We explain what the Hellenistic Period was, how it originated and its main events. Also, its characteristics, sciences and arts.
During the Hellenistic Period, the development of the arts and sciences was encouraged.
What was the Hellenistic Period?
It is known as the Hellenistic Period, or Hellenism to the stage of the Ancient Age spanning from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC to the conquest of the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor by the Roman Republic in 31 BC.
This period is marked by the fragmentation of the Alexandrian Empire and the emergence of different independent kingdoms in the territories of Greece, Egypt, Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia and central Asia. In turn, the fusion of Greek culture with Eastern cultures resulted in the creation of a new type of culture, crossed by traditions of different origins. It is a period in which the arts, philosophy and applied sciences had great development, since policies of patronage and encouragement for artists and scholars in different kingdoms were implemented.
Characteristics of the Hellenistic period
The main characteristics of the Hellenistic Period are:
- The political fragmentation of the Alexandrian Empire.
- The expansion of greek cultural elements in Asia Minor and the Near East.
- The appearance of new cities as political and cultural centers of the ancient world.
- The conformation of new kingdomsunder the power of the Antigonid, Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties.
- The development of a religious syncretismwhich combined beliefs and myths from Greek culture with Eastern cults and customs.
Origin of the term “Hellenistic”
The term “Hellenistic” was first used in the work of German historian Johann Gustav Droysen (History of Hellenism(1836). “Hellenistic” comes from “Hellene,” the name the ancient Greeks used to refer to their cultural identity.
The author used this concept to name the historical process developed from which the Greek language and culture spread to the populations of the Near EastChronologically, this process is located between the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) and the Roman conquest of the last Hellenistic kingdom (31 BC). Geographically, it includes the Mediterranean world inhabited by the ancient Greeks and the territories conquered by Alexander the Great and, since then, Hellenized: Asia Minor, Egypt and the Near East (from the Levant to the Indus River).
Background
The conquests of Alexander the Great changed the political map of the ancient world.
Between 336 and 323 BC. C., Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, built an empire that brought together, for the first time, the most important civilizations of the ancient world. Through a series of military campaigns, he conquered the Greek world, Egypt, the Phoenician cities of the Levant, Babylon, and the Central Asian plateau to the Indus River.
During his reign, Alexander allowed the conquered peoples to keep their gods, their culture and their traditions.; but, in turn, he launched a policy to try to merge them. He incorporated Persian soldiers and officers into his armies and encouraged marriage between members of the Macedonian nobility with the local elites of the different regions.
In the year 323 BC. C., Alexander became seriously ill and died a few days later.leaving no defined line of succession and with a large, unorganized empire. After his death, the Macedonian, Egyptian and Persian generals who had formed his core of closest collaborators fought over the succession and, consequently, the empire began to disintegrate.
Political organization during the Hellenistic Period
After the death of Alexander the Great, the problem of succession to the throne arose and the difficulty of organizing, managing and integrating such a large empire.
At first, the diadochi (Macedonian generals) and the army supported the joint appointment of Alexander IV (Alexander the Great’s newborn son) and Philip III (Alexander the Great’s mentally handicapped half-brother), under the regency of close associates of the family group.
However, in fact, this group had no real power and, over time, The personal aspirations of many of the diadochi led to an internal war by imperial power.
By 281 BC, internal unity had disintegrated and several independent states were founded in its place:
- Macedoniawhich also controlled part of the Greek cities and was where the Antigonid dynasty was established.
- Egyptwith capital in Alexandria, under the Ptolemaic dynasty.
- Seleucid Empirewhich integrated the territories of the Levant, Mesopotamia and Central America, with its capital in Antioch.
In addition, other smaller kingdoms were created, such as Pergamon in Anatolia, Armenia and Cappadocia.
In the Hellenistic kingdoms, there were no precise rules of succession and Power was achieved through force and personal imposition. For this reason, conflicts between the various aspirants to the throne were very frequent and throughout the period the borders were changing.
When the Roman Republic began its territorial expansion towards the East, it found Hellenistic kingdoms weakened by internal disputes and continuous warfare between neighboring states.
Hellenistic culture
During the reign of Alexander the Great, Greek culture spread, which, in turn, was influenced by the cultures of the various civilizations integrated into the empire. There was a fusion of western and eastern elements which led to the emergence of a new hybrid culture, called Hellenism either Hellenistic culture.
The characteristic features of Hellenistic culture were:
- Religious syncretismThe Hellenistic religion was syncretic, that is, it mixed and made the classical Greek pantheon coexist with gods and deities from the East, such as Tyche, Serapis, Isis or Cybele.
- Promotion of sciences. The different kingdoms, especially Egypt during the Ptolemaic dynasty, encouraged the study and development of different sciences through patronage. This period was the time of the mathematician and geographer Eratosthenes (who established the principles of scientific cartography and calculated the circumference of the earth), the physicist Ctesibius (who was a pioneer in ballistics studies), and the physicians Herophilus and Erasistratus (who discovered fundamental elements of anatomy and the nervous, optical and reproductive systems).
- LiteratureLiterary scholarship and the critical study of Greek language and literature were deepened. This period saw the work of Callimachus, Zenodotus and Aristarchus, who prepared the canonical texts of Homer and other poets, which continued to be studied for centuries.
- plastic artsThe Hellenistic style reflects the combination of the old and the new. Its main characteristic is variety and experimentation. Hellenistic sculptors perfected the idealized human figure of the classical Greek period, but they also produced realistic images of individuals of all ages, genders and social classes. There is a deep interest in the individual as a special and unique subject. Of note from this period is the production of thousands of terracotta figurines, with craftsmanship and materials that made them accessible to a large part of the population.
- New cultural capitals. The Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt was determined to make Alexandria the cultural centre of the Greek world. The various rulers and their courts patronised intellectuals, encouraged the arts and founded cultural institutions. These included a cultural research centre called the Museum (because it was dedicated to the nine muses, divine patrons of art) and a large library, with the aim of containing copies of all books written in Greek. The library of Alexandria is believed to have held 700,000 papyrus scrolls. Other cities important for their cultural institutions were Athens, Antioch and Rhodes.
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References
- Grimal, P. (1992). “Introduction” in The Mediterranean world in ancient times: Hellenism and the rise of Rome (pp. 3-20). Twenty-first Century Editors.
- Burstein, S.M., Donlan, W., & Pomeroy, S.B. (2003). “Alexander’s Successors and the Cosmopolis” in The Ancient Greece. Political, social and cultural history (pp. 452-495). Criticism.
- Roldán Hervás, JM (1998). “Introduction” in The Hellenistic World. University of Salamanca.