<!-- factbase:517513 -->
# Hellenism

## Overview
Hellenism refers to the spread of Greek language, culture, art, and thought across the eastern Mediterranean and Near East following Alexander the Great's conquests. The Hellenistic period lasted from Alexander's death (323 BCE) until Roman absorption of the last successor kingdom with the death of Cleopatra VII (30 BCE). @t[323 BCE..30 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Period: 323–30 BCE (death of Alexander to death of Cleopatra VII) @t[323 BCE..30 BCE]
- Region: Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, Central Asia, Egypt
- Key kingdoms: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Empire, Antigonid Macedon, Pergamon
- Lingua franca: Koine Greek
- End marker: Battle of Actium (31 BCE) followed by Roman conquest of Egypt (30 BCE) [^3]

## Cultural Achievements
- Library of Alexandria and the Mouseion: by the 2nd century BCE, Alexandria had grown into a cosmopolitan metropolis of ~300,000 people [^3]
- Hellenistic sculpture: Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace, Laocoön
- Science: Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus
- Philosophy: Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism flourished [^1]

## Syncretism
- Greek and local cultures blended: Serapis (Egyptian-Greek deity), Gandhara art (Greek-Buddhist)
- Greek became the administrative and literary language from Egypt to Afghanistan
- Hellenistic Judaism: Septuagint translation, Philo of Alexandria [^2]

## Economy and Urban Development
- Alexander's Persian campaign injected vast quantities of silver bullion into the Greek monetary system, enabling standardized coinage across the Hellenistic world [^3]
- Major Hellenistic cities — Alexandria, Antioch, Pergamon — were planned on Hippodamian grid layouts with monumental public spaces blending Greek and local architectural traditions
- Long-distance trade networks connected the Mediterranean to Central Asia and India, facilitated by shared coinage standards and Koine Greek as a commercial language

## Legacy
- Roman culture was deeply Hellenized ("Captive Greece captured her rude conqueror" — Horace)
- Koine Greek became the language of the New Testament
- Hellenistic science and philosophy transmitted to the Islamic Golden Age

---
[^1]: Shipley, G. *The Greek World After Alexander* (Routledge, 2000)
[^2]: Green, P. *Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age* (1990)
[^3]: Erskine, A. (ed.) *A Companion to the Hellenistic World* (Blackwell, 2003)