Hellenism

In the year 323 BC, one of the world’s greatest conquerors died at the young age of 32. After 12 years of military campaigning, Alexander the Great managed to conquer the Achaemenid Persian Empire, securing the lands of Asia Minor, Assyria, Phoenicia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Media, Persia, and parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Southern Asia.[1] Verily, few military leaders would ever accomplish what Alexander the Great managed to accomplish. As a result of Alexander’s military conquests, he brought Greek culture and Greeks themselves to Africa and Asia. The territories under Alexander became a fusion of both Greek and traditional culture, and the old Greek prejudice towards foreign “barbaric” cultures became less prominent.[2] As a result of Alexander the Great and his conquests, the culture of Asia and Africa changed heavily.

The cause of Alexander’s death is still a mystery, one that even Sherlock Holmes cannot solve. Varies theories have been posited, including poison, fatigue, malaria, typhoid fever, and alcoholism.[3] On his death bed, Alexander was pressed to name a successor, since he had no apparent heir. His response was either “Kratisto” (to the strongest), “Krat’eroi” (to the stronger), or “Krater’oi” (to Craterus, an infantry general). It is likely that he said “Krater’oi,” since Alexander was particularly fond of this general, who was a crafty strategist. Craterus, though, was not around and the generals present may have chosen to hear “Krat’eroi.”[4] After Alexander’s death, the empire was jointly ruled by his half-brother Philip Arridaeus and his son Alexander IV. However, both were merely figureheads and the real control lay in the hands of Perdiccas, the regent, and Meleagar, his lieutenant. Soon, Perdiccas disposed of his rival Meleagar and the other infantry leaders. He rewarded his supporters at the Partition of Babylon by making them satraps of various parts of the empire. War eventually broke out between Perdiccas and his satraps and diadochi, or rival successors, where Perdiccas was assassinated. In the Partition of Tiparadius, Antipater was named the new regent and the various generals still shared parts of the empire. By then, the generals were already only interested in forming their own empires rather than uniting Alexander’s empire. Eventually, after continuous fighting, three major empires were formed by 270 BC: the Antigonid Empire in Greece by Antigonus, Seleucid Empire in Persia and Mesopotamia by Seleucus, and the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt by Ptolemy, and the Hellenistic era began. Eventually, all these empires fell to Roman rule.[5]