Western Civilization

sense. The policy of excluding non-Greeks from leader-

ship positions, it should be added, was not due to the

incompetence of the natives but to the determination

of the Greek ruling class to maintain its privileged posi-

tion. It was the Greco-Macedonian ruling class that

provided the only unity in the Hellenistic world.

Since the Hellenistic monarchs created and main-

tained their kingdoms by military force, warfare con-

tinued to be an integral part of the Hellenistic world.

The phalanx—still composed of heavily armed infantry

with eighteen-foot-long spears—and cavalry continued

to form the core of the Hellenistic forces. But Hellenis-

tic warfare also saw some innovations. Most noticeable

were the elephants, “the tanks of ancient warfare,”

which were especially prominent in the armies of the

Seleucids and the Ptolemies.

Hellenistic Cities

Cities played an especially important role in the Hellen-

istic kingdoms. Throughout his conquests, Alexander

had founded a series of new cities and military settle-

ments, and Hellenistic kings did likewise. The new pop-

ulation centers varied considerably in size and

importance. Military settlements were meant to main-

tain order and might consist of only a few hundred

men who were strongly dependent on the king. But

there were also new independent cities with thousands

of inhabitants. Alexandria in Egypt was the largest city

in the Mediterranean region by the first centuryB.C.E.

Hellenistic rulers encouraged this massive spread of

Greek colonists to the Near East because of their

intrinsic value to the new monarchies. Greeks (and

Macedonians) provided not only a recruiting ground

for the army but also a pool of civilian administrators

and workers who would contribute to economic devel-

opment. Even architects, engineers, dramatists, and

actors were in demand in the new Greek cities. Many

Greeks and Macedonians were quick to see the advan-

tages of moving to the new urban centers and gladly

sought their fortunes in the Near East. Greeks of all

backgrounds joined the exodus, at least until around

250 B.C.E., when the outpouring began to slow.

In the Hellenistic cities, the culture was primarily

Greek. The political institutions of the cities were mod-

eled after those of the Greekpolis. Greeks of the classi-

cal period would easily have recognized the councils,

assemblies, and codes of law. The physical layouts of the

new cities were also modeled after those of the Greek

homeland. Using the traditional rectilinear grid, cities

were laid out with temples, altars, and stone theaters.

Many of the new urban centers were completely

dominated by Greeks, while the native populations

remained cut off from all civic institutions. The Greeks

commissioned purely Greek sculpture, read literature of

the classical period, and had separate law courts for

themselves. Complaints from resentful natives have been

recorded (see the box on p. 84). Not only was it difficult

for Easterners to enter the ranks of the ruling class, but

those who did so had to become thoroughly Hellenized.

This often required alienation from their own culture.

The Greeks’ belief in their own cultural superiority

provided an easy rationalization for their political domi-

nance of the Eastern cities. But Greek control of the new

cities of the Near East was also necessary because the

new Greek kings frequently used the cities as instru-

ments of government that enabled them to rule consider-

able territory without an extensive bureaucracy. At the

same time, for security reasons, the Greeks needed the

support of their kings. After all, the Hellenistic cities were

islands of Greek culture in a sea of non-Greeks. The rela-

tionship between rulers and cities, therefore, was a sym-

biotic one that had serious consequences for the cities.

In the political system, religious practices, and archi-

tecture of their new cities, the Greeks tried to re-create

Greek War Elephants.Some of the armies in the Hellenistic

world made use of elephants obtained from North Africa and

India. Pictured on this Italian plate is a Greek war elephant

that was brought to the Mediterranean by one of Alexander’s

successors. The battle fortress on the back of the elephant

was a Greek innovation.(Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome//Scala/Art

Resource, NY)

The World of the Hellenistic Kingdoms 83

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