The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marks the beginning of the Hellenistic Period and covers 300 years to the invasion of Egypt by the Romans. The word Hellenic refers only to the Greeks, but the term Hellenistic refers to `the Greek-influenced societies that arose in the wake of Alexander's conquest' (Sacks, 105). The Hellenistic world extended from Greece all the way to Afghanistan and resulted in the beginning of the mass spreading of Greek culture. Its central characteristics were the mass empires created by Alexander and his successors, the mingling of Greek and other cultures and the diffusion of religions
The conquests of Alexander the Great
Alexander won a reputation for military genius when he became king of Macedon after the murder of his father. He undertook the long term dream of his father to punish the Persians for their invasion of Greece, almost 150 years earlier. Little by little he took over the Persian Empire, first Turkey then Israel then Egypt then all the way east to Afghanistan and India "The most lasting thing he did was to found cities, some 70 of them, which were outpost of Greek culture all over the known world" (Thomas, 2003). In 323 BC he died at Babylon at the age of only thirty-two. "Alexander left behind not only conquests but also monarchy" (Boardman, 1986). He provided a model for the series of Hellenistic kings that followed.
The kingdom after Alexander
The question of succession presented a difficult problem. "Philip 111 Arrhidaeus, the bastard son of Philip 11 and therefore half brother to Alexander was mentally retarded" (Milton, 1986) and his own son Alexander 1V was only a baby. In the absence of a suitable successor his generals fought each other and the winners spli...
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Alexander adopted Persian governing practices, but he had little use for Persian culture. According to his Greek biographer Plutarch, he considered himself "a governor from God and a reconciler of the world." He hoped that Greek culture would, through his actions, permeate all of Asia, inspiring its peoples to pursue virtue, excellence, and truth. This heroic idealism blended with practicality in his plan to develop the Tigris, Euphrates, and Indus rivers as commercial waterways linking all of Asia These undertakings promised to be long and difficult, however, and Alexander was an impatient man. His soldiers' unwillingness to proceed past the Indus was a great disappointment to him, for which he compensated by throwing his own festivals and celebrations. Alexander showed early leadership qualities. When King Phillip invaded Thrace, he left Alexander in charge of Macedonia at the age of 16. During his father's absence, one of the Thracian tribes, the Maedi, rebelled. Alexander was able to mobilize an army and put down the rebellion. In 336 B.C, Alexander's father was assassinated, putting Alexander on the throne at the age of 20. Shortly after this, Alexander left Macedonia with his armies to put down rebellions in the countries of Illyria, Thrace and Greece, all of which had previously been conquered by King Phillip. Alexander then moved his armies into Asia Minor and began to conquer the peoples there. Among the countries conquered by Alexander were Syria, Phoenicia and
The ancient Greek civilization has left a rich cultural footprint on modern Western civilization. Especially during the ancient Classical and Hellenistic eras of Greece, ancient Greeks have left behind a plethora of ideas and concepts that have played a crucial role in forming the foundations to Western civilization. Although the Classical era was a time of war and conflict, it was the Golden Age of Greece that was the home to many achievements in art, philosophy, architecture, politics, and literature such as the birth of democracy. The Hellenistic era was a period of social and economic prosperity that was defined by the spread of Greek culture across the entire eastern Mediterranean and Southwest Asia. During this era, countless of advancements
Bury, J. B.; Russell Meiggs (2000). A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great
The Hellenistic culture was founded from the Hellenic culture. The Hellenic culture was born with Philip of Macedon. Philip of Macedon was a king in Macedonia at the beginning of the fourth century. Philip was known for his great organizational skills and his prowess in battle as a warrior. Philip had a dream of making an empire and surpassing everyone’s expectations he succeeded. It took seven years for Philip to unite the once Greek city-states into a unit, but once he gained control of them he had a battle tested army. Philip of Macedon led his army into Asia Minor and defeated the Persian army. The defeat of the Persian army brought the collapse of the Persian Empire which was unimaginable because at the time Persia ruled the world. Unfortunately, as Philip turned to conquer the rest of the world he died. Luckily he left behind a son.
Alexander the Great was only 20 years when his father Philip of Macedon died. Even though he was a young man, he had an unusual talent for politics and military tactics. After his father’s death, Alexander moved to continue Philip’s invasion of Persia. In the ten years of his war campaigns, Alexander conquered a large portion of the then-known world. (Judge & Langdon, 2012.)
The conquests of Alexander the Great spread Hellenism immediately over the Middle East and far into Asia. After his death in 323 B.C., the influence of Greek civilization continued to expand over the Mediterranean world and W Asia. The wars of the Diadochi marked, it is true, the breakup of Alexander's brief empire, but the establishment of Macedonian dynasties in Egypt, Syria, and Persia (the Ptolemies and the Seleucidae) helped to mold the world of that day into a wider unity of trade and learning.
Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in Pella, Greece. He took over the throne when he was 21, in 336 BC, when his father was murdered. In his time as king, Alexander united the Greek city states and built over a dozen cities, including Alexandria. His empire stretched over 2 million square miles, and he never lost a battle in his lifetime. Alexander died of Malaria in 323 BC.
The son of Philip II, Alexander the Great, will become the conqueror of the western world. Alexander received the Macedonian empire when his father passed, he was only twenty at the time. As soon as he had the power of the Macedonian army, several lightning fast campaigns led them into the west and north. Next, he compelled the city-states that rebelled against the League of Corinth. This action demonstrated how Alexander punished disloyalty [Martin 244]. Alexander was able to keep his rule on the territories he conquered by rewarded the cities who recognized his powers and punished the individuals that betrayed his trust or ambitions. The power he possessed depended on his superior force and his unwillingly desire to use it [Martin 245]. The
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that Alexander was only twenty years old when he became the king of Macedonia. “When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life” (Web, Project of History of Macedonia). “In, 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, but as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis. Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior gener...
After the death of The King of Macedonia, the world of art adapted from Classical to Hellenistic Greek Art. This occurred all throughout Greek civilization after the death of Alexander The Great. After his death, the conquest was split between Alexander’s leading generals. These kingdoms were authorized throughout South-West Asia as well as North-East Africa. This resulted in the spread of Hellenistic culture, from heroic sculptures to architecture that is well known to this day.
The Hellenistic world has undeniably had a significant impact on modern western civilizations. Many of the aspects of our culture and civilization that we experience here in America would not exist if not for the Hellenistic world and its spread over 2,000 years ago. I believe that the main achievements of the Hellenistic world are the advancements in philosophy and science as well as the spread of Greek culture through Hellenization that have all had a significant impact throughout history, even upon modern day western civilizations.
Greek mythology is thought to be very fascinating to many people; I personally wanted to learn more about it and the Hellenistic period. A new cultural age was led by Alexander the Great when he took over Egypt and the Near East, historians refer to this period as Hellenistic.
The Hellenistic world was a period where certain accomplishments had become more advanced which some are still in uses even to this day. They had different social developments that would end up changing its society including new opportunities for women, role of slavery, and education. They also had many achievements by changing literature, art, science, and philosophy. They had changed the way that certain things where done and because of these accomplishments that they advanced we still to this day use some if not most of their achievements.
"The Flow of History." FC25: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Era (336 BCE-31 BCE). n.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
The Hellenistic Era boomed with new discoveries, kingdoms and war. Greek was the language mostly spoken in the Hellenistic world. This was established once the Greeks took over and made it more predominant. During this time, more people were becoming scholarly. There were schools for students to attend where new discoveries were made. Some of these discoveries included science, math and different inventions. Aristarchus discovered just how large our universe was by studying the stars and the earth's atmosphere. Besides discovering the universe mathematics such as trigonometry were originated by Hipparchus during this time.