HELLENISTIC AGE

(323-30 BC), in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, the period between the death of Alexander the Great and the conquest of Egypt by Rome. Alexander's exploits had changed the face of the area, and from the breakup of his empire there arose numerous monarchies, most of them ruled by Macedonians, which covered the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and were the framework for the spread of Greek (Hellenic) culture, the mixture of Greek and non-Greek populations, and the fusion of Greek and Oriental elements. Alexander's empire became, after his death, the scene of a long struggle among his generals, most of whom, installed by Alexander as satraps, aimed at breaking up the empire and creating realms of their own. For more than 40 years (323-280 BC) they battled, with shiftings of territories and power; and their conflicts laid the foundations of a new type of monarchial ruler and bureaucratic state and a new civilization of multiple nations united culturally by the Greek language. The three leading realms-the Macedonian (north of Greece), the Seleucid (reaching from Palestine and Anatolia to Persia), and the Ptolemaic (centred in Egypt)-thereafter maintained a balance of power. The ensuing wars and foreign policy signified a constant probing of that balance and were concentrated mainly on the border areas of Syria, Asia Minor, and the Aegean. Greece itself in the 3rd century BC saw the rise of two leagues, the Aetolian (which held central and northern Greece) and the Achaean (which held all the Peloponnese except Sparta and Elis); they gradually extended their power and rivalry and weakened the position of Macedonia. Culturally the period from about 280 to 160 BC was highly creative, producing the historian Polybius, the mathematician Euclid, the astronomers Aristarchus, Hipparchus, and Seleucus, and the geographers Eratosthenes and Poseidonius. It was the philosophic period of the Epicureans and Stoics and the artistic period that left to posterity such now-famous sculptures as the "Venus de Milo," the "Victory of Samothrace," and the "Laocoon." The Museum at Alexandria, with its large library, became the meeting place of scholars and writers. Callimachus, who was the leading Greek poet of the 3rd century BC, was responsible for the catalog of the library. Other cities besides Alexandria also had substantial libraries. The decline of the Hellenistic states began in the late 3rd century BC and accelerated after 160 BC. It was the moment when "the clouds from the West" began to threaten the Hellenistic world and its balance of power. Rome, by defeating the Illyrian pirates, ruled the Adriatic Sea and became Macedonia's neighbour. In a succession of Macedonian Wars (214-205, 200-196, 171-168, 149-148 BC), Rome defeated and finally conquered Macedonia and Greece. By this time the Seleucid empire had shrunk as a result of dismemberment and loss of territories and allegiances; it was practically confined to Mesopotamia and Syria, with a weak hold on the seven "upper provinces" in the east. A new power, Pontus, on the southern coast of the Black Sea, was flexing its muscles under Mithradates VI Eupator. Rome stepped in, and, after three Mithradatic Wars (88-85, 83-82, 74-63 BC), the Seleucid empire ceased to exist. Syria and Bithynia (with western Pontus) became Roman provinces, and client-kings were recognized in Armenia, Commagene, Cappadocia, and elsewhere. Egypt under the Ptolemys limped along, gradually surrendering to Rome such territories as Cyrene (96 BC). The final act of the Hellenistic Age came when Egypt was drawn into the civil war between Octavian (the future Augustus) and Mark Antony. After the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire (30 BC). in the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC. For some purposes the period is extended for a further three and a half centuries, to the move by Constantine the Great of his capital to Constantinople (Byzantium) in AD 330. From the breakup of Alexander's empire there arose numerous realms, including the Macedonian, the Seleucid, and the Ptolemaic, that served as the framework for the spread of Greek (Hellenic) culture, the mixture of Greek with other populations, and the fusion of Greek and Oriental elements. Hellenistic world c. 188 BC. Additional reading General historical works include F.W. Walbank, The Hellenistic World (1981), a useful one-volume account by a leading authority; Michael Grant, From Alexander to Cleopatra: The Hellenistic World (1982), a well-written, reliable conspectus; Peter Green, Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (1990), on every aspect of Hellenistic cultural and political history; W.W. Tarn and G.T. Griffith, Hellenistic Civilisation, 3rd ed. (1952, reissued 1975), a masterly, pioneering, and eminently readable study; John Ferguson, The Heritage of Hellenism (1973), thematic and well-illustrated; William Scott Ferguson, Hellenistic Athens: An Historical Essay (1911, reprinted 1974), still the best book on the subject; M. Cary, A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C., 2nd ed., rev. (1951, reissued 1972), a useful and clear coverage of the chosen period; and M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World, 3 vol. (1941, reprinted 1986), a comprehensive and authoritative study, though at times controversial.Particular topics are addressed by the following studies: H. Idris Bell, Egypt, from Alexander the Great to the Arab Conquest: A Study in the Diffusion and Decay of Hellenism (1948, reprinted 1977), a standard history by a great authority; Edwin Robert Bevan, The House of Seleucus, 2 vol. (1902, reprinted 2 vol. in 1, 1985), still the best treatment in English; Esther V. Hansen, The Attalids of Pergamon, 2nd ed., rev. and expanded (1971), a major original synthesis; W.W. Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria & India, 3rd ed. updated by Frank Lee Holt (1985), a pioneering and controversial work; A.K. Narain, The Indo-Greeks (1957, reissued 1980), critical and sympathetic; and David Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor: To the End of the Third Century after Christ, 2 vol. (1950, reprinted 1988).Hellenistic culture and science are described and discussed by T.B.L. Webster, Hellenistic Art (1967), a general work; Christine Mitchell Havelock, Hellenistic Art, 2nd ed. (1981), detailed studies of individual items; Margarete Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, 2nd rev. ed. (1981), well-illustrated and reliable; J. Charbonneaux, R. Martin, and F. Villard, Hellenistic Art, 330-50 BC (1973; originally published in French, 1970), magisterial and richly illustrated; Albin Lesky, A History of Greek Literature (1966; originally published in German, 2nd ed., 1963), brilliant, but only partly on the period; George Sarton, A History of Science, vol. 2, Hellenistic Science and Culture in the Last Three Centuries B.C. (1959), an authoritative summary; E.D. Phillips, Greek Medicine (1973, reissued as Aspects of Greek Medicine, 1987), a good overview; A.A. Long, Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics, 2nd ed. (1986), an excellent introduction; and Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism: Studies in their Encounter in Palestine During the Early Hellenistic Period (1974, reissued 1981; originally published in German, 1969), a magisterial study. Further studies on Hellenistic philosophy and on Hellenistic religions may be found in the bibliographies of the articles Greek literature and Hellenistic religion. John Ferguson