Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all time. He was born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia, and was the son of Phillip II, King of Macedonia.

His father married Cleopatra, a Macedonian girl of great nobility, and Alexander and his mother fled to the country of Epirus. Many years later Alexander returned and after the assignation of his father in 336 BC, the dream of conquering the Persian Empire fell on the shoulder’s of his successor, King Alexander III.

Phillip’s death sparked rebellions among many other nations. Alexander acted quickly and executed all his domestic enemies and even gained control of southern Greece.

He then set out on his quest of combining Greek culture with local cultures across the eastern world from Libya through to India. He established 33 Greek settlements and fused their cultures with that of the Hellenes. Only Alexander himself was capable of maintaining such an empire, as is seen in the years to follow his death.

MAP OF SEVEN HELLENISTIC KINGDOMS FOUND ON PAGE 113 OF TEXT

The Hellenistic Kingdoms were a product of the Macedonian generals of Alexander the Great. After his death in 323 BCE, his generals individually seized control of different parts of his empire, claimed themselves kings and continued his Hellenisation policy within their territory. Hellenisation involved establishing Greek cities and promoting Greek (Hellenic) culture. There were a total of four kingdoms established: - Macedonia under the Antigonid Dynasty

- Syria & Eastern Countries under the Seleucids

- The Attalid Kingdom in Asia Minor under Pergamum

- Egypt under Ptolemies

-Theocracy Monarchy Government-All kingdoms had different management styles due to the territory and its history-Greek cities independent “allies”-Had well financed mercenary forces to uphold law-Kings provided constant source of employment and adventure through their militaries-Most kingdoms were populated by non-Greeks-Many different dialects of the Greek language due to these kingdoms

- New opportunities in trade and manufacturing-Large part of wealth brought in by Alexander’s soldiers-Based on:

Agriculture, stockbreedingIron, copper, timber, resin, pitch, hemp, & flax were exported goods

-Secondary and tertiary economic activities in urban centers began to appear-3 Major Stimulants:1. The opening up of the vast land in between the Nile and the Indus River creating trade2. The great release of Persian gold & silver into circulation. This increased prices and speculation and increased investment3. Promotion of industry and trade by the government

- Greeks were the minority in the Hellenistic World

-Greeks and non-Greeks were segregated into different

societies

-Intermarriage between the two societies was common

-Increased temple building during this period

-Literature works increases (e.g. Theocritus introduced

pastoral mode into western literature)

-Art took on new forms of style (e.g. Depicting heroes, gods

and dynasties)

-Science was the greatest intellectual advancement during

this age (e.g. Very accurate estimation of the Earth’s

circumference)

All throughout the legacy of Alexander, women were kept

under strict control. They were married very young and

therefore taught their place and responsibilities very early in

life. In the Hellenistic world however, new opportunities arose

for women- upper class women that is.

In the economic world, women were shown to have increased involvement in things like making loans, selling property, and managing slaves. Although most of these transactions still required their official male guardians, Spartan women were a huge exception, being considerably wealthy and even owning 40% of the land. To contrast this, women in Athens were still extremely restricted and supervised.

This era was a huge advancement for women. In some areas of the Hellenistic world, women were allowed to pursue education in traditional fields like literature, music, and even athletics. Education opened up a whole new world of poets, artists, and scholars.

OF THE FIRST 8 PTOLEMIAC RULERS, 4 WED THEIR SISTERS. PTOLEMY II AND HIS SISTER WIFE ARSINOE II WERE BOTH WORSHIPPED AS GODS. SHE WAS ALSO THE FIRST EGYPTIAN QUEEN WHOSE PICTURE APPEARED ON A COIN WITH THAT OF HER HUSBAND.

This The creation of Hellenistic Monarchies gave way to Hellenistic Queens. In Macedonia, a pattern of alliance between mothers and sons provided openings for women to take an active role in politics.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAxfQpvmVLw&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVQTtD-Pwp4&feature=related

Art of the Hellenistic Era underwent dramatic transformations and evolved on the road paved previously by the Classical artist. While the Classical Greek concepts were not entirely abandoned, the artist of the Hellenistic era expanded his formal horizons with dramatic posing, sweeping lines, and high contrast of light, shadow and emotions. The conventions and rules of the classical period gave way to the experimentation and a sense of freedom that allowed the artist to explore his subjects from different unique points of view. the Idealism of classical art gave way to a higher degree of Naturalism which comes as a logical conclusion to the efforts of the great fourth century sculptors (Praxitelis, Skopas, and Lysipos) who worked towards a more realistic way of expressing the human figure.

The spearhead was by this date usually made of iron, but bronze, which does not rust, was used for the butt which would often be planted in the ground. Although it was hollow, it was still very heavy and if the shaft broke in battle, the butt could still be used as a weapon.

The Spearbutt

Light armed troops were also often employed by the Greeks to back up the heavy infantry. These were commonly specialist forces that consisted of archers from Crete and slingers from Rhodes. The sling was made from two strips of leather, linen, gut or twisted horsehair and things like small pebbles, clay balls, and later bullets of lead were used as ammunition.

Sling Bullets

Hellenistic theatres were very visual and audible. They were later designed having a high stage, with a marble frieze below and a short flight of steps up from the orchestra, where the chorus sang. The great Hellenistic theatre at Epidaurus had what is believed to have been a high, two-level stagehouse.

A bouleuterion was a building which housed citizens' representatives who assembled in order to confer and decide about public affairs. It is where the administration took place. The word Bouleuterion is composed from Greek 'boule' (council) and the suffix -terion (place for doing something). It is shaped as early Greek temples were shaped in a kind of square horse-shoe and it has tiered seating arrangement.

The temple of Athena is considerably smaller than the other temples of the Acropolis. It is the first building that greets the visitors who approach the Propylaia and is most widely known for the unique style that it was built with. It faces to the east and its entrance is lined with four massive columns that support a shallow porch. The west end is similarly treated with four Ionic columns and a porch, but they precede a blind wall. The inclusion of a tetrastyle (four columns) at the back of the temple was necessary for this side faced the entrance to the Acropolis.

When Alexander’s generals spread throughout the Hellenistic

Kingdoms, they took their Gods with them. Although there

was still numerous demonstrations of lively religious faith in

their gods and goddesses, there were also a noticeable

declines in the construction of temples and in the vitality of the

traditional Greek religion. This left the Greeks very receptive

to the religious cults of the eastern world.

The eastern religions that appealed to the Greeks the most were the mystery religions. Mystery cults, complete with their secret initiations and promises of salvation, seemed to offer appealing advantages to the mystery religions of the Greeks. The eastern mystery cults also greatly influenced the Greek religions and mystery cults as their temples were easily accessible throughout the Greek cities.All mystery religions were all based on the same fundamental

principles: the offer of salvation and eternal life. The Egyptian cult of Isis (goddess of women, marriage, and children) was one of the most popular mystery cults. Isis was said to have been the giver of civilization, who brought laws and letters of mankind. Mystery cults are also said to have paved the way for Christianity.

Bibliography• http://herculean.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/hellenistic-kingdoms-from-greece-to-india-alexander-the-great

%E2%80%99s-successor-kingdoms/• http://www.ancientanatolia.com/historical/hellenistic_period.htm • http://herculean.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/hellenistic-kingdoms-from-greece-to-india-alexander-the-great

%E2%80%99s-successor-kingdoms/• http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_Hellenistic_kingdom&alreadyAsked=1&rtitle=What_is_the_Hellenisti

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books.google.ca/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC&pg=RA1-PA463&lpg=RA1-PA463&dq=The+Hellenistic+Period+Social&source=bl&ots=gDXi91QHLN&sig=MIUu3Mg4iX2UvuGS9KabdLjagrM&hl=en&ei=tsu_SoSVFoiwsgOCsKE7&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=The%20Hellenistic%20Period%20Social&f=false

• http://www.greeklandscapes.com/greece/athens_museum_hellenistic.html• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/260411/Hellenistic-theatre• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouleuterion• http://www.ancient-greece.org/architecture/athena-nike.html • World History textbook, William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, 2004