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: Egypt by Ptolemy,
Syria with Seleucus,
Macedonia by Cassander, and Lysimachus in
Thrace. Thus
kings became the generals-winners, who had also
distributed the territories of the empire. The
conflicts,
however, did not stop. Major opponents were Lysimachus
and Seleucus, until the battle of Corupedium in
Lydia (281 BC) and the death of Lysimachus.
The territories were distributed
between Seleucus and Cassander, and established also a
kingdom centered in Pergamon,
giving the impetus to be created more. After the death
of Ptolemy I Soter in 283 BC, of
Lysimachos in 281 BC and Seleucus in 280 BC, none of the
companions of Alexander left, who
together had managed to impose the macedonian domination
from Thrace to India. The four
kingdoms, Macedonia, Egypt, Syria and Pergamum survived
enough to have been part of a new
large empire, the Roman.
The
kingdoms of the East
Alexander created a new type of
kingship, the personal, which continued his successors to
perform in the East. In consolidating on this type of power
contributed the prices and the titles that were given lavishly
to Alexander, as the title of the pharaoh which was offered to
him by the conquered Egyptians. The most important kingdoms in
the East was Egypt and Syria, which were ruled by the Ptolemies
and the Seleucids, respectively.
The
Kingdom of Egypt
The kingdom of Egypt was established
by the general of Alexander, Ptolemy, and Cyprus belonged
to it as it's naval base. Egyptians coexisted in this kingdom
with other various ethnic groups.
Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemies for three consecutive
centuries, preserving the old administrative system of the
pharaohs. The leaders took care the Greeks to keep the
management positions, and the natives in the other positions of
the state machine. Their authority relied on the army and the
navy, while the economic growth- that made Alexandria the
largest commercial port in the Mediterranean - based on the
organized trade and it's taxation. The Ptolemies took care in
developing even more the culture, encouraging the presence of
scholars. But from the 2nd century BC several riots happened in
the kingdom of Egypt, and got several external attacks, so
gradually began to decline, with the final surrender, in 31 BC,
to the Romans.
The
kingdom of Syria
The kingdom of Syria, which was
founded by the powerful general of Alexander, Seleucus, was
extensively and it's center was the region of Syria.
The Seleucids kept the cohesion of the state, sometimes
with their strong army and sometimes with the establishment of
cities. Their kingdom had become the greatest power in the area,
as it had a rich economy, based on the agriculture and trade,
and considered to be the continuation of the empire of Alexander
the Great, having the same boundaries. As regards the
administrative system, the Seleucids followed the policy of the
Persian empire: the creation of satrapies. But by the
early 2nd century BC, the state began to show the first signs of
decline.
The
kingdoms of Greece, the city-states and the confederations
In the Greek mainland, the
Hellenistic era was marked by two major events: the fights
against the Gauls, which ended when Antigonus was able to
expel them in 277 BC, and the reviving of the state of Epirus,
which was interrupted in 272 BC, right after the death it's
king, Pyrrhus. An important role continued to play the
kingdom of Macedonia, in which, - as in that of Epirus - the
king was elected by the army - even if the kingship was
hereditary - , a practice which retained at all Greek tribes in
antiquity which were not organized into city-states.
The
kingdom of Macedonia
The Kingdom of Macedonia was
organized on a racial basis , and was distinguished by it's
single cultural identity. The mines and the forest lands
belonged to the king, who ceded them to the nobles as donations,
of a revocable type.
Also, many small and medium farmers were the macedonian army.
Large estates were assigned for farming to liberated
self-employed or slaves. The kingdom was infected primarily by
two factors: the lack of strong authority, with the parallel
invasion of the Gauls, and the persistence of the Kings, from
the 2nd century BC, to dominate in southern Greece, a fact that
weakened and the makedonian state and the other Greek forces.
Kingdom of Epirus
The Kingdom of Epirus was mostly
occupied by Dorians who where not evolved cultural or
social, having as a result to remain in obscurity until the
Hellenistic period. During Philip's and Alexander's era
Epirus was under the Macedonian subjection. The most powerful
tribe were the Molossians, and Olympias - the
mother of Alexander - was their descentant.
The Molossians introduced a different type of government, with
the royal power to be limited to a superior ruler, who
represented the people. The king and the people gathered once a
year in Passaron- a political and religious center - in
order to exchange vows of loyalty for a fair and equitable
governance. Pyrrhus a capable and great king, managed to make
Epirus a major power. His ambition, which never accomplished,
was to create a state similar in power to that of Alexander, and
conquer Macedonia and southern Greece. In his effort to dominate
in the west and subjugate
the Peloponnese, he exhausted and weakened his army. In
272 BC ingloriously died in a battle near Argos.
Athens, Sparta, Rhodes
In summary, the absolute monarchy
that was imposed across the macedonian territory, and the
competition between the rulers did not allow the growth and the
development of the city-states, which fell into decline. Most of
the Greek city-states were absorbed by the Hellenistic kingdoms,
others maintained their internal organization (Sparta,
Rhodes, Delos, etc.), while others created
confederations, ie federal states, with more importants the
Aetolian League - in the patterns of it's ancient
league - and the Achaean League, results of the
antimacedonian spirit of the period.
The peace of 311 BC and the independence of the Greek
cities-states did not returned their full autonomy, having been
surrounded by much larger forces. The years that followed were
agitated, by the presence of foreign generals, with looting, and
political passions. In a better situation were the greek cities
of Asia Minor, in Thrace and Pontus, as well as Rhodes,
Cyzicus and Byzantium, which became socially
autonomy or ensured neutrality that allowed them to develop
commercially.
Magna Grecia (South Italy) fortunate to have in an
hegemonic position the rich city of Taras (Taranto),
providing security and development even in smaller cities.
In Greece, however, especially in the Peloponnese, there was
full political and economic decline. In Athens, Cassander
appointed as a tyrant, Demetrius of Phalerum (317-307 BC)
and then Demetrius I of Macedon (the Besieger).
Athens, once again, rebelled
against Antigonus II Gonatas, led by the stoic
philisopher Chremonides. But the outcome was the same as
used to be in the past. Antigonus defeated Athens (the
Chremonidean War 267-262 BC), which had made a coalition
with other cities, and forced Chremonides to flee to the
Ptolemie's court.
Sparta, following an isolation policy in the 3rd century
BC, faced a serious social crisis, from which tried to recover
by a land reform and a debt erase for the citizens, who had
already begun to abandon the city. From the 700 free citizens,
only the one hundred had an agricultural piece of land.
According to Plutarch, "wealth not too late, was
collected in the hands of the few, and the city fell in poverty,
with the result of moral decadence and intensity of jealousy and
hatred against the rich". It's king, Agis IV (244 BC),
attempted to face the social problem of Sparta with
reformations, upgrading the round residents (perioeci) to
citizens.
But the strong reaction of the rich class, nullified his plans
and led to his murder. The same tried to do also Cleomenes
III, but with slow and controlled changes, which had an
impact on the rest of the Peloponnese, where the lower classes
faced similar situations.
The general of the Achaean League, facing the danger of
rebellions, asked for the help of Macedonia, which defeated
Cleomenes in Sellasia on the northern frontier of
Laconia, and installed guard in Sparta. The riots, however,
did not deterred, when Nabis took the power in Sparta, a
descentant of the royal family (206 BC), who tried to continue
the reforms of Cleomenes. He was murdered also (192 BC) after
the reactions of the other cities that feared the expansion of
the social changes. From then and until it's conquest by Rome,
Sparta was a member of the Achaean League.
Rhodes, due to its
geographical position and its navy, managed to evolve as Delos
did with its holy nature, in a commercial and financial center.
Strabo argued that the Rhodians, although didn't have a
democratic polity, were caring for their people. The rich
people, according to an old custom, helped those in need, and
provided employment to the poor, in order the city not to
produce deficit in human resources, especially in manning the
fleet.
The
Leagues
The Aetolian and the
Achaean League managed to avoid stagnation, which was the
fate of many other greek cities. The Aetolian confederation was
founded in the mid-4th century BC, with a loose political
association, the Aetolian Koinon (public), and resulted in it's
completed form after the repulse of the Gauls (278 BC), and the
undertaking of the protection of the Oracle of Delphi.
The regime was democratic and all citizens were entitled to
participate in the meetings and decisions. In the 3rd century BC
acquired even more power and authority, including all the cities
of the central Greece from Maliakos to the Corinthian
Gulf and the estuary of Achelous River.
The Achaean League in the
early 3rd century BC included the association of certain cities
of Achaia, but until the 2nd cent. BC, included almost the whole
Peloponnesus. The way that the Achaean League was organized was
different from that of the Aetolian, because it incorporates
elements of the monarchy system. The cities retained their
governments, and the confederation was governed by a council
which was attended by all the citizens who had reached the age
of 30, and by the rulers who had increased their powers. The
League retained a parliament (or senate) with 120 members, which
mainly concentrated on the external relations.
It is worth noting that the Achaean
League, which played an important role in Greek affairs during
the leadership of Aratus and Philopoemen, was the
last resistance against the Romans in 145 BC. Philopoemen from
Megalopolis distinguished for his administrative abilities in
organizing the army, and was considered as a charismatic leader;
Plutarch named him "the ultimate of the Greeks". Both two
leagues followed the same antimacedonian policy, so often came
into conflict with Macedonia. The fights, however, of the Greek
cities and especially the Aetolean League against the
Macedonians, gave to the Romans the opportunity to involve to
the Greek events. From the 2nd century BC emerged the gradual
extension of the Romans, who sought to defeat Macedonia and were
prepared for the conquest of Greece.
Hellenistic civilization
In the last three pre-Christian
centuries, the culture who developed in the Hellenistic kingdoms
and became universal, called Hellenistic. Came from the
intermixture of the Greek culture of the classical era with the
east, and spread because of the people's moving, the idea's and
the good's. This certainly was helped by the development of big
cities such as Alexandria, Antioch and Pergamum,
which converted into great cultural centers.
Alexandria
Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the
Great as the capital of Egypt and acquired glory because it's
privileged position in the Nile's delta, which enabled
the city to become a financial and cultural center of the
period. The museum - dedicated to the Muses - and the big
Library, where the processing of papyrus favored the
production of manuscripts, were two of the marvelous works of
the first Ptolemies which helped to make the city the major
cultural center of the Hellenistic world, which attracted the
greatest minds of that time. The teaching of the young
successors of the throne had been entrusted to the wise man. The
scholars were allowed for the first time to collect all old
works, which were corrected, filed, and were a source of
inspiration and admiration. The Alexandrian poetry and art
remained famous. The poetry revealed the hymn, the epic and the
epigram, which had hitherto been neglected, or new kind, such as
the pastoral elegy, the mime, etc. The Alexandrian art, although
cannot be assumed that was a development of the classic, was
influenced by the new ideas of the age. In the capital of Egypt
were living Greeks,
Egyptians and Jews, and important role in it's development
played the port, which was protected in it's entrance, by the
famous Lighthouse. The lighthouse, one of the Seven
Wonders of the ancient world, was a constructed tower on a small
island.
Antioch
Antioch was founded by the king of
Syria, Seleucus, in 300 BC, near the Orontes River. It
was called and Tetrapolis also, because it's division in
four settlements, with each of them surrounded by walls, like
the whole town. Originally settled by Macedonians, Athenians,
Cretans and Cyprians, and then several Asian ethnic groups put
the foundations of a multicultural center.
Pergamon
Pergamum, which was a fortified
citadel and was extended in three levels, was the capital of the
state of Attalids. Became an important cultural center
because of it's library, the museum and the famous altar of
Zeus, a gigantic work of the 2nd century BC, built to
commemorate the victory against the Gauls by the Pergamenes. The
Altar of Zeus is the most representative example of the style of
Pergamon and a benchmark among the sculptors of the hellenistic
and the classical period. It is worth noting that because the
lack of papyrus, the Pergamenes discovered a new kind of
paper, the parchment (pergamene).
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