100 Interesting facts about the Hellenistic World

3) Cleopatra VII, the last of the Ptolemies, was also the first to learn to speak Egyptian.

4) A Roman embassy raised Antiochus IV's siege of Alexandria by drawing a circle around him and telling him not to step out until he had decided to withdraw.

5) Cassander could not pass a statue of Alexander without shuddering from fear, so greatly had Alexander intimidated him while alive.

6) The Hellenistic period saw the introduction of war elephants into the west. Seleucus had the largest herd, supposedly numbering 500.

7) War elephants deployed by Pyrrhus in Italy were supposedly frightened away by a herd of pigs. A coin with a pig was minted in Rome to commemorate the event.

8) Poor Pyrrhus was killed campaigning in Argos after an old lady hit him in the head with a roof tile.

9) Alexander razed Thebes to the ground, but spared the home of the Boeotian poet Pindar.

10) Ptolemy II married his full sister Arsinoe, adopting the Egyptian practice of royal incest. Greek inhabitants of Alexandria were scandalized. He therefore acquired the name "Philadelphos"--sibling lover









Edited by dexippus - 23-Nov-2007 at 17:49

Originally posted by Paul   1. The ancient Greeks excavated Dinasaurs and exibited their fossils on display in temples for the public to see.

Paul is this a joke or something i've never heard of? If it is true i have to say you've surprised me like noone has done lately.

13: Khandahar Afghanistan is one of the many Alexandarias--the city's name itself is a botched pronunciation. Al Iskandaria in Iraq is another such Alexandria that has retained the name to this day.

Edited by dexippus - 23-Nov-2007 at 12:59

Originally posted by Flipper Originally posted by Paul   1. The ancient Greeks excavated Dinasaurs and exibited their fossils on display in temples for the public to see.   Paul is this a joke or something i've never heard of? If it is true i have to say you've surprised me like noone has done lately.

Edited by Paul - 23-Nov-2007 at 20:49

23: One of the forms of Greek culture spread far and wide was the institution of the gymnasium, a place for the mental and physical education of young men--epheboi. The gymnasium was highly popular, but one aspect proved controversial: naked exercise, and the homoerotic atmosphere it created (although gymnasia strictly forbade pederasty). In Jerusalem, the opening of a gymnasium in the 170s lead to massive unrest, and contributed to the tensions that erupted into revolt in 168. In Rome, Scipio Africanus was heavily criticized when it was reported that he exercised in a Sicilian gymnasium wearing only a cloak.

26. Koine Greek was not the langauge of the common people. It was rather the language of the elite, and the administration. An Esperanto of the ancient time. It was influenced by more than 40 languages (lexiacally and syntactically).

Originally posted by Petro Invictus It was influenced by more than 40 languages (lexiacally and syntactically).

Oh really? Do you know how to read Koine and make that assumption? Why do I think it is simplyfied Attic? From the Ionian dialect to Koine the development seems to be very very natural. At least for people who read classical and archaic Greek.

Furthermore, why was Koine used in theatrical works that common people attended if as you say it was only for the elite? Why did the non native speakers make breathing mistakes in Koine writtings (e.g Syria) while Macedonians and the rest of the Hellenes didn't?

Petro, this is a history forum, not a pan-slavism gathering point.


Edited by Flipper - 24-Nov-2007 at 16:26

1- The Hellenistic world directly influenced the philosophy of Buddhist and some aspects of modern indian culture

Originally posted by Paul   It was on a discovery channel show on dinasaurs, revealing the true  history of paleontology. Displacing the urban legend about people finding them and thinking they were dragons.

Damn, If i only knew where they found that account. It sounds surreal or even funny.

In any case you gave me some homework.

According to a Osprey book about Greek hoplites, most of the surviving records regarding the military service system came from either Athens or from Xenophon.