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Book No. – 48 (History)
Book Name – Western Civilisation: Their History and Their Culture (Edward Mcnall)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
2. PHILIP OF MACEDON AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT
3. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC: TRENDS
4. HELLENISTIC CULTURE: PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
5. HELLENISTIC CULTURE: LITERATURE AND ART
6. THE FIRST GREAT AGE OF SCIENCE
7. THE BALANCE SHEET
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The Hellenistic Civilisation
Chapter – 6
Table of Contents
- Greek civilization was gravely weakened by continuous wars between city-states from 431 B.C. to 338 B.C..
- Alexander the Great emerged as a transformative figure, rescuing and transforming Greek civilization.
- In 338 B.C., Alexander’s father, Philip of Macedon, defeated a combined Athenian–Theban force, unifying Greece under his rule.
- Philip was murdered two years later, and his son Alexander succeeded him at the age of twenty.
- Alexander quickly consolidated his rule by eliminating rivals, and in 334 B.C. began his conquest of Asia with an army of 40,000.
- Over four years, Alexander won three major battles: Granicus (334 B.C.), Issus (333 B.C.), and Gaugamela (331 B.C.), conquering the Persian Empire including Asia Minor, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia.
- Rather than returning home, Alexander marched east to conquer Bactria (modern Afghanistan) and crossed the Indus River into India, battling Hindu armies with war elephants.
- After his troops refused to continue farther, Alexander returned to the Persian heartland, dying of an infectious diseasein 323 B.C. in Babylon, while preparing for an expansion to Arabia.
- Between 22 and 33, Alexander traveled over 20,000 miles, becoming the ruler of the largest empire in history.
- Alexander’s conquests laid the foundations for the Hellenistic civilization, which lasted until the early Christian era.
- The term “Hellenistic” means “Greek-like”, contrasting with Hellenic, which refers to purely Greek culture.
- Hellenistic civilization was a hybrid, blending Greek and Asian elements.
- Alexander, educated by Greek philosopher Aristotle, named cities after himself (e.g., Alexandria in Egypt), but adopted Oriental customs and attire.
- During the Hellenistic era, Greek became the language of government in Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt, and Greek philosophy and literature flourished throughout Western Asia.
- Greek-speaking rulers demanded to be worshipped as divinities.
- The Hellenistic world could not have existed without Alexander the Great and the Greeks, nor without the prior accomplishments of Cyrus the Great and the Persians.