From Alexander to Rome

At the age of 19, Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world. His successful domination of the eastern Mediterranean led to a new world order known as the Hellenistic Age. Under Alexander's successors, literature, art, and philosophy flourished, but a little more than a century later the Hellenistic Greeks found themselves on a collision course with Rome's expanding republic. This course will investigate the political and cultural history of the Greeks and Romans in this period and consider the forces that created the Graeco-Roman world. Readings include Arrian, the Alexandrian poets, Polybius, Livy, and Plutarch. (This course replaces CLAS/HIST 0338: The Hellenistic World and the Foundations of Graeco-Roman Culture.)