The Classical Era - Ancient Mediterranean History

The Hegemonies of the first half of the fourth century BCE

an ever shifting balance of power through hegemonies, power where one city tends to dominate (Spartan Hegemony, Theban hegemony, 2nd Athenian League)

Macedonia

Kingdom, conquests lead other Greeks to reform their leagues

Battle of Chaeronea (338)

Macedonians vs recoalition of all the greeks, disbands second Athenian sea league, Philip II establishes league of Corinth (Macedonia is the head, wants to fight Persia again)

Alexander III (“the Great”) of Macedon

consolidated Macedonian control over the Greek world, suppressed fires of revolt against Macedonian control and solidified it

Alexander the great’s empire

in 20 years manages to overthrow the Persian king twice and took over the Persian empire

Hellenistic kingdoms (276 BCE)

after period of fighting between Alexander’s generals, call them kingdoms because all the generals declared themselves as king 

Antigonid Kingdom

Macedonia

Ptolemaic Kingdom

Egypt, comparatively stable

Seleucid Kingdom

Persia

Hellenistic Period (Kingdoms)

lasts 300 years, sees the diffusion of Greek culture across a very wide territory, produces many hybrid cultures between the original cultures of the area and Greek culture