Quote:
Soon after
Athens had reached the height of its glory under Pericles in the Fifth Century,
B. C., and had started on its decline, the rise of Macedon under Philip carried
Greek influence into new regions. The glory of Athens had been based upon sea
power, but the conquests of Macedon were the work of land armies— Philip
invented the invincible phalanx.
Upon Philip's death his son, Alexander the
Great, set forth to conquer the whole of the then known world, and as that
world in his day lay to the east, his marches were in that direction. In a few
years he had overrun the fertile plains and opulent cities of Asia Minor,
Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia, and had carried his conquests to the gates of
Delhi.
In all the cities in the intervening countries
he left large garrisons of Greek soldiers. In many of these countries he
founded flourishing new cities. In every place his soldiers were followed by
large colonies of Greek civilians. The result was that the whole of western
Asia, and of what we call the Near East, including Asia Minor Egypt, Palestine,
Syria, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Persia, and northwestern India, was saturated
with the Greek influence and with Greek colonies.
I Was Sent to Athens by Henry
Morgenthau,1929, 1st edition,Doubleday,USA