The Hellenistic Civilization, Persian Empire

Gravely weakened from the military a political point of view by the wars between
cities that transpired virtually without interruption from 431 B. C. until 338 B.C.
Greek civilization was simultaneously rescued and transformed by one of the
most remarkable characters who ever trod on the world”s stage, a young man
known to posterity as Alexander the Great and 338 B.C. Alexander”s father, Philip
of Macedon, a semi-barbarian chieftain from the rocky wildernesses north of
Greece, reduced all Greece to his will by decisively defeating a combined
Athenian-Theban force in battle. Two years later Philip was murdered as the
result of a family fend, and his dashing by handsome and energetic son Alexander
succeeded him at the age of twenty. Briefly consolidating his own autocratic rule
over all of Greece by putting to death all possible rivals, in 334 B.C. Alexander felt
secure enough to leave behind a trusted depute and cross with an army of 40.000
troops into Asia to carve out some additional territory. The Persians may at first
have looked askance at this brash twenty. two-year.old advancing in their
direction, but within four years, as the victor of three. Brilliantly fought battles-
the Granicus(334) and Gougamela (331). Alexander had conquered the entire
Persian Empire inclusive of Asia minor, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia and Persia
itself. Rather than returning home or residing peacefully in the. Persian capital of
Persepolis after this while wind campaign, Alexander then marched farther east
to conquer Bauria (modern Afghanistan)and cross the Indus River into India,
spending two years(327-326 B.C.)trying to destroy Hindu armies equipped with
war elephants. When Alexander”s troops finally refused to fight any more in lands
so distant from their native grounds, he toured them back to the Persian
heartland and died of an infectious disease in 323 B.C. in Babylon while preparing
for another expansionist campaign-this time to Arabia. Although Alexander
supposedly wept because he had not conquered the world, between the ages of
twenty-two and thirty. Three he had traversed some. 20.000 miles, fighting as he
went, to become. The ruler of the largest empire the world have ever seen.

As a by-product of his conquests, Alexander laid the foundations for the

Hellenistic civilization, a civilization that endured from his own time until roughly
the beginning of the Christian era in all. The lands of the eastern Mediterranean
and western Asia. The term Hellenistic means “Breek-like”,and stands in contrast
to “Hellenic”, or purely Greek. Hellenistic civilization was “Breek-like” because it
was a hybrid, composed of Greek and asian elements.For ex.alexander himself
spoke Greek and had been educated by none other than the great Greek
philosopher aristotle, yet he ignored the Greek precepts of modesty and living
according to the “golden mean” by blaming cities after himself and decking
himself out in oriental finery. Similarly, during the Hellenistic era Greek became
the language of government in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt, and Greek
philosophy and literature were cultivated throughout western Asia, yet Greek
speaking rulers insisted upon being adored as divinities we will presently see that
Hellenistic culture was not just a hodgepodge but had its own distinctive traits.
Before we examine the fascinating Hellenistic civilization itself, however, it is
necessary to take account of its Persian background because just as the
Hellenistic world coned not have existed without Alexander the great and the
Greeks, so it coned not have existed without the prior accomplishment of Ayrus
the great and the Persians.

The First Great Age of Science

The most brilliant age in the history of science prior to the 17_th century A.D. was
the period of the Hellenistic civilization. Indeed, some modern scientific
achievements would not have. Been possible without the discoveries of the
scientists of Alexandria, Fergamon, and other Hellenistic cities. There are two
major reasons for the impressive development of science in the.

The Persian Empire

Almost nothing is known of the Persians before the middle of the sixth century
B.C. other than (B.C.)that they lived on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf,
spoke an Indo. European language and were subject to the Medes, a Kindred
people who inhabited territories east and north of the River Tigris. Out of this
obscurity the Persians emerged suddenly into the spotlight of history owing to the
extraordinary exploits of a prince named Cyrus who succeeded to the rule of a
southern Persian tribe in 559 B.C. swiftly there after Cyrus Made himself ruler of
all the Persians, and around 549 B.C. he threw off the lordship of the Medes
taking over their domination of lands that conquered from the Persian Gulf to
the Halys River in Asia Minor.

By occupying part of Asia Minor Cyrus became a neighbor of the kingdom of

Lydia, which then comprised the western half of Asia Minor up to the Halys. The
Indo-European Lydians had created one of the successor states of the Hittites and
had attained great prosperity as a result of gold-prospecting and acting as
intermediaries for overland commerce passing between Mesopotamia and the
Aegean Bea. In connection with their commercial enterprises the Lydians
invented the use of Metallic coinage as a medium of exchange for goods and
services. Their single enduring contribution to the progress of Humanity. When
Cyrus reached their border, the reigning king of the Lydians was
lroesus(pronamed lreesus), so rich that the simile “rich as lroesus” remains
embedded in our language. Distrusting the newcomer, Croesus decided in 546
B.C. to wage a preventive war in order to preserve his kingdom from conquest.
According to the Greek Historian Herodotus. Croesus consulted the oracle at
Delphi as to the advisability of an immediate attack and gained the reply that if he
cross the Halys he would destroy a great nation. He did, but the nation he
destroyed was his own. His forces were completely overwhelmed, and his
prosperous realm was annexed as a province of the Persian State.

As we have seen Cyrus invaded Mesopotamia in 539 B.C. and struck so quickly
that he was able to take Babylon without a fight. Once in Babylon the entire new
Babylonian Empire of Rebuchad Nezzar was his, we have also seen that Cyrus
allowed the jews who had been held captive in Babylon to return to Palestine and
set up a semi-independent vassal state, here it can be added that Cyrus allowed
other conquested people considerable self-determination as well. Dying in 539
B.C. of wounds incurred in a Minor skirmish with barbarian tribes to the north of
his realms near the Arabian sea, Cyrus left behind an expire vaster than any that
had previously existed. Yet shortly afterward, in 525 B.C. the Persian Empire
became vaster still when Cyrusis son Cambyses conquered all of Egypt.

Cambyses’s successor, Darius 1,when ruled Persian from 521 to 486.B.C.

concentrated on consolidating predecessor’s military gains by improving the
administration of the Persion state Darius the GreatÇ as he is usually called,
presided over the divisions of the empire into provinces, known as satrapios,
administrated by governows called satraps, who were accorded extensive powers
but who were obliged to send fixed annual tributes to the centrol goverment.
(vassal states such as the Tewish kingdom were obliged to send he Persian
goverment annual tributes asuree). Adhering to the tolerant policg of Cyrus,
Dariks allowed the various non-Persian peoples of the Persian Empire toutkain
most of their local inshtutions white enforcing a standardized eurreny and system
of weights and measures.Forex:Darius strap of Egypt restored ancient Egyption
temples and codified Egyption laws in consultation with natire priests.
Darius was also a great builder. He erected a new royal residence, called by the
Breeks Persepolis (“Persion lity”) which there after became the Persian
ceremonial capital.

The Hellenistic period covers the period of ancient Greek (Hellenic) history

and Mediterranean history between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC
and the emergence of the Roman Empire as signified by the Battle of Actium in 31
BC and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt the following year. At this
time, Greek cultural influence and power was at its peak
in Europe, Africa and Asia, experiencing prosperity and progress in
the arts, exploration, literature, theatre, architecture, music, mathematics, philos
ophy, and science. It is often considered a period of transition, sometimes even
of decadenceor degeneration, compared to the enlightenment of the
Greek Classical era. The Hellenistic period saw the rise of New
Comedy, Alexandrian poetry, the Septuagint and the philosophies
of Stoicismand Epicureanism. Greek Science was advanced by the works of the
mathematician Euclid and the polymath Archimedes. The religious sphere
expanded to include new gods such as the Greco-Egyptian Serapis, eastern deities
such as Attis and Cybele and the Greek adoption of Buddhism.

After Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Empire in 330 BC and its

disintegration shortly after, the Hellenistic kingdoms were established
throughout south-west Asia (Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Pergamon), north-east
Africa (Ptolemaic Kingdom) and South Asia(Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek
Kingdom). This resulted in the export of Greek culture and language to these new
realms through Greek colonization, spanning as far as modern-day Pakistan.
Equally, however, these new kingdoms were influenced by the indigenous
cultures, adopting local practices where beneficial, necessary, or convenient.
Hellenistic culture thus represents a fusion of the Ancient Greek world with that
of the Near East, Middle East, and Southwest Asia, and a departure from earlier
Greek attitudes towards "barbarian" cultures.[4] The Hellenistic period was
characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization [5] (as distinguished from that
occurring in the 8th–6th centuries BC) which established Greek cities and
kingdoms in Asia and Africa. Those new cities were composed of Greek colonists
who came from different parts of the Greek world, and not, as before, from a
specific "mother city". The main cultural centers expanded from mainland Greece
to Pergamon, Rhodes, and new Greek colonies such
as Seleucia, Antioch, Alexandria and Ai-Khanoum. This mixture of Greek-speakers
gave birth to a common Attic-based dialect, known as Koine Greek, which became
the lingua franca through the Hellenistic world.

Scholars and historians are divided as to what event signals the end of the
Hellenistic era. The Hellenistic period may be seen to end either with the final
conquest of the Greek heartlands by Rome in 146 BC following the Achean War,
with the final defeat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, or
even the move by Roman emperor Constantine the Great of the capital of
the Roman Empire to Constantinople in 330 AD. "Hellenistic" is distinguished from
"Hellenic" in that the first encompasses the entire sphere of direct ancient Greek
influence, while the latter refers to Greece itself.

"Hellenistic" is a modern word and a 19th-century concept; the idea of a

Hellenistic period did not exist in Ancient Greece. Although words related in form
or meaning, e.g. Hellenist have been attested since ancient times, it was Johann
Gustav Droysen in the mid-19th century, who in his classic work Geschichte des
Hellenismus (History of Hellenism), coined the term Hellenistic to refer to and
define the period when Greek culture spread in the non-Greek world after
Alexander's conquest. Following Droysen, Hellenistic and related terms,
e.g. Hellenism, have been widely used in various contexts; a notable such use is
in Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold, where Hellenism is used in contrast
with Hebraism.

The major issue with the term Hellenistic lies in its convenience, as the spread of
Greek culture was not the generalized phenomenon that the term implies. Some
areas of the conquered world were more affected by Greek influences than
others. The term Hellenistic also implies that the Greek populations were of
majority in the areas in which they settled, but in many cases, the Greek settlers
were actually the minority among the native populations. The Greek population
and the native population did not always mix; the Greeks moved and brought
their own culture, but interaction did not always occur.

The Persian Empire is any of a series of imperial dynasties centered

in Persia(modern–day Iran). The first of these was established by Cyrus the
Great in 550 BC with the conquest of Media, Lydia and Babylonia. Several later
dynasties "claimed to be heirs of the Achaemenids".[1]

Persian dynastic history was interrupted by the Muslim conquest of Persia in 651

AD and later by the Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia.

The main religion of ancient Persia was Zoroastrianism, but after the seventh
century, it was replaced by Islam.

In the modern era, a series of Islamic dynasties ruled Persia independently of the
universal caliphate. Since 1979 Iran (Formerly Persia) has been an Islamic
Republic.

The Achaemenid Persian empire was the largest that the ancient world
had seen, extending from Anatolia and Egypt across western Asia to
northern India and Central Asia. Its formation began in 550 B.C., when
King Astyages of Media, who dominated much of Iran and eastern
Anatolia (Turkey), was defeated by his southern neighbor Cyrus II (“the
Great”), king of Persia (r. 559–530 B.C.). This upset the balance of power
in the Near East. The Lydians of western Anatolia under King Croesus took
advantage of the fall of Media to push east and clashed with Persian forces. The
Lydian army withdrew for the winter but the Persians advanced to the Lydian
capital at Sardis, which fell after a two-week siege. The Lydians had been allied
with the Babylonians and Egyptians and Cyrus now had to confront these major
powers. The Babylonian empire  controlled Mesopotamia and the eastern
Mediterranean. In 539 B.C., Persian forces defeated the Babylonian army at the
site of Opis, east of the Tigris. Cyrus entered Babylon and presented himself as a
traditional Mesopotamian monarch, restoring temples and releasing political
prisoners. The one western power that remained unconquered in Cyrus’ lightning
campaigns was Egypt. It was left to his son Cambyses to rout the Egyptian forces
in the eastern Nile Delta in 525 B.C. After a ten-day siege, Egypt’s ancient capital
Memphis fell to the Persians. A crisis at court forced Cambyses to return to
Persia but he died en route and Darius I (“the Great”) emerged as king (r. 521–
486 B.C.), claiming in his inscriptions that a certain “Achaemenes” was his
ancestor. Under Darius the empire was stabilized, with roads for communication
and a system of governors (satraps) established. He added northwestern India to
the Achaemenid realm and initiated two major building projects: the construction
of royal buildings at Susa and the creation of the new dynastic center of
Persepolis, the buildings of which were decorated by Darius and his successors
with stone reliefs and carvings. These show tributaries from different parts of the
empire processing toward the enthroned king or conveying the king’s throne. The
impression is of a harmonious empire supported by its numerous peoples. Darius
also consolidated Persia’s western conquests in the Aegean. However, in 498 B.C.,
the eastern Greek Ionian cities, supported in part by Athens, revolted. It took the
Persians four years to crush the rebellion, although an attack against mainland
Greece was repulsed at Marathon in 490 B.C. Darius’ son Xerxes (r. 486–465
B.C.) attempted to force the mainland Greeks to acknowledge Persian
power, but Sparta  and Athens refused to give way. Xerxes led his sea and land
forces against Greece in 480 B.C., defeating the Spartans at the battle of
Thermopylae and sacking Athens. However, the Greeks won a victory against the
Persian navy in the straits of Salamis in 479 B.C. It is possible that at this point a
serious revolt broke out in the strategically crucial province of Babylonia. Xerxes
quickly left Greece and successfully crushed the Babylonian rebellion. However,
the Persian army he left behind was defeated by the Greeks at the Battle of
Plataea in 479 B.C. Much of our evidence for Persian history is dependent
on contemporary Greek sources and later classical writers, whose main
focus is the relations between Persia and the Greek states, as well as tales
of Persian court intrigues, moral decadence, and unrestrained luxury.
From these we learn that Xerxes was assassinated and was succeeded by
one of his sons, who took the name Artaxerxes I (r. 465–424 B.C). During
his reign, revolts in Egypt were crushed and garrisons established in the
Levant. The empire remained largely intact under Darius II (r. 423–405
B.C), but Egypt claimed independence during the reign of Artaxerxes II (r.
405–359 B.C). Although Artaxerxes II had the longest reign of all the
Persian kings, we know very little about him. Writing in the early second
century A.D., Plutarch describes him as a sympathetic ruler and
courageous warrior. With his successor, Artaxerxes III (r. 358–338 B.C),
Egypt was reconquered, but the king was assassinated and his son was
crowned as Artaxerxes IV (r. 338–336 B.C.). He too was murdered and
replaced by Darius III (r. 336–330 B.C.), a second cousin, who faced the
armies of Alexander III of Macedon (“the Great”) . Ultimately Darius III was
murdered by one of his own generals and Alexander claimed the Persian empire.
However, the fact that Alexander had to fight every inch of the way, taking every
province by force, demonstrates the extraordinary solidarity of the Persian
empire and that, despite the repeated court intrigues, it was certainly not in a
state of decay.