Alexander and the Great Crusade Why did Alexander launch his massive attack on the Persian Empire? How extensive were his conquests?
What happened to Alexander’s empire after his death? What was his political and cultural legacy?
What effect did Greek migration have
On Greek and native peoples?
The Economic Scope of the Hellenistic World
What effects did East-West trade have on ordinary peoples during the Hellenistic period?
Hellenistic Intellectual Advances What is the intellectual legacy of the Hellenistic period?
INDIVIDUALS IN SOCIETY: Archimedes and the Practical Application of Science
LISTENING TO THE PAST: Alexander and the Brotherhood of Man
Nr
I wo years after his conquest of Greece, Philip of Macedon fell victim to an
Hellenistic The new culture that arose when Alexander overthrew the Persian Empire and began spreading Hellenism, Greek culture, language, thought, and way of life as far as India. It is called Hellenistic to distinguish it from the Hellenic period.
JL assassin’s dagger. Philip’s twenty-year-old son, historically known as Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 b. c.e.), assumed the Macedonian throne. This young man, one of the most remarkable personalities of Western civilization, was to have a profound impact on history. By overthrowing the Persian Empire and by spreading Hellenism—Greek culture, language, thought, and way of life—as far as India, Alexander was instrumental in creating a new era, traditionally called Hellenistic to distinguish it from the Hellenic. As a result of Alexander’s exploits, the individualistic and energetic culture of the Greeks came into intimate contact with the venerable older cultures of the Near East.
Alexander and the Great Crusade
Why did Alexander launch his massive attack on the Persian Empire? How extensive were his conquests?
In 336 b. c.e. Alexander inherited not only Philip’s crown but also his policies. After his victory at Chaeronea (ker-uh-NEE-uh), Philip had organized the states of Greece into a huge league under his leadership and announced to the Greeks his plan to lead them and his Macedonians against the Persian Empire. Fully intending to carry out Philip’s designs, Alexander proclaimed to the Greek world that the invasion of Persia was to be a great crusade, a mighty act of revenge for the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 b. c.e. It would also be the means by which Alexander would create an empire of his own in the East.
Despite his youth, Alexander was well prepared to lead the attack. Philip had groomed his son to become king and had given him the best education possible.
Alexander at the Battle of Issus
At left, Alexander the Great, bareheaded and wearing a breastplate, charges King Darius of Persia, who is standing in a chariot. The moment marks the turning point of the battle, as Darius turns to flee from the attack. (National Museum, Naples/Alinari/Art Resource, NY)
340-262 B. C.E. Rise of Epicurean and Stoic philosophies
336-24 B. C.E. Alexander's "Great Crusade"
330-200 B. C.E. Establishment of new Hellenistic cities
326-146 B. C.E. Spread of Hellenistic commerce from the western Mediterranean to India
323-301 B. C.E. Wars of Alexander's successors;
Establishment of the Hellenistic monarchies
310-212 B. C.E. Scientific developments in mathematics, astronomy, and physics
305-146 B. C.E. Growth of mystery religions
301-146 B. C.E. Flourishing of the Hellenistic monarchies
In 334 b. c.e. Alexander led an army of Macedonians and Greeks into Asia Minor. With him went a staff of philosophers and poets, scientists whose job it was to map the country and study strange animals and plants, and the historian Callisthenes (kuh-LIS-thuh-neez), who was to write an account of the campaign. Alexander intended not only a military campaign but also an expedition of discovery.
In the next three years Alexander won three major battles at the Granicus (gran-UH-kuhs) River, Issus (IS-uhs), and Gaugamela (GAW-guh-mee-luh). As Map 4.1 shows, these battle sites stand almost as road signs marking his march to the East. When Alexander reached Egypt, he quickly seized the land, honored the priestly class, and was proclaimed pharaoh, the legitimate ruler of the country. He next marched to the oasis of Siwah, west of the Nile Valley, to consult the famous oracle of Zeus-Amon. No one will ever know what the priest told him, but henceforth Alexander considered himself the son of Zeus. Next he marched into western Asia, where at Gaugamela he defeated the Persian army. After this victory the principal Persian capital of Persepolis easily fell to him. There he performed a symbolic act of retribution by
This map shows the course of Alexander's invasion of the Persian Empire and the speed of his progress. More important than the great success of his military campaigns was his founding of Hellenistic cities in the East.
Section Review
Alexander set out to conquer Persia as an act of revenge at the beginning of his own empire.
Alexander used his campaign as a method of study as well as war, bringing along scientists and philosophers to document the adventure.
After conquering Egypt, Alexander honored the priests who proclaimed him pharaoh, then he consulted the oracle of Zeus-Amon, and from then on considered himself the son of Zeus.
Alexander defeated the Persians at the battle of Gaugamela and then captured the Persian capital Persepolis, pursuing the Persian king to his death, and capturing the last capital of Ecbatana.
Alexander next conquered Bactria and entered India, where his troops mutinied and refused to go farther; in retaliation, Alexander waged needless wars along the Arabian Sea and marched them home through the Gedrosian Desert.
Alexander died in 323 B. C.E. in Babylon.
I
Burning the buildings of Xerxes, the invader of Greece. In 330 b. c.e. he took Ecbatana (ek-BAT-un-uh), the last Persian capital, and pursued the Persian king to his death.
The Persian Empire had fallen, and the war of revenge was over, but Alexander had no intention of stopping. He dismissed his Greek troops but permitted many of them to serve on as mercenaries. Alexander then began his personal odyssey. With his Macedonian soldiers and Greek mercenaries, he set out to conquer the rest of Asia. He plunged deeper into the East, into lands completely unknown to the Greek world. It took his soldiers four additional years to conquer Bactria and the easternmost parts of the now-defunct Persian Empire, but still Alexander was determined to continue his march.
In 326 b. c.e. Alexander crossed the Indus River and entered India. There, too, he saw hard fighting, and finally at the Hyphasis (HIF-ah-sis) River his troops refused to go farther. Alexander was enraged by the mutiny, for he believed he was near the end of the world. Nonetheless, the army stood firm, and Alexander relented. Still eager to explore the limits of the world, Alexander turned south to the Arabian Sea. Though the tribes in the area did not oppose him, he waged a bloody, ruthless, and unnecessary war against them. After reaching the Arabian Sea and turning west, he led his army through the grim Gedrosian Desert. The army suffered fearfully, and many soldiers died along the way; nonetheless, in 324 b. c.e. Alexander reached his camp at Susa. The great crusade was over, and Alexander himself died the next year in Babylon.
What happened to Alexander's empire after his death? What was his political and cultural legacy?
Alexander so quickly became a legend during his lifetime that he still seems superhuman. That alone makes a reasoned interpretation of him very difficult. Some historians have seen him as a high-minded philosopher, and none can deny that he possessed genuine intellectual gifts. Others, however, have portrayed him as a bloody-minded autocrat, more interested in his own ambition than in any philosophical concept of the common good. Alexander is the perfect example of the need for the historian to use care when interpreting the known facts. (See the feature "Listening to the Past: Alexander and the Brotherhood of Man,” on page 84.) What is not disputed is that Alexander was instrumental in changing the face of politics and culture in the eastern Mediterranean. His campaign swept away the Persian Empire, which had ruled for over two hundred years, and opened the East to the tide of Hellenism.
In 323 b. c.e. Alexander the Great died at the age of The Political Legacy Thirty-two. The main question at his death was whether his vast empire could be held together. Although he fathered a successor while in Bactria, his son was an infant at Alexander’s death. The child was too young to assume the duties of kingship and was cruelly murdered. That meant that Alexander’s empire was a prize for the taking by the strongest of his generals. Within a week of Alexander’s death a round of fighting began
This map depicts the Hellenistic world after Alexander's death. [1] What does this map suggest about Alexander's legacy? [2] Compare this map to Map 4.1 on page 67, which shows Alexander's conquests. After Alexander's death, were the Macedonians and Greeks able to retain control of all the land he had conquered? [3] What does Map 4.2 tell us about the legacy of Alexander's conquests? What does it suggest about the success or failure of Alexander's dreams of conquest?
That was to continue for forty years. No single Macedonian general was able to replace Alexander as emperor of his entire domain. In effect, the strongest divided it among themselves. By 263 b. c.e. three officers had split the empire into large monarchies (see Map 4.2). Antigonus Gonatas became king of Macedonia and established the Antigonid (an-TIG-uh-nid) dynasty, which ruled until the Roman conquest in 168 b. c.e. Ptolemy (TAWL-uh-mee) made himself king of Egypt, and his descendants, the Ptolemies, assumed the powers and position of pharaohs. Seleucus (sih-LOO-sus), founder of the Seleucid (sih-LOO-sid) dynasty, carved out a kingdom that stretched from the coast of Asia Minor to India. In 263 b. c.e. Eumenes (yoo-MEN-eez), the Greek ruler of Pergamum (PUR-guh-mum), a city in western Asia Minor, won his independence from the Seleucids and created the Pergamene monarchy. Though the Seleucid kings soon lost control of their easternmost provinces, Greek influence in this area did not wane. In modern Turkestan (tur-kuh-STAN) and Afghanistan (af-GAN-uh-stan) another line of Greek kings established the kingdom of Bactria and even managed to spread their power and culture into northern India.
The political face of Greece itself changed during the Hellenistic period. The day of the polis was over; in its place rose leagues of city-states. The two most powerful and extensive were the Aetolian (ee-TOH-lee-uhn) League in western and central Greece and the Achaean (a-KEY-an) League in the Peloponnesus. Once-powerful city-states like Athens and Sparta sank to the level of third-rate powers.
The political history of the Hellenistic period was dominated by the great monarchies and the Greek leagues. The political fragmentation and incessant warfare that marked the Hellenic period continued on an even wider and larger scale during the Hellenistic period. Never did the Hellenistic world achieve political stability or lasting peace. Hellenistic kings never forgot the vision of Alexander’s empire, spanning Europe and Asia, secure under the rule of one man. Try though they did, they were never able to re-create it. In this respect Alexander’s legacy fell not to his generals but to the Romans of a later era.
As Alexander waded ever deeper into the East, distance The Cultural Legacy Alone presented him with a serious problem: how was he to retain contact with the Greek world behind him? Communications were vital, for he drew supplies and reinforcements from Greece and Macedonia. His solution was to plant cities and military colonies in strategic places. In these settlements Alexander left Greek mercenaries and Macedonian veterans who were no longer up to active campaigning. Besides keeping the road open to the West, these settlements served the purpose of dominating the countryside around them.
Their military significance apart, Alexander’s cities and colonies became powerful instruments in the spread of Hellenism throughout the East. His successors
A new Hellenistic city needed splendid art and architecture to prove its worth in Greek eyes. The king of Pergamum ordered the construction of this monumental altar, now in Berlin. The scenes depict the mythical victory of the Greek gods over the Giants, who symbolize non-Greeks. The altar served the propaganda purpose of celebrating the victory of Hellenism over the East. (Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, ny)
Continued his policy by luring Greek colonists to their realms. For seventy-five years after Alexander’s death, Greek immigrants poured into the East. At least 250 new Hellenistic colonies were established. The Mediterranean world had seen no comparable movement of peoples since the Archaic Age (see page 46), when wave after wave of Greeks had turned the Mediterranean basin into a Greekspeaking region.
Section Review
Alexander changed the eastern Mediterranean both politically and culturally, ended the Persian Empire, and opened the East to Hellenism.
Upon Alexander’s death after much fighting, his generals Antigonus Gonatas, Ptolemy, and Seleucus split his empire into three large monarchies, the Antigonid, Ptolemeic, and Seleucid.
Leagues of city-states replaced the polis and a period of political unrest and continuous warfare began as Hellenistic kings unsuccessfully sought to become the next Alexander.
Alexander solved the problem of communication across his empire by establishing cities and colonies that continued his policies.
The settlements spread Hellenism as far east as India, while the resulting intermingling of ideas linked the East to the West.
The overall result of Alexander’s settlements and those of his successors was the spread of Hellenism as far east as India. Throughout the Hellenistic period, Greeks and Easterners became familiar with and adapted themselves to each other’s customs, religion, and way of life. Although Greek culture did not completely conquer the East, it gave the East a vehicle of expression that linked it to the West. Hellenism became a common bond among the East, peninsular Greece, and the western Mediterranean. This pre-existing cultural bond was later to prove supremely valuable to Rome—itself heavily influenced by Hellenism—in its efforts to impose a comparable political unity on the Western world.
I
What effect did Greek migration have on Greek and native peoples?
When the Greeks and Macedonians entered Asia Minor, Egypt, and the more remote East, they encountered civilizations older than their own. In some ways the Eastern cultures were more advanced than the Greek, in others less so. Thus this third great tide of Greek migration differed from preceding waves, which had spread over land that was uninhabited or inhabited by less-developed peoples.
What did the Hellenistic monarchies offer Greek immigrants politically and materially? More broadly, how did Hellenism and the cultures of the East affect one another? What did the meeting of East and West entail for the history of the world?
One of the major developments of these new king-Cities and Kingdoms Doms was the resurgence of monarchy, which had many repercussions. For most Greeks, monarchs were something out of the heroic past, something found in Homer’s Iliad but not in daily life. Furthermore, most Hellenistic kingdoms embraced numerous different peoples who had little in common. Hellenistic kings thus needed a new political concept to unite them. One solution was the creation of a ruler cult that linked the king’s authority with that of the gods. Thus, royal power had divine approval and was meant to create a political and religious bond between the kings and their subjects. These deified kings were not considered gods as mighty as Zeus or Apollo, and the new ruler cults probably made little religious impact on those ruled. Nonetheless, the ruler cult was an easily understandable symbol of unity within the kingdom.
Hellenistic kingship was hereditary, which gave women who were members of royal families more power than any women in democracies, in which citizenship was limited to men. Wives of kings and queen mothers had influence over their husbands and sons, and a few women ruled in their own right when there was no male heir.
Hellenistic monarchs continued the policy of establishing cities throughout their kingdoms in order to entice Greeks to immigrate. They gave their cities all
No matter where in old Greece they had come from, all Greeks would immediately feel at home walking along this main street in Pergamum. They would all see familiar sights. To the left is the top of the theater where they could watch the plays of the great dramatists, climb farther to the temple, and admire the fortifications on the right. (Faith Cimok, Turkey)
Sovereign An independent, autonomous state run by its citizens, free of any outside power or restraint.
The external trappings of a polis. Each had an assembly of citizens, a council to prepare legislation, and a board of magistrates to conduct the city’s political business. Yet, however similar to the Greek polis they appeared, these cities could not engage in diplomatic dealings, make treaties, pursue their own foreign policy, or wage their own wars. The Greek polis was by definition sovereign (SOV-er-in) — an independent, autonomous state run by its citizens, free of any outside power or restraint. Hellenistic kings, however, refused to grant sovereignty to their cities. In effect, these kings willingly built cities but refused to build a polis.
A new Hellenistic city differed from a Greek polis in other ways as well. The Greek polis had one body of law and one set of customs. In the Hellenistic city Greeks represented an elite citizen class. Natives and non-Greek foreigners who lived in Hellenistic cities usually possessed lesser rights than Greeks and often had their own laws. In some instances this disparity spurred natives to assimilate Greek culture in order to rise politically and socially. Yet the Hellenistic city was not homogeneous and could not spark the intensity of feeling that marked the polis.
Though Hellenistic kings never built a true polis, that does not mean that their urban policy failed. Rather, the Hellenistic city was to remain the basic social and political unit throughout the Hellenistic world until the sixth century c. e. Cities were the chief agents of Hellenization, and their influence spread far beyond their walls. These cities formed a broader cultural network in which Greek language, customs, and values flourished. Roman rule in the Hellenistic world would later be based on this urban culture, which facilitated the rise and spread of Christianity. In broad terms, Hellenistic cities were remarkably successful.
Men and Women in Hellenistic Monarchies
If the Hellenistic kings failed to satisfy the Greeks’ political yearnings, they nonetheless succeeded in giving them unequaled economic and social opportunities. The ruling dynasties of the Hellenistic world were Macedonian, and Greeks filled all important political, military, and diplomatic positions. They constituted an upper class that sustained Hellenism in the East. Besides building Greek cities, Hellenistic kings offered Greeks land and money as lures to further immigration.
The opening of the East offered ambitious Greeks opportunities for well-paying jobs and economic success. Some talented Greek men entered a professional corps of Greek administrators. Greeks and Macedonians also found ready employment in the armies and navies of the Hellenistie monarehies. Greeks were able to dominate other professions as well. The kingdoms and eities reeruited Greek writers and artists to ereate Greek works on Asian soil. Arehiteets, engineers, and skilled eraftsmen found their serviees in great demand beeause of the building polieies of the Hellenistie monarehs.
Inereased physieal and soeial mobility benehted some women as well as men. More women learned to read than before, and they engaged in oeeupations in whieh literaey was beneheial, ineluding eare of the siek. During the Hellenistie period some women took part in eom- ' ' ''
Marital Advice
This small terra-cotta sculpture is generally seen as a mother advising her daughter, a new bride. Such intimate scenes of ordinary people were popular in the Hellenistic world, in contrast to the idealized statues of gods and goddesses of the classical period.
(British Museum/Michael Holford)
Mereial transaetions. They still lived under legal handieaps; in Egypt, for example, a Greek woman needed a male guardian to buy, sell, or lease land, to borrow money, and to represent her in other transactions. Yet often such a guardian was present only to fulfill the letter of the law. The woman was the real agent and handled the business being transacted.
As long as Greeks continued to replenish their professional ranks, the kingdoms remained strong. In the process they drew an immense amount of talent from the Greek peninsula, draining the vitality of the Greek homeland. However, the Hellenistic monarchies could not keep recruiting Greeks forever, in spite of their wealth and willingness to spend lavishly. In time the huge surge of immigration slowed greatly. Even then the Hellenistic monarchs were reluctant to recruit Easterners to fill posts normally held by Greeks. The result was at first the stagnation of the Hellenistic world and finally, after 202 b. c.e., its collapse in the face of the young and vigorous Roman republic.
Greeks and Easterners
Because they understood themselves to be "the West,” Greeks generally referred to Egypt and what we now call the Near East collectively as "the East.” Many historians have continued that usage, seeing the Hellenistic period as a time when Greek and "Eastern” cultures blended to some degree. Eastern civilizations were older than Greek, and the Greeks were a minority outside of Greece. Hellenistic monarchies were remarkably successful in at least partially Hellenizing Easterners and spreading a uniform culture throughout the East, a culture to which Rome eventually fell heir. The prevailing institutions, laws, and language of the East became Greek. Indeed, the Near East had seen nothing comparable since the days when Mesopotamian culture had spread throughout the area.
Yet the spread of Greek culture was wider than it was deep. At best it was a veneer, thicker in some places than in others. Hellenistic kingdoms were never entirely unified in language, customs, and thought. Greek culture took firmest hold along the shores of the Mediterranean, but farther east, in Persia and Bactria, it was less strong. The principal reason for this curious phenomenon is that Greek culture generally did not extend far beyond the reaches of the cities. Many urban residents adopted the aspects of Hellenism that they found useful, but others in the countryside generally did not embrace it wholly.
Hellenism and the Jews
Section Review
To create unity, Hellenistic kings established remarkably successful cities with the governmental structure of a Greek polis, although they refused to grant them sovereignty and Greeks had more rights than natives and non-Greek foreigners.
Hellenistic cities formed a broad cultural network upon which the Romans later based their rule.
The Hellenistic monarchs offered economic and social opportunities to Greeks and benefited women through increased literacy and economic opportunities.
Greek became the language of commerce in the East, and although a true blending of cultures did not happen, the intermingling of Greek and Eastern cultures makes Hellenistic culture unique.
Jews in Hellenistic cities generally had religious freedom and many learned Greek but most refused citizenship so they could practice their own religion and not be required to worship the gods of the city.
Ptolemy V, a Macedonian by birth and the Hellenistic king of Egypt, dedicated this stone to the Egyptian sacred bull of the Egyptian god Ptah. Nothing here is Greek or Macedonian, a sign that the conquered had, in some religious and ceremonial ways, won over their conquerors. (Egyp tian
Museum, Cairo)
For non-Greeks the prime advantage of Greek culture was its very pervasiveness. The Greek language became the common speech of Egypt and the Near East. It was also the speech of commerce: anyone who wanted to compete in business had to learn it. As early as the third century b. c.e. some Greek cities were giving citizenship to Hellenized natives.
The vast majority of Hellenized Easterners, however, took only the externals of Greek culture while retaining the essentials of their own ways of life. Though Greeks and Easterners adapted to each other’s ways, there was never a true fusion of cultures. Nonetheless, each found useful things in the civilization of the other, and the two fertilized each other. This fertilization, this mingling of Greek and Eastern elements, is what makes Hellenistic culture unique and distinctive.
A prime illustration of cultural mingling is the impact of Greek culture on the Jews. At first, Jews in Hellenistic cities were treated as resident aliens. As they grew more numerous, they received permission to form a political corporation, which gave them a great deal of autonomy. They obeyed the king’s commands, but there was virtually no royal interference with the Jewish religion. Indeed, the Greeks were typically reluctant to tamper with anyone’s religion. Antiochus III (an-TIE-uh-kuhs) (ca. 242-187 b. c.e.), for instance, recognized that most Jews had become loyal subjects, and he went so far as to deny any uninvited foreigner permission to enter the temple at Jerusalem. Only the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes (175-ca. 164 b. c.e.) tried to suppress the Jewish religion in Judaea. He did so not because he hated the Jews (who were a small part of his kingdom), but because he was trying to unify his realm culturally to meet the threat of Rome. To the Jews he extended the same policy that he applied to all subjects. Apart from this instance, Hellenistic Jews suffered no official religious persecution. Some Jews were given the right to become full citizens of Hellenistic cities, but few exercised that right. Citizenship would have allowed them to vote in the assembly and serve as magistrates, but it would also have obliged them to worship the gods of the city—a practice few Jews chose to follow.
Jews living in Hellenistic cities often embraced a good deal of Hellenism. So many Jews learned Greek, especially in Alexandria, that the Old Testament was translated into Greek, and services in the synagogue came to be conducted in Greek. Jews often took Greek names, used Greek political forms, adopted Greek practice by forming their own trade associations, put inscriptions on graves as the Greeks did, and much else. Yet no matter how much of Greek culture or its externals Jews borrowed, they normally remained attached to their religion.
[
The Economic Scope of the Hellenistic World
What effects did East-West trade have on ordinary peoples during the Hellenistic period?
Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire not only changed the political face of the ancient world but also brought the East fully into the sphere of Greek economics. Yet the Hellenistic period did not see a revolution in the way people lived and worked. The material demands of Hellenistic society remained as simple as those of Athenian society in the fifth century b. c.e. Clothes and furniture were essentially unchanged, as were household goods, tools, and jewelry. The real achievement of Alexander and his successors was linking East and West in a broad commercial network. The spread of Greeks throughout the Near East and Egypt created new markets and stimulated trade. The economic unity of the Hellenistic world, like its cultural bonds, would later prove valuable to the Romans.
Alexander’s conquest of the Persian Empire had immediate effects on trade. In the Persian capitals Alexander had found vast sums of gold, silver, and other treasure. This wealth financed the building of roads and the development of harbors as well as the creation of new cities. Whole new markets opened to Greek merchants, who eagerly took advantage of the new opportunities. In bazaars, ports, and trading centers Greeks learned of Eastern customs and traditions while spreading knowledge of their own culture.
The Seleucid and Ptolemaic dynasties traded as far aheld as India, Arabia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Overland trade with India and Arabia was conducted by caravan and was largely in the hands of Easterners. Once the goods reached the Hellenistic monarchies, Greek merchants took a hand in the trade.
Essential to the caravan trade from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan and India was the southern route through Arabia.
The desert of Arabia may seem at first unlikely and inhospitable terrain for a line of commerce, but to the east of it lies the plateau of Iran, from which trade routes stretched to the south and still farther east to China. Commerce from the East arrived at Egypt and the excellent harbors of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria. From these ports goods flowed to Greece,
Italy, and Spain. The backbone of this caravan trade was the camel, a splendid beast of burden that could endure the harsh heat and aridity of the caravan routes.
Over the caravan routes traveled luxury goods that were light, rare, and expensive. In time these luxury items became more of a necessity than a luxury. In part this development was the result of an increased volume of trade. In the prosperity of the period more people could afford to buy gold, silver,
During the Hellenistic period Delos became a thriving center of trade. Shown here is the row of warehouses at water's edge. From Delos, cargoes were shipped to virtually every part of the Mediterranean. (SuperStock)
Great Silk Road The name of the major route for the silk trade.
Section Review
• The Hellenistic period did not change the way people lived and worked but was successful in uniting the East and West economically, creating a broad commercial network.
• Alexander used the wealth he captured to build roads, cities, and harbors, opening new markets in which Greek merchants could trade.
• The caravan trade routes carried luxury goods, especially tea and silk, across the southern desert by camel from as far east as China.
• Commercial trade in essential commodities was economically more important than trade in luxury goods for Hellenistic cities.
• Hellenistic merchant ships carried bulk commodities and provided opportunities for workers in other industries, including pirates.
• Slave labor was common throughout the Meditteranean except in Egypt, where it would have competed with free labor.
I
Religion in the Hellenistic World
Ivory, precious stones, spices, and a host of other easily transportable goods. Perhaps the most prominent goods in terms of volume were tea and silk. Indeed, the trade in silk gave the major route its name, the Great Silk Road. In return the Greeks and Macedonians sent east manufactured goods, especially metal weapons, cloth, wine, and olive oil. Although these caravan routes can trace their origins to earlier times, they became far more prominent in the Hellenistic period. Business customs developed and became standardized, so that merchants from different nationalities communicated in a way understandable to all of them.
More economically important than this exotic trade were commercial dealings in essential commodities like raw materials, grain, and industrial products. The Hellenistic monarchies usually raised enough grain for their own needs as well as a surplus for export. For the cities of Greece and the Aegean this trade in grain was essential, because many of them could not grow enough. Fortunately for them, abundant wheat supplies were available nearby in Egypt and in the Crimea (cry-MEE-ah) in southern Russia.
The Greek cities paid for their grain by exporting olive oil and wine. Another significant commodity was fish, which for export was either salted, pickled, or dried. This trade was doubly important because fish provided poor people with an essential element of their diet. Of raw materials, wood was high in demand.
Most trade in bulk commodities was seaborne, and the Hellenistic merchant ship was the workhorse of the day. The merchant ship had a broad beam and relied on sails for propulsion. It was far more seaworthy than the Hellenistic warship, which was long, narrow, and built for speed. A small crew of experienced sailors could handle the merchant vessel easily. Maritime trade provided opportunities for workers in other industries and trades: sailors, shipbuilders, dockworkers, accountants, teamsters, and pirates. Piracy was always a factor in the Hellenistic world and remained so until Rome extended its power throughout the East.
Throughout the Mediterranean world slaves were almost always in demand as well. Only the Ptolemies discouraged both the trade and slavery itself, and they did so only for economic reasons. Their system had no room for slaves, who would only have competed with free labor. Otherwise slave labor was to be found in the cities and temples of the Hellenistic world, in the factories and fields, and in the homes of wealthier people.
Hellenistic Intellectual Advances
What is the intellectual legacy of the Hellenistic period?
The peoples of the Hellenistic era took the ideas and ideals of the classical Greeks and advanced them to new heights. Their achievements created the intellectual and religious atmosphere that deeply influenced Roman thinking and eventually the religious thought of liberal Judaism and early Christ ianity. Far from being stagnant, this was a period of vigorous growth, especially in the areas of philosophy, science, and medicine.
In religion the most significant new ideas were developed outside Greece. At first the Hellenistic period saw the spread of Greek religious cults throughout the Near East and Egypt. When Hellenistic kings founded cities, they also built temples and established new cults and priesthoods for the old Olympian gods.
Greek cults sponsored literary, musical, and athletic contests, which were staged in beautiful surroundings among impressive Greek buildings. On the whole, however, the civic cults were primarily concerned with ritual and neither appealed to religious emotions nor embraced matters such as sin and redemption. Although the new civic cults were lavish in pomp and display, they could not satisfy deep religious feelings or spiritual yearnings. Greeks increasingly sought solace from other sources. Some turned to philosophy as a guide to life, while others turned to superstition, magic, or astrology. Still others might shrug and speak of Tyche (TIE-kee), which meant "Fate” or "Chance” or "Doom”—a capricious and sometimes malevolent force.
Beginning in the second century b. c.e., some individuals were increasingly attracted to new mystery religions, so called because they featured a body of ritual not to be divulged to anyone not initiated into the cult. These new mystery cults incorporated aspects of both Greek and Eastern religions and had broad appeal for people who yearned for personal immortality. Since the Greeks were already familiar with old mystery cults, such as the Eleusinian (el-yoo-SIN-ee-uhn) mysteries in Attica, the new cults did not strike them as alien. Familiar, too, was the concept of preparation for an initiation. Devotees of the Greek Eleusinian mysteries and other such cults had to prepare themselves mentally and physically before entering the gods’ presence. Thus the mystery cults fit well with Greek usage.
The new religions enjoyed one tremendous advantage over the old Greek mystery cults. Whereas old Greek mysteries were tied to particular places, such as Eleusis (ee-LOO-sis), the new religions spread throughout the Hellenistic world.
Tyche Fate or chance or doom; a capricious and sometimes malevolent force.
Mystery religions Bodies of ritual not to be divulged to anyone not initiated into the cult. They incorporated aspects of both Greek and Eastern religions and had broad appeal for both Greeks and Easterners who yearned for personal immortality.
Hellenistic Mystery Cult
The scene depicts part of the ritual of initiation into the cult of Dionysus. The young woman here has just completed the ritual. She now dances in joy as the official with the sacred staff looks on. (Scala/Art
Resource, NY)
People did not have to undertake long and expensive pilgrimages just to become members of the religion. In that sense the mystery religions came to the people, for temples of the new deities sprang up wherever Greeks lived.
The mystery religions all claimed to save their adherents from the worst that fate could do and promised life for the soul after death. They all had a single concept in common: the belief that by the rites of initiation devotees became united with a god, usually male, who had himself died and risen from the dead. The sacrifice of the god and his victory over death saved the devotee from eternal death. Similarly, all mystery religions demanded a period of preparat ion in which the convert strove to become holy, that is, to live by the religion’s precepts. Once aspirants had prepared themselves, they went through an initiation in which they learned the secrets of the religion. The initiation was usually a ritual of great emotional intensity, symbolizing the entry into a new life.
The mystery religions that took the Hellenistic world by storm were the Egyptian cults of Serapis (si-REY-pis) and Isis. Serapis, who was invented by King Ptolemy, was believed to be the judge of souls, who rewarded virtuous and righteous people with eternal life.
The cult of Isis enjoyed even wider appeal than that of Serapis. Isis, wife of Osiris, was believed to have conquered Tyche and promised to save any mortal who came to her. She became the most important goddess of the Hellenistic world, and her worship was very popular among women. Her priests claimed that she had bestowed on humanity the gift of civilization and founded law and literature. She was the goddess of marriage, conception, and childbirth, and like Serapis she promised to save the souls of her believers.
Mystery religions took care of the big things in life, but many people resorted to ordinary magic for daily matters. When a cat walked across their path, they stopped until someone else had passed by them. Or they could throw three rocks across the road. People often purified their houses to protect them from Hecate (HEK-uh-tee), a sinister goddess associated with magic and withcraft. Many people had dreams that only seers and augurs (AW-gers) could interpret. Some of these things are familiar today because some old fears are still alive.
Philosophy and the People
Epicureanism A practical philosophy founded by Epicurus, it argued that the principal good of human life is pleasure.
During the Hellenistic period, philosophy reached out to touch the lives of more men and women than ever before. Two significant philosophies caught the minds and hearts of contemporary Greeks and some Easterners, as well as some later Romans. The first was Epicureanism (ep-ee-kyoo-REE-uh-niz-uhm), a practical philosophy of serenity in an often tumultuous world. Epicurus (ep-ee-KYOOR-uhs) (340-270 b. c.e.) taught that the principal good of human life is pleasure, which he defined as the absence of pain. He was not advocating drunken revels or sexual dissipation, which he thought actually caused pain. Instead, Epicurus concluded that any violent emotion is undesirable and advocated mild self-discipline. Even poverty he considered good, as long as people had enough food, clothing, and shelter. Epicurus also taught that individuals can most easily attain peace and serenity by ignoring the outside world and looking into their personal feelings and reactions. His followers ignored politics and issues, for they led to tumult, which would disturb the soul.
Stoicism The most popular of Hellenistic philosophies, it considered nature an expression of divine will; people could be happy only when living in accordance with nature.
Opposed to the passivity of the Epicureans, Zeno (ZEE-noh) (335-262 b. c.e.), a philosopher from Citium in Cyprus, advanced a different concept of human beings and the universe. Zeno first came to Athens to form his own school, the Stoa, named after the building where he preferred to teach. Stoicism (STOH-uh-siz-uhm)
Became the most popular Hellenistic philosophy and the one that later captured the mind of Rome. To the Stoics the important question was not whether they achieved anything, but whether they lived virtuous lives. In that way they could triumph over Tyche, for Tyche could destroy achievements but not the nobility of their lives.
Natural law A Stoic concept that as all men were brothers, partook of divine reason, and were in harmony with the universe, one law—a part of the natural order of life-governed them all.
Zeno and his followers considered nature an expression of divine will; in their view, people could be happy only when living in accordance with nature. They stressed the unity of man and the universe, stating that all men were brothers and were obliged to help one another. The Stoics’ most significant practical achievement was the creation of the concept of natural law. The Stoics concluded that as all men were brothers, partook of divine reason, and were in harmony with the universe, one law—a part of the natural order of life-governed them all. The Stoic concept of a universal state governed by natural law is one of the finest heirlooms the Hellenistic world passed on to Rome. The Stoic concept of natural law, of one law for all people, became a valuable tool when the Romans began to deal with many different peoples with different laws. The ideal of the universal state gave the Romans a rationale for extending their empire to the farthest reaches of the world. The obligation of individuals to their fellows served the citizens of the Roman Empire as the philosophical justification for doing their duty. In this respect, too, the real fruit of Hellenism was to ripen only under the cultivation of Rome.
Heliocentric theory The theory of
Aristarchus that the earth and planets revolve around the sun.
Hellenistic culture achieved its greatest triumphs in Hellenistic Science tHe area of science. The most notable of the Hellenistic astronomers was Aristarchus (ar-uh-STAHR-kuhs) of Samos (ca. 310-230 b. c.e.), who was educated in Aristotle’s school. Aristarchus concluded that the sun is far larger than the earth and that the stars are enormously distant from the earth. He argued against Aristotle’s view that the earth was the center of the universe. Instead, Aristarchus propounded the heliocentric (he-lee-oh-CENT-rik) theory—that the earth and planets revolve around the sun. His work is all the more impressive because he lacked even a rudimentary telescope. Aristarchus had only the human eye and brain, but they were more than enough.
Unfortunately, Aristarchus’s theories did not persuade the ancient world. In the second century c. e. Claudius Ptolemy, a mathematician and astronomer in Alexandria, accepted Aristotle’s theory of the earth as the center of the universe, and this view prevailed for fourteen hundred years. Aristarchus’s heliocentric theory lay dormant until resurrected in the sixteenth century by the brilliant Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (koh-PUR-ni-kuhs).
In geometry Euclid (YOO-klid) (ca. 300 b. c.e.), a mathematician who lived in Alexandria, compiled a valuable textbook of existing knowledge. His book The Elements of Geometry has exerted immense influence on Western civilization, for it rapidly became the standard introduction to geometry. Generations of students, from the Hellenistic period to the present, have learned the essentials of geometry from it.
The greatest thinker of the Hellenistic period was Archimedes (ahr-kuh-MEE-deez) (ca. 287-212 b. c.e.), a native of Syracuse. (See the feature "Individuals in Society: Archimedes and the Practical Application of Science.”) His mathematical research, covering many fields, was his greatest contribution to Western thought. In his book On Plane Equilibriums Archimedes dealt for the first time with the basic principles of mechanics, including the principle of the lever. He once said that if he were given a lever and a suitable place to stand, he could move the world. With his treatise On Floating Bodies he founded the science of hydrostatics.
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