Many Greek cities, including Athens, overthrew their Roman puppet rulers and joined him in the Mithridatic wars. The Scythie nations, down to the fall of the Western empire, p. 4. Hellenistic translation in English-Polish dictionary. Though victorious, he was forced to retreat due to heavy losses, hence the term "Pyrrhic victory". The degree of influence that Greek culture had throughout the Hellenistic kingdoms was therefore highly localized and based mostly on a few great cities like Alexandria and Antioch. The conquests of Alexander greatly widened the horizons of the Greek world, making the endless conflicts between the cities which had marked the 5th and 4th centuries BC seem petty and unimportant. 1. of or pertaining to Greek civilization of the Mediterranean region and SW Asia from the death of Alexander the Great through the 1st century b.c., characterized by the blending of Greek and foreign cultures. The Bosporan Kingdom was a multi-ethnic kingdom of Greek city states and local tribal peoples such as the Maeotians, Thracians, Crimean Scythians and Cimmerians under the Spartocid dynasty (438–110 BC). Ptolemy IV won the great battle of Raphia (217 BC) against the Seleucids, using native Egyptians trained as phalangites. Sparta remained independent, but it was no longer the leading military power in the Peloponnese. The story of a single, triune God, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ remain absolutely untouched by Hellenism. The farther away from the Mediterranean and the lower in social status, the more likely that a colonist was to adopt local ways, while the Greco-Macedonian elites and royal families usually remained thoroughly Greek and viewed most non-Greeks with disdain. In 4th-century BC Sicily the leading Greek city and hegemon was Syracuse. Hellenistic and Hellenized culture interacted and mingled with local cultures throughout the region and created new, diverse traditions. Circa 300 B.C, Aristotle’s pupil Dicaearchus drew a map of the entire known world and attempted to ascertain the dimensions of the globe; his results were specified by Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who made valuable contributions to a wide variety of disciplines. The most important source after Polybius is Diodorus Siculus who wrote his Bibliotheca historica between 60 and 30 BC and reproduced some important earlier sources such as Hieronymus, but his account of the Hellenistic period breaks off after the battle of Ipsus (301 BC). Demetrius now turned his attention to Ptolemy, defeating his fleet at the Battle of Salamis and taking control of Cyprus. Green, Peter; Alexander to Actium, the historical evolution of the Hellenistic age, page 53. The Illyrians: history and culture, History and Culture Series, The Illyrians: History and Culture, Aleksandar Stipčević, The Illyrians (The Peoples of Europe) by John Wilkes, 1996, page 233&236, "The Illyrians liked decorated belt-buckles or clasps (see figure 29). The end result was the complete conquest of Sicily, including its previously powerful Greek cities, by the Romans. The Odrysians used Greek as the language of administration[38] and of the nobility. During the reign of Tigranes the Great (95–55 BC), the kingdom of Armenia reached its greatest extent, containing many Greek cities, including the entire Syrian tetrapolis. After the Battle of Beneventum (275 BC) Pyrrhus lost all his Italian holdings and left for Epirus. [98] Alexander had planned to settle the eastern shores of the Persian Gulf with Greek colonists, and although it is not clear that this happened on the scale he envisaged, Tylos was very much part of the Hellenised world: the language of the upper classes was Greek (although Aramaic was in everyday use), while Zeus was worshipped in the form of the Arabian sun-god Shams. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. The great centers of Hellenistic culture were Alexandria and Antioch, capitals of Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria respectively. 1968) 8ff. In 198 BC, during the Second Macedonian War Philip was decisively defeated at Cynoscephalae by the Roman proconsul Titus Quinctius Flamininus and Macedon lost all its territories in Greece proper. THE CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY, SECOND EDITION, VOLUME VII, PART I: The Hellenistic World, p. 1. https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Hellenistic+Culture, The objects in it reveal, in the earlier sections, extraordinary connections with the post-Mauryan/Shunga style art of India; the Parthian rhyta connect it to Iran; the Seleucid images of Athena, Dionysiac characters, erotes and satyrs connect the material with, The creative style of Emiliano Pellisari, artistic director of the troupe, originates from the, The gyms were also influence of the Greek immigrants and were further extensions of the, After Egypt's conquest by Alexander the Great, the Greeks who settled in the region created a blend of Egyptian and, As religions, political, commercial, judicial, military and government issues were systematised and developed throughout the Roman Era, developments related with arts and science emerged with the influence of the, His topics include a Western perspective on the academic study of religions during the Cold War, the anti-individualistic ideology of, Eusebius of Caesarea fills the first chapter, thanks to his Preparation for the Gospel and Proof of the Gospel that place Christianity in vigorous argument with, Humility was not a desirable trait in the. Sparta's bid for supremacy was crushed at the Battle of Sellasia (222 BC) by the Achaean league and Macedon, who restored the power of the ephors. Ptolemaic queens, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe, or Berenice. The plots of this new Hellenistic comedy of manners were more domestic and formulaic, stereotypical low born characters such as slaves became more important, the language was colloquial and major motifs included escapism, marriage, romance and luck (Tyche). Histories of individual states continued to be written, the chronicles and decrees of the Greek city-states were studied, and increased interest was shown in the history of the eastern countries. The Hellenistic states of Asia and Egypt were run by an occupying imperial elite of Greco-Macedonian administrators and governors propped up by a standing army of mercenaries and a small core of Greco-Macedonian settlers. While victorious in the field, it seems Antiochus came to realise that there were advantages in the status quo (perhaps sensing that Bactria could not be governed from Syria), and married one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son, thus legitimising the Greco-Bactrian dynasty. As a result, in an attempt to reduce Roman influence in the Balkans, Philip allied himself with Carthage after Hannibal had dealt the Romans a massive defeat at the Battle of Cannae (216 BC) during the Second Punic War. HELLENISTIC Meaning: "of or pertaining to Greece and its culture," from Hellene "an ancient Greek" + -istic. 2. of or pertaining to Hellenists. After holding out for one year under siege by Demetrius Poliorcetes (305–304 BC), the Rhodians built the Colossus of Rhodes to commemorate their victory. The Hellenistic period was characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization[5] which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa. Alexander’s pothos, or yearning for something unattained, was a mood that became expressed in the art. Hellenistic definition pertaining to hellenists. His son and successor, Nicomedes I, founded Nicomedia, which soon rose to great prosperity, and during his long reign (c. 278 – c. 255 BC), as well as those of his successors, the kingdom of Bithynia held a considerable place among the minor monarchies of Anatolia. Wiktionary (1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition: Hellenism (Noun) Any of the characteristics of ancient Greek culture, civilization, principles and ideals, including humanism, reason, the pursuit of knowledge and the arts, moderation and civic responsibility.