ALEXANDER AND THE HELLENISTIC ERA
Under the leadership of Alexander the Great, Macedonians and Greeks united to
invade and conquer the Persian Empire. In the conquered lands, Greeks and non-
Greeks formed a new society in what is known as the Hellenistic Era.
Macedonians Invade Greece
The Greeks viewed their northern neighbors, the Macedonians, as barbarians.
They were a rural people of farmers and agricultural laborers, organized into groups,
not in city-states like the Greeks. Although they spoke a dialect of Greek, they had not
been involved in the rivalries of Greek city-states—their leaders focused mostly on
defending their northern borders. By the end of the fifth century b.c., however,
Macedonia emerged as a powerful kingdom.
Philip and Alexander
In 359 b.c., Philip II came to the throne. He built a powerful army and turned
Macedonia into the chief power of the Greek world. Philip was soon drawn into Greek
affairs. A great admirer of Greek culture, he longed to unite all of Greece under
Macedonia. Fearing Philip, the Athenians allied with a number of other Greek states
and fought the Macedonians at the Battle of Chaeronea (kehr•uh•NEE•uh), near
Thebes, in 338 b.c. The Macedonian army crushed the Greeks. Philip quickly gained
control of all Greece, bringing an end to the freedom of the Greek city-states. He
insisted that the Greek states form a league and then cooperate with him in a war
against Persia. Before Philip could undertake his invasion of Asia, however, he was
assassinated, leaving the task to his son Alexander. Alexander the Great was only 20
when he became king of Macedonia. Philip had carefully prepared his son for kingship.
By taking Alexander along with him on military campaigns, Philip taught Alexander the
basics of military leadership. After his father’s death, Alexander moved quickly to fulfill
his father’s dream—the invasion of the Persian Empire. He was motivated by the
desire for glory and empire but also by the desire to avenge the Persian burning of
Athens in 480 b.c.
Alexander’s Conquest
Alexander was taking a chance in attacking the Persian Empire. Although
weakened, it was still a strong state in the spring of 334 b.c. when Alexander entered
Asia Minor with an army of some 37,000 men, both Macedonians and Greeks. The
cavalry, which would play an important role as a striking force, numbered about 5,000.
By the next year, Alexander had freed the Ionian Greek cities of western Asia Minor
from the Persians and defeated a large Persian army at Issus. He then turned south.
By the winter of 332 b.c., Alexander had Syria, Palestine, and Egypt under his control.
He built Alexandria as the Greek capital of Egypt. It became and remains today one of
the most important cities in both Egypt and the Mediterranean world. It was also the
first of a series of cities named after him. In 331 b.c., Alexander turned east and fought
the decisive battle with the Persians at Gaugamela, not far from Babylon. After this
victory, Alexander took possession of the rest of the Persian Empire. Over the next
three years, Alexander moved as far as modern Pakistan. In 326 b.c., Alexander
reached India, where the campaigning was hard. When his soldiers refused to go
farther, he agreed to go home. He led his troops across the desert of today’s southern
Iran. Many were dying of heat and thirst. At one point, some soldier found a little water
and offered it to him. According to an ancient Greek writer, Alexander poured it on the
ground: “So extraordinary was the effect of this action that the water wasted by
Alexander was as good as a drink for every man in the army.” Alexander returned to
Babylon, planning more conquests. But in 323 b.c., exhausted from wounds, fever,
and too much alcohol, he died. He was 32 years old.
Alexander’s Legacy
Alexander’s extraordinary success is explained by his leadership and military
skills. He was a master of strategy and tactics, able to fight in all terrains and against
all kinds of opponents. Brave and even reckless, he risked his own life, an example
that inspired his soldiers to follow him. Alexander sought to imitate Achilles, the hero
of Homer’s Iliad. He kept a copy of the Iliad—and a dagger—under his pillow.
Alexander created an enormous legacy. He extended Greek and Macedonian rule
over a vast area, which brought large quantities of gold and silver into their economies.
Alexander’s successors tried to imitate him, using force and claims of divine rule to
create military monarchies. Although mainland Greeks remained committed to the
ideals of the city-state, the creation of the monarchies became part of Alexander’s
political legacy. Alexander also left a cultural legacy. Due to his conquests, Greek
language, architecture, literature, and art spread throughout Southwest Asia, Central
Asia, and parts of North Africa. The Greeks also absorbed aspects of Eastern culture.
The Hellenistic Era
Alexander created a new age, the Hellenistic Era. The word Hellenistic comes
from a Greek word meaning “to imitate Greeks.” It is an appropriate way to describe
an age that saw the expansion of the Greek language and ideas to the non-Greek
world of Southwest Asia and beyond.
Hellenistic Kingdoms
The united empire that Alexander created by his conquests fell apart soon after
his death as the most important Macedonian generals engaged in a struggle for power.
By 300 b.c., any hope of unity was dead. Eventually, four Hellenistic kingdoms
emerged as the successors to Alexander: Macedonia, Syria in the east, the kingdom
of Pergamum in western Asia Minor, and Egypt. All were eventually conquered by the
Romans. Alexander the Great had planned to fuse Macedonians, Greeks, and
Persians in his new empire by using Persians as officials and encouraging his soldiers
to marry native women. The Hellenistic monarchs who succeeded him, however, relied
only on Greeks and Macedonians to form the new ruling class. Even those from
eastern regions who did advance to important government posts had learned Greek,
for all government business was transacted in Greek. The Greek ruling class was
determined to maintain its position.
In his conquests, Alexander had created a series of new cities and military
settlements. Hellenistic kings did likewise. These new population centers varied in size
from military settlements of only a few hundred men to cities with thousands of people.
Alexandria, which Alexander had founded in Egypt, was the largest city in the
Mediterranean region by the first century b.c.
Hellenistic rulers encouraged a spread of Greek colonists to Southwest Asia.
Greeks (and Macedonians) provided not only new recruits for the army but also a pool
of civilian administrators and workers. Architects, engineers, dramatists, and actors
were all in demand in the new Greek cities. The Greek cities of the Hellenistic Era
spread Greek culture to Southwest and Central Asia—as far, in fact, as modern
Afghanistan and India.
Hellenistic Arts and Literature
The Hellenistic Era was a period of considerable cultural accomplishment in
many areas, especially science and philosophy. These achievements occurred
throughout the Hellenistic world. Certain centers, however—especially the great
Hellenistic city of Alexandria—stood out. Alexandria became home to poets, writers,
philosophers, and scientists—scholars of all kinds. The library in Alexandria became
the largest in ancient times, with more than 500,000 scrolls. The library encouraged
the careful study of literature and language. There was also a museum that welcomed
scholarly research. Pergamum, the most important city in Asia Minor, also became a
leading cultural center. As a result, Pergamum also attracted both scholars and artists.
The library at Pergamum was second only to Alexandria’s library.
The founding of new cities and the rebuilding of old ones presented many
opportunities for Greek architects and sculptors. Hellenistic kings were very willing to
spend their money to beautify the cities within their states. The buildings characteristic
of the Greek homeland— baths, theaters, and temples—lined the streets of these
cities. Both Hellenistic kings and rich citizens patronized sculptors. Thousands of
statues were erected in towns and cities all over the Hellenistic world. Hellenistic
sculptors maintained the technical skill of the classical period, but they moved away
from the idealism of earlier classicism to a more emotional and realistic art. This is
especially evident in the numerous statues of old women and little children.
The Hellenistic Age also produced a great quantity of literature. Writing talent
was held in high esteem, especially by Hellenistic leaders, who spent large amounts
of money subsidizing writers. Unfortunately, very little of this literature has survived.
Apollonius of Rhodes wrote the epic poem Argonautica, which tells the story of Jason’s
search for the Golden Fleece. Theocritus wrote short poems that expressed a love of
nature and an appreciation of its beauty. Unlike Apollonius, Theocritus believed that it
was best not to attempt epic poems, for which Homer had established a standard that
many scholars felt could not be matched. Athens remained the center of Greek theatre.
A new type of comedy developed that sought only to entertain and amuse and avoided
political commentary. Menander was perhaps the most successful of these new
playwrights.
Science and Philosophy
The Hellenistic Age witnessed considerable advances in the sciences.
Astronomy and mathematics were two areas of progress. One astronomer, Aristarchus
(ar•uh•STAHR•kuhs) of Samos, developed the theory that the sun is at the center of
the universe while the Earth rotates around the sun in a circular orbit. The prevailing
view, in contrast, held that Earth was at the center of the universe. The new theory
was not widely accepted at the time. Eratosthenes (ehr•uh•TAHS•thuh• neez) was
another important astronomer. He determined that Earth was round and calculated
Earth’s circumference at 24,675 miles (39,702 km), an estimate that was within 185
miles (298 km) of the actual figure. The mathematician Euclid wrote the Elements, a
textbook on plane geometry. This work has been used up to modern times.
The most famous scientist of the Hellenistic Era was Archimedes
(ahr•kuh•MEE•deez) of Syracuse. He worked on the geometry of spheres and
cylinders and also established the value of the mathematical constant pi. A practical
inventor, too, he may have devised the “Archimedes’ screw,” a machine used to pump
water out of mines and to lift irrigation water. Archimedes’ achievements inspired a
number of stories. Supposedly, he discovered specific gravity by observing the water
he displaced in his bath. He then became so excited by his realization that he jumped
out of the water and ran home naked, shouting, “Eureka!” (“I have found it!”). He is
said to have emphasized the importance of levers by proclaiming to the king of
Syracuse, “Give me a lever and a place to stand on and I will move the earth.” The
king encouraged Archimedes to lower his sights and build defensive weapons instead.
Athens remained the chief center for philosophy in the Hellenistic Era, attracting
famous thinkers from all over who established schools there. The development of two
new systems of thought, Epicureanism and Stoicism, strengthened Athens’s
reputation as a philosophical center.
Epicurus, the founder of Epicureanism, began a school in Athens at the end of
the fourth century b.c. He believed that human beings were free to follow their own
selfinterest and make happiness their goal. The means to happiness was the pursuit
of pleasure, the only true good. Epicurus did not speak of the pursuit of pleasure in a
physical sense (which is what our word epicurean has come to mean). Instead,
pleasure was freedom from emotional turmoil and worry. To achieve this, people had
to free themselves from public activity. However, they were not to give up all social life.
To Epicurus, a life could only be complete when it was centered on the ideal of
friendship. Another school of thought was Stoicism. It became the most popular
philosophy of the Hellenistic world and later flourished in the Roman Empire as well.
Stoicism was the product of a teacher named Zeno. A Syrian who came to Athens as
a merchant, Zeno lost his possessions on the sea voyage. A philosopher in Athens
consoled Zeno by teaching him that material possessions were not necessary in order
to be happy. After learning from other philosophers in Athens, Zeno began to teach in
a building known as the Painted Portico (the Stoa Poikile—hence, the word Stoicism).
Like Epicureans, Stoics wanted to find happiness, but they thought it could be found
only by living in harmony with the will of God. Then they could bear whatever life
offered (hence, our word stoic.) Unlike Epicureans, Stoics did not want to separate
themselves from the world. Public service was regarded as noble. The real Stoic was
a good citizen.
