and Illyria . He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy. After an initial victory against Persian forces at
756-722: A foreign citizenship and all persons born to at least one parent who is a registered Greek citizen. People born out of wedlock to a father who is a Greek citizen and a mother who is a non-Greek automatically gain Greek citizenship if the father recognizes them as his child before they turn 18. Centers of the Greek diaspora are New York City , Boston , Chicago , Los Angeles , Munich , London , Melbourne , Wellington , Sydney , Auckland , Montreal , Toronto , Vancouver , Johannesburg , Rio de Janeiro , São Paulo , Culiacán , Mexico City , and Buenos Aires . The SAE – World Council of Hellenes Abroad has compiled several studies on
864-593: A higher level of church attendance than Greeks in Greece. There are minorities of Catholics , Jehovah's Witnesses and Pentecostals . Currently, there are 152 Greek Orthodox churches in Australia, most under jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia . In addition, there are 8 monasteries as well as schools, theological colleges and aged care centres. About 50,000 Greeks immigrated to Brazil from Greece and Cyprus, with 20,000 in
972-507: A lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia , Central Asia , parts of South Asia , and Egypt . By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India . He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders. Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle . In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he campaigned in
1080-703: A membership of 90,000 in Latin America, the majority of whom live in Brazil. About 250 Non-Jewish Greeks immigrated to Ottoman Palestine and Mandatory Palestine for the service of the Greek-Orthodox church in the country between 1850 and 1920, mostly residing in Jerusalem and Nazareth City . About 1,500-2,500 Ethnic Greeks Today, few were able to obtain Greek Citizenship largely due to
1188-698: A prophecy. During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria , which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander. Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Achaemenid Assyria in Upper Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq ) and defeated Darius again at
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#17327796870491296-603: A result of poisoning by Olympias. News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa , and ordered his men to ride over Mount Ossa. When
1404-612: A series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of Asia Minor , Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at Issus and Gaugamela ; he subsequently overthrew Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. After the fall of Persia, the Macedonian Empire held a vast swath of territory between the Adriatic Sea and
1512-552: A significant subject of study in military academies worldwide. Legends of Alexander's exploits coalesced into the third-century Alexander Romance which, in the premodern period, went through over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations and was translated into almost every European vernacular and every language of the Islamic world. After the Bible , it was the most popular form of European literature. Alexander III
1620-615: A usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan . The campaign took Alexander through Media , Parthia , Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana , Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and Scythia . In 329 BC, Spitamenes , who held an undefined position in
1728-608: Is one of the oldest diasporas in the world, with an attested presence from Homeric times to the present. Examples of its influence range from the role played by Greek expatriates in the emergence of the Renaissance , through liberation and nationalist movements involved in the fall of the Ottoman Empire , to commercial developments such as the commissioning of the world's first supertankers by shipping magnates Aristotle Onassis and Stavros Niarchos . In Archaic Greece ,
1836-496: Is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus . Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed
1944-873: Is why some members of the Aromanian diaspora that settled in places such as Vienna in Austria have been considered as Greeks and part of a Greek diaspora as well. During and after the Greek War of Independence , Greeks of the diaspora established the fledgling state, raised funds and awareness abroad and served as senior officers in Russian armies which fought the Ottomans to help liberate Greeks under Ottoman subjugation in Macedonia , Epirus , and Thrace . Greek merchant families had contacts in other countries; during
2052-480: The Battle of Gaugamela . Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela . Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamadan ) while Alexander captured Babylon . Babylonian astronomical diaries say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering
2160-677: The Battle of the Granicus , Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis ; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. Miletus , held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at Halicarnassus , in Caria , Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale siege , eventually forcing his opponents,
2268-641: The Black Sea region, particularly from the Trebizond region, the Pontic Alps , eastern Anatolia, Georgia, and the former Russian south-Caucasus Kars Oblast . After 1919–23, most of these Pontic Greek and Caucasus Greek communities resettled in Greek Macedonia or joined other Greek communities in southern Russia and Ukraine . Anyone who is ethnically Greek and born outside Greece may become
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#17327796870492376-829: The Byzantine–Arab Wars . The Greek populations generally remained in these areas of the Caliphate and helped translate ancient Greek works into Arabic, thus contributing to early Islamic philosophy and science (which, in turn, contributed to Byzantine science ). After the Byzantine–Ottoman Wars , which resulted in the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Ottoman conquest of Greek lands, many Greeks fled Constantinople (now Istanbul ) and found refuge in Italy. They brought ancient Greek writings that had been lost in
2484-758: The Greek Civil War (1946–49) and the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974. After World War I , most Pontian and Anatolian Greeks living in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) were victims of Muslim Turkish intolerance for Christians in the Ottoman Empire. More than 3.5 million Greeks, Armenians, and Assyrians were killed in the regimes of the Young Turks and Mustafa Kemal, from 1914 to 1923. Greeks in Asia Minor fled to modern Greece, and
2592-885: The Indus River . Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and invaded India in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over Porus , an ancient Indian king of present-day Punjab , at the Battle of the Hydaspes . Due to the mutiny of his homesick troops, he eventually turned back at the Beas River and later died in 323 BC in Babylon , the city of Mesopotamia that he had planned to establish as his empire's capital. Alexander's death left unexecuted an additional series of planned military and mercantile campaigns that would have begun with
2700-775: The Russian Empire (later the USSR ) was also a major destination. After the Greek Civil War , many communist Greeks and their families fled to neighboring Yugoslavia, the USSR and the Soviet-dominated states of Eastern Europe (especially Czechoslovakia). Hungary founded a village ( Beloiannisz ) for Greek refugees, and many Greeks were resettled in the former Sudeten German region of northern Czechoslovakia around Krnov (Jägerndorf). Sweden also admitted large numbers of Greeks, and over 17,000 Greek-Swedish descendants live in
2808-559: The Seven Wonders of the World , burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander. Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception. In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike , sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus
2916-465: The Taurus into Cilicia . After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus . Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis , and a fabulous treasure. He offered a peace treaty that included
3024-574: The largest cities in the world during Hellenistic and Roman times. Greeks spread across the Roman Empire , and in the eastern territories the Greek language (rather than Latin ) became the lingua franca . The Roman Empire was Christianized in the fourth century AD, and during the late Byzantine period the Greek Orthodox form of Christianity became a hallmark of Greek identity. In
3132-459: The "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer , and in particular the Iliad ; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. Alexander was able to quote Euripides from memory. In his youth, Alexander
3240-549: The 16th century from the island of Crete . Cretan Greeks settled in the Antofagasta Region in the mid-16th century and spread to other locations, such as the Greek colony in Santiago and the cities of San Diego, Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Puerto Montt, and Punta Arenas. Australia has one of the world's largest Greek communities. Greek immigration to Australia began during the 19th century, increasing significantly in
3348-507: The 1950s and 1960s. According to the 2016 census, there were 397,431 Greeks and Greek Cypriots (by ancestry) living in Australia and 93,740 Greeks born in Greece or Cyprus. According to Greeks around the Globe , Greek Australians number about 700,000. The majority of Greeks in Australia (over 90 percent) are Greek Orthodox and many attend church weekly. According to the SBS , Greeks in Australia have
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3456-513: The 19th century) outside of the traditional areas; such as in Australia , Canada , United States , United Kingdom , Germany , Argentina , Brazil , New Zealand , United Arab Emirates , Singapore , Norway , and others. The Greek diaspora population is estimated at 5 million, which when added to the population of Greece (approximately 10 million), it gives a total worldwide Greek population of approximately 15 million. The Greek diaspora
3564-617: The Achaemenid throne. The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius. However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the Iranologist Pierre Briant "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the last of the Achaemenids ." Alexander viewed Bessus as
3672-610: The Balkans and reasserted control over Thrace and parts of Illyria before marching on the city of Thebes , which was subsequently destroyed in battle . Alexander then led the League of Corinth , and used his authority to launch the pan-Hellenic project envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all Greeks in their conquest of Persia . In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began
3780-475: The Battle of Gabai. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace. During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of proskynesis , either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors. This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing
3888-541: The Black . Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas , a relative of his mother, and by Lysimachus of Acarnania . Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre , ride, fight, and hunt. When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents . The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting
3996-548: The Cynic occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight. This reply apparently delighted Alexander who is reported to have said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes." At Corinth, Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader") and, like Philip,
4104-749: The Great 's conquest of the Achaemenid Empire marked the beginning of the Hellenistic period , which was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization in Asia and Africa; the Greek ruling classes established their presence in Egypt , West Asia , and Northwest India . Many Greeks migrated to the new Hellenistic cities founded in Alexander's wake, as geographically dispersed as Uzbekistan and Kuwait . Seleucia , Antioch and Alexandria were among
4212-510: The Greek city of Perinthus , Alexander reportedly saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred to Apollo near Delphi , a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern Greece. Concerned that other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he
4320-527: The Greek diaspora (including those of Greek ancestry): Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( Ancient Greek : Ἀλέξανδρος , romanized : Alexandros ; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great , was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon . He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting
4428-615: The Greek diaspora. The total number of Greeks living outside Greece and Cyprus is uncertain. Available census figures indicate about three million Greeks outside Greece and Cyprus, but the SAE estimates about seven million worldwide. The Greek diaspora defends Greek interests, particularly in the US. Assimilation and loss of the Greek language influence the definition of the Greek diaspora. To learn more about how factors such as intermarriage and assimilation influence self-identification among young Greeks in
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4536-561: The Greek-speaking Christian Orthodox population; this often forced the inhabitants of rural districts, particularly in the more vulnerable lowland areas, to abandon their homes. A larger-scale movement of Greek-speaking peoples in the Ottoman period was Pontic Greeks from northeastern Anatolia to Georgia and parts of southern Russia, particularly the province of Kars Oblast in the southern Caucasus after
4644-629: The Illyrian chieftain Cleitus and King Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open revolt against his authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier. While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south. While
4752-415: The Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state. Suda writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns. At the age of 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip II had waged war against the Thracians to
4860-436: The Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on
4968-493: The Ottomans and the creation of a Greater Greece . The terrible devastation of the island of Chios in the 1822 massacre caused a great dispersion of the islanders, leading to the creation of a specific Chian diaspora . After the Treaty of Constantinople , the political situation stabilised; some displaced families returned to the newly independent country to become key figures in cultural, educational and political life, especially in Athens. Financial assistance from overseas
5076-405: The Russian province of Kars in the South Caucasus . Many Pontic Greeks fled their homelands in Pontus and northeastern Anatolia and settled in these areas to avoid Ottoman reprisals after supporting the Russian invasions of eastern Anatolia in the Russo-Turkish Wars from the late 18th to the early 20th century. Others resettled in search of new opportunities in trade, mining, farming, the church,
5184-436: The Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. He then continued south towards the Peloponnese . Alexander stopped at Thermopylae where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth . Athens sued for peace and Alexander pardoned the rebels. The famous encounter between Alexander and Diogenes
5292-442: The Thracian forces manning the heights. The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi and defeated their army near the Lyginus river (a tributary of the Danube ). Alexander then marched for three days to the Danube , encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry skirmish . News then reached Alexander that
5400-400: The West, contributing to the Renaissance . Most of these Greeks settled in Venice , Florence , and Rome . Between the fall of the Empire of Trebizond to the Ottomans in 1461 and the second Russo-Turkish War in 1828–29, thousands of Pontic Greeks migrated (or fled) from the Pontic Alps and eastern Anatolia to Georgia and other southern regions of the Russian Empire , and (later)
5508-555: The World Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has a membership of 600,000 in the US and Canada who are still Greek Orthodox; however, many Greeks in both countries have adopted other religions or become secular. The 2010 census recorded about 130,000 Greek Americans, although members of the community dispute its accuracy. Most Greek Canadians live in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The 2016 census reported that 271,405 Canadians were Greek by ancestry and 16,715 people were born in Greece. Greek immigration to Chile began during
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#17327796870495616-421: The aid and support of the Iranian upper classes. The Greeks however regarded the gesture of proskynesis as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it. During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government,
5724-423: The animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala . When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor , and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus , the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the Academy to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as
5832-475: The army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for Iranians and to a major degree, Persian noblemen. The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family. This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time. Pierre Briant explains that Alexander realized that it
5940-474: The burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War by Xerxes; Plutarch and Diodorus allege that Alexander's companion, the hetaera Thaïs , instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision. Plutarch claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires but the flames had already spread to most of the city. Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until
6048-433: The city of São Paulo . Brazil has a sizable community of Antiochean Greeks (known as Melkites), Orthodox, Catholics, and Jews. According to the Catholic Church, the Eparchy of Nossa Senhora do Paraíso em São Paulo (Melkite Greek), the Eparchia Dominae Nostrae Paradisis S. Pauli Graecorum Melkitarum had a 2016 membership of 46,600. The World Council of Churches estimates that the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch has
6156-437: The city: "I shall not enter your houses". From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa , one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury. He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road . Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains ) which had been blocked by
6264-454: The coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At Termessos , Alexander humbled and did not storm the Pisidian city. At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium , Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot , a feat said to await the future "king of Asia ". According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword. In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed
6372-453: The communities of Greeks living outside of Greece and Cyprus . Such places historically (dating to the ancient period) include, Albania , North Macedonia , southern Russia , Ukraine , Asia Minor and Pontus (in today's Turkey), Georgia , Egypt , Sudan , southern Italy (the so-called " Magna Graecia "), Sicily , Cargèse and Marseille in France. The term also refers to communities established by Greek migration (mostly since
6480-442: The contest. Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the request of the Amphictyonic League ), capturing the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it. As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea , Boeotia . During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea , Philip commanded
6588-433: The country. Although many immigrants later returned to Greece, these countries still have a number of first- and second-generation Greeks who maintain their traditions. With the fall of Communism in eastern Europe and the USSR, Greeks of the diaspora immigrated to modern Greece's main urban centers of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Cyprus; many came from Georgia . Pontic Greeks are Greek-speaking communities originating in
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#17327796870496696-421: The diaspora, and to help clarify the estimates of Greeks in the diaspora, the Next Generation Initiative began an academically supervised research study in 2008. The United States has the largest ethnically-Greek population outside Greece. According to the US Department of State, the Greek-American community numbers about three million and the vast majority are third- or fourth-generation immigrants. According to
6804-495: The disturbances, many set up home bases around the Mediterranean (notably Marseilles in France, Livorno , Calabria and Bari in Italy and Alexandria in Egypt), Russia ( Odesa and St. Petersburg ), and Britain (London and Liverpool ) from where they traded (typically textiles and grain). Businesses frequently included the extended family, and they brought schools teaching Greek and the Greek Orthodox Church . As markets changed, some families became shippers (financed through
6912-429: The enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated. After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese, devastating much of Laconia and ejecting the Spartans from various parts of it. At Corinth , Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on
7020-412: The famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert, at which he was pronounced the son of the deity Amun . Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with horns , using the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity. The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as
7128-462: The floor, at which Alexander reproachfully insulted him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another." In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona , capital of the Molossians . He continued to Illyria where he sought refuge with one or more Illyrian kings, perhaps with Glaucias , and
7236-637: The highest population of Greek Canadians, according to 2016 Census: Census Metropolitan Agglomerations (CMAs) with the highest population of Greek Canadians, according to 2016 Census: Cities with the highest population of Greek Canadians, according to 2016 Census: Ridings (Federal electoral districts) with the highest percentage of Greek Canadians, according to 2016 Census: Greek diaspora Constantinople and Asia Minor : Africa : Other regions : Other groups : Other languages The Greek diaspora , also known as Omogenia ( Greek : Ομογένεια , romanized : Omogéneia ), are
7344-438: The horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed. Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him. Alexander named it Bucephalas , meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as India . When
7452-443: The lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria , and most of the coast of the Levant . In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre , which he captured after a long and difficult siege . The men of military age were massacred and
7560-430: The local Greek community, with the aid of the Ralli or Vagliano Brothers ). The diaspora expanded across the Levant , North Africa , India and the US. Many leaders of the Greek struggle for liberation from Ottoman Macedonia and other parts of the southern Balkans with large Greek populations still under Ottoman rule had links to the Greek trading and business families who funded the Greek liberation struggle against
7668-415: The mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates , to withdraw by sea. Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, Ada , who adopted Alexander. From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards,
7776-562: The military, and the bureaucracy of the Russian Empire . Greeks spread through many provinces of the Ottoman Empire and took major roles in its economic life, particularly the Phanariots (wealthy Greek merchants who claimed noble Byzantine descent during the second half of the 16th century). The Phanariots helped administer the Ottoman Empire's Balkan domains in the 18th century; some settled in present-day Romania , influencing its political and cultural life. Other Greeks settled outside
7884-506: The more to make the attempt". After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword, and the women and children were sold into slavery. Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in
7992-463: The most prominent being the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture led to the overwhelming dominance of Hellenistic civilization and influence as far east as the Indian subcontinent . The Hellenistic period developed through the Roman Empire into modern Western culture ; the Greek language became the lingua franca of
8100-534: The negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him. Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, Harpalus , Nearchus , Ptolemy and Erigyius , and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains. In the 24th day of the Macedonian month Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC, while at Aegae attending
8208-457: The next morning. Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person: Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects? Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia. The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and
8316-481: The niece of his general Attalus . The marriage made Alexander's position as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian. During the wedding banquet , a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir. At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired
8424-434: The north, which left Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent . During Philip's absence, the Thracian tribe of Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. The territory was colonized, and a city, named Alexandropolis , was founded. Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern Thrace . Campaigning against
8532-547: The old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars ), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth ), and announced his plans to attack the Persian Empire . When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice in 338 BC,
8640-420: The other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. The Theban resistance was ineffective and Alexander razed the city and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace. Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving Antipater as regent. After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC) , Philip II began
8748-844: The refusal of recognition from Greece. Greeks started to immigrate to Mexico in the late 1800s from mainland and especially the Greek islands and Cyprus. While there was an individual immigration to Mexico, the Mexican government looked to start olive production in the Pacific Coast so thousands were taken to the state of Sinaloa where the Greeks found fortunes in the tomato production instead. Today there are tens of thousands of Greek-Mexicans living primarily in Culiacán , Veracruz , and Mexico City as well as surrounding areas and other cities. 35,747 (2005, Greek citizens) Notable people of
8856-547: The region and was the predominant language of the Byzantine Empire until its collapse in the mid-15th century AD. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of Achilles , featuring prominently in the historical and mythical traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves, and his tactics remain
8964-455: The right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for some time. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having damaged
9072-529: The satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy , one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed. However, at some point later when Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in
9180-664: The seventh century, Emperor Heraclius adopted Medieval Greek as the official language of the Byzantine Empire . Greeks continued to live around the Levant , Mediterranean and Black Sea, maintaining their identity among local populations as traders, officials, and settlers. Soon afterwards, the Arab-Islamic Caliphate seized the Levant , Egypt , North Africa and Sicily from the Byzantine Greeks during
9288-673: The short-lived Russian occupation of Erzerum and the surrounding region during the 1828–29 Russo-Turkish War . An estimated one-fifth of Pontic Greeks left their homeland in the mountains of northeastern Anatolia in 1829 as refugees, following the Tsarist army as it withdrew back into Russian territory (since many had collaborated with—or fought in—the Russian army against the Muslim Ottomans to regain territory for Christian Orthodoxy). The Pontic Greek refugees who settled in Georgia and
9396-644: The southern Balkans, moving north in service to the Orthodox Church or as a result of population transfers and massacres by Ottoman authorities after Greek rebellions against Ottoman rule or suspected Greek collaboration with Russia in the Russo-Turkish wars fought between 1774 and 1878. Greek Macedonia was most affected by the population upheavals, where the large, indigenous Ottoman Muslim population (often including those of Greek-convert descent ) could form local militias to harass and exact revenge on
9504-505: The southern Caucasus assimilated with preexisting Caucasus Greek communities. Those who settled in Ukraine and southern Russia became a sizable proportion of cities such as Mariupol , but generally assimilated with Christian Orthodox Russians and continued to serve in the Tsarist army. In 1788, Ali Pasha of Ioannina destroyed Moscopole . This predominantly ethnic Aromanian settlement historically had an important Greek influence. This
9612-574: The suggestion as impious. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice . That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games . It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus , one of
9720-406: The taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians. Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator. To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult
9828-461: The temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign. Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed
9936-557: The theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants". Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne". However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at Persepolis in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius' legitimate successor. Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as
10044-423: The throne. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV , executed. He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, but spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes . Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice, and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, who
10152-659: The trading and colonizing activities of Greeks from the Balkans and Asia Minor propagated Greek culture, religion and language around the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins. Greek city-states were established in Southern Italy (the so-called " Magna Graecia "), northern Libya , eastern Spain, the south of France, and the Black Sea coast, and the Greeks founded over 400 colonies in these areas. Alexander
10260-467: The wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus , Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards , Pausanias . As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus . Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and army at the age of 20. Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to
10368-535: The western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near Magnesia by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary Memnon of Rhodes . Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and
10476-406: The women and children sold into slavery . When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at Gaza . The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all
10584-445: The work of establishing himself as hēgemṓn ( Greek : ἡγεμών ) of a league which according to Diodorus was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in 480 and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent Parmenion , Amyntas , Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia to make preparations for an invasion. The Greek cities on
10692-480: Was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed Artaxerxes III . Among them were Artabazos II and his daughter Barsine , possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as Amminapes , future satrap of Alexander, or a Persian nobleman named Sisines . This gave
10800-415: Was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising. Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from Amphipolis , he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at Mount Haemus , the Macedonian army attacked and defeated
10908-515: Was born in Pella , the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon , on the sixth day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion , which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain). He was the son of the erstwhile king of Macedon, Philip II , and his fourth wife, Olympias (daughter of Neoptolemus I , king of Epirus ). Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias
11016-737: Was channeled through these family ties, providing for institutions such as the National Library and sending relief after natural disasters. During the 20th century, many Greeks left the traditional homelands for economic and political reasons; this resulted in large migrations from Greece and Cyprus to the United States , Australia , Canada , Brazil , The United Kingdom , New Zealand , Argentina , The United Arab Emirates , Singapore , Germany , Norway , Belgium , Georgia , Italy , Armenia , Russia , Chile , Mexico and South Africa , especially after World War II (1939–45),
11124-414: Was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander. Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. According to the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch , on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip
11232-425: Was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle. Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive. Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as
11340-463: Was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians. As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly
11448-665: Was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians invaded Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander. Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae , taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of Elatea , only a few days' march from both Athens and Thebes . The Athenians, led by Demosthenes , voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes's favour, but Athens won
11556-511: Was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to
11664-818: Was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before. However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son. Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, Demaratus , who mediated between the two parties. In the following year, the Persian satrap (governor) of Caria , Pixodarus , offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus . Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir. Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped
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