Provides a comprehensive picture of the Hellenistic period, which covered the three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great and the establishment of the Roman Empire by Augustus. This was the period when the civilization which had originated in Greece permeated the whole of the ancient world. Beginning with an historical outline of the era, the author continues with descriptive and interpretive chapters on all aspects of Hellenistic life: political forms; social and economic conditions in the Greek cities; Hellenism in Asia and Egypt and its contacts with an influences on the Jews; and the status of trade, exploration, literature, learning, science, art, philosophy and religion.