Hellenistic world · 334-323 BC

Alexander: an empire in ten years

From a small Greek kingdom to the edge of India in a decade. Students follow the campaign route and discover why the empire broke apart just as fast.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 336 BC to 300 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 4 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live
The ChronoAtlas map in 323 BC, with the places this lesson visits a The starting point336 BC b Follow the journey330 BC c After his death300 BC
Plate 82Hellenistic world, 323 BC. The letters mark the three map steps of this lesson.

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

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A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
4 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From a small Greek kingdom to the edge of India in a decade. Students follow the campaign route and discover why the empire broke apart just as fast.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Trace Alexander's campaign route from Macedonia to India on the map.
  • Explain why his empire fell apart after his death.
  • Give one example of Greek influence that stayed behind in Asia (Hellenism).
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

The map in 336 BC a

336 BC

The starting point

Open the map in 336 BC on Macedonia. Compare its size with the Persian Empire to the east. What would you have advised the young king?

Open this view on the map
The map in 330 BC b

330 BC

Follow the journey

Open Stories (top left) and play Alexander's Conquests. Follow his route and count the cities named Alexandria that he founded.

Open this view on the map
The map in 300 BC c

300 BC

After his death

Jump to 300 BC. The empire is split between his generals. Name the two biggest successor kingdoms.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Alexander founded over twenty cities named after himself. Smart policy or vanity?
  2. His soldiers refused to go further at the river in India. Were they right?
  3. Why did such a huge empire depend so much on one person?
  4. Greek became a world language for centuries after Alexander. How does a language spread with an army?
  5. Who deserves the title "the Great" more: someone who conquers an empire or someone who keeps one running?
4

Game round

9 min

Rule History: set the era to the Hellenistic world. Students play one ruling each as a successor king (Diadoch) and explain how their choice would keep Greek culture alive far from Greece.

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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