history meme | one empire ↳ the macedonian empire, 808 BCE to 168 BCE
Originally very small, Macedonia was an ancient kingdom that shared it’s southern border with Classical Greece but which later expanded to dominate the entire Greek world. Under Alexander the Great, by overthrowing the Achaemenian empire, Macedonia conquered territory that stretched as far as the Indus river. Until his death when the kingdom was divided among the Antigonids, the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, the Macedonian Empire was the largest and most powerful in the world. However, with the rise of Rome the dominance of the Macedonian Empire faded, and along with it the Hellenistic Period. The empire finally collapsed in 168 BCE following the Macedonian Wars and was, along with the rest of Greece, annexed by Rome around 148 BCE [disputed].
Nevertheless, the empire’s longevity, or rather lack thereof, belies the magnitude of its impact on the development of the ancient world. The Hellenistic period was indeed characterised in part by the forced unification of Greece, but more significantly by the spread of Greek culture and society throughout the world; the arts, philosophies and sciences in particular. A process which continued even after the subjugation of the Empire, when Rome adopted, if not appropriated, many elements of Greek culture, science and thought. Even after Alexander’s death, coins continued to be issued in his name for 200 years. To this day, the effects of the Macedonian empire can be seen. During his campaign of expansion, Alexander III named over 70 cities after himself—and one after his horse Bucephalus—many of which are still known as such—perhaps most notably, Alexandria in Egypt. Due to the patronage of the arts by the Hellenistic kings, public buildings and sculptures in particular, the Macedonian period provides some of the most crucial evidence currently available for life in the ancient world, despite the lack of extant historians contemporary to the kingdom.
