The Hellenistic Age chronicles the years 336 to 30 BCE, a
period that witnessed the overlap of two of antiquity’s great
civilizations, the Greek and the Roman. Peter Green’s remarkably
far-ranging study covers the prevalent themes and events of those
centuries: the Hellenization, by Alexander’s conquests, of an
immense swath of the known world; the lengthy and chaotic partition
of this empire by rival Macedonian bands; the decline of the
city-state as the predominant political institution; and, finally,
Rome’s moment of transition from republican to imperial rule. It is
a story of war and power-politics, and of the developing fortunes
of art, science, and statecraft, spun by an accomplished classicist
with an uncanny knack for infusing life into the distant past, and
applying fresh insights that make ancient history seem alarmingly
relevant to our own times.
“Spectacular . . . [filled with] Mr. Green’s critical
acumen.”
–The Wall Street Journal
“Green draws upon a lifetime of scholarship to brilliantly sum up
the three-hundred-year Hellenistic age. . . . Happily, this book’s
brevity–admirable in itself, and in its concision, elegance, and
authority–isn’t achieved at the expense of subtlety and
complexity.”
–The Atlantic Monthly
“An interesting and well-written overview . . . Students of world
history are in Green’s debt.”
–The Philadelphia Inquirer
“Marvelous . . . splendid . . . a brilliant introduction to this
crucial transitional period.”
–Publishers Weekly starred review