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The Fall of Athens and Hellas: Alexander and the Hellenistic World
The Hellenes were an independent people who found it difficult to unite and
cooperate except when faced by a common danger, as was presented them by the
Persians. Even then, Themistokles had resort to trickery to get the Spartans to work in
unison with Athens. And after the Persians were driven from the Aegean, the Delian
League members resented Athens guidance despite the general prosperity of the times.
When Athens became dominant as a result of their salvation of Hellas and power from
her League-turned-Empire, again the Hellenes united against her and defeated her (she
was spared utter destruction only because she had saved Hellas from the Persians). But
with Athens defeated, there was no common enemy and again the Hellenes began
squabbling amongst themselves for domination until the approach of Philip and
Alexander from Makedonia to the north.
Athens was defeated in 404 BC, her walls destroyed, her democracy disbanded
and replaced by a Board of Thirty Tyrants. This Board put Sokrates to death. The
democracy was reestablished in 403 BC as Sparta was too weak to stop it. Athens
suffered greatly from the war. Her male population was depleted, the skilled workers and
other foreign professionals had abandoned her and her naval forces were greatly reduced.
Politicians found it necessary to be orators as well as foreign and financial experts. They
were no longer required to be generals, as this became a professional position. The
disparate distribution of wealth became even more apparent with the loss of the middle
class. The rich paid the bulk of the taxes, but also enjoyed great social distinctions. The
poor became poorer as the economy collapsed. Some served as mercenary soldiers
(Xenophon records an expedition of 13,000 in Persia in the Anabasis). Lykurgos forbade
rich women to ride in chariots so the poor would not be so cognizant of their lack. Increasingly individuals looked out for their own self-interests and were ready to abuse
the state for their own personal interests. These personal strivings heightened
class-consciousness. Socialist ideas began to appear (Plato's Republic). Epikuros advised
individuals to retire from society and enjoy themselves with their inner circle of friends.
Sparta was essentially decimated by the war. Though victorious, her male
citizenry was reduced to 2,000. Property was owned mostly by the women. This gave
them new freedoms and powers, which they began to use and enjoy in an un-Spartan-like
manner. Sparta could not control the Peloponnesian League. She quickly lost control of
Athens, which she tried to replace as the dominant power in Hellas. Sparta established
oligarchies of 10 men in the cities she controlled, but these were generally so vicious that
they were quickly replaced. Sparta then tried to engage in a war against a resurgent
Persia by organizing an army from the other Hellenic poleis. In 395, Thebes, Korinth,
Argos and Athens united against an increasingly burdensome Sparta and began the
Korinthian Wars (395 - 387 BC). In 394 BC, Konon, in command of a Persian fleet,
defeated a Spartan fleet and then sailed to Athens and rebuilt the walls. Athens was then
able to recover some of her maritime empire. Iphikrates then trained a light infantry unit,
which had recently become an important part of warfare. With this unit, he attacked a
Spartan army near Korinth and defeated it. This was one of only six such Spartan
battalions. Sparta concluded a peace with Persia, and all Hellenes were called to Sardis to
hear the terms of the Persian Peace (387 BC). Athens was forced to give up her empire.
Other poleis were similarly weakened, which strengthened Sparta. Sparta then seized the
Kadmeia from Thebes, though technically they were at peace (382 BC). Briefly Sparta
again became the dominant Hellenic polis. Sparta also concluded a treaty with Dionysius,
tyrant of Sicily and Magna Graeca. Hellas had achieved the greatest peace she would
ever know before foreign domination. But the cost was a policy of blood and iron which
offended an increasingly ethical Hellas.
Athens called on all Hellenic poleis to unite against Spartan tyranny and formed
the Second Athenian confederacy in 377 BC. This time, all members were equal with
equal votes of the representatives sent to Athens. Also, military levies were issued
because this Confederacy began a six year war with Sparta in the same year. When
Athens tried to secure a peace with Sparta in 371 BC, Thebes left the Confederacy to
create her own empire in Boeotia. Sparta and Athens invited all the forces around the
Mediterranean to join in and a "universal" peace was concluded. In the same year Sparta
sent an army of 10,000 against Thebes at Leuktra. Sparta lost and was reduced to 1,000
male citizens. Thebes then attacked Sparta with an army of 40,000, but Sparta was able to
hold out. However she dissolved her home empire, freeing the helots, who became
citizens, and creating the state of Messenia. Thebes now was dominant and began to
increase the size of her empire. In 362, other Hellenes sent an army of 22,000 against a
Theban army of 40,000 at Mantinaia. Thebes lost. Hellas could not seem to enjoy her
period of freedom from external threats without fighting amongst themselves. They could
only unite when forced to by outside forces, which were coming from the north.
Archelaus (413 - 399 BC) was the king of Makedonia, a country to the north of
Hellas. The Makedonians were considered barbarians because they did not speak Greek.
He united the tribes, built roads and cultivated Hellenic culture (Euripides is said to have
visited Archilaus' court). His son Philip was sent at the age of 15 as a hostage to Thebes
(when it was expanding its empire) where he learned Hellenic ways and aspired to
Hellenize Makedonia. At the age of 23 he became king of Makedonia. In 357, he seized
the gold mines of Mt. Pangaios and used the money to purchase the best professional
army then available. He then moved south against Hellas into the power vacuum left after
the fall of Thebes. In 355 he took the Athenian colonies in the Chalkidike .In 351, the
great Athenian orator Demosthenes issued his 1st of 3 Philippics encouraging the
Hellenes to unite against Philip and the barbarian Makedonians. After years of
maneuverings and encroachments, Philip met a combined Athenian - Theban army at
Charonaia in 338 and was victorious. Rather than punish Athens, respecting her high
cultural level, he forced her to become his ally. During the battle, his son Alexander
showed his military prowess by his skillful use of the cavalry.
Alexander was born at the Makedonian capital of Pella in 356. He was a natural
athlete, fair-complected, clean-shaven, and drank very little. In 343, Philip hired Aristotle
to become Alexander's teacher. Aristotle thoroughly indoctrinated Alexander in political
science and instilled in him a fair regard for the other sciences. Alexander was said to
have sent specimens to Aristotle from various parts of the Near East during his travels of
conquest. Like the Hellenes, Alexander's basic text book was Homer. From this
Alexander gained an emulation for Achilles, and hoped for a similar reputation.
After the battle of Charonaia, Philip assembled the Hellenic poleis in Korinth,
where he gave them their freedom if they allied themselves with him. All but Thebes
accepted: Philip razed the city to the ground, except for the temples and Pindar's home,
and killed the inhabitants. He then planned an invasion of the Persian empire, but was
murdered during a wedding banquet in 336 (the assassins were caught and killed, so it is
not known who was behind the assassination). Alexander assumed the throne and formed
the Korinthian League, of which he was the commander-in-chief. In 334, Alexander set
out for Persia with a combined Hellenic- Makedonian army under the generals
Antigonas, Seleukis and Ptolemy.
Having crossed the Hellespont, Alexander stopped in at Troy to pay homage to
memory of Achilles. His first engagement with the Persians was at the River Granicos in
334: Alexander was almost killed, but was saved by his friend Black Kleitos. He
continued south along the west coast of Asia Minor conquering the poleis which the
Persians regained after the Persian Peace of 387 and established democracies in them. In
333 he turned inland. At Gordiom he was shown the famous Knot of Gordiom (legend
had it that he who untied it who inherit the Persian Empire: Alexander cut it in half with
his sword). He met the Persian king Darios for the first time at Issos. Though
out-numbered 30,000 - 100,000, Alexander was victorious and lost only 450, men. He
also captured Darios' family. Alexander then continued down the Levantine coast where
most of the cities gave over to him. Tyre refused him entry. He set-up a siege which
lasted for several months. When he finally entered the city in July, 332, he had the
inhabitants slaughtered.
In the same year, Darios offered Alexander money and lands for the return of his
family and cessation of all hostilities. Alexander refused and entered Egypt without
resistance. In Egypt, he established the city of Alexandria to be the political, economic
and cultural center of his empire. Alexander then left Egypt and met Darios again at
Gaugamela in 331, where he was again out-numbered. Through clever maneuverings,
Alexander was again victorious. He routed Darios' forces, and Darios fled. Though
Alexander pursued Darios, he lost him. As Alexander moved east, he established towns
where his men settled, taking wives from the indigenous population. This helped spread
Hellenic culture, influence and power.
As Alexander continued east, he first entered Babylon, then Suza and finally the
Persian capital of Persepolis. Here the fighting was fierce, but Alexander was victorious.
He torched the palace to signify the end of the Persian empire (nevertheless, significant
remains still exist in southeastern Iran). Alexander then set for Ekbatana in pursuit of
Darios. On the way, he shed his own ways for oriental ways, ways foreign to his Hellenic
and Makedonian soldiers. When he reached Baktria (Afghanistan), he found Darios
murdered. Between 329 and 327, he fought the Baktrian tribes in the north. One night,
during a drunken brawl, he killed his friend Kleitos. All the while many Asiatics were
captured and added to his army to give him an international army. In Baktria he met and
married the beautiful princess Roxanne, who bore Alexander his only son, murdered 11
years later. While in the east, Alexander also had himself deified by the population,
encouraging them to accept him their 1 lord and master.
In 326, Alexander entered the Indus Valley. Taking Indian Princes as allies, he
pursued the Indian Rajah Poros. Crossing the Indus River, he met and defeated Poros.
Here he founded the city of Bucephalia, so named after his horse. He intended to
continue east but his men refused and he was forced to return west. In 325, he returned to
Suza, where he began the task of Hellenizing the east. He set Attic coinage as the
standard for economic transactions. He married Darios' daughter Barsine. He intended a
united empire from Hellas to the Indus River Valley. He had founded some 70 cities in
which Hellenes were left in control. In 323, Alexander entered the city of Babylon with
the following titles: King of Makedonia, Commander-In-Chief of the Korinthian League,
Great King of the Persians, Suzerain of the Indian Rajahs, Ally of the Ionian poleis, and
God in Egypt and Hellas. However, in June, after a swim in Euphrates, Alexander caught
a fever and this god died. He was buried in Alexandria.
After Alexander's death, his generals Antigonas, Seleukis and Ptolemy divided
the empire. Ptolemy took Egypt; Seleukis took the Tigris - Euphrates valley and east to
the Indus Valley, while Antigonas took Asia Minor. Another, Antipator, took Hellas and
Makedonia. In 308, Seleukis ceded the Indus Valley to the Mauryan Prince Chandra in
exchange for 500 war elephants. In 307 , the Great Museom, a center for literature and
science, was established in Alexandria. In 301, Antipator, Ptolemy and Seleukis allied
and attacked Antigonas at Ipsos and defeated him. Asia minor was divided between
Antipator and Seleukis. From this point on, the generals and their armies fought over
pieces of the empire. The Ptolemies remained in power in Egypt until the time of
Cleopatra in 30. The Seleukids found themselves pressed from the east, Bactria, by the
rise of the Parthians, who would eventually take Mesopotamia (241). In 223 Antiochos
took control of what was left of the Seleukid Empire. In 200, he also took control of
Palestine. The Hellenes, after they were freed from Antipator's successors, organized
themselves into a League.
But in 200, Hellas found itself again under pressure from Makedonia to the north.
They called on Rome to the west, which had just completed a war with Carthage (202) in
north Africa, for help. Between 199 and 197, the Roman general T. Quinctius Flaminius
helped the Hellenes fight Makedonia, after which he announced Hellas free and they, as
the Achaean League, became allies with Rome. But soon after, the defeated
Carthaginian general Hannibal went to Hellas and roused the poleis against Rome. In
190, L. Cornelius Scipio and his brother, P.Scipio Africanus, who earned the nickname
Africanus for the defeat of Hannibal and Carthage in 202, defeated the Hellenes. Over the
next several decades, the Hellenes, once again uncomfortable under foreign domination,
again revolted. In 146, disgusted with Hellenic rebellions, Rome sent L. Mummius who
defeated the Hellenes, sacked the city of Korinth, after which many Hellenic slaves and
art works were sent to Rome, and dissolved the Achaean League. Hellas became the
Roman province of Achaea.
After Antiochos gained control of Palestine in 200, the Hebrews began to resist
gentile (non-Jew) domination. In 166 their resistance became violent. In 142, a Macabean
Jew named Simon freed Judea from Antiochos' heirs. In 67, the Roman general Gn.
Pompeius conquered Judea and entered their temple, its inner sanctuary, on his horse,
which enraged the Jews. From then until 4, Rome ruled Judea through puppet kings like
Herod Antipater and Herod the Great. After this year, however, Judeah was reduced to
the status of a province and ruled through proconsuls, the most famous of which is, of
course, Pontius Pilatus. But under direct Roman rule, Jewish resistance intensified. A
spirit of nationalism developed as the Jews looked for the messiah, a concept developed
during their Babylonian captivity. Many messiahs came forward, the most notable being
Jesus of Nazareth. Rome finally became disgusted with Jewish resistance and sacked
Jerusalem and the rest of Judeah in 69 AD under the future emperor Titus.
The period between Alexander and the Romans is called the Hellenistic period. It
was a time of social and political uncertainty, but general peace and prosperity. Trade
with the far east, India and China, increased. Intellectual pursuits in both philosophy and
science flourished. A blend of Hellenic and Oriental customs developed which was called
Hellenistic. The riches of the times caused many of the wars which occurred in the east
Mediterranean, and no doubt lured Rome into the disturbances. One common language
developed in the east at this time, Koine Greek, a simplification of Attic (Athenian)
Greek. While Athens remained the center of philosophical and rhetorical studies,
Alexandria emerged as the center of economic and scientific energies.
In approximately 800 BC, written Greek appeared in the three dialects: Doric, Ionic and
Aeolian. In about 750 BC, Homer's Iliad (concerning the battle between the warriors
Achilles and Hektor during the last years of the Trojan War) and Odyssey (about the
wanderings of the crafty Odysseos) appeared. .All events were attributed to the gods'
desires as allowed by Zeus and the fates. In about 700 BC, Hesiod's Theogony, a
geneology of the gods, and Works and Days, a farmer's almanac, appeared. These
authors were said to have lived in the Ionian poleis. Also in about 700 BC, the Lyric
poets appeared in Ionia and, to some extent, in Hellas.
-Arxiloxos (680 - 640 BC) was a mercenary soldier whose poetry was full of
passion:
I am two things: a fighter who follows the Master of
Battles, and one who understands the gift of the Muses.
By spear is kneaded the bread I eat, by spear my Ismaric
wine is won which I drink leaning upon my spear.
Some barbarian is waving my shield, since I was obliged
to leave that perfectly good piece of equipment behind
under a bush.But I got away, so what does it matter? Let
the shield go.I can buy another equally good.
One thing I understand: to come back with deadly evil at
the man who does me wrong.
I will make nothing better by crying. will make nothing
worse by giving myself what entertainment I can.
Tyrtaeos (650 - 600 BC) was a Spartan warrior who believed in the Spartan
lifestyle:
I would not say anything for a man nor take any account
of him for any speed of his feet or wrestling skill he
might have, nor if he had the size of a Kyklops and
strength to go with it, not if he could outrun Boreas,
the North Wind of Thrace, not if he were more handsome
than Tithonos or had the riches Midas had, ...not if he
were more a king than Tantalid Pelops, or had the power of
speech and persuasion Adrostas had, nor if he had all
splendors except for a fighting spirit. For no man ever
proves himself a good man in war unless he can endure to
face the blood and slaughter, go close against the enemy
and fight with his hands. Here is courage, mankind's
finest possession, here is the noblest prize that a young
man can endeavor to win, and it is a good thing his city
and all the people share with him when a man plants his
feet and stands in the foremost spears, relentlessly, all
thought of foul flight completely forgotten, and has well
trained his heart to be steadfast and endure, and with
words encourage the man who is stationed beside him.
-Alkaeos (620 - 550 BC) was an aristocrat from Mytilene:
I cannot understand how the winds are set against each
other. Now from this side and now from that the waves
roll. We between them run with the wind in our black sail
driven, hard-pressed and laboring under the giant storm.
All round the mast-steps washes the sea we shipped.you
can see through the sail already where there are opening
rents within it. The forestays slacken ....
[this is about politics in his city under the approaches of the Lydian kings
Gyges and Kroessos].
-Sappho (620 - 550 BC) was a black priestess of Aphrodite in Mytilene:
Throned in splendor, deathless, O Aphrodite, child of
Zeus, charm-fashioner, I entreat you not with griefs and
bitternesses to break my spirit, O goddess. Standing by me
rather, if once before now far away you heard, when I
called upon you, left your father's dwelling place and
descended, yolking the golden chariot to sparrows, who
fairly drew you down in speed aslant the black world, the
bright air trembling at the heart to the pulse of countless
fluttering wing-beats. Swiftly then they came, and you,
blessed lady, smiling on me out of immortal beauty, asked
what that affliction was on me, why I called thus upon thee,
what beyond all else I would have befall my tortured heart:
"Whom then would you have Persuasion force to serve the
desire in your heart? Who is it, Sappho, that hurts you?
Though she now escapes you, she soon will follow; though
she takes not gifts from you, she will give them; though
she loves not, yet she will surely love you even
willingly." In such guise come even again and set me free
from doubt and sorrow. Accomplish all those things my heart
desires to be done. Appear and stand at my shoulder.
-Solon, the constitutional reformer of Athens, whose poetry has already been
introduced.
In about 585 BC, philosophers (lovers of wisdom) appeared also along the Ionian
coast and attempted to explain nature and its interactions (how it changed and yet stayed
the same) without resorting to the gods. They never fully escaped resort to the gods,
however, as they generally required a Divine Mind to explain the order and processes
which kept chaos at bay.
-Thales of Miletos believed everything could be explained by the process of
WATER condensing and rarifying.
-Anaximander of Miletos believed there were STUFFS which mixed when
growing and separated after dying so as to return to their original source and repeat the
process:
"From what source things arise, to that source they return
of necessity when they are destroyed ...."
-Anaxemenes believed the source of all STUFFS was AIR, which condensed and
rarified into things of the universe.
-Heraklitos of Ephesos thought everything was a changing pattern led by a
GUIDING FORCE:
"This world ...was ever,
is now, and ever shall be an everlasting FIRE."
-Pythogoras of Croton (S.Italy) seems to have been a mystic rather than a
philosopher (for the Greeks). He believed in the
Hindu (India) belief in
REINCARNATION (he was said to have refuse to step even on bugs for fear it might at
one time have been or be one of his friends). He considered 1 the perfect number (the
1 universal spirit which was ordered and limited), which was the source of the perfect
unit (1, 2, 3, 4), a four-sided triangle .....
-Xenophanes of Kolophon believed in the DIVINE MIND and that the earth was
the source of all things as guided by this divine mind; that the GODS HAD NO
REALITY except in the mind:
“Mortals suppose the gods are born and have cloths
and voices and shapes like their own.But if oxen ...had
hands or could paint ...and fashion works as men do,
[they] would paint [ox-like] images of gods ....There is
one god, among gods and men the greatest, not at all like
mortals in body or mind..He sees as a whole, thinks as a
whole, and hears as a whole.But without toil he moves
everything by the thought of his mind ....Everything
comes from the earth and returns to the earth in the end."
-Parmenides of Elea (S.Italy) believed in one, indestructibe
uncreated reality:
"THINKING AND BEING ARE
unchangeable and
THE SAME THING."
-Empedocles of Sicily believed in unchanging, un-created, indestructible
STUFFS (EARTH, FIRE, WATER and AIR) and two moving forces (LOVE and
HATE) which caused the STUFFS to mix and separate according to a never-ending
cyle between ORDER (when the STUFFS are mixed) and CHAOS (when
the
STUFFS are separated).
-Anaxagoras of Athens, teacher of both Sokrates and Perikles, believed in
indestructible, unchangeable STUFFS which mixed and remixed through EMPTY
SPACE according to a pattern set by the DIVINE MIND.
-Leukippos believed in MINUTE BITS of STUFFS, indestructible, unchangeable
and un-created.
-Demokritos
called
these
UN-CREATED,
INDESTRUCTIBLE,
UNCHANGEABLE minute bits ATOMS which mingled LIKE WITH LIKE, as
directed by the DIVINE MIND.
This process of explanation was broken with Sokrates and Plato. Sokrates was
the student of Anaxagoras, but rejected the study of natural sciences in hopes of
discovering the truth. During his day there were the philosophers espousing opinions
about the nature of reality and Sophists, who feigning knowledge through the power of
their rhetoric and teaching others how to do the same. Sokrates once went to Delphi with
a friend, who asked the Pythia, Apollo's prophetess, who was the smartest man.She
replied that Sokrates was. She also told him, "Know yourself." He returned to Athens
and began questioning the men he thought were smarter than he. He started with the
skilled craftsmen, who seemed to know their crafts, but after questioning them, he found
they only knew how to do things better than others. He then questioned the Sophists,
but found their explanations lacking in substance. In the end, he discovered that the
Pythia was correct, that he was the smartest man because at least he knew that he really
knew nothing, while everyone else only thought they knew waht they claimed to know.
He was spoofed by Aristophanes in the Comedy the Clouds. He was condemned to death
by the Board of 30 Tyrants after Athens' fall on the grounds of Medism, introducing
foreign gods, not believing in the state gods and corrupting the youth. Though given the
chance to escape before the punishment, he chose the punishment, saying that he had
served the state and its laws all his life, and would not abandon them when they turned
against him. Sokrates died by drinking hemlock, which put every muscle in his body to
sleep.
A student of Sokrates was Plato, only 19 when Sokrates died. Plato's uncle was
Critias, leader of the Board of Thirty Tyrants. Plato spent many years questioning people
like Xenophon about what Sokrates said.Plato wrote a number of Dialogues of Sokrates,
which are our only source of what Sokrates said. After these Dialogues, Plato wrote the
Republic, in which he described the perfect state. This state was modelled after the
Spartan constitution.Plato rejected the democratic Athenian constitution, which allowed
Sokrates' death. In it, he described a state wherein men did what they were best at, and
received their needs from the state.The state was run by a true aristocracy, rule by the
best, in this state the best being those educated in political science. In this work, Plato
described his belief in the Divine Mind. He stated all men had a small part of this Divine
Mid within themselves. This Divine Mind had within it the Ideal Shape of all things.
Because men had a part of this Divine Mind within them, they also had a part of these
Ideal Shape within them and so could recognize things in this world, dim images of the
Ideal Shapes. After the Republic, Plato's writing took on a different nature, as though
he rejected Sokrates' beliefs, or had fulfilled his mission, to explain his teacher's ideals.
Plato taught others in his school, the Lyceom.
One of Plato's students was Aristotle. Aristotle preferred the more pragmatic
studies of the natural sciences. However, like those before him, he relied on observations
and logic rather than instruments, which the Greeks never fully developed. He followed a
process of logic known as Deduction. Deductive logic seeks to define specifics from
generally or universally held premises or beliefs. He also wrote a system of Ethics based
on logic, but did not acknowledge the role of god in man's life. Though logic led
Aristotle into many inaccuracies, many of his theses were considered proven well into
the Renaissance of western Europe (when first rediscovered, Aristotle thoroughly upset
the KNOWLEDGE of western Europe as accepted by the Catholic Church at that time,
especially his system of Ethics). Aristotle is best known for his development of
taxonomy, wherein he observed, described and categorized his material. Through
taxonomy began the process which became the basis for the western sciences: political
science, botany, biology, etc. Aristotle opened a school in Athens called the Academy.
At about the same time as Aristotle, another philosopher, Epikuros, began
teaching. Epikuros subscribed to the atomic theory, and by it proved not only that there
were no gods but that man did not continue after death. He lived during a time when
society's customs were breaking down, when a city's fate was held by the nearest general
with the largest army, and individuals had little impact on the world or even control over
his own life. Epikuros believed man should enjoy his life to the fullest extent. To this
end he also believed man should retire from society and enjoy his life with friends in a
garden. However, Epkcuros did not believe man should simply indulge his sensual
pleasures. Rather, he proposed that man adhere to Golden Mean in his enjoyments, or
General Moderation. He would say that to drink a lot of alcohol would certainly give
man great pleasure at that moment, but that it would also create great pain afterwards.
Therefore he would suggest that man drink alcohol in only moderate amounts.
Not much later, Zeno taught a philosophy from a Stoa (porch) in Athens, which
gave the name Stoacism to his beliefs. Zeno believed in a universal spirit, a small part of
which is in each man. A man's goal was to return to this universal spirit after death. After
death, a man returned to this spirit in greater or lesser glory according to what he did in
this world. Unlike Epicuros, Zeno believed man should involve himself with other men.He believed that because we had a part of the spirit within us, there was a Universal
Brotherhood of Man. Because of this, man was to help other men as he could, so long as
it did not endanger his own soul. And because man was in this world for a very brief
time, because "reality" was the spirit, man should not let external sensations like pleasure
and pain sway him from his ultimate goal. Zeno is also known for his Paradox, in which
he proved movement from point A to point B was impossible. To reach point B, one had
to reach the half-way point. To reach this point, one had to reach its half-way, and so on
ad infinitum. Because there was an infinite number of half-way points, and because a
man could never achieve an infinite number of half-way points, man cannot move.
Two other philosophies which developed during the Hellenistic period was
Kynicism and Skepticism. Kynics believed in their personal freedom. They believed that
society's customs were limiting to their freedoms. Therefore they rejected them, refused
to abide by them. One man was known to never eat what normal men would eat. Another
was said to have spent his life in an empty bathtub. Skeptics simply questioned all of
society's customs and beliefs. They questioned whether man could know anything at all
with certainty, and so developed the idea that one man's opinion was as good as another's.
They did whatever they wished or needed to do to achieve their desired goals, regardless
of social opinion (Sophists seem to have been their predecessors).
During the Hellenistic Period, as accepted society disintegrated in the face of
political uncertainties, men increasingly turned to philosophies or mystery religions such
as the cult of Isis from Egypt or Mithros, an oriental religion, which assured either of the
rightness of their lifestyle or the preservation of their soul after death. Into this world the
Romans will come and force peace, which will allow a certain amount of nationalism to
arise, especially amongst the Jews. Into this same world Christianity will arise, with its
promise of resurrection and rewards after death.