A report on Achaemenid Empire, Hellenistic period and Ionia

The Nike of Samothrace is considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Hellenistic art.

Greek settlements in western Asia Minor, Ionian area in green.

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent under the rule of Darius I (522 BC–486 BC)

Hellenistic period. Sculpture of Dionysus from the Ancient Art Collection at Yale.

The ruins of the ancient city of Pergamon

Alexander fighting the Persian king Darius III. From the Alexander Mosaic, Naples National Archaeological Museum.

Art relics from the Ionian cities of Asia

Alexander's empire at the time of its maximum expansion.

One of the earliest electrum coins struck in Ephesus, 620–600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.

Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories

The distribution of satrapies in the Macedonian Empire after the Settlement in Babylon (323 BC).

The site of Miletus, once coastal, now inland. The plain was a bay in Classical Greece.

Cyrus the Great is said, in the Bible, to have liberated the Hebrew captives in Babylon to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

The Kingdoms of Antigonos and his rivals c. 303 BC.

Gorgone with serpent, Ionia, 575-550 BC.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. At Pasargadae, Iran.

The major Hellenistic kingdoms in 240 BC, including territories controlled by the Seleucid dynasty, the Ptolemaic dynasty, the Attalid dynasty, the Antigonid dynasty, and independent poleis of Hellenistic Greece

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC

Philip V, "the darling of Hellas", wearing the royal diadem.

Possible coin of Ionia. Circa 600-550 BC

The Persian queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, sister-wife of Cambyses II, Darius the Great's wife, and mother of Xerxes the Great

Ionia, Achaemenid Period. Uncertain satrap. Circa 350–333 BC

Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars

Painting of a groom and bride from the Hellenistic Thracian Tomb of Kazanlak, near the ancient city of Seuthopolis, 4th century BC.

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus was built by the Romans in 114–117. The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, built by king Croesus of Lydia in the 6th century BC, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC

Gallo-Greek inscription: "Segomaros, son of Uillū, citizen (toutious) of Namausos, dedicated this sanctuary to Belesama"

Achaemenid king fighting hoplites, seal and seal holder, Cimmerian Bosporus.

A silver drachma from Massalia (modern Marseille, France), dated 375–200 BC, with the head of the goddess Artemis on the obverse and a lion on the reverse

Achaemenid gold ornaments, Brooklyn Museum

Seleucus I Nicator founded the Seleucid Empire.

Persian Empire timeline including important events and territorial evolution – 550–323 BC

Relief showing Darius I offering lettuces to the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra Kamutef, Temple of Hibis

The Dying Gaul is a Roman marble copy of a Hellenistic work of the late 3rd century BC. Capitoline Museums, Rome.

The 24 countries subject to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius, on the Egyptian statue of Darius I.

Bust of Mithridates VI sporting a lion pelt headdress, a symbol of Herakles.

The Battle of Issus, between Alexander the Great on horseback to the left, and Darius III in the chariot to the right, represented in a Pompeii mosaic dated 1st century BC – Naples National Archaeological Museum

Alexander's first victory over Darius, the Persian king depicted in medieval European style in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles

Coin of Phraates IV with Hellenistic titles such as Euergetes, Epiphanes and Philhellene (fond of Greek [culture])

Frataraka dynasty ruler Vadfradad I (Autophradates I). 3rd century BC. Istakhr (Persepolis) mint.

A sculpted head (broken off from a larger statue) of a Parthian wearing a Hellenistic-style helmet, from the Parthian royal residence and necropolis of Nisa, Turkmenistan, 2nd century BC

Dārēv I (Darios I) used for the first time the title of mlk (King). 2nd century BC.

Al-Khazneh in Petra shows the Hellenistic influences on the Nabatean capital city

Winged sphinx from the Palace of Darius in Susa, Louvre

Model of Herod's Temple (renovation of the Second Temple) in the Israel Museum

The Greco-Bactrian kingdom at its maximum extent (c. 180 BC).

Volume of annual tribute per district, in the Achaemenid Empire, according to Herodotus.

Silver coin depicting Demetrius I of Bactria (reigned c. 200–180 BC), wearing an elephant scalp, symbol of his conquests of areas in the northwest of South Asia, where Afghanistan and Pakistan are today.

Achaemenid tax collector, calculating on an Abax or Abacus, according to the Darius Vase (340–320 BC).

Letter from the Satrap of Bactria to the governor of Khulmi, concerning camel keepers, 353 BC

Heracles as protector of Buddha, Vajrapani, 2nd-century Gandhara.

Relief of throne-bearing soldiers in their native clothing at the tomb of Xerxes I, demonstrating the satrapies under his rule.

Greco-Scythian golden comb, from Solokha, early 4th century, Hermitage Museum

Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. c. 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of Xerxes I. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Statuette of Nike, Greek goddess of victory, from Vani, Georgia (country)

Persian soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians. Cylinder seal impression.

Carthaginian hoplite (Sacred Band, end of the 4th century BC)

Color reconstruction of Achaemenid infantry on the Alexander Sarcophagus (end of 4th century BC).

Eastern hemisphere at the end of the 2nd century BC.

Seal of Darius the Great hunting in a chariot, reading "I am Darius, the Great King" in Old Persian (𐎠𐎭𐎶𐏐𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐎴 𐏋, "adam Dārayavaʰuš xšāyaθiya"), as well as in Elamite and Babylonian. The word "great" only appears in Babylonian. British Museum.

Perseus of Macedon surrenders to Paullus. Painting by Jean-François Pierre Peyron from 1802. Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Achaemenid calvalryman in the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

The Library of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom, here shown in an artist's impression, was the largest and most significant library of the ancient world.

Armoured cavalry: Achaemenid Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

The Rosetta Stone, a trilingual Ptolemaic decree establishing the religious cult of Ptolemy V

Reconstitution of Persian landing ships at the Battle of Marathon.

One of the first representations of the Buddha, and an example of Greco-Buddhist art, 1st-2nd century AD, Gandhara: Standing Buddha (Tokyo National Museum).

Greek ships against Achaemenid ships at the Battle of Salamis.

Bull capital from Rampurva, one of the Pillars of Ashoka, Maurya Empire, 3rd century BC. Located in the Presidential Palace of Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. The subject matter is Indian (zebu), the global shape is influenced by Achaemenid styles, and the floral band incorporates Hellenistic designs (flame palmettes).

Iconic relief of lion and bull fighting, Apadana of Persepolis

Bust of Zeus-Ammon, a deity with attributes from Greek and Egyptian gods.

Achaemenid golden bowl with lioness imagery of Mazandaran

Cybele, a Phrygian mother Goddess, enthroned, with lion, cornucopia and Mural crown.

Relief with Menander and New Comedy Masks (Roman, AD 40–60). The masks show three New Comedy stock characters: youth, false maiden, old man. Princeton University Art Museum

A section of the Old Persian part of the trilingual Behistun inscription. Other versions are in Babylonian and Elamite.

Zeno of Citium founded Stoic philosophy.

A copy of the Behistun inscription in Aramaic on a papyrus. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the empire.

One of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid's Elements, found at Oxyrhynchus and dated to c. AD 100 (P. Oxy. 29). The diagram accompanies Book II, Proposition 5.

The Antikythera mechanism was an ancient analog computer designed to calculate astronomical positions.

Ancient mechanical artillery: Catapults (standing), the chain drive of Polybolos (bottom center), Gastraphetes (on wall)

Head of an old woman, a good example of realism.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, was built by Greek architects for the local Persian satrap of Caria, Mausolus (Scale model)

Sculpture of Cupid and Psyche, an example of the sensualism of Hellenistic art. 2nd-century AD Roman copy of a 2nd-century BC Greek original.

Kingdoms of the Diadochi after the battle of Ipsus, c. 301 BC.
Kingdom of Ptolemy I Soter
Kingdom of Cassander
Kingdom of Lysimachus
Kingdom of Seleucus I Nicator

Reconstruction of the Palace of Darius at Susa. The palace served as a model for Persepolis.

Lion on a decorative panel from Darius I the Great's palace, Louvre

Apadana Hall, Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis

Lateral view of tomb of Cambyses II, Pasargadae, Iran

Plaque with horned lion-griffins. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The cities within the region figured large in the strife between the Persian Empire and the Greeks.

- Ionia

The Macedonian king Alexander the Great, himself an ardent admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered most of the Achaemenid Empire by 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, most of the former territory of the empire fell to the rule of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire after the partition of Alexander’s empire, until the Iranian elites of the central plateau finally reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire by the 2nd century BC.

- Achaemenid Empire

After Alexander the Great's invasion of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC and its disintegration shortly after, the Hellenistic kingdoms were established throughout south-west Asia (Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Pergamon), north-east Africa (Ptolemaic Kingdom) and South Asia (Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Indo-Greek Kingdom).

- Hellenistic period

As such Ionia enjoyed a great prosperity during the Hellenistic times with the notable exception of Miletus, which, being the only city of the Ionian League to deny homage to Alexander, was finally leveled after a long siege at 334 BC, never regaining its splendor.

- Ionia

Meanwhile, Lysimachus took over Ionia, Seleucus took Cilicia, and Ptolemy captured Cyprus.

- Hellenistic period

This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland.

- Achaemenid Empire

5 related topics with Alpha

Alexander riding Bucephalus on a Roman mosaic

Alexander the Great

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King of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.

Alexander III riding Bucephalus on a Roman mosaic

Map of The Kingdom of Macedon in 336 BC, birthplace of Alexander

Roman medallion depicting Olympias, Alexander's mother

Archaeological Site of Pella, Greece, Alexander's birthplace

Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father

Battle plan from the Battle of Chaeronea

Pausanius assassinates Philip II, Alexander's father, during his procession into the theatre

The emblema of the Stag Hunt Mosaic, c. 300 BC, from Pella; the figure on the right is possibly Alexander the Great due to the date of the mosaic along with the depicted upsweep of his centrally-parted hair (anastole); the figure on the left wielding a double-edged axe (associated with Hephaistos) is perhaps Hephaestion, one of Alexander's loyal companions.

The Macedonian phalanx at the "Battle of the Carts" against the Thracians in 335 BC

Gérard Audran after Charles LeBrun, 'Alexander Entering Babylon,' original print first published 1675, engraving, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC.

Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot (1767) by Jean-Simon Berthélemy

Name of Alexander the Great in Egyptian hieroglyphs (written from right to left), c. 332 BC, Egypt. Louvre Museum.

Site of the Persian Gate in modern-day Iran; the road was built in the 1990s.

Administrative document from Bactria dated to the seventh year of Alexander's reign (324 BC), bearing the first known use of the "Alexandros" form of his name, Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents

The Killing of Cleitus, by André Castaigne (1898–1899)

Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great found in Byblos (ca 330-300 bc.) (BnF 1998–859; 17,33g; Byblos, Price 3426b)

The Phalanx Attacking the Centre in the Battle of the Hydaspes by André Castaigne (1898–1899)

Alexander's invasion of the Indian subcontinent

Asia in 323 BC, the Nanda Empire and the Gangaridai of the Indian subcontinent, in relation to Alexander's Empire and neighbours

Alexander (left) and Hephaestion (right): Both were connected by a tight friendship

Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1796)

A Babylonian astronomical diary (c. 323–322 BC) recording the death of Alexander (British Museum, London)

19th-century depiction of Alexander's funeral procession, based on the description by Diodorus Siculus

Detail of Alexander on the Alexander Sarcophagus

Kingdoms of the Diadochi in 301 BC: the Ptolemaic Kingdom (dark blue), the Seleucid Empire (yellow), Kingdom of Pergamon (orange), and Kingdom of Macedon (green). Also shown are the Roman Republic (light blue), the Carthaginian Republic (purple), and the Kingdom of Epirus (red).

A coin of Alexander the Great struck by Balakros or his successor Menes, both former somatophylakes (bodyguards) of Alexander, when they held the position of satrap of Cilicia in the lifetime of Alexander, circa 333-327 BC. The obverse shows Heracles, ancestor of the Macedonian royal line and the reverse shows a seated Zeus Aëtophoros.

Alexander (left), wearing a kausia and fighting an Asiatic lion with his friend Craterus (detail); late 4th century BC mosaic, Pella Museum

A Roman copy of an original 3rd century BC Greek bust depicting Alexander the Great, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

A mural in Pompeii, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC; the couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite.

The Hellenistic world view: world map of Eratosthenes (276–194 BC), using information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors

Dedication of Alexander the Great to Athena Polias at Priene, now housed in the British Museum

Alexander's empire was the largest state of its time, covering approximately 5.2 million square km.

The Buddha, in Greco-Buddhist style, 1st to 2nd century AD, Gandhara, northern Pakistan. Tokyo National Museum.

This medallion was produced in Imperial Rome, demonstrating the influence of Alexander's memory. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

Alexander in a 14th-century Armenian manuscript

Alexander in a 14th-century Byzantine manuscript

Alexander conquering the air. Jean Wauquelin, Les faits et conquêtes d'Alexandre le Grand, 1448–1449

Folio from the Shahnameh showing Alexander praying at the Kaaba, mid-16th century

Detail of a 16th-century Islamic painting depicting Alexander being lowered in a glass submersible

A Hellenistic bust of a young Alexander the Great, possibly from Ptolemaic Egypt, 2nd-1st century BC, now in the British Museum

A fresco depicting a hunt scene at the tomb of Philip II, Alexander's father, at the Archaeological Site of Aigai, the only known depiction of Alexander made during his lifetime, 330s BC

In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years.

With his death marking the start of the Hellenistic period, Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism that his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism and Hellenistic Judaism.

After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities.

Anatolia

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Large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent.

Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum, c. 20,000 years ago. Anatolia was connected to the European mainland until c. 5600 BCE, when the melting ice sheets caused the sea level in the Mediterranean to rise around 120 m, triggering the formation of the Turkish Straits. As a result, two former lakes (the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea) were connected to the Mediterranean Sea, which separated Anatolia from Europe.

Göbeklitepe were erected as far back as 9600 BC.

Aphrodisias was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List in 2017

Sanctuary of Commagene Kings on Mount Nemrut (1st century BCE)

Byzantine Anatolia and the Byzantine-Arab frontier zone in the mid-9th century

Mediterranean climate is dominant in Turkish Riviera

The ancient Anatolian peoples spoke the now-extinct Anatolian languages of the Indo-European language family, which were largely replaced by the Greek language during classical antiquity as well as during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods.

The most ancient period in the history of Anatolia spans from the emergence of ancient Hattians, up to the conquest of Anatolia by the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE.

In 499 BCE, the Ionian city-states on the west coast of Anatolia rebelled against Persian rule.

Proto-Greek area of settlement (2200/2100-1900 B.C.) suggested by Katona (2000), Sakelariou (2016, 1980, 1975) and Phylaktopoulos (1975)

Greeks

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Ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

Mycenaean funeral mask known as "Mask of Agamemnon", 16th c. BC

Alexander the Great, whose conquests led to the Hellenistic Age.

The Hellenistic realms c. 300 BC as divided by the Diadochi; the Μacedonian Kingdom of Cassander (green), the Ptolemaic Kingdom (dark blue), the Seleucid Empire (yellow), the areas controlled by Lysimachus (orange) and Epirus (red)

Bust of Cleopatra VII (Altes Museum, Berlin), the last ruler of a Hellenistic Kingdom (apart the Indo-Greek Kingdom)

Scenes of marriage and family life in Constantinople

Emperor Basil II (11th century) is credited with reviving the Byzantine Empire.

Gemistos Plethon, one of the most renowned philosophers of the late Byzantine era, a chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in Western Europe

The Byzantine scholar and cardinal Basilios Bessarion (1395/1403–1472) played a key role in transmitting classical knowledge to the Western Europe, contributing to the Renaissance

Adamantios Korais, leading figure of the Modern Greek Enlightenment

The cover of Hermes o Logios, a Greek literary publication of the late 18th and early 19th century in Vienna with major contribution to the Modern Greek Enlightenment.

Map showing the major regions of mainland ancient Greece, and adjacent "barbarian" lands.

Alexander the Great in Byzantine Emperor's clothes, by a manuscript depicting scenes from his life (between 1204 and 1453)

Distribution of ethnic groups in 1918, National Geographic

Poet Constantine P. Cavafy, a native of Alexandria, Egypt

Christ Pantocrator mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Renowned Greek actress, singer, socialist, activist and politician Melina Mercouri

Aristarchus of Samos was the first known individual to propose a heliocentric system, in the 3rd century BC

The national flag of Greece is commonly used as a symbol for Greeks worldwide

The flag of the Greek Orthodox Church is based on the coat of arms of the Palaiologoi, the last dynasty of the Byzantine Empire.

Aristotle Onassis, the best known Greek shipping magnate worldwide.

Admixture analysis of autosomal SNPs of the Balkan region in a global context on the resolution level of 7 assumed ancestral populations: African (brown), South/West European (light blue), Asian (yellow), Middle Eastern (green), North/East European (dark blue) and Caucasian/Anatolian component (beige).

Factor Correspondence Analysis Comparing Different Individuals from European Ancestry Groups.

In any case, Alexander's toppling of the Achaemenid Empire, after his victories at the battles of the Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, and his advance as far as modern-day Pakistan and Tajikistan, provided an important outlet for Greek culture, via the creation of colonies and trade routes along the way.

The Hellenistic civilization was the next period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexander's death.

During the later years of the Eastern Roman Empire, areas such as Ionia and Constantinople experienced a Hellenic revival in language, philosophy, and literature and on classical models of thought and scholarship.

The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena, located on the Acropolis in Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.

Ancient Greece

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Northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (c.

The Victorious Youth (c. 310 BC), is a rare, water-preserved bronze sculpture from ancient Greece.

Dipylon Vase of the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period, c. 750 BC.

Early Athenian coin, depicting the head of Athena on the obverse and her owl on the reverse – 5th century BC

Delian League ("Athenian Empire"), immediately before the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC

Alexander Mosaic, National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

Greek cities & colonies c. undefined 550 BC (in red color)

Marble bust of Pericles with a Corinthian helmet, Roman copy of a Greek original, Museo Chiaramonti, Vatican Museums; Pericles was a key populist political figure in the development of the radical Athenian democracy.

Inheritance law, part of the Law Code of Gortyn, Crete, fragment of the 11th column. Limestone, 5th century BC

Fresco of dancing Peucetian women in the Tomb of the Dancers in Ruvo di Puglia, 4th–5th century BC

Gravestone of a woman with her slave child-attendant, c. undefined 100 BC

Mosaic from Pompeii depicting Plato's academy

The carved busts of four ancient Greek philosophers, on display in the British Museum. From left to right: Socrates, Antisthenes, Chrysippus, and Epicurus.

The ancient Theatre of Epidaurus, 4th century BC

A scene from the Iliad: Hypnos and Thanatos carrying the body of Sarpedon from the battlefield of Troy; detail from an Attic white-ground lekythos, c. 440 BC.

The Antikythera mechanism was an analog computer from 150 to 100 BC designed to calculate the positions of astronomical objects.

Mount Olympus, home of the Twelve Olympians

This was followed by the age of Classical Greece, from the Greco-Persian Wars to the 5th to 4th centuries BC. The conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedon spread Hellenistic civilization from the western Mediterranean to Central Asia.

In 499 BC, the Ionian city states under Persian rule rebelled against their Persian-supported tyrant rulers.

To fight the enormous armies of the Achaemenid Empire was effectively beyond the capabilities of a single city-state.

Phocaea

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Stater coin from Phocaea with Griffin head; Circa 580 BC.

Coinage of Phokaia, Ionia, circa 478–387 BC. Possible portrait of Satrap Tissaphernes, with satrapal headress.

Electrum coinage of Phocaea, 340-335 BC.

Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, Phókaia; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia.

Phocaea remained independent until the reign of the Lydian king Croesus (circa 560–545 BC), when they, along with the rest of mainland Ionia, first, fell under Lydian control and then, along with Lydia (who had allied itself with Sparta) were conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC, in one of the opening skirmishes of the great Greco-Persian conflict.

During the Hellenistic period it fell under Seleucid, then Attalid rule.