Alexander the Great and his armies conquered much of the known world between 334 and 323 B.C. to create a great empire that stretched from Greece to Asia, Egypt, and the Persian empire in the Near East to India. And with the death of the great conqueror, Alexander, came the birth of the era that would be known as the Hellenistic Age. This era was a time of power, conflict, and great cultural influences that paved the way for change and development. This era brought change and artistic influences to the world as it was known until it would change again, marking the end of the Hellenistic Era with the battle of Actium, which was the pivotal moment that would later be defined as the end of Ancient Greece. Yet, while the Hellenistic Age strived, …show more content…
It became a time of social lavish displays of wealth and success. Hellenisitc kingship was a dominant political system in the Greek East for almost three centuries. It was a time where Royal families lived in impressive palaces with extravagant banquet halls, elaborately decorative rooms and lavish exotic gardens. Festivals and court entertainments were held where patrons could gather and mingle and boastfully display their wealth and social status. This lead way to an increase in demand and appreciation of artistry, sculptures, jewelry, and new heights and ingenuity in architectural development. Private luxury items like jewelry, for example, became artistic in nature as well, as new elaborate forms and rare and unique stones we incorporated into their dress and fashion displays. These precious stones were available now through newly established trade routes. Because of these new trade routes and increase in demand for commercial and cultural exchanges, mobility of skilled goldsmiths and silversmiths led to the introduction and establishment of a common language to spread throughout the Hellenistic world. Changes in visual art and sculptures began to evolve and reflect the change and new era of the Hellenistic Age. Art became richly diverse in nature and subject matter. And for the first time, there were now museums and …show more content…
The Hellenistic kingdoms faced not just internal conflict but faced them from external enemies as well. Because of the conflicts the Hellenistic kingdoms began to weaken themselves and eventually created a void for competing kingdoms like Pontus or Bactria. During this time, Rome had risen to become a great power by 200 BC who’s reach was expanding and growing in political strength in Italy, the Carthaginian, and dominance in the Mediterranean in the three Punic Wars. Because the Hellenistic age was a time of lavish display of riches, the kingdoms were also under constant attack, and due to its size made it difficult to secure and defend at all times. This left villages and smaller cities that were outside of the metropolitan areas vulnerable to constant raids and attacks from bandits and pirates. For example, Gauls, a Celtic people, invaded Macedonia and reached as far as southern Greece in 279 BC in an endeavor to loot the treasures of Delphi. In the end, large portions of the Hellenistic kingdoms began to succumb to the constant waves of invasions by neighboring tribes. Many parts would later be freely surrendered to the new rising power of Rome. In 31 BC Octavian and later Augustus would defeat the rulers of Egypt Anthony and Cleopatra in the famous naval battle of Actium which then signified