Hellenistic Age

Hellenistic Age (4th-1st century bc), period between the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and the establishment of Roman supremacy, in which Greek culture and learning were pre-eminent in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor. It is called Hellenistic (Greek, Hellas, “Greece”) to distinguish it from the Hellenic culture of classical Greece.

The Hellenistic world was dominated by three great dynasties founded by the successors of Alexander: the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt; the Seleucids in Syria; and the Antigonid dynasty in Macedonia. The urban elite in these kingdoms spoke koine (common) Greek, which became the new international language, and their religion, art, and literature were a cosmopolitan blend of Greek and local elements. Many new cities were founded, the most important of which was Alexandria in Egypt. Under the Ptolemies, who used their wealth to attract poets, scholars, artists, and scientists, Alexandria became a great economic, cultural, and religious centre. Systematic scholarship was encouraged at new institutes of learning, such as the famous Library of Alexandria, where philology, grammar, prosody, lexicography, and literary criticism were studied. Poetry was also marked by a scholarly approach and generally followed Classical models. Many advances were made in such sciences as empirical medicine, astronomy, and mathematics; it was the time of Euclid, Apollonius of Perga, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus of Samos, Hipparchus, Hero of Alexandria, and Archimedes. The fundamental principles of Hellenistic thought were not seriously challenged until the 16th century ad. The main philosophical schools of the age were Stoicism and Epicureanism . The Stoics taught that one should live according to nature, which is the reason (Logos) that permeates all things. The sage who follows this advice will achieve apatheia, or freedom from suffering. The Epicureans held that all things are composed of atoms and the void and that a simple life is preferable to empty wealth and fame. Their goal was ataraxia, or tranquillity.

The religion of the Hellenistic Age combined the Greek gods with Eastern deities; a process known as syncretism, or the mixing of religions. The Hebrew bible was translated into Greek at Alexandria, and the language of the later New Testament was koine.

As the Hellenistic monarchies declined in the 2nd and 1st centuries bc, the Romans gradually extended their control over Greece and the Middle East. The Roman civilization that followed was in many ways a continuation of Hellenistic culture.