The Hellenistic period was an international, cosmopolitan age.
Commercial contacts were widespread and peoples of many ethnic and
religious backgrounds merged in populous urban centers. Advances were
made in various fields of scientific inquiry, including engineering,
physics, astronomy and mathematics. Great libraries were founded in
Alexandria, Athens and the independent kingdom of Pergamum. The old
beliefs in Olympian gods were infused with foreign elements,
especially from the east; "Oriental" ecstatic cults, such as those of
Cybele, Isis, and Mithras, become popular in the Hellenized
world.
The 3rd century BC saw the rise of ancient Rome. After securing
most of the Italic peninsula, Rome entered into a protracted conflict
with the Carthaginians for control of Sicily, Spain and the other
regions of Punic domination in the Punic Wars. The former empire of
Alexander was taken steadily and methodically into Roman hands. The
great city of Corinth was destroyed (146 BC), Athens captured (86
BC), and Cleopatra and Mark Antony defeated at the Battle of Actium
(31 BC). Their defeat marks the end of the Hellenistic Age.
Apulian Gnathian Squat Lekythos ca. 340-330 BC
On loan, Philadelphia Museum of Art
L-64-19
Gnathian-style pottery appeared around the middle of the 4th
century BC in the southern Italian region of Apulia. It takes its
name from the site of Egnazia where the style may have originated,
although various centers must have produced this type of pottery. The
style is characterized by black-glazed surfaces with polychrome
decoration in red, white and yellow comprising mostly floral and bird
motifs. A similar style, called West Slope, appeared in Athens around
the end of the 4th century BC.
H. 19.9; Dia. 7.0 cm. Photo by Maria Daniels for the Perseus Project
(165k)
