Download Hellenism was not always tolerated by the local people. In 167 BCE

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Objectives
• Describe the spread of Hellenism in the
wake of Alexander.
• Discuss the impact of Hellenistic culture to
western society.
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Antigonid, Ptolemaic, and Seleucid Empires.
Hellenism, the culture of Classical Greece, spread from the
year 333 BCE throughout the Empire of Alexander the Great
until circa 63 BCE when Rome conquered the territory.
Greek culture strongly influenced Rome in the areas of
politics, science, philosophy, religion, and architecture
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Ptolemaic Dynasty
Ptolemy I, a close advisor to
Alexander the Great, took over
the Egyptian part of the empire.
His dynasty, the thirty-second,
would be the last in Egyptian
history.
Although Ptolemy was Greek,
as Pharaoh he used many of the
traditions of Egyptian Kings. He
and his successors married
their sisters.
The wives of the Ptolemaic
Pharaohs were named
Cleopatra "kleos" is the Greek
word for "famous" and "patris"
is the Greek word for "parents".
Cleopatra VII
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Ptolemy
Pharaoh
The Ptolemaic Pharaohs kept many Greek
customs. They spoke Greek and made Greek
the official language of Egypt. The Ptolemaic
Pharaohs even changed the name of Egypt
from Kemet, the ancient name of Egypt.
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The Antigonid Dynasty
Antigonus I
The Antigonid dynasty, founded by General Antigonus,
ruled over Macedonia and the Aegean kingdoms, Asia
Minor and Syria.
Antigonus attempted to conquer the other two dynasties
and form one great empire but lost everything but
Macedon at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.
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Philip V of Macedon, 221 BCE
Philip V ascended the
Antigonid throne in
221 BCE and reigned
until 179 BCE. His
empire was filled with
many rivalries from
other city-states.
Philip V Antigonid
Dynasty
He was succeeded by his eldest son, Perseus,
who ruled as the last king of the Antigonid
Dyansty. Macedon came under Roman rule
after losing the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC.
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The Seleucid Empire
Seleucus I Nicator who
founded the Seleucid Empire,
was one of Alexander the
Great’s generals in Babylonia.
He expanded his empire west
to Syria, north to Thrace, and
east to the Indus River valley.
Seleucus I Nicator
The Seleucids brought
Hellenism to all of their
empire.
The Seleucids could not maintain their empire and by
190 BCE the Romans conquered most of Anatolia,
reducing the Seleucid Empire to Syria, Mesopotamia
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and most of the Persian plateau.
Thrace
Syria
Indus River
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Jewish Maccabean Revolt
Hellenism was not always
tolerated by the local people.
In 167 BCE, a Jewish priest named
Mattathias started the revolt against
the Hellenistic Seleucids when they
erected a statue of Zeus in Jerusalem.
A special
candle
holder with
nine
candles is
used to
celebrate
Hanukkah
After his death, the revolt was led
by his son, Judas Maccabaeus, who
raised an army of Jewish dissidents.
He carried out a successful
campaign of guerrilla warfare and
defeated the Seleucid Army in 164
BCE.
This victory is celebrated by Jews
around the world as Hanukkah.
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King Philip V lost to Roman forces, 197 BCE
Thessaly
Roman coin of
Flamininus
Macedonia became a Roman vassal state in 197 BCE after the
Battle of Cynoscephalae, near Thesallay.
The Romans, led by Flamininus, easily surrounded the
Macedonian phalanx.
The Macedonian phalanx, once the most powerful army unit of
the ancient world, was proven inferior to the Roman legion.
Macedonia became a tribute state to Rome.
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Polybius describes the Roman Legion
“The Roman order on the other hand is flexible: for every
Roman, once armed and on the field, is equally wellequipped for every place, time, or appearance of the
enemy. He is, moreover, quite ready and needs to make no
change, whether he is required to fight in the main body,
or in a detachment, or in a single maniple, or even by
himself. Therefore, as the individual members of the
Roman force are so much more serviceable, their plans are
also much more often attended by success than those of
others.” From the Roman historian Polybius, The Histories
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of Polybius
Macedonia Became a Roman Province, 146 BCE
Roman and Macedonian Soldiers
The Fourth Macedonian War occurred between 149
and 148 BCE. The Macedonians attacked and were
defeated by the Romans.
After this defeat, Rome made Macedonia into an
official province of Rome, ending its independence.
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Corinth destroyed by the Romans, 146 BCE
Because the Corinthians
had been part of the
Macedonian War, the
Roman Consul Mummius
ordered that the city be
razed to put an end to
Greek resistance.
The city was burnt to the
ground, the men
slaughtered, and the
women and children sold
into slavery.
Corinthian Vase
The art treasures and gold were taken to Rome. The city
was deserted for almost 100 years until it was refounded
by Julius Caesar in 44 BCE as the capital of Roman Greece.
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Sulla placed all of Greece under Roman rule, 86 BCE
In 86 BCE Roman General
Sulla’s legion sacked Athens.
He defeated the Hellenistic
armies and placed all of
Greece under Roman control.
Greece remained under
the rule of foreign
conquerors until it
gained independence
from the Ottoman
Empire in 1832.
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Close
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