History of the Hellenistic world
Objectives
The course explores the political histories, power structures, cultural developments, economies and changing ideologies associated with the major Hellenistic kingdoms. Students are expected to participate in classroom discussion (presenting the results of critical readings) and develop skills in the analysis of primary and iconographic sources, as well as in the problematization of ideological discourses and mastery of interdisciplinary approaches in dialogue with Ancient History, Art History, Anthropology, Archaeology and Linguistics.
General characterization
Code
01110359
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Ronaldo Guilherme Gurgel Pereira
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - 168
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Available soon
Bibliography
Adler, E. Post 9/11 views of Rome and the nature or “Defensive Imperialism”. International Journal of the Classical Tradition 15, 2008, 586-610.
Acharya, A., Pardesi, M. “Chapter two. The International Order of the Roman Mediterranean (Sixth Century b.c.e.– Third Century c.e.)”. Divergent Worlds: What the Ancient Mediterranean and Indian Ocean Can Tell Us About the Future of International Order, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2025, pp. 40-72.
Austin, M. The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest. A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation. Wiley. 2006.
Bagnall. R.S. Hellenistic and Roman Egypt: Sources and Approaches. London, 2006.
Baker, H. “The image of the city in Hellenistic Babylonia.” In Stavrianopoulou, E. Shifting Social Imageries in the Hellenistic Period. Leiden, 2013, 51-65.
Bugh, G.R. (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to the Hellenistic World. Cambridge, 2006.
Casson, L. The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary. Princeton, 1989.
Clarysse, W., Thompson, D., Counting the People in Hellenistic Egypt, Cambridge, 2006.
Dolganov, A. “Imperialism and Social Engineering: Augustan Social Legislation in the Gnomon of the Idios Logos” Klio, vol. 104, no. 2, 2022, pp. 656-692. https://doi.org/10.1515/klio-2021-0057
Freeman, C. Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford, 1999.
Gell, A., Art and Agency: an Anthropological Theory, Oxford, 1998.
Gotter, U. “Cultural Differences and Cross-Cultural Contact: Greek and Roman Concepts of Power.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 104, 2008, 179-230.
Grant, F.C. Hellenistic Religions. The age of syncretism. Cambridge, 1953.
Hoelbl, G. A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. London, 2001.
Kaye, N. The Attalids of Pergamon and Anatolia: Money, Culture, and State Power. Cambridge, 2022.
Klawans, Z., Bressett, K. Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins. Racine (WI), 1995.
Kosmin, P. The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire. Cambridge (MA), 2018.
Lippolis, E., Rocco, G. Archeologia Greca: Cultura, società, politica e produzione, Milano/Torino, 2011.
Mairs, R. The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World. New York, 2023.
Sansi, R. Art, Anthropology and the Gift. New York, 2015.
Thonemann P. (ed). Attalid Asia Minor: Money, International Relations, and the State. Oxford, 2013.
Internet:
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook - Hellenistic World (Fordham University). https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook08.asp#Hellenistic%2%200World%20ª
Teaching method
The Hellenistic imperialism, due to its multicultural nature, left the legitimacy of each dynasty dependent on its ability to promote itself through a massive propaganda effort. A comparative analysis of epigraphy, archaeology, and numismatics demonstrates how each Hellenistic kingdom developed more or less coercive governments and different strategies to secure the loyalty of indigenous populations. Hellenistic kings, ruling over lands to which they had no historical claim, succeeded—albeit temporarily—in transforming their domains into productive and socially cohesive spaces.
Case studies will expose students to different problematizations and theoretical/methodological approaches. This will allow them to perceive multiple perspectives on the potential use of literary, artistic, historical, and archaeological sources.
Practical classes play a vital role in students' academic and professional development. The practical application of theoretical knowledge is essential to hone practical skills and gain confidence in their research abilities. The practical aspects of the course begin with the creation of reading sheets from a bibliographic selection dedicated to the thematic units. Lectures will be developed with the help of students and their own readings.
The reading sheets allow students to monitor the development of the state of the art on the respective texts' themes. The discussion will lead the classes to partial conclusions on a given topic. The course contributes to the practice of academic writing strategies. The practical activities break with the paradigm of theoretical classes, which limit students to mere passive recipients of content that must be memorized and reproduced. The practical classes allow students to hone their critical thinking and develop individual problematizations, enriching their university experience.
The course develops a series of practical classes to demonstrate interdisciplinarity in the field of Ancient History, as well as in the themes of discourse analysis and iconographic analysis, regardless of their historiographical focus. In this sense, textual documentary sources will be analyzed in dialogue with linguistics, for example, applying methods of circumstantial reading or the semiotic square. The approach to art and iconography will be developed through a dialogue with the anthropology of artistic practices.
Evaluation method
Students must read the recommended bibliography for each unit and submit their reading sheets on scheduled discussion days. The reading sheets will be used as a continuous assessment of the theoretical component of the course (20%). Primary source analysis activities will be used as an assessment of the practical component of the course. Each student's five best analyses will be counted as an assessment (20%). An individual, closed-book written exam will complete the assessment (60%).
Subject matter
The course will feature an introductory unit dedicated to the 4th century BC, contextualizing the political reality of the Greek world at the beginning of Alexander IV's reign. This unit will also cover Alexander's campaigns and the construction of his empire. It concludes with a discussion of the geopolitical and cultural reshaping of the world after Alexander's death. The second unit addresses the so-called Hellenistic Kingdoms, including the transformations in mainland Greece and the rise of the Kingdom of Pergamum. In this section, Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria will receive greater depth as case studies. This unit concludes with an analysis of the economic and political collapse of the Hellenistic world and the gradual Roman intervention in that space between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC. The final unit of the course is dedicated to a social, cultural, and economic analysis of the Hellenistic world. Topics such as exploration and trade routes, philosophical development, scientific advances, and religious thought will be integrated here. Each unit will be supported by supporting bibliography to be discussed in class using PowerPoint. At the end of each unit, there will be a practical class dedicated to the analysis of primary documentary or iconographic sources. These practical classes aim to provide a thematic synthesis and develop skills in source analysis and interpretation.