jjares reviewed The Hellenistic Age: A Captivating Guide to an Era of Mediterranean History That Took Place Between the Death of Alexander the Great and the Rise of the Roman Empire on + 3293 more book reviews
After Alexander died in Babylon, his huge empire was divided into three Hellenistic states. The government changed from democracies (citizens being part of the decision-making) to monarchies. Many of the citizens became alienated from their government. This resulted in a change in the society, art, and philosophy of Greece. They rejected collective ideals and focused on the cult of the individual.Â
It's amazing that the Greeks created anything because of the continual fighting, both internally and against other kingdoms. Assassination seemed to be more common than dying of old age during this time. It is shocking to see the greed and egotism prevalent in the leaders of that time. I'd always wondered how the Greek Cleopatra became the queen of Egypt. She was one of Ptolemy's offspring, who was general under Alexander the Great, during his conquest of Egypt.  Through Ptolemy's will, Cleopatra and her brother were named co-regents. It's interesting that the death of Cleopatra brought about the end of the Hellenistic Age.
Opening each chapter with the timeline to be discussed is helpful to the reader. When historians tell about wars and the changing terrain of city-states or kingdoms, it is hard for the reader to visualize the changes without some sort of maps. These changing visual aids are most helpful to understand the changing landscape. Yet there were no maps included in the text. I had to refer to the maps on Wikipedia for understanding.
It's amazing that the Greeks created anything because of the continual fighting, both internally and against other kingdoms. Assassination seemed to be more common than dying of old age during this time. It is shocking to see the greed and egotism prevalent in the leaders of that time. I'd always wondered how the Greek Cleopatra became the queen of Egypt. She was one of Ptolemy's offspring, who was general under Alexander the Great, during his conquest of Egypt.  Through Ptolemy's will, Cleopatra and her brother were named co-regents. It's interesting that the death of Cleopatra brought about the end of the Hellenistic Age.
Opening each chapter with the timeline to be discussed is helpful to the reader. When historians tell about wars and the changing terrain of city-states or kingdoms, it is hard for the reader to visualize the changes without some sort of maps. These changing visual aids are most helpful to understand the changing landscape. Yet there were no maps included in the text. I had to refer to the maps on Wikipedia for understanding.
