Spanning the period from Alexander the Great′s accession to the throne in 336 bc to the defeat by Octavius of Antony and Cleopatra in 31 bc, this vivid narrative explores the innovative civilization of the Hellenistic world. He shows how, when the Hellenistic world became subject to Rome, its culture left a lasting imprint on the way of life and thought of its conquerors.
Two books in one. Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History 1300-362 BC and Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities (Societies & Cities of Ancient Greece)
Language and Learning: Philosophy of Language in the Hellenistic Age The sophistication and diversity of Hellenistic traditions addressing problems of language will make the study of those linguistic theories an intriguing subject to all students of the history of language theory in general. A novice in Hellenistic philosophy will also find that the study of the different schools’ concern with language and linguistic phenomena provides an excellent introduction to the doctrines of the various schools, since it sheds light on their epistemology as well as on their logical, ethical and physical presuppositions.
There are three main centres of interest that received special attention from all schools in the Hellenistic age and its aftermath.
(1) There is the question of the origin of language or languages. Though the notion of a ‘wise inventor’ of language was generally treated with disfavour, the problem of the etymology of linguistic expressions and their reference to reality posed a challenge to all philosophical schools.
(2) Special attention was also given to the question of the interdependence between language and thought in general, particularly in view of the importance attributed to rhetoric and other forms of self-expression.
(3) Last, but not least, is the concern with the question in what sense ‘language’ can be treated as a technical subject with rules of its own, so that grammar is not merely a matter of empirical research and linguistic observation.
Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age (24 audio lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)
Taught by Jeremy McInerney
University of Pennsylvania
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley
This series of lectures examines a crucial period in the history of the ancient world, the age ushered in by the
extraordinary conquests of Alexander the Great.
In all the annals of the ancient world, few stories are more gripping than that of the Hellenistic Age. Between the conquests of Alexander the Great and the rise of Rome, Greek culture became the heart of a world-historical civilization whose intellectual, spiritual, and artistic influence endures to this day. Caesar’s Shame Julius Caesar lamented when he was in his early 30s that by his age Alexander had conquered the world, "and I have done nothing."
In just 10 years, this young prince from the small, hill kingdom of Macedon subdued the largest tract of the earth’s surface ever conquered by one individual. His vast empire—encompassing all or part of 23 present-day countries—stretched from Mount Olympus and the Sahara Desert to the frontiers of India and Central Asia....
extraordinary conquests of Alexander the Great. 
