Information about Hellenistic Civilization

The term Hellenistic (derived from Ἕλλην Héllēn, the Greeks' traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture and colonization over the non-Greek lands that were conquered by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. The Hellenistic age marks the unification of the Greek world, sharing a common culture based on that of 5th and 4th century BC Athens, along with a fusion of Near Eastern cultures.^[1] The period is characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and Kingdoms in Asia and Africa.^[2] Those new cities were composed by Greek colonists who came from different parts of the Greek world, and not from a specific "mother city" (metropolis) as before.^[2] The main cultural centers expanded from mainland Greece, to Pergamon, Rhodes, as well as to new Greek colonies such as Antioch and Alexandria. This mixture of Greek-speakers gave birth to a common Attic-based dialect, known as Hellenistic Greek, which came to absorb and replace all idioms of the Greek language. Although this era brought great cultural accomplishments through the fusion of Greek and Middle Eastern elements, to the Greeks, the Hellenistic era was considered anti-climactic since the citizen ruled entities of the classical polis had given way to dynastic god-king styled rule of Eastern Despotism. The material wealth caused by far more years of peace and stability is a testament to the importance of this period.

History

Modern historians see the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE as the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Alexander's armies conquered the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Iranian plateau, Central Asia, and parts of India. Following Alexander's death, there was a struggle for the succession, known as the wars of the Diadochi (Greek for successors). The struggle ended in 281 BCE with the establishment of four large territorial states.

• The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt based at Alexandria;
  

  Silver drachma of the Indo-Greek king Menander I (155-130 BC).
  Obv: Greek legend, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΣΩΤΗΡΩΣ ΜΕΝΑΝΔΡΟΥ "[coin] of Saviour King Menander".
  Rev: Kharosthi legend: MAHARAJA TRATASA MENADRASA "Saviour King Menander". Athena advancing right, with thunderbolt and shield. Taxila mint mark.
• The Seleucid dynasty in Syria and Mesopotamia based at Antioch;
• The Antigonid dynasty in Macedon and central Greece;
• The Attalid dynasty in Anatolia based at Pergamum.

His successors held on to the territory west of the Tigris for some time and controlled the eastern Mediterranean until the Roman Republic took control in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. Most of the east was eventually overrun by the Parthians, but Hellenistic culture held on in distant locations, like the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in Bactria, or the Indo-Greek kingdom in northern India, or the Cimmerian Bosporus. Hellenistic culture remained dominant in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire until its Christianisation and transition to the Byzantine Empire.

Hellenism made considerable inroads and in monarchies governed by kings of Persian, Armenian or Thracian origin, as was the case with Armenia, Bithynia and Cappadocia.

The end of the Hellenistic period is generally seen as 31 BCE, when the kingdom of Ptolemaic Egypt was utterly defeated by the Romans at the Battle of Actium. Octavian (Augustus) defeated Marc Antony at Actium, and as a result, Egypt's last ruler, Cleopatra, (circa 30 BCE) committed suicide and her kingdom was annexed by Octavian.

Culture

The city of Pergamum became a major centre of book production, possessing a library of some 200,000 volumes, second only to the Library of Alexandria^[1]. Athens retained its position as the most prestigious seat of higher education, especially in the domains of philosophy and rhetoric, with considerable libraries in her possession^[1]. The island of Rhodes boasted a famous finishing school for politics and diplomacy. Famous alumni of Athens and Rhodes were the Romans Cicero and Mark Antony respectively^[1]. Alexandria was arguably the second most important centre of Greek learning, boasting a Great Library with 700,000 volumes and a Small Library with 42,800^[1]. Antioch as well was founded as a metropolis and centre of Greek learning which retained its status into the Christian era.^[1]

Notes

References

Tarn, William Woodthorpe; G. T. Griffith (1963). Hellenistic Civilisation, 3rd ed. rev., Cleveland: World Publishing Co.. 

See also

• Hellenization
• Hellenistic Greece
• Hellenistic period
• Hellenistic religion
• Hellenistic art
• Hellenistic philosophy