Hellenistic period

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The Nike of Samothrace is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of

Hellenistic art.
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The Hellenistic period covers the period of Mediterranean history between the death
of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified
by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC[1] and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt
the following year.[2] The Ancient Greek word Hella is the original word for
Greece, which the word Hellenistic was derived from.[3]

At this time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its peak in Europe, Africa
and Asia, experiencing prosperity and progress in the arts, exploration,
literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy, and science. It
is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decadence or
degeneration,[4] compared to the enlightenment of the Greek Classical era. The
Hellenistic period saw the rise of New Comedy, Alexandrian poetry, the Septuagint
and the philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism. Greek science was advanced by
the works of the mathematician Euclid and the polymath Archimedes. The religious
sphere expanded to include new gods such as the Greco-Egyptian Serapis, eastern
deities such as Attis and Cybele and the Greek adoption of Buddhism.

Hellenistic period. Dionysus sculpture from the Ancient Art Collection at Yale.
After Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Empire in 330 BC and its
disintegration shortly after, the Hellenistic kingdoms were established throughout
south-west Asia (Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Pergamon), north-east Africa
(Ptolemaic Kingdom) and South Asia (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom).
The Hellenistic period was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization[5]
which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa.[6] This resulted in
the export of Greek culture and language to these new realms, spanning as far as
modern-day India. Equally, however, these new kingdoms were influenced by the
indigenous cultures, adopting local practices where beneficial, necessary, or
convenient. Hellenistic culture thus represents a fusion of the Ancient Greek world
with that of the Near East, Middle East, and Southwest Asia.[7] This mixture gave
rise to a common Attic-based Greek dialect, known as Koine Greek, which became the
lingua franca through the Hellenistic world.

Scholars and historians are divided as to what event signals the end of the
Hellenistic era. The Hellenistic period may be seen to end either with the final
conquest of the Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BC following the Achean War, with
the final defeat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, or even
the move by Roman emperor Constantine the Great of the capital of the Roman Empire
to Constantinople in 330 AD.[8][9] Hellenistic is distinguished from Hellenic in
that the first encompasses the entire sphere of direct ancient Greek influence,
while the latter refers to Greece itself.

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Sources
3 Background
4 The Diadochi
5 Southern Europe
5.1 Kingdom of Epirus
5.2 Kingdom of Macedon
5.3 Rest of Greece
5.4 Balkans
5.5 Western Mediterranean
6 Hellenistic Middle East
6.1 Ptolemaic Kingdom
6.2 Seleucid Empire
6.3 Attalid Pergamum
6.4 Galatia
6.5 Bithynia
6.6 Cappadocia
6.7 Kingdom of Pontus
6.8 Armenia
6.9 Parthia
6.10 Nabatean Kingdom
6.11 Judea
7 Greco-Bactrians
8 Indo-Greek kingdoms
9 Other states and Hellenistic influences
10 Rise of Rome
11 Culture
11.1 Hellenization and acculturation
11.2 Religion
11.3 Literature
11.4 Philosophy
11.5 Sciences
11.6 Military science
11.7 Art
12 Hellenistic period and modern culture
13 See also
14 References
15 Further reading
16 External links
Etymology[edit]
See also Names of the Greeks
The word originated from the German term hellenistisch, from Ancient Greek ??????
st?? (Hellenist?s, one who uses the Greek language), from ????? (Hells, Greece);
as if Hellenist + ic.

Left image The Sampul tapestry, a woolen wall hanging from Lop County, Xinjiang,
China, showing a possibly Greek soldier from the Greco-Bactrian kingdom (250-125
BC), with blue eyes, wielding a spear, and wearing what appears to be a diadem
headband; depicted above him is a centaur, from Greek mythology, a common motif in
Hellenistic art
Right image painted clay and alabaster head of a Zoroastrian priest wearing a
distinctive Bactrian-style headdress, Takhti-Sangin, Tajikistan, 3rd-2nd century BC
Hellenistic is a modern word and a 19th-century concept; the idea of a Hellenistic
period did not exist in Ancient Greece. Although words related in form or meaning,
e.g. Hellenist (Ancient Greek ??????st??, Hellenistes), have been attested since
ancient times,[10] it was Johann Gustav Droysen in the mid-19th century, who in his
classic work Geschichte des Hellenismus (History of Hellenism), coined the term
Hellenistic to refer to and define the period when Greek culture spread in the non-
Greek world after Alexander's conquest.[11] Following Droysen, Hellenistic and
related terms, e.g. Hellenism, have been widely used in various contexts; a notable
such use is in Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold, where Hellenism is used in
contrast with Hebraism.[12]

The major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its convenience, as the spread of
Greek culture was not the generalized phenomenon that the term implies. Some areas
of the conquered world were more affected by Greek influences than others. The term
Hellenistic also implies that the Greek populations were of majority in the areas
in which they settled, but in many cases, the Greek settlers were actually the
minority among the native populations. The Greek population and the native
population did not always mix; the Greeks moved and brought their own culture, but
interaction did not always occur.

Sources[edit]
While a few fragments exist, there is no complete surviving historical work which
dates to the hundred years following Alexander's death. The works of the major
Hellenistic historians Hieronymus of Cardia (who worked under Alexander, Antigonus
I and other successors), Duris of Samos and Phylarchus which were used by surviving
sources are all lost.[13] The earliest and most credible surviving source for the
Hellenistic period is Polybius of Megalopolis (c. 200-118), a statesman of the
Achaean League until 168 BC when he was forced to go to Rome as a hostage.[13] His
Histories eventually grew to a length of forty books, covering the years 220 to 167
BC.

The most important source after Polybius is Diodorus Siculus who wrote his
Bibliotheca historica between 60 and 30 BC and reproduced some important earlier
sources such as Hieronymus, but his account of the Hellenistic period breaks off
after the battle of Ipsus (301). Another important source, Plutarch's (c. 50c.
120) Parallel Lives although more preoccupied with issues of personal character and
morality, outlines the history of important Hellenistic figures. Appian of
Alexandria (late 1st century AD-before 165) wrote a history of the Roman empire
that includes information of some Hellenistic kingdoms.

Other sources include Justin's (2nd century AD) epitome of Pompeius Trogus'
Historiae Philipicae and a summary of Arrian's Events after Alexander, by Photios I
of Constantinople. Lesser supplementary sources include Curtius Rufus, Pausanias,
Pliny, and the Byzantine encyclopedia the Suda. In the field of philosophy,
Diogenes Laertius' Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers is the main source;
works such as Cicero's De Natura Deorum also provide some further detail of
philosophical schools in the Hellenistic period.

Background[edit]

Alexander fighting the Persian king Darius III. From the Alexander Mosaic, Naples
National Archaeological Museum.
See also Philip II of Macedon, Alexander the Great, and Wars of Alexander the Great
Ancient Greece had traditionally been a fractious collection of fiercely
independent city-states. After the Peloponnesian War (431404 BC), Greece had
fallen under a Spartan hegemony, in which Sparta was pre-eminent but not all-
powerful. Spartan hegemony was succeeded by a Theban one after the Battle of
Leuctra (371 BC), but after the Battle of Mantinea (362 BC), all of Greece was so
weakened that no one state could claim pre-eminence. It was against this backdrop
that the ascendancy of Macedon began, under king Philip II. Macedon was located at
the periphery of the Greek world, and although its royal family claimed Greek
descent, the Macedonians themselves were looked down upon as semi-barbaric by the
rest of the Greeks. However, Macedon had a relatively strong and centralised
government, and compared to most Greek states, directly controlled a large area.

Philip II was a strong and expansionist king and he took every opportunity to
expand Macedonian territory. In 352 BC he annexed Thessaly and Magnesia. In 338 BC,
Philip defeated a combined Theban and Athenian army at the Battle of Chaeronea
after a decade of desultory conflict. In the aftermath, Philip formed the League of
Corinth, effectively bringing the majority of Greece under his direct sway. He was
elected Hegemon of the league, and a campaign against the Achaemenid Empire of
Persia was planned. However, while this campaign was in its early stages, he was
assassinated.[4]

Alexander's empire at the time of its maximum expansion.

Succeeding his father, Alexander took over the Persian war himself. During a decade
of campaigning, Alexander conquered the whole Persian Empire, overthrowing the
Persian king Darius III. The conquered lands included Asia Minor, Assyria, the
Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia, and parts of modern-day Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and the steppes of central Asia. The years of constant campaigning had
taken their toll however, and Alexander died in 323 BC.

After his death, the huge territories Alexander had conquered became subject to a
strong Greek influence (Hellenization) for the next two or three centuries, until
the rise of Rome in the west, and of Parthia in the east. As the Greek and
Levantine cultures mingled, the development of a hybrid Hellenistic culture began,
and persisted even when isolated from the main centres of Greek culture (for
instance, in the Greco-Bactrian kingdom).

It can be argued that some of the changes across the Macedonian Empire after
Alexander's conquests and during the rule of the Diadochi would have occurred
without the influence of Greek rule. As mentioned by Peter Green, numerous factors
of conquest have been merged under the term Hellenistic Period. Specific areas
conquered by Alexander's invading army, including Egypt and areas of Asia Minor and
Mesopotamia fell willingly to conquest and viewed Alexander as more of a liberator
than a victor.[14]

In addition, much of the area conquered would continue to be ruled by the Diadochi,
Alexander's generals and successors. Initially the whole empire was divided among
them; however, some territories were lost relatively quickly, or only remained
nominally under Macedonian rule. After 200 years, only much reduced and rather
degenerate states remained,[9] until the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt by Rome.

The Diadochi[edit]
Main articles Diadochi, Wars of the Diadochi, and Partition of Babylon
Further information History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

The distribution of satrapies in the Macedonian Empire after the Settlement in

Babylon (323 BC).
When Alexander the Great died (June 10, 323 BC), he left behind a huge empire which
was composed of many essentially autonomous territories called satrapies. Without a
chosen successor there were immediate disputes among his generals as to who should
be king of Macedon. These generals became known as the Diadochi (Greek ???d????,
Diadokhoi, meaning Successors).

Meleager and the infantry supported the candidacy of Alexander's half-brother,

Philip Arrhidaeus, while Perdiccas, the leading cavalry commander, supported
waiting until the birth of Alexander's child by Roxana. After the infantry stormed
the palace of Babylon, a compromise was arranged Arrhidaeus (as Philip III)
should become king, and should rule jointly with Roxana's child, assuming that it
was a boy (as it was, becoming Alexander IV). Perdiccas himself would become regent
(epimeletes) of the empire, and Meleager his lieutenant. Soon, however, Perdiccas
had Meleager and the other infantry leaders murdered, and assumed full control.[15]
The generals who had supported Perdiccas were rewarded in the partition of Babylon
by becoming satraps of the various parts of the empire, but Perdiccas' position was
shaky, because, as Arrian writes, everyone was suspicious of him, and he of them.
[16]

The first of the Diadochi wars broke out when Perdiccas planned to marry
Alexander's sister Cleopatra and began to question Antigonus I Monophthalmus'
leadership in Asia Minor. Antigonus fled for Greece, and then, together with
Antipater and Craterus (the satrap of Cilicia who had been in Greece fighting the
Lamian war