Greek and Roman Studies -- Western Studies Library

Author: Chen Heng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The term Hellenistic refers to the process of integration between ancient Greek civilization and the ancient civilizations of Asia Minor, Syria, Judea, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India during the three centuries following Alexander the Great's eastern campaigns. The time frame is generally considered to begin with Alexander's death in 323 BCE and end with the Roman conquest of the last Hellenistic state, the Ptolemaic dynasty, in 30 BCE. The reasons for the neglect of Hellenistic studies are often overlooked, and historians writing the history of ancient Greece before the mid-19th century (in the modern sense) typically only covered up to Alexander's eastern campaigns or, at most, to 146 BCE, when the Romans destroyed Corinth and established their rule over Greece. A prominent example of this is the 19th-century British historian George Grote (G. Grote, 1794–1871). His 12-volume History of Greece begins in the legendary period and ends in 301 BCE, with 776 BCE marked as the beginning of Greek historical records, strictly distinguishing between Greek mythology and Greek history. Grote was a radical in political belief, advocating for Athenian-style democracy and opposing the hardline monarchy. In the preface to his book, he wrote: "After Alexander, Greek political activity became narrow and decadent—it no longer attracted readers, or was no longer the master of the world. Overall, from 300 BCE to the Roman conquest of Greece, Greece itself held little interest, and its value was at most to help us understand the history of the preceding centuries."① At the end of the book, he wrote again: "After Alexander, not only did Greek political freedom and independent action begin to fade, but also the productive genius also withered. The perfect literature and elegant rhetoric demonstrated by Plato and Demosthenes in the 4th century BCE gradually declined."② This warrior who revered Athenian democracy refused to continue writing, and the history of ancient Greece ended there. He viewed Alexander the Great as a barbarian who did not understand Greece, as if he were Xerxes or Darius. Grote thus abruptlyed his narrative here.