During the reign of Tigranes the Great (95–55 BC), the kingdom of Armenia reached its greatest extent, containing many Greek cities, including the entire Syrian tetrapolis. Carthage was a Phoenician colony on the coast of Tunisia. The first Greek colony in the region was Massalia, which became one of the largest trading ports of Mediterranean by the 4th century BC with 6,000 inhabitants. With the support of roy… Circa 300 B.C, Aristotle’s pupil Dicaearchus drew a map of the entire known world and attempted to ascertain the dimensions of the globe; his results were specified by Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who made valuable contributions to a wide variety of disciplines. Nevertheless, Roman rule at least brought an end to warfare, and cities such as Athens, Corinth, Thessaloniki and Patras soon recovered their prosperity. The museum and library of Alexandria was the center of this conservationist activity. Most of the great literary figures of the Hellenistic period studied at Alexandria and conducted research there. The culture that took shape in the hellenistic world was not uniform. However, Macedon had a relatively strong and centralized government, and compared to most Greek states, directly controlled a large area. They were defeated by Seleucus I in the 'battle of the Elephants', but were still able to establish a Celtic territory in central Anatolia. However, this brought Antiochus into conflict with Rhodes and Pergamum, two important Roman allies, and began a 'cold war' between Rome and Antiochus (not helped by the presence of Hannibal at the Seleucid court). Antiochus III ("the Great") conducted several vigorous campaigns to retake all the lost provinces of the empire since the death of Seleucus I. Hellenistic Geometers such as Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC), Apollonius of Perga (c. 262 – c. 190 BC), and Euclid (c. 325–265 BC), whose Elements became the most important textbook in Western mathematics until the 19th century AD, built upon the work of the Hellenic-era Pythagoreans. For geographical distribution of Greek speakers, see. The spread of Greek influence and language is also shown through ancient Greek coinage. Notable works produced by the school include the history of Alexander the Great’s campaigns by Ptolemy I (after 301) and the history of the struggle among the Diadochoi by Hieronymus of Cardia (no earlier than 272). The Ptolemaic ruler cult portrayed the Ptolemies as gods, and temples to the Ptolemies were erected throughout the kingdom. The style of the enlarged temple and other Herodian architecture shows significant Hellenistic architectural influence. 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. The Peloponnesian War: A Military Study (Warfare and History) by J. F. Lazenby,2003, page 224,"... number of strongholds, and he made himself useful fighting 'the Thracians without a king' on behalf of the more Hellenized Thracian kings and their Greek neighbours (Nepos, Alc. After their defeats by Pergamon and Rome the Galatians slowly became hellenized and they were called "Gallo-Graeci" by the historian Justin[71] as well as Ἑλληνογαλάται (Hellēnogalátai) by Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica v.32.5, who wrote that they were "called Helleno-Galatians because of their connection with the Greeks."[72]. Armies of the Hellenistic period differed from those of the classical period in being largely made up of professional soldiers and also in their greater specialization and technical proficiency in siege warfare. Under Ariarathes IV, Cappadocia came into relations with Rome, first as a foe espousing the cause of Antiochus the Great, then as an ally against Perseus of Macedon and finally in a war against the Seleucids. In 146 BC, the Greek peninsula, though not the islands, became a Roman protectorate. The kingdom of Meroë was in constant contact with Ptolemaic Egypt and Hellenistic influences can be seen in their art and archaeology. The skeptical school, founded by Pyrrho in the last quarter of the fourth century B.C., believed that man could attain spiritual serenity by renouncing the quest for objective knowledge (according to the skeptics, a hopeless search), by refusing to make judgements, and by basing conduct on rational probability, tradition, and custom. Antigonus II, a student of Zeno of Citium, spent most of his rule defending Macedon against Epirus and cementing Macedonian power in Greece, first against the Athenians in the Chremonidean War, and then against the Achaean League of Aratus of Sicyon. Green, Peter; Alexander to Actium, the historical evolution of the Hellenistic age, page 11. Pyrrhus then turned south and invaded Sicily but was unsuccessful and returned to Italy. [95] Numismatic evidence shows that Hellenic influence penetrated further inland. Hellenism or at least Philhellenism reached most regions on the frontiers of the Hellenistic kingdoms. [148] A parallel can be drawn with the productivity of the city states of Italy during the Renaissance, and their subsequent decline under autocratic rulers. See more. [118] Hellenistic kings adopted patron deities as protectors of their house and sometimes claimed descent from them. From 37 BC to 4 BC, Herod the Great ruled as a Jewish-Roman client king appointed by the Roman Senate. Independent city states were unable to compete with Hellenistic kingdoms and were usually forced to ally themselves to one of them for defense, giving honors to Hellenistic rulers in return for protection. The Spartocids were a hellenized Thracian family from Panticapaeum. Succeeding his father, Alexander took over the Persian war himself. The elegy, formerly a medium of social and moral instruction, became a mythological narrative in the works of Philetas of Cos (c. 320–270), Hermesianax of Colophon (born c. 300), and Calli-machus of Cyrene. [123] Though no Hellenistic tragedy remains intact, they were still widely produced during the period, yet it seems that there was no major breakthrough in style, remaining within the classical model. Beginning in the early third century B.C, literature developed in new cultural centers, chiefly Alexandria, where artistic activity was inextricably linked with the scholarly research of the philologists at the famous Alexandria Library. At least some Scythians seem to have become Hellenized, because we know of conflicts between the elites of the Scythian kingdom over the adoption of Greek ways. Around 240 BC Livius Andronicus, a Greek slave from southern Italy, translated Homer's Odyssey into Latin. While the Carthaginians retained their Punic culture and language, they did adopt some Hellenistic ways, one of the most prominent of which was their military practices. Other city states formed federated states in self-defense, such as the Aetolian League (est. The image of Alexander the Great was also an important artistic theme, and all of the diadochi had themselves depicted imitating Alexander's youthful look. Also developed in this era was the complex system of astrology, which sought to determine a person's character and future in the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. [89], Several references in Indian literature praise the knowledge of the Yavanas or the Greeks. 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. Especially important to Hellenistic science was the city of Alexandria in Egypt, which became a major center of scientific research in the 3rd century BC. It is a 37-gear mechanical computer which computed the motions of the Sun and Moon, including lunar and solar eclipses predicted on the basis of astronomical periods believed to have been learned from the Babylonians. In Asia, Eumenes was betrayed by his own men after years of campaign and was given up to Antigonus who had him executed. [83][84] Out of this revolt was formed an independent Jewish kingdom known as the Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 BC to 63 BC. He promoted short poetic forms such as the epigram, epyllion and the iambic and attacked epic as base and common ("big book, big evil" was his doctrine). [111] Cities and colonies were centers of administrative control and Macedonian power in a newly conquered region. Greek literature would have a dominant effect on the development of the Latin literature of the Romans. Ptolemaic administration was, like the ancient Egyptian bureaucracy, highly centralized and focused on squeezing as much revenue out of the population as possible though tariffs, excise duties, fines, taxes and so forth. The story of a single, triune God, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ remain absolutely untouched by Hellenism. [134] It has recently been claimed that a celestial globe based on Hipparchus' star catalog sits atop the broad shoulders of a large 2nd-century Roman statue known as the Farnese Atlas. Hellenistic art saw a turn from the idealistic, perfected, calm and composed figures of classical Greek art to a style dominated by realism and the depiction of emotion (pathos) and character (ethos). [21] Demetrius continued his campaigns by laying siege to Rhodes and conquering most of Greece in 302 BC, creating a league against Cassander's Macedon. After the fall of the Seleucid dynasty, the Parthians fought frequently against neighbouring Rome in the Roman–Parthian Wars (66 BC – AD 217). The third war of the Diadochi broke out because of the growing power and ambition of Antigonus. Alexandria, a major center of Greek culture and trade, became his capital city. Roman taxes were imposed, except in Athens and Sparta, and all the cities had to accept rule by Rome's local allies. A., Stewart, Andrew] on Amazon.com. [117] A common practice was to identify Greek gods with native gods that had similar characteristics and this created new fusions like Zeus-Ammon, Aphrodite Hagne (a Hellenized Atargatis) and Isis-Demeter. 229–237. 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 conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year. Arsaces II sued for peace and became a vassal of the Seleucids. They continued to attack neighboring kingdoms such as Bithynia and Pergamon, plundering and extracting tribute. Eumenes II also constructed the Pergamum Altar with friezes depicting the Gigantomachy on the acropolis of the city. Within limits this is to be welcomed, for there can be no doubt that in the past, for a combination of reasons, native influence on the life and culture of those states has been underestimated. Mithridates was finally defeated by Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) in 65 BC. Southern Italy (Magna Graecia) and south-eastern Sicily had been colonized by the Greeks during the 8th century. Passing over his own son, Cassander, Antipater had declared Polyperchon his successor as Regent. Agathocles extended his power throughout most of the Greek cities in Sicily, fought a long war with the Carthaginians, at one point invading Tunisia in 310 BC and defeating a Carthaginian army there. The Odrysian Kingdom of Thrace: Orpheus Unmasked (Oxford Monographs on Classical Archaeology) by Z. H. Archibald,1998. Green, Peter; Alexander to Actium, the historical evolution of the Hellenistic age, page 53. After the defeat of Anthony and his lover, the last Ptolemaic monarch, Cleopatra VII, at the Battle of Actium, Augustus invaded Egypt and took it as his own personal fiefdom. Philip continued to wage war against Pergamum and Rhodes for control of the Aegean (204–200 BC) and ignored Roman demands for non-intervention in Greece by invading Attica. All were united by a common interest in the individual’s behavior and cast of mind and in his achievement of inner independence from the world around him; as a result, the emphasis shifted from ontological to ethical problems. These scientists dealt, for example, with problems later to be solved by differential and integral calculus, with the theory of conic sections, and with the heliocentric theory of the solar system; their work did not undergo further development until modern times. The apotheosis of rulers also brought the idea of divinity down to earth. In 317 BC, Cassander invaded Macedonia, attaining control of Macedon, sentencing Olympias to death and capturing the boy king Alexander IV, and his mother. The reason for the production of this translation seems to be that many of the Alexandrian Jews had lost the ability to speak Hebrew and Aramaic.[81]. At this point the tripartite territorial division of the Hellenistic age was in place, with the main Hellenistic powers being Macedon under Demetrius's son Antigonus II Gonatas, the Ptolemaic kingdom under the aged Ptolemy I and the Seleucid empire under Seleucus' son Antiochus I Soter. Bugh, Glenn R. (editor). Substantial influences on Hellenistic culture were the highly charged political atmosphere of the time, continual military conflicts between the states, and the social movements within the states. It has been noted by Herodotus that after the establishment of the Athenian democracy: ...the Athenians found themselves suddenly a great power. During the Hellenistic period the leading figure in Sicily was Agathocles of Syracuse (361–289 BC) who seized the city with an army of mercenaries in 317 BC. to the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Antony by Octavian (31 B.C.) Ptolemy built new cities such as Ptolemais Hermiou in upper Egypt and settled his veterans throughout the country, especially in the region of the Faiyum. After Alexander's death he was defeated by Eumenes and crucified in 322 BC, but his son, Ariarathes II managed to regain the throne and maintain his autonomy against the warring Diadochi. During the reign of Mithridates II, Pontus was allied with the Seleucids through dynastic marriages. In the Treaty of Apamea which ended the war, Antiochus lost all of his territories in Anatolia west of the Taurus and was forced to pay a large indemnity of 15,000 talents.[67]. Historical scholarship. The second Diadochi war began following the death of Antipater in 319 BC. Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul were mostly limited to the Mediterranean coast of Provence, France. The topics chosen and the way in which events were interpreted were undoubtedly influenced by political struggles, as well as by current political and philosophical theories. He had been a student of Callimachus and later became chief librarian (prostates) of the library of Alexandria. The Cyrenaics and Epicureans embraced hedonism, arguing that pleasure was the only true good. Under Antiochus I (c. 324/323 – 261 BC), however, the unwieldy empire was already beginning to shed territories. Alexander also seems to have attempted to create a mixed Greco-Persian elite class as shown by the Susa weddings and his adoption of some forms of Persian dress and court culture. Attalus severely defeated the Gauls, forcing them to confine themselves to Galatia. [16], Period of ancient Greek and Mediterranean history, "Greek world" redirects here. In the early 2nd century BC, the Galatians became allies of Antiochus the Great, the last Seleucid king trying to regain suzerainty over Asia Minor. He believed that happiness and spiritual bliss (spiritual imperturbability and calm) could be attained by such means as self-control and the moderation of sensual pleasures. During the Hellenistic period Greek cultural influence and power reached the peak of its geographical expansion, being dominant in the Mediterranean world and most of West and Central Asia, even in parts of the Indian subcontinent, experiencing prosperity and progress in the arts, exploration, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philosophy, and science. Impressive scientific innovations were made in Alexandria where the Greek Eratosthenes computed the circumference of the earth, … A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture. Once the Second Punic War had been resolved, and the Romans had begun to regather their strength, they looked to re-assert their influence in the Balkans, and to curb the expansion of Philip. Wiktionary (1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition: Hellenism (Noun) Any of the characteristics of ancient Greek culture, civilization, principles and ideals, including humanism, reason, the pursuit of knowledge and the arts, moderation and civic responsibility. Medicine, which was dominated by the Hippocratic tradition, saw new advances under Praxagoras of Kos, who theorized that blood traveled through the veins. Hellenist (Ancient Greek: Ἑλληνιστής, Hellēnistēs), have been attested since ancient times,[12] 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. The formation of the Hellenistic monarchies, in combination with the city-state (polis) structure of the cities, fostered the rise of new legal relations and the emergence of a new sociopsychological type of man and society, both informed by a new ideology. Demetrius fled to central Greece with his mercenaries and began to build support there and in the northern Peloponnese. The Thracians and Agrianes were widely used by Alexander as peltasts and light cavalry, forming about one fifth of his army. Historians generally turned to events of the recent past and current events for their subject matter. During the Hellenistic age, Plato’s Academy, Aristotle’s Lyceum (the Peripatetic school), the Cynics, and the Cyrenaics remained active. [59][61] These cities included newly founded colonies such as Antioch, the other cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, Seleucia (north of Babylon) and Dura-Europos on the Euphrates. 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