2. After the fall of Hellenic Greece came the period of Hellenism. Hellenism refers to the period initiated by Alexander the Great, a time of rich cultural fusion and interaction resulting from the empire he built. Alexander's expansion increased connections between Greek culture and other Mediterranean societies, as well as intensifying contacts with Persia and India. Although during this Hellenistic period, Greeks lost their political independence, Greek cultural influence survived; in fact, Greek (Western) culture matured, was enriched and spread East all the way to India.
3. We begin discussion of events after Alexander's premature death; fragmentation of Alexander's empire following his death in the late 4th century BCE created a vacum filled by Rome. Building on both the greatness and achievements of ancient Greece and the richness of Hellenistic culture, Roman civilization became a successful and influential culture, and empire. In this Unit we look at the early development of Roman culture; we continue with Rome in Unit 9.
In discussing these
three
topics, recognize, we are looking at the transition occurring in the
Mediterranean
between 500 - 200 BCE. Greek culture and influence became
more
"international" during the Hellenistic age, and the rich,
multi-cultural age of Hellenism paved the way
for the force, innovations and
greatness of
Roman civilization.
THE END OF THE HELLENIC AGE
Last Unit, we looked
(briefly)
at some of the intellectual, political and artistic accomplishments of
the Greeks during the Classical Age. Important ideas and cultural
influences emerged which had tremendous impact on the development of
Western
culture. This Unit, we discuss the same time period, the
Classical
Age of 500 - 338 BCE, but we look at the more destructive side of Greek
history - the continual problem of internal and regional warfare.
Between 500 - 338 BCE, the poleis of Hellas engaged in several violent
conflicts. For decades
Greeks fought to resist outside
invasion, and then turned around and fought with each other in several
devastating
conflicts. The destruction and losses from these wars ultimately
left the Greek poleis vulnerable to invasion from the north. The
kingdom of Macedon took advantage of this weakness and ended Greece's
independent
development. In fact, after this initial occupation in 338
BCE, the region of Greece continued to be under the rule of successive
conquering outside powers for almost 1500 years.
THE PERSIAN WARS
A major threat to the divided Greek poleis at the start of the Classical age was the powerful Persian Empire, expanding from the East. By the mid 5th century BCE, Persia had already conquered a number of Greek poleis in Asia Minor in the region of Ionia. Although Persia's rule was not cruelly repressive, the Ionian communities were still fundamentally "Greek" - the poleis in this region wanted independence and political autonomy. In 499 BCE, Ionian Greeks launched a failed uprising against Persia to restore independence; other poleis from the mainland Greek peninsula joined as allies in this rebellion, including the powerful polis of Athens. This conflict between Greek poleis and the Persian empire began decades of violence - the Persian Wars.
<>After crushing the Ionian Greeks, the Persians decided to invade the main region of Hellas, both as part of ongoing expansion, and to punish Athens and other poleis for their involvement in the Ionian rebellion. Between 499 - 478 BCE, a series of clashes took place between the Persian Empire and Greek poleis. Some of the poleis aligned together temporarily in the face of this shared threat. At one point, a Greek alliance was formed in 480, headed by the two most powerful poleis - Sparta and Athens. After forcing the Persians to retreat at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, Sparta withdrew from the alliance. In 478, another alliance formed. This time Sparta did not join and Athens became the uncontested leader of the alliance, which ultimately became the Delian League. (see map) Over the next 20 years, members of this league (which continued to have shifting membership) fought to protect Hellas and to free Ionian Greeks from Persian rule. Persia suffered important defeats and by 459 BCE was no longer a threat to the Greek peninsula.THE PELOPONNESIAN WARS
With the outside threat of Persia finally subsiding, Athens got greedy. Athens attempted to use its position as head of the Delian League to solidify long-term regional power over other smaller poleis - to create an Athenian Empire. Former Greek allies of Athens, happy to see the Persian threat diminished, were now faced with increased demands and economic pressures from Athens. Recognize, for these Greek poleis, being dominated by Athens was no better than being under the rule of the Persian Empire - they were both "foreign" powers. And the increasing regional dominance of Athens was completely unacceptable to Sparta. A war broke out between Sparta and Athens; other poleis joined up on either side.
What emerged was a Greek civil war - right on the heels of the exhausting conflict with Persia. This war, termed the 1st Peloponnesian War, lasted from 459 - 445 and ended with no real resolution; neither Sparta nor Athens clearly won or lost and this power struggle continued. Conflict erupted again a few years later in the even more destructive 2nd Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE.) This second devastating Greek civil war lasted for 27 years and divided virtually the entire region of Hellas. Although Sparta ultimately defeated Athens and ended its imperial ambitions, the entire region of Hellas was devastated. (go to description of the wars by Thucydides)
<>Warfare of course means casualties; the number and impact of casualties was substantial in these civilian based armies. War also spawns other crises such as famine, economic disruption, political instability and of course disease. The Peloponnesian Wars were therefore destructive to all involved. And, tragically, wars of Greek against Greek continued almost ceaselessly. From the end of the 400's through the middle of the 300's BCE, competition between Sparta and Thebes escalated into violence. In addition, several smaller wars occurred between other poleis. This dreary, repetitive story of warfare continued into the 4th century BCE. Greeks fought each other almost ceaselessly through their history, but especially during this Classical Age, a tragic pattern of Greek civilization (also seen in later European civilizations.) For all the intellectual brilliance and rational achievements of this culture, there was a constant, destructive undercurrent of violence. In the end, Hellas, by the 300's BCE was severely weakened by war and its destructive consequences. To the north Philip II, the ambitious king of Macedon, took advantage of this Greek self destruction.THE MACEDONIAN CONQUEST
The emerging kingdom of Macedon, a close neighbor, was clearly influenced by the advanced Greek culture to the south, but Macedon was not directly a part of Hellenic Greece. The Macedonians were viewed by the Greeks as a less sophisticated, rougher northern people. Under King Philip II, however, this kingdom proved superior in political and military power. In the 4th century BCE, Philip expanded Macedon's control into Hellas, relying on a successful mixture of military innovations and political manipulation, for example playing off Greek poleis against each other. Macedon was able to rapidly conquer and control much of the Hellas peninsula. (see map)
In 338 BCE, Philip defeated a combined Thebian/Athenian force. This is generally the date given for the end of Greek independence. A few poleis were effectively neutralized but not under direct occupation, including Sparta; the region of Hellas was under Macedonian control. The spread of Macedonian power became even more dramatic under Philip's successor, his son Alexander III - better known as Alexander the Great.