The Greek kingdoms in Asia

The Hellenistic period describes that period, when after the conquests of Alexander the Great, Greek power and influence was at its zenith in Europe and Asia. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even of decline or decadence, between the brilliance of the Greek Classical Era and the final emergence of the Roman Empire. Usually taken to begin with the death of Alexander in 323 BC, the Hellenistic period may either be seen to end with the final conquest of the Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BC, or the final defeat of the Ptolemaic kingdom in 30 BC.

The conquests of Alexander

Main article: Alexander the Great

Alexander's father, Phillip II of Macedon had conquered much of the Greek peninsula, and brought the city states of Boeotia, Attica and the Pelopennesus under his sway, when he was assassinated. Phillip had planned to attack the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, and his conquest of Greece made this feasible. Succeeding his father, Alexander took this task upon himself. A decade of campaigning later, Alexander had conquered the whole Persian Empire, overthrowing the Persian King Darius II. The conquered lands included Asia Minor, Assyria, the Levant, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia, and parts of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the steppes of central Asia. The years of constant campaigning had taken their toll however, and Alexander died in 323 BC. Nevertheless, the huge territories he had subjugated would, for the next 200 years, come under Greek rule; and as the Greek and eastern cultures mingled, see the development of the Hellenistic culture.

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.

Main article: Diadochi

After Alexander's death, there were more-or-less forty years of constant war between his generals (the Diadochi) for the rule of his Empire. By about 281 BC the situation had stabilised, resulting in four major domains:

• The Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt based at Alexandria;
• 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.

Macedon and Greece

Main article: Hellenistic Greece

Pergamon and the Attalids

Main article: Attalid dynasty

The Seleucid Empire

Main article: Seleucid Empire

The Ptolemaic Kingdom

Main articles: Ptolemaic kingdom and Ptolemaic dynasty

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

Main article: Greco-Bactrian kingdom

The Indo-Greek Kingdom

Main article: Indo-Greek kingdom

Roman intervention and political disappearance of Hellenistic world

At the end of the 3rd century BC, Magna Graecia (Southern Italy and Sicily) were increasingly dominated by Rome after a century of conflict with Pyrrhus of Epirus and in the Punic Wars with Carthage. It is only at the beginning of the 2nd century BC that Rome begins to intervene in Asia Minor. At first they defeat the Antigonid dynasty and Antiochus III the Great, the last great political figure of the Hellenistic sovereigns before Mithridates VI of Pontus and Cleopatra VII. Then in a slow and complex process that lasts almost two centuries, Rome insures complete domination of the Eastern Mediterranean. The last act of this conquest is the conflict between Augustus and Mark Antony, ally of the last queen of Egypt Cleopatra VII, which culminates in her defeat and suicide in 30 BC.

However, Roman penetration encounters resistance and three wars were needed to defeat Mithridates VI (Battle of Pharsalus, Battle of Philippi, and Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium). Pompey in 63 BC eliminates the Seleucid Kingdom and establishes Roman rule in the East until the 7th century.

See also

• Hellenization
• Hellenistic civilization
• Hellenistic Greece
• Alexander the Great
• Hellenistic art

v • d • e The Division of Alexander's Empire