Timeline of Hellenistic Greece

The period of Hellenistic Greece refers to the period of ancient Greek history from the death of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BCE. C., which marks the end of the Alexandrian era, until the arrival of the Roman Empire. The latter is marked by the Battle of Actium in the year 31 BC. C. That is, the Hellenistic period lasted almost 300 years, during which there was a transition between classical Greece and the spread of Roman culture in Europe and the Middle East.

This era of Greek history was characterized, among other things, by the growth of splendid cities such as Alexandria, and by the mixture of cultures and religions in most of the Greek territory. This included the spread of Greek as a common language to many large cities, and the syncretization of the classical Greek pantheon with many local gods from the Middle East and other parts of the empire.

The Hellenistic period is called as a derivation of Hellas , a term with which the continental Greeks identified themselves, at first, and then all the Greeks of the empire forged by Alexander the Great. The following is a brief chronology of the most important events that marked this period in the history of one of the most important and influential classical cultures of antiquity.

4th century – 300 BC

323 B.C. C.: Alexander the Great dies.

The death of famed conqueror and monarch Alexander the Great at the young age of 32 marks the official start of the Hellenistic period of Greek history. Alexander III of Macedon, as he was known, died in the capital of his empire, Babylon, one day in June 323 B.C. C. because of a strange illness, although many maintain that he was murdered.

323-322 B.C. C.: Lamian War.

Also called the Greek War and the First Hellenic War, it was caused by the death of Alexander the Great after which Athens decided to fight for its independence from the Macedonian empire. After losing the war, Athens also lost any chance for independence and was forced to accept oligarchic rule.

322-320 B.C. C.: First War of the Diadochi.

The generals of the armies of Alexander the Great were known as Diádocos or Diadochi. After his death, a series of wars broke out between these generals to decide who would be in command of the empire. The first of these wars began when Antipater, Craterus and Antigonus, and then Ptolemy joined forces against Perdiccas, who intended to marry Alexander the Great’s sister Nicaea in order to accede to the throne of the Macedonian empire.

321 BC C.: Pérdicas assassinated.

The assassination of Perdiccas marked the end of the First War of the Diadochi. He died at the hands of two of his own generals, Peiton and Seleucus, near Pelusa.

320-311 B.C. C.: Second War of the Diadochi.

The second of the Diadocos Wars occurred between Polyperchon, Cleito and Eumenes, and Antigono, Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Cassander. At this point, alliances were becoming more complex and the reasons for joining one side or the other more varied.

319 BC C.: Antipater dies.

Antipater was the last of Alexander the Great’s generals commanded by Philip II of Macedon to die. He was Regent of the Macedonian Empire after the death of Perdiccas, and, after his own death, was succeeded by Polyperchon, which pushed his son, Cassander, to join the coalition against Polyperchon and his allies during the Second War of Macedonia. the Diadochi.

317 BC C.: Felipe III of Macedonia assassinated.

Philip III, originally Philip III Arrhidaeus, was the eldest son of King Philip II of Macedon and half-brother of Alexander the Great. He was named king of Macedonia after the death of his half-brother Alexander. Felipe III was executed after his capture at Amphipolis.

316 BC C.: Menander wins the prize.

The first and one of the only comedies completed by the Greek playwright Menander was “The Misanthrope,” which tells the story of Cnemon, an old man who rejects any kind of relationship with other people. This play was presented in the lines of 316 a. C. and was the winner of the festival.

309 BC C.: Roxana and Alejandro IV are executed.

Alexander IV was the second son of Alexander the Great and the first legitimate son. He was proclaimed King of Macedonia from his birth, and then reigned alongside his uncle Philip III until he was assassinated in 317 BC. C. Casandro, the son of Antipater who was regent of Macedonia while Alexander IV was growing up, ordered the assassination of Alexander IV and his mother, Roxana, thus ending the lineage of the Argéada dynasty.

307 BC C.: Epicurus founds a school in Athens.

In this year began the philosophical school of Epicureanism, founded by Epicurus in Athens. The famed Greek philosopher bought a garden in Athens where he founded the school he called “The Garden,” for obvious reasons. Epicurus’ philosophy is based on identifying happiness with pleasure.

301 B.C. C.: Battle of Ipsos. Division of the empire into 4 parts.

The Battle of Ipsos, fought near the town of Ipsos in Phrygia (now Turkey) was one of the battles of the Fourth Diadochi War and involved some of Alexander the Great’s aforementioned generals. After the victory over Antigonus, Ptolemy, Cassander and Seleucus divided up their old empire, leaving the original Macedonian empire divided into four parts.

300 B.C. C.: Zeno de Citio founded the Stoic school and Euclid founded a school of mathematics, both in Athens.

Zeno de Citio is the father of the School of the Stoics, also called the Portico School, since he liked to teach his classes in a monumental portico near the Agora of Athens. Almost at the same time, the famous mathematician Euclid, the father of Euclidean geometry, founded a mathematics school in the same city.

3rd century – 200 BC

295-168 B.C. C.: The Antigonid dynasty rules Macedonia.

The Antigonid dynasty was established when the son of Antigonus, Demetrius I Poliorcetes, defeated and overthrew the ruler Cassander had established in Athens, Demetrius of Phalero, the inventor of the librarianship. This dynasty would last until 168 a. C. with the reign of Perseus of Macedonia.

282 B.C. C.: Studies of Archimedes in Alexandria.

Archimedes, one of the greatest mathematicians of antiquity, begins his mathematical studies under Euclid at his school in Alexandria, Egypt.

281 BC C.: The Achaean League is reformed. Seleucus is assassinated.

The Achaean League was a confederation of Greek cities on the northeast coast of the Peloponnese that came to control almost the entire Peloponnese peninsula. On the other hand, during this year, Ptolemy Cerauno assassinates Seleuco I Nicator, founder of the Seleucid empire and Diádoco of Alexander the Great.

280 B.C. C.: The Colossus of Rhodes is built.

The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the wonders of the ancient world that consisted of an emblematic bronze statue in honor of the Greek god of the Sun, Helios, was built on the island and Greek city of Rhodes in 280 BC. c.

280-275 B.C. C.: Pyrrhic War.

The Pyrrhic War began in 280 BC. C. when the Greek city of Taranto in southern Italy asked the Egyptian general Pirro to defend them against the Romans. Despite his victory, he lost much of his army, hence the popular expression “Pyrrhic victory” used today to refer to lackluster successes.

280-277 B.C. C.: Celtic invasions.

During this period there were several invasions of the Celts or Gauls from Central Europe to the Balkans, triggering battles such as the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC. c.

276-239 B.C. C.: Antigono Gonatas is proclaimed king of Macedonia.

Antigono Gonatas defeated the Gallic invaders in 277 BC. C., after which he was proclaimed by his army as king of Macedonia.

267-262 B.C. C.: The Cremonid War breaks out.

After the proclamation of Antigonus Gonatas as king of Macedonia, a coalition of Greek cities, instigated by Chremonidas, an Athenian politician of the democratic party, joined forces against the Macedonian empire. In 266 B.C. C., Athens voted to declare war on Macedonia and thus began the Cremonid War.

226 BC C.: Earthquake destroys the Colossus of Rhodes.

For all its magnificence, the Colossus of Rhodes stood for less than 60 years, having been destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC. C. that broke the great statue at knee level.

239-229 B.C. C.: Demetrius II king of Macedonia.

In 239 B.C. C. he became king of Macedonia Demetrius II, who would succeed his father, Antigonus II Gónatas, on the throne. The king to whom history would refer as the Aetholic would reign until his death in 229 B.C. c.

229-221 B.C. C.: Antigono III king of Macedonia.

After the death of Demetrius II, his son Felipe was to succeed to the throne. However, he was barely 10 years old, so the cousin of Demetrius II, Antógono III Dosón, assumed the administration of the kingdom of Macedonia.

221-179 B.C. C.: Felipe V king of Macedonia.

“The Darling of Hellas,” as King Philip V came to be known, was the penultimate Macedonian king of the Antigonid dynasty and son of King Demetrius II. He was proclaimed king of Macedonia at the young age of 17 after the death of his uncle Antigonus III Doson.

214-205 B.C. C.: First Macedonian War.

Felipe V assumed as a life mission to make Macedonia the greatest power in the Mediterranean Sea, for which he began a series of wars, most of them unsuccessful, against the Roman Empire.

202-196 BCE C.: Roman intervention in Greek affairs.

After repeated defeats at the hands of the Romans, Philip V was forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that implied the interference of the Roman Empire in the politics of the Macedonian Empire.

2nd and 1st centuries – 100 BC

192-188 BCE C.: Seleucid War.

Also known as the Antiochian War and the Syrian War, the Seleucid War was an armed conflict between the Seleucid Empire and the Roman Republic in southern Greece. The war culminated in the Roman victory and the signing of the Treaty of Apamea.

187-167 B.C. C.: Third round of the Macedonian Wars.

After the death of Philip V, his son Perseus of Macedonia succeeded to the Macedonian throne. He was dragged, against his will, into a third wave of battles against the Romans initiated by the Roman Republic. The beginning of the war favored the Perseus and his Greek army, but in 168 a. C. the Roman armies came to be commanded by Lucio Emilio Paulo, who led them to the final victory of Rome against Macedonia, definitively ending the empire of Alexander the Great.

175 B.C. C.: Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens.

The construction works of the Temple of Zeus in Athens are restarted thanks to the intervention of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. However, the construction would be interrupted again by the death of Antiochus.

148 BC C.: Greece becomes a Roman province.

This happens after the battle of Corinth that successfully culminated the Roman conquest of Greece. With this event begins the period of Greek history called Roman Greece.

31 a.m. C.: The Battle of Actium.

The Battle of Actium was a naval military confrontation between the fleet of Caesar Octavian and the combined fleets of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Octavian won the decisive victory that ended years of Roman civil wars, as well as the Hellenistic era of Greek history, while also seeing the rise of the first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, who led the troops to victory.

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