Hellenistic Greece

Hellenistic Greece

Hellenistic Greece was a special time in history that came after Classical Greece and before Greece became part of the Roman Republic. It started when Alexander the Great died in 323 BC and ended in 146 BC with the Battle of Corinth, when the Romans defeated the Greeks and destroyed the city of Corinth. The final end came in 31 BC after the Battle of Actium, when Octavian defeated Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, taking over Alexandria, the last big center of Hellenistic Greece.

This time began with wars among Alexander’s former generals, called the wars of the Diadochi. They fought to control his big empire in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. Many kingdoms and city-states, such as the Kingdom of Macedonia, the Aetolian League, the Achaean League, and Sparta, were involved in these wars.

During this time, the importance of Greece itself grew less. Big cities like Alexandria and Antioch became the centers of Greek culture. Other important places included Pergamon, Ephesus, Rhodes, and Seleucia. The whole Eastern Mediterranean became more urban, with many new cities growing up.

Macedon and other Hellenistic kingdoms

Further information: History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

The adventures of Alexander changed the Greek cities. His travels showed Greeks faraway places, making old fights between cities seem less important. Many Greeks moved to new cities like Alexandria and Antioch, even as far as Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After Alexander died, his generals fought for power. They split his empire into new kingdoms. Macedon, led by Cassander, became one of these new powers. Cassander built a new city called Thessaloniki. Later, leaders like Lysimachus and Antigonus II took control. They fought each other and outside groups like the Gauls.

Antigonus II ruled until 239 BC. His family kept control until the Romans took over in 146 BC. Some Greek cities like Sparta stayed independent. The cities often fought, but Greece stayed important in the ancient world.

City states and leagues

Even though Greek cities had less power during this time, they were still important. Big cities like Athens and Ephesus kept growing and doing well. The cities sometimes fought each other, but they also joined together or made friends with stronger kingdoms to stay safe.

Groups of cities, called leagues, became more common. The Achaean League and the Aetolian League were two such groups. They were led by meetings of representatives from their cities. These leagues grew to include cities from far away places. The Achaean League included most of the Peloponnese except Sparta, and the Aetolian League reached into Phocis. They stood up to big powers like Macedon and even stopped an attack by people from Celtic invasion at Delphi.

Athens had lost a war and had soldiers from Macedon living in its port, the Piraeus. To fight back, Athens made friends with other leaders. Later, they worked with troops from Ptolemaic Egypt to win back some freedom. Athens honored their help by naming a part of the city after a Ptolemaic leader and creating special festivals in their honor. During this time, new styles of plays called New Comedy appeared, and new ways of thinking like Stoicism and Epicureanism became popular. As Egypt grew weaker, a new friend, the kingdom in Pergamon, started helping Athens instead.

Philip V

After Antigonus II died in 239 BC, the cities of the Achaean League rebelled. His son Demetrius II also died in 229 BC, leaving a young Philip V as king, with general Antigonus Doson guiding him. The Achaeans were mostly independent, even though they were under Ptolemy's rule, and they controlled much of southern Greece. Athens stayed out of these conflicts.

Sparta did not like the Achaeans. In 227 BC, Sparta's king Cleomenes III attacked and took control of the Achaean League. Aratus of Sicyon preferred to support distant Macedon over nearby Sparta. He joined forces with Doson, who defeated the Spartans in 222 BC and took over Sparta — the first time Sparta was controlled by another country.

When Doson died in 221 BC, Philip V became the new ruler. He was one of the last Macedonian kings who could try to unite Greece and keep it free from Rome, which was growing stronger. In 217 BC, he made peace with the Greek leagues through the Peace of Naupactus, controlling all of Greece except Athens, Rhodes, and Pergamum.

But in 215 BC, Philip made an alliance with Carthage, which was Rome’s enemy. This brought Rome into Greek affairs for the first time. Rome quickly made alliances with Rhodes and Pergamum and began the First Macedonian War in 212 BC. Though the war ended without a clear winner in 205 BC, Rome now saw Macedon as an enemy.

After Rome defeated Carthage in 202 BC, they turned their attention to the east. In 198 BC, the Second Macedonian War began. Philip lost many of his allies, and in 197 BC, he was defeated by the Roman leader Titus Quinctius Flamininus at the Cynoscephalae.

Although Flamininus admired Greek culture, Philip had to give up his navy and become an ally of Rome. At the Isthmian Games in 196 BC, Flamininus announced that all Greek cities were free. However, Rome placed soldiers in Corinth and Chalcis, and most Greek cities were placed under a league controlled by Rome. The freedom Rome promised was not real, as Rome ultimately controlled these cities and changed their governments to ones friendly to Rome.

Rise of Rome

In 192 BC, a war began between Rome and a ruler named Antiochus III. Antiochus brought a big army to Greece, and some cities hoped he would protect them from Rome. But Macedon, Rome's ally, supported Rome. In 191 BC, Roman soldiers defeated Antiochus at a place called Thermopylae, and he had to leave Greece. Rome's soldiers then went to Asia and won another battle against Antiochus. After this, Rome became a strong and lasting presence in Greece. Over the next few years, Rome got more involved in Greek affairs, often helping the side that lost a fight. Although Macedon was still its own country, it was now a friend to Rome. When the king of Macedon, Philip V, passed away in 179 BC, his son Perseus took over. Some people thought Perseus might try to challenge Rome’s power, especially with the help of Rome’s other ally, Eumenes II of Pergamum.

End of Greek independence

The Romans helped Greece after problems with Macedon. In 168 BC, a large Roman army beat the Macedonians at Pydna. The king, Perseus, was caught, and Macedon was split into smaller parts. Rome also took away the freedom of some Greek cities that had helped Macedon.

Later, in 146 BC, Rome beat the Achaean League at Corinth, ending Greek independence. Greece became a Roman protectorate, meaning Rome controlled it but did not rule it directly. Finally, in 27 BC, Rome fully took over Greece as part of its empire. Even though many battles happened, cities like Athens and Thessaloniki began to grow again under Roman rule.