The vast empire that Alexander the Great left at his death in 323 BC has few parallels. For the next three hundred years the Greeks controlled a complex of monarchies and city-states that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to India. F. W. Walbank's lucid and authoritative history of that Hellenistic world examines political events, describes the different social systems and mores of the people under Greek rule, traces important developments in literature and science, and discusses the new religious movements.

Spanning the period from Alexander the Great's accession to the throne in 336 BC to the defeat by Octavian of Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC, this volume provides a vivid account of the innovative civilization of the Hellenistic world.

Covering the period from the death of Alexander the Great to the celebrated defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at the hands of Augustus, this authoritative Companion explores the world that Alexander created but did not live to see. Comprises 29 original essays by leading international scholars. Essential reading for courses on Hellenistic history. Combines narrative and thematic approaches to the period. Draws on the very latest research. Covers a broad range of topics, spanning political, religious, social, economic and cultural history.

This is the first comprehensive sourcebook in English concentrating entirely on the Hellenistic age.

The contributors to this volume seek to decipher the Hellenistic citizens' views on vital elements of their society: the city, the ruler, religion, magic and astrology, everyday life and social relations (family and gender), morality, uses of the past, and the iconography of death. How did the changes in political and social ideas affect actions and practices, which in turn again altered concepts? Moreover, the authors distinguish between the views of the common people and the elite, the evidence from inscriptions (seen as popular sentiment) and the evidence from literature (from the elite). The authors' conclusions have broad ramifications for future scholars in a field that has not hitherto received much attention. This volume is essential reading on the early development of individualism and the history of ideas.

The Hellenistic era witnessed the overlap of antiquity’s two great Western civilizations, the Greek and the Roman. This was the epoch of Alexander’s vast expansion of the Greco-Macedonian world, the rise and fall of his successors’ major dynasties in Egypt and Asia, and, ultimately, the establishment of Rome as the first Mediterranean superpower. The Hellenistic Age chronicles the years 336 to 30 BCE, from the days of Philip and Alexander of Macedon to the death of Cleopatra and the final triumph of Caesar’s heir, the young Augustus. Peter Green’s remarkably far-ranging study covers the prevalent themes and events of those centuries: the Hellenization of an immense swath of the known world–from Egypt to India–by Alexander’s conquests; the lengthy and chaotic partition of this empire by rival Macedonian marshals after Alexander’s death; the decline of the polis (city state) as the predominant political institution; and, finally, Rome’s moment of transition from republican to imperial rule. Predictably, this is a story of war and power-politics, and of the developing fortunes of art, science, and statecraft in the areas where Alexander’s coming disseminated Hellenic culture. It is a rich narrative tapestry of warlords, libertines, philosophers, courtesans and courtiers, dramatists, historians, scientists, merchants, mercenaries, and provocateurs of every stripe, spun by an accomplished classicist with an uncanny knack for infusing life into the distant past, and applying fresh insights that make ancient history seem alarmingly relevant to our own times. To consider the three centuries prior to the dawn of the common era in a single short volume demands a scholar with a great command of both subject and narrative line. The Hellenistic Age is that rare book that manages to coalesce a broad spectrum of events, persons, and themes into one brief, indispensable, and amazingly accessible survey.