THE WORLD ATLAS

Chapter · Hellenistic Age

Heirs of Alexander

The world in 300 BCE

By 300 BCE Alexander's empire has broken into rival kingdoms ruled by his former generals. A year ago, at the Battle of Ipsus, Seleucus, Lysimachus and Cassander defeated and killed Antigonus the One-Eyed, the last who hoped to reunite the empire.

Seleucus now rules most of the Asian lands from Syria to Afghanistan and is founding his new capital of Antioch; Ptolemy holds Egypt; Cassander rules Macedonia, and Lysimachus Thrace and much of Anatolia. Greek language and culture are spreading through the old Persian world. In India, Chandragupta Maurya has built the Mauryan Empire, the first to unite most of the subcontinent, and has made peace with Seleucus in exchange for 500 war elephants. In China, the Warring States continue and Qin keeps growing. Rome is close to mastering central Italy, while Carthage dominates the western Mediterranean. Further afield, the Maya and Zapotecs grow in Mesoamerica.

Open the map in 300 BCE

The great powers

Region by region

Southern Africa

Khoisan hunter-gatherers live across most of southern Africa, while iron-using Bantu farmers continue to move south through East and Central Africa.

Northern Africa

Ptolemy I rules Egypt as king from Alexandria, where the great Library and Museum are being founded. The kingdom of Kush flourishes around Meroë, and Carthage controls the North African coast. The Nok culture of Nigeria and Saharan nomads live beyond, and early kingdoms rule the Ethiopian highlands.

Europe

Cassander rules Macedonia and much of Greece, Lysimachus holds Thrace, and Demetrius, son of Antigonus, keeps a fleet and scattered cities. The Roman Republic dominates central Italy and is about to fight the Third Samnite War, while Greek cities still rule southern Italy and Sicily. Celtic tribes spread across Europe, and Sarmatians are moving onto the steppe.

Middle East & South Asia

Seleucus I rules a vast kingdom from Syria and Mesopotamia to Bactria, having ceded Arachosia, the Paropamisadae (Kabul region) and probably Gedrosia to Chandragupta. Armenia, Cappadocia and Atropatene keep their own rulers, and the Nabataeans trade from Petra. Chandragupta Maurya's empire stretches from Afghanistan to Bengal, governed from Pataliputra with the help of his minister Chanakya (Kautilya).

Northern & Central Asia

Bactria and Sogdiana are Seleucid provinces where Greek cities such as Ai-Khanoum are being founded. Beyond them, Saka, Sarmatian and Yuezhi nomads roam the steppe, and Siberia's forests are home to hunters and herders.

East Asia

The Warring States continue: Qin under King Zhaoxiang is steadily conquering territory, while Qi, Chu and Zhao, whose King Wuling has adopted nomad-style cavalry, are its main rivals. King Nan of Zhou is a figurehead. Gojoseon rules north-western Korea, Yayoi rice farmers spread across Japan, and western Tibet is home to Iron Age peoples later remembered in Tibetan tradition as the kingdom of Zhangzhung.

Southeast Asia

Đông Sơn chiefdoms rule northern Vietnam, and the kingdom of Âu Lạc will form there later in the century. Austronesian traders link the islands, and Indian merchants are increasingly sailing to Southeast Asia's ports.

Northern North America

The Dorset culture lives in the Arctic, the Norton tradition in Alaska, and forest and coastal peoples throughout Canada live by hunting, fishing and gathering.

Southern North America

Maya chiefdoms and states grow in the lowlands of Guatemala and Mexico, and the Zapotec capital at Monte Albán dominates Oaxaca. The Adena culture builds mounds in the Ohio valley, while Plains bison hunters and desert foragers live further west.

Northern South America

The Chavín culture is ending in the Peruvian highlands, while the Paracas culture flourishes on the south coast. Amazonian farmers and foragers, and the Wankarani of the Bolivian plateau, live in their own worlds.

Southern Cone

Hunter-gatherers live across the Pampas and Patagonia. Farming villages grow in north-west Argentina and northern Chile.

Australasia & Oceania

Aboriginal Australians and Papuan farmers live as before. Polynesians live in Tonga and Samoa, and the wider Pacific remains unsettled.

Events

  1. Chandragupta Maurya overthrows the Nanda dynasty (c. 321 BCE)
  2. Seleucus retakes Babylon, starting the Seleucid era
  3. Alexander's generals begin calling themselves kings (306–305 BCE)
  4. Seleucus and Chandragupta make peace; 500 elephants change hands (c. 303 BCE)
  5. Battle of Ipsus: Antigonus is killed and his realm divided
  6. Seleucus founds Antioch on the Orontes
  7. Library and Museum of Alexandria founded under Ptolemy I (c. 295 BCE)

Moments of this period

Wars of this period

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Sources