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The Hellenistic Age: Athens to Alexander to Cleopatra. … with thanks to Prof. Murray for some of the slides …. Battle of Actium 31 BC. Alexander dies 323 BC. Timeline. From the Peloponnesian War to the succession of Alexander the Great.
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The Hellenistic Age:Athens to Alexander to Cleopatra … with thanks to Prof. Murray for some of the slides …
Battle of Actium 31 BC Alexander dies 323 BC Timeline Jackie Murray
From the Peloponnesian War to the succession of Alexander the Great • 404: Conclusion of Peloponnesian War, with Sparta victorious aided by the Persian empire (!) • 404-338: Leadership of Greece oscillates among Sparta, Corinth, Thebes & Athens, with frequent Persian intervention • 359: Philip II assumes the Macedonian throne • 338: Battle of Chaironeia, creation of League of Corinth (passages 1 & 2) • 337: Athenian democracy’s last gasp: law against tyranny (passage 3) Philip II of Macedon
The career of Alexander the Great • 356: Born to Philip & Olympias • 343: Aristotle hired as Alexander’s tutor • 338: Alexander leads cavalry at Battle of Chaironeia vs. the Greeks • 336: Assassination of Philip & succession of Alexander • 334: Alexander launches invasion of Persian empire “to avenge the Persian Wars,” landing first at Troy • 333: Alexander defeats King Darius at Battle of Issos (mosaic from Pompeii)
333 BCE Battle of Issos Jackie Murray
Key events in the career of Alexander • 332: Alexander conquers Egypt, visits the oracle of Zeus Ammon at Siwa, and declares himself the son of Zeus • 331: Alexander’s final defeat of Darius • 325: Alexander reaches the eastern limit of his empire – the Hydaspes River in India • 324: Alexander institutes cultural integration on a mass scale – 10,000 marriages of Macedonians & Persians (passage 4) • 323: Alexander dies in Babylon & his generals – the Diadochoi – divide his empire (passage 5) Alexander as Zeus-Ammon
Alexander as Pharaoh, the son of Zeus-Ammon: syncretism begins Zeus-Ammon (Cyrene) Alexander with hornsof Zeus Ammon Alexander as Pharaoh (Luxor)
Library at Alexandria: scholarship begins Jackie Murray
Alexander’s empire: a modern geographical perspective Jackie Murray
Hellenistic empires ca. 150 BCE Jackie Murray
Key events in the Hellenistic age • 197-191 BCE • Rome conquers most of Greece • 146 BCE • Rome destroys Corinth and Carthage, creates two new provinces – “Macedonia” and “Africa” • 51 BCE • Cleopatra VII, 18 years old and a direct descendant of Alexander’s general Ptolemy, assumes the Egyptian throne with her brother • 31 BCE • Octavian defeats Antony & Cleopatra, makes Egypt a Roman province
Cultural & intellectual developments:from polis to cosmopolis • democracy oligarchy & monarchy: Plato’s philosopher-king • duty to polis duty to self: individualism & introspection • rise of urbanism, professionalism, hellenism and koine • Athenian comedy shifts from the political to the personal • Athens university town and center for philosophical schools • Epicureanism • Stoicism • Cynicicsm • Skepticism • Neo-Platonism
Cultural & intellectual developments:from polis to cosmopolis • Epicureanism: shift from public life to inner peace, life of pleasure & contemplation, avoidance of pain; absence of divine activity (but not the gods); meden agan (“nothing in excess) • Stoicism: universe of logos (“divine reason”), brotherhood, and individual happiness as a response to alienation and fragmentation • Skepticism: rejection of true knowledge and embrace of change (“can’t step in the same river twice”), no happiness possible • Cynicism: rejection of all material goods, embrace of simplicity • Neo-Platonism: mastery of mystery cults • Isis & Osiris • Mithras • Eleusinian Mysteries