Hellenization of Ancient Cities

ANCIENT GREECE
viii-Hellenism
Pergamon Altar, Pergamon Museum, Berlin

PRINCIPAL TOPICS
I. The Hellenistic World
II. Hellenization
III. Hellenistic Culture
IV. Art
V. Religion and Philosophy
VI. Science

This [session] is...about a second generation, the trials of their migration,
whom they met and what they said and, above all, what they did with their
inheritance. The first generation was that of the Hellenes, the Greeks from
Homer to Aristotle; the second generation had no name. Some of them were
Greeks, but more were Macedonians, Romans, Syrians, Jews and Egyptians.
They all had their own styles, born in some cases, of long and glittering
traditions. But they fell, all of them, under the spell of the Hellenes and so
became a second generation, condemned or blessed to reap where their
spiritual fathers had sown. (continued)
F. E. Peters, The Harvest of Hellenism, p. 18

The harvest has been gathered for centuries. We are part of it and can
number our own generations across a familiar landscape back to the Romans
and then to the Age of Pericles. It is an attractive and generally satisfying
genealogical narrative, passing in review most of the monuments of our
culture. The history of Hellenism appears to be identical with the spiritual
history of the West.
Ibid.

Within the boundaries established by the conquests of Alexander there were
dramatic cultural changes as Hellenization spread thousands of miles over
the whole of the Middle East. This process used to be seen through rose-
tinted spectacles as the innocent gift of civilization to the benighted
barbarians; after all the British were doing precisely the same thing in their
empire. No doubt the Greeks themselves saw matters in this way. But our
own post-colonial age is more aware that culture is imminently bound up
with politics: we can see that Greek culture dominated other, ancient
cultures, and that this process of Hellenization was in part a product of the
power of kings.
The creation of new Greek cities was fundamental to the process of
Hellenization.
Boardman et al. Greece and the Hellenistic World. p. 315

Alexander himself was reported to have founded over seventy cities (the
actual figure may have been half that), while the Selucids created over sixty
new settlements in the area from western Turkey to Iran. Some of these ‘new’
cities were in fact old settlements with a new, dynastic name and a Greek
constitution.
Ibid.

After Alexander the Great conquered the Near East in 334
BCE, the existing settlement [Baalbek] was named
Heliopolis (Ἡλιούπολις) The city retained its religious
function during Greco-Roman times, when the sanctuary of
Jupiter-Baal was a pilgrimage site.
!
Wikipedia

The extreme license of the Heliopolitan worship of Aphrodite was often
commented upon by early Christian writers, who competed with one another
to execrate her worship.
Eusebius of Caesarea [263-339 AD] averred that 'men and women vie with one
another to honour their shameless goddess; husbands and fathers let their
wives and daughters publicly prostitute themselves to please Astarte'.
Constantine [272-337 AD], making an effort to curb the Venus cult, built a
basilica in Heliopolis.
Theodosius I [347-395 AD] erected another. The vast stone blocks of its walls
were taken from the temple.
Today nothing of the Theodosian basilica remains.
!
Wikipedia

While ultimate power resided with the kings, the Greek
cities under their aegis retained all the trappings of polis
democracy: defensive walls, an agora that served as both
market and political forum, a council and assembly a
theater, and a gymnasium. As countless inscriptions reveal,
they were excellently run, encouraged civic pride, and
cooperated one with another when not, as so often,
fighting. More widespread than they ever had been in the
classical era, they constituted a powerful, if in ways
paradoxical, manifestation of what it meant to be a Greek
in this new age.
!
Green, The Hellenistic Age, p. 48
“...A CURIOUS CIVIC HYBRID.

Alexander himself was reported to have founded over seventy cities (the
actual figure may have been half that), while the Selucids created over sixty
new settlements in the area from western Turkey to Iran. Some of these ‘new’
cities were in fact old settlements with a new, dynastic name and a Greek
constitution. Others were in areas previously not highly urbanized.
For example, the second Selucid king founded a new city...naming
it Antioch after himself...
Boardman et al. Greece and the Hellenistic World. p. 315

Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four "sister
cities" in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch. Like the other three, Antioch
was named by Seleucus for a member of his family.
Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means. An eagle, the bird
of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site
to which the eagle carried the offering. He did this in the twelfth year of his reign.
Antioch soon rose...to become the Syrian capital.
The original city of Seleucus was laid out in imitation of the grid plan of Alexandria.
The citadel was on Mt. Silpius and the city lay mainly on the low ground to the north,
fringing the river. Two great colonnaded streets intersected in the centre. Shortly
afterwards a second quarter was laid out by Antiochus I, which appears to have been
the native, as contrasted with the Greek, town. It was enclosed by a wall of its own.
Wikipedia

Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four "sister
cities" in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch. Like the other three, Antioch
was named by Seleucus for a member of his family.
Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means. An eagle, the bird
of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site
to which the eagle carried the offering. He did this in the twelfth year of his reign.
Antioch soon rose...to become the Syrian capital.
The original city of Seleucus was laid out in imitation of the grid plan of Alexandria.
The citadel was on Mt. Silpius and the city lay mainly on the low ground to the north,
fringing the river. Two great colonnaded streets intersected in the centre. Shortly
afterwards a second quarter was laid out by Antiochus I, which appears to have been
the native, as contrasted with the Greek, town. It was enclosed by a wall of its own.
Wikipedia
AERIAL VIEW OF ANTIOCH ON THE ORONTES. It shows the typical gridiron plan of the Selucid foundations,
with five avenues running south-west to north-east and at least twenty streets running cross-wise.
Ibid.

In the Orontes, north of the city, lay a large island, and on this Seleucus II began a
third walled "city," which was finished by Antiochus III. A fourth and last quarter
was added by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC); and thenceforth Antioch was
known as Tetrapolis. From west to east the whole was about 6 km in diameter, this
area including many large gardens.
The new city was populated by a mix of local settlers:Athenians brought from the
nearby city of Antigonia, Macedonians, and Jews (who were given full status from
the beginning). The total free population of Antioch at its foundation has been
estimated at between 17,000 and 25,000, not including slaves and native settlers.
During the late Hellenistic period and Early Roman period, Antioch population
reached its peak of over 500,000 inhabitants and was the third largest city in the
world after Rome and Alexandria.
About 6 km west and beyond the suburb Heraclea lay the paradise of Daphne, a
park of woods and waters, in the midst of which rose a great temple to the Pythian
Apollo, also founded by Seleucus I and enriched with a cult-statue of the god, by
Bryaxis.
Wikipedia

In the Orontes, north of the city, lay a large island, and on this Seleucus II began a
third walled "city," which was finished by Antiochus III. A fourth and last quarter
was added by Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BC); and thenceforth Antioch was
known as Tetrapolis. From west to east the whole was about 6 km in diameter, this
area including many large gardens.
The new city was populated by a mix of local settlers:Athenians brought from the
nearby city of Antigonia, Macedonians, and Jews (who were given full status from
the beginning). The total free population of Antioch at its foundation has been
estimated at between 17,000 and 25,000, not including slaves and native settlers.
During the late Hellenistic period and Early Roman period, Antioch population
reached its peak of over 500,000 inhabitants and was the third largest city in the
world after Rome and Alexandria.
About 6 km west and beyond the suburb Heraclea lay the paradise of Daphne, a
park of woods and waters, in the midst of which rose a great temple to the Pythian
Apollo, also founded by Seleucus I and enriched with a cult-statue of the god, by
Bryaxis.
Wikipedia
Daphne near Antioch, Copperplate print by Abraham
Ortelius, Antwerpen, early 17th century

The Attalid kingdom was the rump state left after the collapse of the Kingdom
of Thrace.
The Attalids, the descendants of Attalus, father of Philetaerus who came to
power in 281 BC, were among the most loyal supporters of Rome in the
Hellenistic world. Under Attalus I (241-197 BC), they allied with Rome against
Philip V of Macedon, during the first and second Macedonian Wars, and again
under Eumenes II (197-158 BC), against Perseus of Macedon, during the Third
Macedonian War. For support against the Seleucids, the Attalids were
rewarded with all the former Seleucid domains in Asia Minor.
The Attalids ruled with intelligence and generosity. Many documents survive
showing how the Attalids would support the growth of towns through sending
in skilled artisans and by remitting taxes. They allowed the Greek cities in their
domains to maintain nominal independence. They sent gifts to Greek cultural
sites like Delphi, Delos, and Athens. They defeated the invading Celts. They
remodeled the Acropolis of Pergamon after the Acropolis in Athens.
According to Christian teaching and tradition, Pergamum is where Satan
dwells, where his throne is, and the first bishop of Pergamon, Antipas, was
martyred there in ca. 92 AD. (Revelation 2:13)
!
Wikipedia

The Great Altar of Pergamon is in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin. The base of this
altar remains on the upper part of the Acropolis. It was perhaps this altar, believed
to be dedicated to Zeus, that John of Patmos referred to as "Satan's Throne" in his
Book of Revelation.
Other notable structures still in existence on the upper part of the Acropolis include:
■ The Hellenistic Theater with a seating capacity of 10,000. This had the steepest
seating of any known theater in the ancient world.
!
Wikipedia

The new settlements varied enormously in size and status. First, there were the
military colonies founded by the Selucids in various parts of their kingdom, from
western Turkey to Kurdistan. These settlements might be small, with only a few
hundred men, and they had few autonomous institutions and little independence
from the king….Secondly, there were the new, independent cities with populations of
several thousands, ranging up to Alexandria, a great cultural centre, which in the first
century BC was reckoned to be the largest city in the (Mediterranean) world.
Boardman, op. cit. p. 316

In a struggle with the other successors of Alexander, his general, Ptolemy (later
Ptolemy I of Egypt) succeeded in bringing Alexander's body to Alexandria.
Alexander's tomb became a famous tourist destination for ancient travelers
(including Julius Caesar).
Inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre [remember Alexander’s seven month
siege!] and becoming the center of the new commerce between Europe and the
Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less than a generation to be larger
than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become the largest city in the world
and for some centuries more, was second only to Rome. It became the main
Greek city of Egypt, with an extraordinary mix of Greeks from many cities and
backgrounds.
Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism but was also home to the
largest Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of
the Hebrew Bible (the Torah and other writings), was produced there. The early
Ptolemies kept order and fostered the development of the museum into the
leading Hellenistic centre of learning (Library of Alexandria) but were careful to
maintain the distinction of its population's three largest ethnicities: Greek,
Jewish, and Egyptian.
Wikipedia

THE LIBRARY
Text
According to the earliest source of
information the library was initially
organized by Demetrius of Phaleron, a
student of Aristotle, under the reign of
Ptolemy I.
Built in the Royal Quarter in the style
of Aristotle's Lyceum, adjacent to and
in service of the Musaeum (a Greek
Temple or "House of Muses", hence
the term "museum"), the library
comprised a Peripatos walk, gardens,
a room for shared dining, a reading
room, lecture halls and meeting
rooms. However, the exact layout is
not known. The influence of this
model may still be seen today in the
layout of university campuses.
Wikipedia

19 July 1799--Discovery of the Rosetta Stone, 35 miles east of Alexandria

After Alexander the horizons of the Greek world extended as far as India.
Even Alexander had been surprised by the size of it all: he wondered if the
Caspian Sea was the outer ocean of the world, and in India he began by
thinking that the Indus River ran cosily round into Egypt’s Nile. The new
horizons were not altogether lost on those whom the Greeks bordered.
Around 260 BC the Indian king Asoka dispatched an edict for inscription
around his realm which referred to the ‘world my children’. ["All men are my children.
I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should
be happy always." --Wikipedia] It listed exactly the Hellenistic kings from his Asian
border through Egypt and Macedon to Cyrene in North Africa. A copy stood
in Greek near the Greek and Macedonian settlement at Kandahar.
Robin Lane Fox, “Hellenistic Culture,” in Boardman et al. Greece and the Hellenistic World, p. 332

So-called Ludovisi Gaul and his wife, or “The
Galatian Suicide.” Marble, Roman copy after an
Hellenistic original from a monument built by
Attalus I of Pergamon after his victory over
Gauls, ca. 220 BC

A DEFINITION
Hellenization is a term used to describe the spread of
ancient Greek culture, and, to a lesser extent, language, over
foreign peoples conquered by Greece or in its sphere of
influence. It is mainly used to describe the spread of
Hellenistic civilization during the Hellenistic period... The
result of Hellenization was that elements of Greek origin
combined in various forms and degrees with local elements.
Wikipedia

Hellenization during the Hellenistic period, however, had its limitations. Case in
point, areas of southern Syria that were affected by Greek culture mostly entailed
Seleucid urban centers where Greek was commonly spoken. The countryside, on
the other hand, was largely unaffected since most of its inhabitants spoke Syriac
and continued to maintain their native traditions. Moreover, Hellenization did not
necessarily involve assimilation of non-Greek ethnic groups since Hellenistic
Greeks in regions such as Asia Minor were conscious of their ancestral lineages.
[That is, the Greek elites maintained a sort of apartheid over the natives whom
they had conquered.]
Wikipedia

The culture of [the] cities was strongly Greek. At the most obvious level there
developed a new Greek language, the koinē or common language, which
transcended the divisions of the old Greek dialects (Dorian, Ionic, and so on). [It
also has a simpler grammatical structure than the classical literature].
Boardman loc.sit.

1
Παῦλος(ἀπ+στολος,(οὐκ(ἀπ1(ἀνθρ5πων(οὐδὲ(δι1(ἀνθρ5που(ἀλλὰ(διὰ(Ἰησοῦ(Χριστοῦ(
καὶ(θεοῦ(πατρὸς(τοῦ(ἐγεDραντος(αὐτὸν(ἐκ(νεκρῶν,(2
καὶ(οἱ(σὺν(ἐIοὶ(πJντες(ἀδελφοD,(
ταῖς(ἐκκλησ&αις(τῆς(ΓαλατDας:(3
χJρις(ὑIῖν(καὶ(εἰρTνη(ἀπὸ(θεοῦ(πατρὸς(ἡIῶν(καὶ(
κυρDου(Ἰησοῦ(Χριστοῦ,

1
1 Paul the apostle (not from men or through men, but from Jesus Christ and God the
Father who raised him from the dead) 2 and all the brothers who are with me, to the
assembly [ekklēsiais] of the Galatians: 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1
The assembly [church] of the Galatians in central Asia Minor are the
Christianized descendants of the companions of that dying Gaul and his wife
whose statue illustrated the title of this section.

1
The assembly [church] of the Galatians in central Asia Minor are the
Christianized descendants of the companions of that dying Gaul and his wife
whose statue illustrated the title of this section.
Paul’s letters, written in koinē Greek, are the treasured basis of today’s
ἐκκλησ&α((church)

THE PHARONIC
CORPORATION
Ptolemy I Soter found Egypt a sound if sluggish giant. The land was rich and there
was a kind of primitive efficiency in the manner in which it was controlled. At the
head of the state was the divine Pharaoh. He ruled Egypt as his own property, a
personal monopoly governed in his name by an army of bureaucrats and a second
army of priests, both of which rested on the broad base of the peasantry, who tilled
the soil and paid the taxes and rents. It was the way Egypt had been ruled for
centuries, a method sanctioned both by immemorial tradition and unmistakable
success.
No one had ever succeeded in radically altering the system. (continued)
Peters, Harvest, p. 165

Ptolemy I and his successors merely grafted a new class between the body and the
head. The Ptolemies ruled as somewhat newfangled Pharaohs, but to do their
bidding they had a new class of Hellenes---Greek and Macedonian---to govern the
state, fight its battles, enhance its commercial life, and add that intellectual panache
for which Egypt became famous during the Hellenistic age.
Ibid.

Jewel for hair
3rd century BC
Athens Museum

son of well-to-do Athenian parents, founder of the
New Comedy
enjoyed the patronage of dictator Demetrius of
Phalerum. Won many prizes for his plays
declined invitation to Alexandria by Ptolemy I. He
preferred to remain at his villa at Peiraeus
of his more than 100 plays only one survives in its
entirety
he was widely copied by Roman playwrights such as
Terrance
many of his wittiest one-liners were required
memorization in the schools, thus have come down
Menander
Μένανδρος, Menandros
ca. 342–291
Roman copy of the Imperial era after a Greek original

THE NEW COMEDY
Attic comedy in the days of Aristophanes (c. 446-c. 386) was, like the oratory of
Demosthenes, a form of political communication. Even during the latter years of
Aristophanes that had ceased to be true, and by the time of Menander politics was an
alien ingredient in comedy. The New Comedian wrote with ease and elegance; the
turns of phrase were facile and eminently quotable, but they proceeded from a corpus
that was almost dead.
In antiquity Menander was frequently praised for his realism, and his characters do
bear a strong resemblance to the types that walked the streets of Athens at the end of
the fourth century. Indeed they are those types, detailed with the archetypal features
that graced his friend Theophrastus’ Characters. Both...are faultlessly lifelike, but
they are not alive. (continued)

Menander was popular with a Hellenistic readership that was cut off from political
comment and solaced itself with situation comedy played by the familiar types of
middle-class life in Athens, soldiers slaves, courtesans, and ingénues. The plots are
complex, if highly predictable; the action is amorous, though never erotic. New
Comedy is Euripides vulgarized... Style had not yet deserted the Athenian spirit, but it
was increasingly a style without artistic substance.
Menander died in B.C. 292 and by that date Athens had already begun her decline
from a political power to a university town.
Peters, Harvest of Hellenism, pp. 117-118

THE SCHOOLS
In an earlier day Athens’ propagandists could claim that the city was the “school of
Greek culture.” At the turn into the third century that statement was more literally
true than when it was first uttered [by Pericles in 430]. There were still poets and
dramatists at Athens---none of them the equal of the earlier giants---as well as the
errant street Cynics spawned by Socrates. But from the time that Plato turned from
the Socratic tradition and founded his Academy in B.C. 387, the intellectual life of the
city, and through it the whole oikoumene, was dominated by the great schools of
philosophy. It was their methods and interests, particularly Aristotle’s Lyceum, that
provided models for the new centers of Hellenism at Alexandria, Antioch, Pergamum
and eventually Rome.
Peters, p. 106

THE LYCEUM
Some of the men working in the Lyceum at Aristotle’s death in B.C.322 went back to
the old days with Plato...Theophrastus, Aristotle’s successor in the Lyceum, had
been a fellow student with Aristotle at the Academy. Others were Aristotle’s own
students: Eudemus of Rhodes, Aristoxenus of Tarentum, and Dicaearchus of
Messene. Finally, there were the younger men trained by Theophrastus: Cassander’s
future governor, Demetrius of Phalerum, Strato of Lampsacus...
Ibid.

THE ARISTOTELIAN METHOD
detailed analytical studies based on as wide a sampling of material as
possible, whether in politics, in literature or in botany
an interest in ethical questions and character typology already noted in
connection with the lives of Alexander and later to have an important
influence on biography
the pursuit of historical antecedents
In general these scholars remained faithful to the patterns of research
set out by Aristotle:
op. cit., pp. 106-107

IV. ART
Mosaic emblema with doves.
Roman copy after Sosos of
Pergamon original from the
2nd century BC.
From the Villa Adriana, 1737

Aphrodite of Milos (Greek: Ἀφροδίτη τῆς
Μήλου, Aphroditē tēs Mēlou), better known
as the Venus de Milo, one of the most
famous works of ancient Greek sculpture. It is
a marble sculpture, slightly larger than life
size. Its arms and original plinth have been
lost. From an inscription that was on its
plinth, it is thought to be the work of
Alexandros of Antioch. It is currently on
display at the Louvre.
Wikipedia

The statue of
Laocoön and His
Sons is a
monumental sculpture
in marble now in the
Vatican Museums.
The statue is
attributed by the
Roman author Pliny
the Elder to three
sculptors from the
island of Rhodes. It
shows the Trojan
priest Laocoön and his
sons being strangled
by sea serpents.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also
called the Nike of Samothrace, is a 2nd
century BC marble sculpture of the Greek
goddess Nike (Victory). Since 1884, it has been
prominently displayed at the Louvre and is
one of the most celebrated sculptures in the
world.
The Nike of Samothrace, discovered in 1863, is
estimated to have been created around 190 BC.
It was created to not only honor the goddess,
Nike, but to honor a sea battle. It conveys a
sense of action and triumph as well as
portraying artful flowing drapery through its
features which the Greeks considered ideal
beauty.
Modern excavations suggest that the Victory
occupied a niche in an open-air theater and
also suggest it accompanied an altar that was
within view of the ship monument of
Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337–283 BC).
Rendered in white Parian marble, the figure
originally formed part of the Samothrace
temple complex dedicated to the Great gods,
Megaloi Theoi.

THE SEVEN WONDERS
I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the
statue of Zeus by the Alpheus [at Olympia], and the hanging gardens, and the
Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of
Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those
other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun
never looked on aught so grand.'
Greek Anthology, 140 BC

“Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” Acts 19, 28

The "Croesus" Temple [the second temple to Diana built on this site] was destroyed
on July 21, 356 BC, probably very soon after its completion, in a vainglorious act of
arson: one Herostratus set fire to the roof-beams, seeking fame at any cost.
!
!
!
The Ephesians, outraged, sentenced Herostratus to death and forbade anyone from
mentioning his name, under pain of death. However, Theopompus later noted the
name. The burning supposedly coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great;
Plutarch remarked that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to
save her burning temple.
Wikipedia
A man was found to plan the burning of the temple of Ephesian Diana so that
through the destruction of this most beautiful building his name might be spread
through the whole world.

The Ephesians tactfully refused Alexander's offer to pay for the temple's rebuilding,
and eventually rebuilt it after his death, at their own expense. Work started in 323
BC and continued for many years. The third temple was larger than the second; 450'
long by 225' wide and 60 feet high, with more than 127 columns. Literary sources
describe the temple's adornment by paintings, gilded columns of gold and silver,
and religious works of renowned Greek sculptors.
Wikipedia

THE PHAROS
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
( ὁ Φάρος Ἀλεξανδρινóς), was a tower
built between 280 and 247 BC on the
island of Pharos. Its purpose was to
guide sailors into the port of Alexandria.
With a height variously estimated at
somewhere between 393 and 450 ft., it
was for many centuries among the tallest
man-made structures on Earth. It was
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World.
Wikipedia

The Colossus of Rhodes,
erected by Chares of Lindos
between 292 and 280 BC.•
!
I t w a s c o n s t r u c t e d t o
celebrate Rhodes' victory over
Antigonus One-Eye, whose
son unsuccessfully besieged
Rhodes in 305 BC. •
!
Before its destruction, the
Colossus stood over 30
meters (107 ft) high, making
it one of the tallest statues of
the ancient world.

Those three are the Greek Hellenistic “wonders”.
We already noted the other two Classical Greek ones: the statue of Zeus at
Olympia which continued to inspire sculptors and painters down to the
Lincoln Memorial, and the Mausoleum, copied in downtown Cincinnati
and elsewhere.
The remaining two non-Greek “wonders are the “Hanging Gardens of
Babylon” [part of Saddam Hussein’s restoration project] and the Great
Pyramid of Giza, the only one to survive relatively intact.

Ἐγ,-εἰ0ι-ὁ-ποι0ὴν-ὁ-καλ6ς-
egō$eimi$ho$poimēn$ho$kalos$
“I am the good shepherd,”
Jn 10: 11

Hellenistic religion amalgamated the many religions of the
Cosmopolis. This practice predated the period. The earliest
Greek myths had borrowed concepts from the older
Mesopotamian and Egyptian beliefs. So Alexander could be
hailed at Siwa as the son of Ammon/Zeus.
But with Alexander’s creation of the first “global
ecumene” (historian Wm MacNeill’s term) the extent of
borrowing and mixing increased dramatically. An interesting
hypothesis about the timing of the birth of Christianity suggests
that this moment in the history of humankind was especially
propitious for bringing the Word into the world because the
Greek language (St Paul’s medium) had become so widespread
throughout the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern worlds.
jbp
SYNCRETISM
(ΣΥΝΚΡΗΤΙΣΜΟΣ)

Hellenistic religion is any of the various systems of beliefs and practices of the
people who lived under the influence of ancient Greek culture during the Hellenistic
period and the Roman Empire (c. 300 BCE to 300 CE). There was much continuity in
Hellenistic religion: the Greek gods continued to be worshiped, and the same rites
were practiced as before.
Change came from the addition of new religions from other countries, such as
including the Egyptian god(esse)s of Isis and Serapis, and the Syrian gods of Atargatis
and of Hadad, which provided a new outlet for people seeking fulfillment in both the
present life and the afterlife. The worship of Hellenistic rulers was also a feature of
this period, most notably in Egypt, where the Ptolemies adopted earlier pharaonic
practice, and established themselves as god-kings. Elsewhere rulers might receive
divine status without the full status of a god.
Magic was practiced widely, and these too, were a continuation from earlier times.
Throughout the Hellenistic world, people would consult oracles, and use charms and
figurines to deter misfortune or to cast spells. Also developed in this era was the
complex system of astrology, which sought to determine a person's character and
future in the movements of the sun, moon, and planets. The systems of Hellenistic
philosophy, such as Stoicism and Epicureanism, offered an alternative to traditional
religion, even if their impact was largely limited to the educated elite.
Wikipedia

ee-set becomes Isis in Greek when the
ancient Egyptian cult becomes a
Hellenistic staple
Plutarch, a Greek scholar (46 CE-120 CE)
wrote Isis and Osiris:
“a goddess exceptionally wise and a lover of
wisdom...the statue of Athena in Sais, whom they
believe to be Isis
“I am all that has been, and is, and shall be…”
“Queen of Heaven”
reintroduction of the Magna Mater
Isis
Ἶσις!!2nd century Roman statue

a Graeco-Egyptian god. Serapis was devised during
the 3rd century BC on the orders of Ptolemy I of
Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians
in his realm
depicted as Greek in appearance, but with Egyptian
trappings, and combined iconography from a great
many cults, signifying both abundance and
resurrection
Serapis
Σέραπις
!statuette from Afghanistan

in his realm
resurrection
the Ptolemaic kings also built a splendid Serapeum
in Alexandria
Serapis
Σέραπις

in his realm
resurrection
the Ptolemaic kings also built a splendid Serapeum
in Alexandria
389 AD-the destruction of the Serapeum by a mob
led by the Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria is one
of the key events in the downfall of ancient
paganism
Serapis
Σέραπις

HELLENISTIC
JUDAISM
...a movement which existed in the Jewish diaspora [“scattering,” Gk.]
that sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the
culture and language of Hellenism. The major literary product of the
contact of Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation
from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, which began in
the 3rd century BCE in Alexandria. The decline of Hellenistic Judaism in
the 2nd century CE is obscure. It may be that it was marginalized by,
absorbed into or became Early Christianity.
Wikipedia

SELUCID VS PTOLEMID
The Battle of Raphia was a battle fought on 22 June 217 BC
between the forces of Ptolemy IV Philopator, king of Egypt and
Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom during the
Syrian Wars. It was one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic
kingdoms of the Diadochi and was waged to determine the
sovereignty of Syria and Judaea.
Wikipedia

Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Ἀντίοχος Ἐπιφανής
(God Manifest)
c. 215 BC – 164 BC

ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death
(God Manifest)
c. 215 BC – 164 BC

ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his death
a son of King Antiochus III the Great
Notable events during the reign of Antiochus IV
include his near-conquest of Egypt and the rebellion of
the Jewish Maccabees
The First and Second Book of Macabees painted the
Maccabean Revolt as a national resistance of a foreign
political and cultural oppression. Modern scholars
argue that the king was intervening in a civil war
between the traditionalist Jews in the country and the
Hellenized Jews in Jerusalem
his often eccentric behavior and capricious actions led
some of his contemporaries to call him Epimanes
("The Mad One"), a word play on his title Epiphanes.
(God Manifest)
c. 215 BC – 164 BC

In 168 BC Antiochus led a second attack on Egypt and also sent a fleet to
capture Cyprus. Before reaching Alexandria, his path was blocked by a single,
old Roman ambassador named Gaius Popillius Laenas, who delivered a
message from the Roman Senate directing Antiochus to withdraw his armies
from Egypt and Cyprus, or consider themselves in a state of war with the
Roman Republic. Antiochus said he would discuss it with his council,
whereupon the Roman envoy drew a line in the sand around him and said,
"Before you cross this circle I want you to give me a reply for the Roman
Senate" – implying that Rome would declare war if the King stepped out of
the circle without committing to leave Egypt immediately. Weighing his
options, Antiochus decided to withdraw. Only then did Popillius agree to
shake hands with him. This “Day of Elusis” [the village on the outskirts of
Alexandria where this meeting took place] ended the Sixth Syrian War and
Antiochus' hopes of conquering Egyptian territory.
!
Wikipedia, articles on “Antiochus iv” and “Syrian Wars”
DRAWING A LINE IN
THE SAND

THE
1 MACCABEES
When Epiphanes became ruler, the High Priest in Jerusalem was Onias
III. To Antiochus, the High Priest was merely a local governor within his
realm, who could be appointed or dismissed at will, while to orthodox
Jews he was divinely appointed.
Jason, the brother of Onias, bribed Antiochus to make him High Priest
instead. Jason abolished the traditional theocracy and constituted
Jerusalem as a Greek polis. Menelaus then bribed Antiochus and was
appointed High Priest in place of Jason. Menelaus had Onias
assassinated. Menelaus' brother Lysimachus stole holy vessels from the
Temple, causing riots that led to his death. Menelaus was arrested for
Onias' murder, and was arraigned before Antiochus, but he bribed his
way out of trouble. Jason subsequently drove out Menelaus and became
High Priest again.
Antiochus pillaged the Temple, attacked Jerusalem and "led captive the
women and children".
Wikipedia

He made possession of the Torah a capital offense and burned the copies he could
find
He banned many traditional Jewish religious practices: Jewish sacrifice was
forbidden, sabbaths and feasts were banned
Circumcision was outlawed, and mothers who circumcised their babies were killed
along with their families
Altars to Greek gods were set up and animals prohibited to Jews were sacrificed
on them. The idol of Olympian Zeus was placed on the altar of the Temple [the
“abomination of desolation” (tohu wa bohu--Hebrew)--jbp].
From this point onwards, Antiochus pursued a zealous Hellenizing policy:
The motives of Antiochus are unclear. He may have been incensed at the overthrow of
his appointee, Menelaus, or he may have been responding to an orthodox Jewish
revolt that drew on the Temple and the Torah for its strength and was encouraged by
a group of radical Hellenizers among the Jews.
Wikipedia

Atargatis[ (in Aramaic ‘Atar‘atah), was a Syrian deity, " great goddess of northern
Syria","the great mistress of the North Syrian lands,” commonly known to the ancient
Greeks by a shortened form of the name, Aphrodite
primarily she was a goddess of fertility, but, as the baalat (“mistress”) of her city and
people, she was also responsible for their protection and well-being
popularly described as the mermaid-goddess, from her fish-bodied appearance at
Ascalon and in Diodorus Siculus
doves and fish were considered sacred by her, doves as an emblem of the Love-
Goddess, and fish as symbolic of the fertility and life of the waters
ATARGATIS

Coin of Demetrius III.
Obv: Diademed head of Demetrius III.
Rev: Figure of Atargatis, veiled, holding flower, barley stalks at
each shoulder. Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕGΣ ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ
ΦΙΛΟΠΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΣGΤΗΡΟΣ "King Demetrius, God, Father-loving
and Saviour".

Demetrius III (died 88 BC), called Eucaerus was a ruler of the Seleucid kingdom, the son
of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena.
By the assistance of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt, he recovered part of his father's
Syrian dominions ca 95 BC, and held his court at Damascus, from where he tried to enlarge
his dominions. To the south he defeated the Maccabean king Alexander Jannaeus in battle,
but the hostility of the Jewish population forced him to withdraw.
While attempting to dethrone his brother, Philip I Philadelphus, he was defeated by the Arabs
and the Parthian Empire, and taken prisoner. He was kept in confinement in Parthia by
Mithridates II until his death in 88.

a northwest Semitic storm and rain god, cognate in name
and origin with the Akkadian god Adad
Hadad was often called simply Ba‘al (Lord), but this title
was also used for other gods
The bull was the symbolic animal of Hadad. He appeared as
a bearded deity, often shown as holding a club and
thunderbolt while wearing bull horned headdress
Hadad was equated with the Anatolian storm-god Teshub;
the Egyptian god Osiris; the Greek god Zeus; and the
Roman god Jupiter
the lord of the sky who governs the rain and thus the
germination of plants with the power of his desire that they
be fertile. He is the protector of life and growth to the
agricultural people of the region
Baal Hadad
15th-13th century BC.
Found at the acropolis in Ras Shamra
(ancient city of Ugarit)

The supremacy of the [Egyptian] royal family over all levels of society was symbolized
by the institution of an official cult of the living ruler and his ancestors. Monarchs
encouraged belief in their own divinity as a way of legitimizing their use of absolute
power, while subjects enjoyed participating in ruler cults as a means of demonstrating
patriotism, loyalty and gratitude. In recognition of their belief in monotheism and of
their support of the regime, only the [Egyptian] Jews were formally excused from
these observances.
Ptolemy II used both sculpture and coinage to announce the apotheosis [ Gk. word
meaning becoming divine] of members of his family. In ruler cults [a practice deriving
from Alexander] men generally represented themselves as Dionysus or Heracles,
while females were portrayed as Aphrodite. Through syncretism, however, they were
often equated with Osiris and Isis and considered to be actual incarnations of the
divinities.
Pomeroy, et al., pp. 483-484

a Greek NeoPythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana
in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor
Apollonius of Tyana
Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς;
ca. 15?–ca. 100? CE

a Greek NeoPythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana
in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor
“...appears to have been a wandering ascetic/philosopher/
wonderworker of a type common to the eastern part of the early
empire.
“Philostratus describes Apollonius as a wandering teacher of
philosophy and miracle worker who was mainly active in
Greece and Asia Minor but also traveled to Italy, Spain and
North Africa and even to Mesopotamia, India, and Ethiopia.
“[he also] implies that upon his death, he underwent heavenly
assumption.
“...Being a 1st-century orator and philosopher around the time
of Christ, he was compared with Jesus of Nazareth by
Christians
Apollonius of Tyana
Ἀπολλώνιος ὁ Τυανεύς;
ca. 15?–ca. 100? CE
Wikipedia

a Jewish wandering ascetic/philosopher/wonderworker of a
type common to the eastern part of the early empire.
c. 49-66(?) Saul of Tarsus, the last and “least” (or greatest?) of
the Apostles wrote the earliest surviving descriptions of his life.
He also implies that upon his death, he underwent heavenly
assumption
“Most modern historians agree that Jesus existed and was a
Jewish teacher from Galilee in Roman Judaea, who was
baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on
the orders of the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate.
“Scholars have offered competing descriptions and portraits of
Jesus, which at times share a number of overlapping attributes,
such as a rabbi, a charismatic healer, the leader of an
apocalyptic movement, a self-described Messiah, a sage and
philosopher, or a social reformer who preached of the
"Kingdom of God" [η βασελεια του θεου] as a means for
personal and egalitarian social transformation.”
Jesus
Ἰησοῦς
7–2 BC/BCE to 30–36 AD/CE
Wikipedia

“...in scholarly circles over the past hundred years, researchers have been
looking at Western textual or historical evidence for who Jesus was and what
he said. In some extreme viewpoints, the factual evidence of Jesus was
considered a myth and was presumed to have no reality outside the text. In
others, presuppositions about the nature of early Christianity prejudiced the
opinions of scholars about which strands of text were the oldest and so the
most historically accurate. In addition, since the primary Western and
Orthodox church texts were in Greek, scholars saw no point in looking at
Aramaic or Hebrew versions. To do so would have underlined Jesus’
Jewishness. Most often, scholars interpreted Jesus according to
Greek or Hellenistic influences of his time [emphasis added], rather
than Middle Eastern ones. The “historical Jesus” emerged as a multitude of
conflicting figures, varying according to the disposition of the scholar and the
facts she or he selected.
Neil Douglas-Klotz, The Hidden Gospel, pp. 2-3

c. 49-66(?) Saul of Tarsus, the last and greatest of the Apostles
wrote the earliest surviving descriptions of Jesus’ life. He also
implies that upon his death, he underwent heavenly assumption
Paul
Παυλος
c. 5-67 AD

Paul
Παυλος
c. 5-67 AD
Tarsus

“of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.” Phil. 3:5
although definitely not a Hellenized Jew, Saul/Paul wrote in koine
Greek and styled himself apostle (αποστολος) to the Gentiles, i.e.,
the Hellenized world outside of Judaism
many modern theologians criticize him as first of the Hellenizing
Patres Graeces (Greek Fathers) who injected Platonic, Persian
dualist, and other alien concepts into the teachings of Jesus
ironically, that is just what modern missionaries are taught to do!
Address the prospects with ideas which match their culture Paul
Παυλος
c. 5-67 AD
Wikipedia

Facial composite of Saint Paul; created by experts of the Landeskriminalamt of
North Rhine-Westphalia using historical sources, proposed by Düsseldorf
historian Michael Hesemann
!
Wikipedia

Some have suggested that this Greek-speaking Jew, rather
than Jesus, rather than Saint Peter, is the true founder of
Christianity. A lively debate on this topic is available on the
web. Just Google: Saint Paul founder of Christianity. See also
the Wiki article “Pauline Christianity”.

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Regardless of the polemic (πολεµος) over who is the founder, Paul’s
conversion, journeys and epistles postdate the “birthday of the
Church” -- the most enduring of the Hellenistic religions

Πεντηκοστή [ἡµέρα], Pentēkostē [hēmera], "the Fiftieth [day]
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Wikipedia
Western depiction of the Pentecost, painted by Jean Restout, 1732

JESUS AND BUDDHA
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The Christian tradition [originally created by Hellenistic theologians saturated in Greek
philosophy--jbp] became so concerned with making Jesus into its God and making sure
everybody believed that Jesus was God that it often ignored his very practical and clear
teachings. (How many of us love our enemies?) Instead, we made the questions theological and
metaphysical ones about the nature of God (which asked almost nothing of us!). Most of our
church fights have been on that level, and no one ever really "wins,” so it goes on for centuries.
What Buddha made clear is that the questions are first of all psychological and personal and here
and now. We created huge theories about how the world was saved by Jesus. I think what Jesus
was primarily talking about was the human situation and describing liberation for us right now.
Clearly the Kingdom of God is here and now, as Jesus said. However, we turned Jesus' message
into a reward or punishment contest that would come later, instead of a transformational
experience that was verifiable here and now by the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
For Jesus and for the Buddha both rewards and punishments are first of all inherent to the
action and in this world. Goodness is its own reward and evil is its own punishment, and then
we must leave the future to the mercy and love of God, instead of thinking we are the umpires
and judges of who goes where, when, and how.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, Richard’s Daily Meditations, 25 July 2012

The Buddha, in Greco-
Buddhist style, 1st-2nd
century CE, Kandahar
(Modern eastern
Afghanistan).

Greco-Buddhism refers to the cultural syncretism between
Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the
4th century BCE and the 5th century CE in the area covered by
the Indian sub-continent, and modern Afghanistan, Pakistan
and north-western border regions of modern India. It was a
cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by
Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great,
carried further by the establishment of Indo-Greek rule in the
area for some centuries, and extended during flourishing of the
Hellenized empire of the Kushans. Greco-Buddhism influenced
the artistic, and perhaps the spiritual development of Buddhism,
particularly Mahayana Buddhism, which represents one of the
two main branches of Buddhism. The Buddhist religious system
was then adopted in Central and Northeastern Asia, from the 1st
century CE, ultimately spreading to China, Korea and Japan.
Wikipedia

“...in the large multiethnic hellenistic states, the average man was no longer
as intensely invested in politics as he had been in, say, Classical Athens.
Private life occupied a larger share of people’s energy. Schools of thought like
Stoicism, Epicureanism, Cynicism and Skepticism addressed the same
feelings of stress and anxiety that trouble men and women today. Whereas
the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle were designed for affluent men who
could expect to participate in the government of their poleis, the philosophies
that developed during the Hellenistic Age spoke to a broader spectrum of the
human community including women.
Pomeroy et al., Ancient Greece, p. 463

not to be confused with Zeno of Elea. The word
zēnōn means stranger or foreigner. He is from the
Phoenician polis of Citium
300BC-founder of the Stoic school of philosophy. It
is named after their meeting place, the painted
portico (Στοα Ποικιλη, stoa poikilē) in the
Athenian agora. The Stoics were “Porchers”
Zeno of Citium
Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς
Zēnōn ho Kitiéŭs
c. 334 BC – c. 262 BC

not to be confused with Zeno of Elea. The word
zēnōn means stranger or foreigner. He is from the
Phoenician polis of Citium
300BC-founder of the Stoic school of philosophy. It
is named after their meeting place, the painted
portico (Στοα Ποικιλη, stoa poikilē) in the
Athenian agora. The Stoics were “Porchers”
urged his followers to attain an inner tranquillity
(ἀπάθεια apatheia absence of passion) as a defense
against excessive pleasure or pain
he taught under the classic categories of logic,
physics, and ethics
his patron was King Antigonus II Gonatas, (319-239)
Zeno of Citium
Ζήνων ὁ Κιτιεύς
Zēnōn ho Kitiéŭs
c. 334 BC – c. 262 BC

Zeno stretched out his fingers, and showed the palm of his hand, -
"Perception," - he said, - "is a thing like this."- Then, when he had
closed his fingers a little, - "Assent is like this." - Afterwards, when he
had completely closed his hand, and showed his fist, that, he said,
was Comprehension. From which simile he also gave that state a new
name, calling it (κατάλεπσις katalepsis). But when he brought his left
hand against his right, and with it took a firm and tight hold of his
fist: - "Knowledge" - he said, was of that character; and that was what
none but a wise person (σοφός sophos) possessed.
Wikipedia
ZENO’S LOGIC
Zeno said that there were four stages in the process leading to true
knowledge (γνῶσις gnōsis), which he illustrated with the example of the
flat, extended hand, and the gradual closing of the fist:

“As with Socrates, the theoretical life is the best.
It is important to understand that this does not, to a Greek of [Zeno’s] time,
imply seclusion from the world and a turning away from its affairs. In the
first place, the ethical life involves activity, though this should be
disinterested….In the second place, the good citizen must fulfill his civic
duties and perform various servces, both in peace and war. The ivory tower
conception of philosophy is due to the Stoics. It was their turning away from
the world of sense that caused the drying up of the scientific movement.
Russell, Wisdom of the West, pp. 92-93

306-moved to Athens from Samos and established a school for men and
women in his house called “the Garden”
the universe (ὃ κοσµὸς ho cosmos) was composed of atoms which
made up a multiplicity of substances “...the entire universe combined by
chance….This construction left little room for the gods….After death,
the atoms that had comprised the soul and body of each person merely
dissolved
“In the absence of eternal rewards and punishments, [he] viewed
happiness on earth as the purpose of life...Greece and the Hellenistic
World’s first humanist philosopher….
“He defined happiness as the attainment of ataraxia, an untroubled
state free from excessive pleasure and pain, much like [Zeno’s]
“Unlike Zeno, he advocated withdrawal from politics (which the Stoics
had praised)….Despite their differences [both sought] tranquillity in a
turbulent world.”--Pomeroy et al., pp. 479-480
Epicurus
Ἐπίκουρος
"ally, comrade"
341 BC – 270 BC

A mosaic from Pompeii featuring Epicurean icons of life's
transience.

“A similar aim [tranquillity in a turbulent world]characterized two other schools of
thought that evolved around the same time, Cynicism and Skepicism. The principal
theorist of the Cynic movement was Diogenes of Sinope (c. 400-325 BC), who identified
himself as a “citizen of the world” (kosmopolitēs), He encouraged his followers to become
self-sufficient by shedding the trappings of civilization for the naturalness of animals. [He]
scandalized contemporaries and earned for himself the [opprobrious] name of the Cynic
(κυων kuōn=dog) by brazenly maintaining that people should follow instincts just as
animals do---urinating or masturbating in public, for example. The heirs to the Cynics’
rejection of civilized norms were the Skeptics, who also shared the Epicureans’
disillusionment with public life. Skepticism, associated with the name of Pyrrhon of Elis
(c. 365-275 BC), became popular around 200 BC. Stressing the impossibility of certain
knowledge, Skeptics urged people to withdraw from the world….The quest for truth, after
all, was hopeless, as was the quest for power….the philosophies we associate with the
Hellenistic world contrast sharply with those of Plato and Aristotle, who really believed
that knowledge was possible and could be gained through education.
Pomeroy et al., p. 481

VI. SCIENCES
The Antikythera
Mechanism
the world’s first
known analog
computer

An ancient analog computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was
recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck, but its significance and
complexity were not understood until a century later. Technological artifacts
approaching its complexity and workmanship did not appear again until the 14th
century A.D., when mechanical astronomical clocks began to be built in Western
Europe.
Professor Michael Edmunds of Cardiff University, who led the most recent study of
the mechanism, said: "This device is just extraordinary, the only thing of its kind. The
design is beautiful, the astronomy is exactly right. The way the mechanics are
designed just makes your jaw drop. Whoever has done this has done it extremely
carefully ... in terms of historic and scarcity value, I have to regard this mechanism as
being more valuable than the Mona Lisa."
The Antikythera mechanism is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of
Athens, accompanied by a reconstruction made and donated to the museum by Yale
University Professor Derek de Solla Price. His published interpretation argued
convincingly that the object was a calendar computer. From gear settings and
inscriptions on the mechanism's faces, he concluded that the mechanism was made
about 87 BC and lost only a few years later.
Wikipedia

It has more than 30
gears, although Michael
Wright has suggested
there may have been as
many as 72 gears, with
teeth formed through
equilateral triangles.
When a date was entered
via a crank (now lost),
the mechanism
calculated the position of
the Sun and Moon or
other astronomical
information, such as the
locations of planets.
Front panel of a
2007 model

Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 550 – 476 BCE)
Reconstruction of Hecataeus' map
Hecataeus of Miletus is credited with a work entitled Ges Periodos ("Travels round the Earth" or "World Survey'), in two books
each organized in the manner of a periplus, a point-to-point coastal survey.

Posidonius (c. 150 – 130 BCE)
A 1628 reconstruction of Posidonius ideas about the positions of continents (many details couldn't have been known by Posidonius)
Posidonius (or Poseidonius) of Apameia (c. 135 BCE - 51 BCE), was a Greek stoic philosopher[7] who traveled throughout the
Roman world and beyond and was a celebrated polymath throughout the Greco-Roman world, like Aristotle and Eratosthenes.

Ptolemy (c. 150)
A 15th century manuscript copy of the Ptolemy world map, reconstituted from Ptolemy's Geographia
The Ptolemy world map is a map based on the description of the world contained in Ptolemy's book Geographia, written Circa
150. Although authentic maps of Ptolemy have never been found, the Geographia contains thousands of references to various
parts of the old world, with coordinates for most, which seem to have influenced early Islamic maps, and allowed European
cartographers to reconstruct Ptolemy's world view when an ancient Greek manuscript was translated into Latin around 1300.

Syene (S) is located on the Tropic of
Cancer, so that at summer solstice
the sun appears at the zenith, directly
overhead. In Alexandria (A) the sun
is φ south of the zenith at the same
time. So the circumference of earth
can be calculated being 360º/φ times
the distance δ between S and A .
Erastothenes measured the angle to
be 1/50 of a circle and his access to
knowledge of the size of Egypt gave a
north/south distance between
Alexandria and Syene of 5000 stadia.
His circumference of the Earth was
therefore 250 000 stadia. Certain
accepted values of the length of the
stadia in use at the time give an error
of less than 6% for the true value for
the polar circumference.
Wikipedia
Eratosthenes' measurement of the Earth's circumference

Measurements taken at Alexandria and
Syene. Eratosthenes calculated the
circumference of the Earth without
leaving Egypt. Eratosthenes knew that on
the summer solstice at local noon in the
Ancient Egyptian city of Swenet (known
in Greek as Syene, and in the modern day
as Aswan) on the Tropic of Cancer, the
sun would appear at the zenith, directly
overhead (he had been told that the
shadow of someone looking down a deep
well would block the reflection of the Sun
a t n o o n ) . H e a l s o k n e w , f r o m
measurement, that in his hometown of
Alexandria, the angle of elevation of the
sun was 1/50th of a circle (7°12') south of
the zenith on the solstice noon. Assuming
that the Earth was spherical (360°), and
that Alexandria was due north of Syene,
he concluded that the meridian arc
distance from Alexandria to Syene must
therefore be 1/50 = 7°12'/360°, and was
therefore 1/50 of the total circumference
of the Earth. Wikipedia

Archimedes and his principle of
buoyant force
here he is immersing a gold wreath in a
basin of water and preparing to measure
the amount of water displaced

Archimedes and his principle of
buoyant force
“…[Like Alexandria] Syracuse continued serenely as one
of the great centers of Greek life, although its social life
had had its ups and downs between radical revolution
and despotic, oligarchic oppression.
Fortunately, in the third century B.C., Syracuse came
under the power of a comparatively enlightened ruler,
Hieron II, who reigned for 54 years according to Polybius
“without killing, exiling, or injuring a single citizen.”
Under Hieron worked one of the foremost of the Greek
men of science. Archimedes, observing that water ran out
of his bath as he himself got in, evolved the physical
principle for which he is best known: A body immersed
in a fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of
the displaced fluid.”
Everyday Life in Ancient Times, p. 265
here he is immersing a gold wreath in a
basin of water and preparing to measure
the amount of water displaced

While taking a bath, he noticed that the level of the
water in the tub rose as he got in, and realized that this
effect could be used to determine the volume of the
crown
For practical purposes water is incompressible, so the
submerged crown would displace an amount of water
equal to its own volume. By dividing the mass of the
crown by the volume of water displaced, the density of
the crown could be obtained. This density would be
lower than that of gold if cheaper and less dense
metals had been added
Archimedes then took to the streets naked, so excited
by his discovery that he had forgotten to dress, crying
"Eureka!" ("εὕρηκα!," meaning "I have found it!").
The test was conducted successfully, proving that
silver had indeed been mixed in.

The Archimedes' screw, also
called the screwpump, is a
machine historically used for
transferring water from a low-lying
body of water into irrigation
ditches. The screw pump is
c o m m o n l y a t t r i b u t e d t o
Archimedes on the occasion of his
visit to Egypt, but this tradition
may reflect only that the apparatus
was unknown before Hellenistic
times and introduced in his
lifetime by unknown Greek
engineers.
Wikipedia
ARCHIMEDES’ SCREW

When Syracuse was besieged by the
Romans a few years after the death of
Hieron, Archimedes invented all sorts of
engines of war: grapnels that drew enemy
ships up out of the water by one end and
then allowed them to fall back and sink:
great engines for hurling stones: and
mirrors that concentrated the sun’s rays
and set the ships afire.
Although the Roman general Marcellus
had given strict orders to spare his life, he
was killed by an impetuous Roman soldier
whom he declined to accompany until he
had finished a mathematical problem.
Everyday Life in Ancient Times, p. 265

...Alexander’s rejection of constitutional government, of civic militarism, and
of municipal autonomy ensured that his conquests would never result in a
stable Hellenic civilization in Asia, or even liberty in Greece--but simply the
Successor’s kingdoms (323-31 B.C.) of his like-minded marshals who
followed. For three centuries theocrats--Macedonians, Epirotes, Seleucids,
Ptolemies, Attalids--would rule, fight, plunder and live in splendor amid a
Hellenic veneer of court elites and professionals in Asia and Africa until at
last they were subdued by the legions of republican Rome.
The latter, unlike the Hellenistic Greeks, really would combine the ideas of
Hellenic politics, civic militarism, and decisive battle, to forge vast and deadly
forces of voting citizens, whose government created the army, rather than the
army the government.
Hanson, Carnage and Culture, p. 82
But, that’s another story, a story of Justice & Power...

Hellenization of Ancient Cities

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Hellenization of Ancient Cities