Hellenistic Society, 323–30 B.C.E.

How did Alexander the Great’s conquests shape society in the Hellenistic period?

The Greek city-states wore themselves out fighting one another, and Philip II, the ruler of Macedonia, a kingdom in the north of Greece, gradually conquered one after another and took over their lands. He then turned against the Persian Empire but was killed by an assassin. His son Alexander continued the fight. A brilliant military leader, Alexander conquered the entire Persian Empire from Libya in the west to Bactria in the east (see Map 5.3). He also founded new cities in which Greek and local populations mixed, although he died while planning his next campaign. Alexander left behind an empire that quickly broke into smaller kingdoms, but more importantly, his death in 323 B.C.E. ushered in an era, the Hellenistic, in which Greek culture, the Greek language, and Greek thought spread as far as India, blending with local traditions. The end of the Hellenistic period is generally set at 30 B.C.E., the Roman conquest of the Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt, but many aspects of Hellenistic culture continued to flourish under Roman governance.