What is a Hellenistic kingdom?

Answer 1

The Hellenistic kingdoms were a product of the Macedonian generals of Alexander the great. After his death they individually seized contol of different parts of his empire and continued his Hellenisation policy within their territory. Hellenisation involved establishing Greek cities and promoting Greek (Hellenic) culture. They contested with each other for territory resulting in war and realignment of boundaries and rulership.

Ptolemy, who had seized Egypt which he had governed for Alexander, was the first to declare himself a king, and the others followed suit. Hence the territories became kingdoms, and the term Hellenistic was given to them in modern parlance to indicate that, rather than being ethnically Greek, they were barbarian with a Hellenic (Greek) rulership and cultural veneer, hence Hellenistic.

The Hellenistic Kingdoms changed shape and rulers, but settled down with enduring dynasties in Egypt (sometimes including some coast and islands of the eastern Mediterranean), Syria (included parts of Asia Minor but early on lost the eastern territories of the Middle East and India), and Macedonia (including parts of mainland Greece).

For a map see website:

http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figuresKISH_03_69.gif

These Hellenistic Kingdoms were progressively swallowed up by Rome, beginning with the punitive attack on Macedonia, which had supported Carthage during Hannibal's invasion of Italy - Macedonia was divided into four republics to end its capacity for revolt. Then folowed the rest of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria culminating in Pompey's capture of Jerusalem. Parts of them were made variously into provinces, tributary republics or tributary kingdoms. Cleopatra Ptolemy was the last Hellenistic ruler of Egypt and, after the defeat of Marc Antony by Octavian, it was made a province of Rome governed by a Roman prefect.

Answer 2

Hellenistic means Greek-like. Alexander the Great set out to bring Greek culture and customs to the Persian Empire which he had conquered and turned into an empire of his own. He saw Greek culture as a civilising influence, and established over 70 Greek-style cities across this empire to act as agents of this change (rather immodestly calling half of them Alexandria after himself, and rather insultingly even calling one Beucephalus after his horse).

After his early death, his Macedonian generals divided up his empire amongst themselves and established their own kingdoms which today we call the Hellenistic Kingdoms (= Greek-like Kingdoms - the Greeks called themselves Hellenes, Greek is a later word for them used by the Romans). The Hellenisation was superficial, confined to the upper classes of these kingdoms of Egypt, Macedonia, Pergamon and Syria-Mesopotamia.

Answer 3

The "Hellenistic kingdom" was in fact four kingdoms. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E., his large empire split into four great kingdoms covering most of the eastern Mediterranean basin, the Middle East, and the Near East, as well as Egypt. These are all considered to be "Hellenistic" because of their predominantly Greek viewpoints and values (which were blended to some degree with elements from other cultures).