Hellenistic Period Flashcards
Alexander the Great conquered the entire Persian Empire within a short stretch of time. What did he do after the battle to consolidate the conquered territory and permanently bind the population to him? Was this a successful policy? (Explain why Alexander’s political strategy was or was not successful.)
(1) act as a legitimate successor to the Persian king;
(2) introduction of Persian court ceremonial (including proskynēsis);
(3) maintaining Persian administrative organization (particularly taxation);
(4) marriages of Macedonian noblemen to
Persian noblewomen;
(5) . Successful? Yes, because Alexander quickly made himself desirable as a legitimate successor. Yes, because his successors remained in power for centuries afterwards. No, because he alienated his own Macedonian nobility, or: he was unsuccessful because the empire fell apart after his death
The manual emphasizes the cultural diversity of the many cities of the Hellenistic empires, especially the Seleucid Empire. Was the imperialism of this Macedonian dynasty good or bad
for the cities of the empire?
That depends on which cities. Greek cities were favored, and Greeks could receive a special kind of citizenship, while non-Greeks were only granted a lower kind of citizenship. On the other hand, the Seleucid kings respected local traditions and behaved like local princes who also protected non-Greek cities and had temples rebuilt in Babylonia, for example. However,
non-Greek cities could no longer play a leading role on the world stage or become capitals. Only non-Greek cities could do that. Non-Greek cities were able to Hellenize to a certain extent, and it even seems that later a kind of Greek citizenship developed in Babylon that also applied to native Babylonians. See pp. 162 and especially 164-167.
The manual states that two different Isis cults coexisted in the Hellenistic period. Which two were they, and what is
the difference?
There is an Egyptian and a Greek Isis worship. The Greek one is an ‘international’ (Mediterranean), Hellenized cult of a super-powerful henotheistic goddess who is even
more powerful than Fate; the Egyptian is a local goddess in Egypt who is worshiped in the Egyptian way (henotheism)
According to the manual, after the fall of the Macedonian empires, there was more of a continuation of Hellenistic culture in the west than in the east. How did that happen?
The east was conquered by the Parthians, an Iranian-speaking people; Initially, Greek culture continued to play a role in the administration of the empire, but gradually the language and culture became increasingly Iranian (Iran, Mesopotamia, Armenia). The West joined the
Roman Empire because the Romans themselves were strongly influenced by GrecoHellenistic culture (Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Asia Minor; and of course Greece itself. ‘Hellenism’, possible descriptions: the Greekization of the East, a thin layer of veneer that only affected the elites, or the mixing of Greek and non-Greek cultures. The options also include - not mentioned in the manual: the appropriation and transformation of Greek culture by non-Greek cultures; a cosmopolitan ‘culture of empire’; an ‘international’ expression of interconnected cities, both Greek and non-Greek (this is emphasized in the lecture).
Define Alexander the Great
Alexander was a Macedonian king and military genius who ruled from 336–323 B.C. After inheriting Phillip II’s (his father) kingdom. Alexander created one of the largest empires in history by taking up the plans his murdered father, Philip II, had been unable to realise and brought them to a successful conclusion. He conquered the entire Persian empire, and Egypt, spreading Greek culture throughout his realm. His conquests ushered in a new phase in the history of Greece as well as that of the ancient Near East. That phase is called the ‘Hellenistic Age’.
Define oikoumenè
OIkoumene is a term used in ancient Greek from around the 8th to the 6th century BCE to describe the known or inhabited world. It represented the lands and regions that were explored, settled, or controlled by various civilisations in antiquity. It was important in the geographical and cultural understanding of the time.
Define Diaspora
Diaspora is the dispersal of a group from their ancestral homeland to other regions. It connotes a scattered community maintaining its cultural identity in its new locations. Under Alexander the Great, the Jewish community lived in diaspora. This was seen in Alexandria’s large Jewish community and in 63 BC when the Romans Incorporated Judea in the province of Syria. The Roman commander Pompey captured Jerusalem and sold many Jews on the slave markets. This intensified the Jewish diaspora in several parts of the Roman Empire and in Rome itself.
Define Seleucid Empire
After Alexander’s death, the lack of a suitable successor almost immediately led to the break-up of his empire into smaller states. The Seleucid kingdom was founded by Seleucus I in 323 and lasted until 64 B.C. It was the largest of the Hellenistic kingdoms, comprising almost the whole of Asia from present-day Turkey to Afghanistan, except for Palestine and southern Syria, which belonged to Egypt. In some respects, it was a continuation of the Persian empire under a Macedonian dynasty.
Define Polybius
Polybius was a Greek historian from 200- 120 BC. He wrote “Histories”, which focused on the rise of Rome to the position of hegemonic power of the Mediterranean covering 220- 146 BC. Roman historian Livy used some of his work. Polybius was also one of the thousand Archaeids who, in 167, were deported to Italy to guarantee the league’s docility towards Rome. He considered Rome’s rise to world power as the outcome of a conscious policy aiming at universal rule
Define Battle at Gaugamela
The Battle at Gaugamela in northern Iraq took place in 331 BCE. It was a decisive confrontation between Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius III. Alexander’s victory marked a turning point in his campaign to conquer the Persian Empire, solidifying his control over much of the region and leading to the eventual collapse of the Achaemenid Empire. Darius fled to Ecbatana. Alexander had himself crowned with a diadem as the ‘king of Asia’, and from then onwards, a diadem came to symbolise Hellenistic kingship.
