The Hellenistic World: Kingdom and Empires

• The northwestern third of Alexander’s empire after his death is often simply called the “Macedonian Empire” and emerged as a stable power after a series of small wars from 321 B.C. until 301 B.C., in which Alexander’s generals fought over his territories. Various officers, descendents of officers, and descendents of Alexander ruled it, and it was subject to frequent civil wars. In 168 B.C. it was conquered by the Romans and became one of their territories.

• The southwestern third of Alexander’s empire was formed into the Ptolemaic Empire in 323 B.C., and ruled by Ptolemy, one of Alexander’s generals. The dynasty continued until the rule of Ptolemy XV, the son of Cleopatra; it will engage in frequent warfare with the Seleucid Empire over disputed border territories. When Cleopatra and her son die in 30 B.C., the Romans will annex the territory.

• Seleucus, one of Alexander’s generals, ruled eastern third of Alexander’s empire; hence it is called the Seleucid Empire. He was firmly in power by 321 B.C., and over the next few decades expanded his borders in warfare. The decline of the Seleucid Empire began sometime before 190 B.C., in which year the Romans began serious military takeover of Seleucid territories. By 64 B.C., the Romans will take over the entire area, and the Seleucid Empire will cease to exist.

o The Maccabees were a political dynasty among the Jews in Israel; in 168 B.C., they organized a rebellion against a Seleucid ruler named Antiochus IV Epiphanes. (Israel was part of the Seleucid territory.) They succeeded in obtaining a limited amount of religious freedom and a limited amount of political independence for a limited time. The rulers of the Maccabee family became known as the Hasmonean dynasty. When the Romans overtook the Seleucid Empire in 64 B.C., the Hasmonean dynasty within it also fell. The Romans, looking for local rulers to manage the territory for them, arranged a marriage between a Hasmonean princess, one of the last of her dynasty, and a aristocrat named Herod. So the dynasty of Herod family began, ruling the area for the Romans.