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Internet Ancient History Sourcebook:
Hellenistic World

See Main Page for a guide to all contents of all sections.

• The Hellenistic World
• Alexander (356-323 BCE)
• The Hellenistic States
  • Ptolemaic Egypt (323-30 BCE)
  • Seleucid Empire (323-63 BCE)
  • Advent of Rome
• Art and Architecture
• Literature
  • Idyll
  • Novels
  • Biography
• Philosophy
  • Cynics
  • Epicureans
  • Stoics
  • Skeptics
• Religion
• Science and Medicine
  • Critical Thought
  • Theoretical Science
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Engineering
  • Travel: Geography
• Modern Perspectives on Hellenistic Greece

• MEGA Hellenistic Greece on the Net

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• Map: Alexander's Conquests [At PSU]
• Animated Map: Alexander's Campaigns [At WWU]
• Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Alexander [At MIT]
• Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Alexander, excerpts. [At this Site]
• Alexander (356-323 BCE): Speech, from Arrian (c.85/90-after 146/6 CE) The Campaigns of Alexander. [At this Site]
• The Need for Source Criticism: A Letter from Alexander to Aristotle? [At this Site]
  
• WEB Alexander the Great [Internet Archive]
• WEB Alexander the Great: A Bibliography [At Calgary]
• MEGA Alexander on the Web [Website]
  Very complete listing of sites, with commentary

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• Map: The Hellenistic World after the Death of Antigonus, 300BCE [At Internet Archive, from Acadia]
• Map: Ptolemaic and Seleucid Empires in 240 BCE
• Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Demetrius [At MIT]
• Ptolemaic Egypt (323-30 BCE)
  • Athanaeus (fl. c. 200 CE): The Great Spectacle and  Procession of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 285 BCE [This Site]
  • List of Ptolemys [At House of Ptolemy]
  • Plutarch  (c.46-c.120 CE): Cleopatra, from Life of Mark Anthony, [At Diotima]
    The Last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt.
  • WEB House of Ptolemy [Website]
  • WEB Treasures of the Sunken City [Website]
    A NOVA site on marine archeological explorations at Alexandria. The images and video call for a fast web connection.
• Seleucid Empire (323-63 BCE)
  • List of Seleucid Kings [At Livius.org]
• Advent of Rome
  • Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Roman Maniple vs. The Macedonian Phalanx, The Histories, Book XVIII, Chapters 28-32 [At this Site]
  • Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Pyrrhus [At MIT]
  • Polybius (c.200-after 118 BCE): The Destruction of Corinth, 146 BCE The Histories, Book XXXVIII, Chapters 3-11; Book XXXIX, Chapters 7-17 [At this Site]

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• WEB Greek Art and Architecture Images [At UCCS]

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• Apollonius of Rhodes (c.295-after 247 BCE): Argonautica [At OMACL][Full Text]
• Quintus Smyrnaeus (fl. f4th Cent CE): The Fall of Troy [At OMACL]
• Idyll
  • Theocritus (c.320-c.260 BCE): Idylls 12 and 29 (trans. Edward Carpenter)[At this site]
  • Theocritus (c.320-c.260 BCE): Fifteenth Idyll, c. 250 BCE [At this Site]
• Novels
  • Chariton (2nd Cent CE?): Chaireas and Callirhoe [Synopsis of the Plot][At Montclair]
  • Lucius Apuleius (c. 123-c. 170 CE): Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass [At Eserver] Latin Text [At Bibliotheca Augustana]
    Adlington's translation, 1566
    See also the WEB Apuleius Website [At Internet Archive]
  • Heliodorus (fl. 220-250 CE): Ethiopian Story [Synopsis of the Plot][At Montclair]
  • WEB Petronian Society Ancient Novel Page [Website-Montclair]
• Biography
  • Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): On Biography, from Life of Alexander [At CSUN]
  • Theon (4th Cent CE): On Biography [At CSUN]
    The last known member of the Museum at Alexandria; father of Hypatia)

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• See 2ND Study Guide [At Brooklyn College]
• (Pseudo)-Plutarch: Des Opinions des philosophes [At this Site]
  Full text of a French translation.
• Cynics
  • 2ND Diogenes of Sinope, Antisthenes, Demonax, Menippus [IEP Articles]
  • Diogenes Laërtius: The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Book VI: The Cynics [Antisthenes, Diogenes, Monimus, Onesicritus, Crates, Metrocles, Hipparchia, Menippus, Menedemus.][At this Site]
  • Antisthenes (c.445-c.360 BCE)
  • Diogenes of Sinope (c.400-325 BCE)
  • Crates (c.365-285 BCE)
  • Diogenes Laertius (3rd Cent. BCE): Life of Hipparchia from Lives, Book VI. 96-98 [At Diotima]
• Epicureans
  • 2ND Epicurus, Lucretius [IEP Articles]
  • Diogenes Laertius (3rd Cent. CE): Lives of Eminent Philosophers X: Epicurus [At Epicurus]
  • Epicurus (342-270 BCE) : Letter to Menoecius, From Digenes Laertius (3rd Cent. CE), Lives, [At Internet Archive, from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
  • Epicurus (342-270 BCE): Principle Doctrines, From Digenes Laertius (3rd Cent. CE), Lives, [At Epicurus.net]
  • Epicurus (342-270 BCE): Maxims [At Then Again]
  • Lucretius (98-c.55 BCE): On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura) [At MIT][Full Text][Chapter files] or in Latin [At Latin Library]
    One of the greatest Latin poems, and the most extended ancient source on Epicureanism.
    See 2ND Study Guide [At Brooklyn College]
  • Lucretius (98-c.55 BCE): The Nature of Things [At this Site, formerly ERIS][Full Text][Ascii Text in one file]
  • Cicero (105-43 BCE): De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum [At Epicurus]
  • WEB Epicurus.info
    Another site with all the main texts.
  • WEB The Philodemus Project [AT UCLA]
    Based on a library of Epicurean books, many by Philodemus, found at Pompei.
• Stoics
  • 2ND Stoicism, Chrysippus, Cleanthes, [IEP Articles]
  • Diogenes Laërtius: The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers: Book VII: The Stoics [Zeno, Ariston, Herillus, Dionysius, Cleanthes, Sphaerus, Chrysippus] [At this Site]
  • Cleanthes (331-232 BCE): Prayer to Zeus Stobaeus, Eclogae, I, 1, 12)[At enteract.com]
  • Stoic Source Texts [At CSUN]
  • 2ND Stoicism [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
  • 2ND Zeno of Citium (c335-c262 BCE) [At AOL]
  • 2ND Zeno of Citium (c335-c262 BCE)[Modern Account][At Geocities]
  • Cleanthes (331-232 BCE)
  • 2ND Chrysippus (280 BC-206 BCE)[Modern Account] [At Internet Archive]
  • Marcus Aurelius Antonius (b.121-r.161-d.180 CE): Meditations, 167 CE [At this Site]
• Skeptics
  • 2ND Ancient Greek Skepticism, Academy, Pyrrho, Carneades, Anesidemus,[IEP Articles]
  • 2ND Ancient Skepticism [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
  • Diogenes Laërtius:  The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers The Sceptics: Life of Pyrrho [At this Site]
  • Pyrrhon of Elea (c.365-c.270)
  • Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Carneades' Visit to Rome (c.213-129 BCE), from Life of Cato the Older [This Site]
    Shocking the Romans!
  • Anesidemus (1st Cent. CE)

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• Lucius Apuleius (c.123-c.170 CE): Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass [At Eserver]
  Adlington's translation, 1566
• Lucius Apulieus (c.123-c.170 CE): Apologia [At UPenn]
  Full text in Latin and English, or see Translation by Butler [At MIT]
• Philostratus (2-3rd Cent CE): Life Apollonius of Tyana (b.c.4 BCE)
• Greek Magical Papyri I, Papyri II, Papyri III

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• Hellenic & Hellenistic Science [At This Site]
  Contains: Hippocrates, Aphorisms, c. Fifth Century BCE, Archimedes, Letter to Dositheus, c. 220 BCE, Galen, Medicine, c. Mid-Second Century CE
• Critical Thought
  • Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): Why the Nile Floods in Summer (Hdt. 2.19-2.27) [At Internet Archive, from Holy Cross]
  • Herodotus (c.490-c.425 BCE): Critique of Geography (Hdt. 4.36.2-45.5) [At Internet Archive, from Holy Cross]
  • Geography in Herodotus [At Holy Cross]
• Theoretical Science
  • Aristotle (384-323 BCE): The Four Causes [At WSU]
• Mathematics
  • 2ND Donald Lancon: An Introduction to the Works of Euclid [Modern Account]
  • WEB Euclid (c.300 BCE): Elements [At Clark][Full Text]
    The site has Java applets which let you play around with the geometric figures.
• Medicine
  • Galen (129-199 CE): On the Natural Faculties, [At MIT][Full Text][Chapter files]
  • Galen (129-199 CE): On the Natural Faculties, [At Medicina Antiqua][added 1/27/99]
  • Galen (129-199 CE): On Hippocrates On the Nature of Man [At Medicina Antiqua]
  • The Hippocratic Oath [At Saskatchewan]
  • WEB Hippocratic Texts (c.430-330 BCE)[At MIT]
    [Selected texts. See instead of ERIS]
  • WEB Medicina Antiqua [Website]
    Texts and images on ancient medicine.
  • WEB Antiqua Medicina: From Homer to Vesalius [Website]
• Engineering
  • Plutarch (c.46-c.120 CE): Life of Marcellus [At MIT]
    See chaps. 14-17, 19 for an account of Archimedes (c.287-c.212 BCE).
  • Hero of Alexandria (fl/ 62 CE): Pneumatics [Full Text] [At Steam Engine Library]
  • WEB Archimedes (c.287-c.212 BCE)[Website]
    The site has extensive source text quotations and illustrations. See for instance this one on Archimedean Solids.
  • 2ND Why did the Ancients Not Develop Machinery [At Southwestern]
• Travel: Geography
  Geographical reports by Greek and Roman authors represent a certain approach to knowledge collection which is important in our understanding of their intellectual approach.
  • Greek Reports of Babylonia, Chaldea, and Assyria [At this Site]
    From Herodotus.
  • Ancient Accounts of Arabia [At this Site]
    Accounts from Herodotus, Strabo, Ammianus Marcellinus
  • Accounts of Ancient Mauretania, c. 430 BCE- 550 CE [At this Site]
    From Herodotus, Strabo, and Procopius of Caesarea
  • Accounts of Meröe, Kush, and Axum, Accounts of Meroe, Kush, and Axumc. 430 BCE - 550 CE, [At this Site]
    From Herodotus, Strabo, Dio Cassius, the King of Axum, and and Procopius of Caesarea.
  • Greek Reports of India & Aryavarta [At this Site]
    From Herodotus.
  • The Periplus [At Internet Archive, from CCNY]
    Written by a Greek resident of Alexandria in Egypt during the first century BCE, this text is one of the oldest surviving accounts of the countries on Africa's east coast. A map gives some idea of the size and scope of Africa and of the author's journey.
  • The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century, complete, [At this Site]
  • Strabo: Geography: Book XV: On India [At this Site]
  • Arrian: Anabasis Alexandri: Book VIII (Indica) [At this Site]
  • Pliny: Natural History 6.96-111. (On India) [At this Site]
  • India and the Mediterranean: Bibliography [At this Site]

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• Thomas Jefferson: I am an Epicurean [At CSUN]

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NOTES:

Dates of accession of material added since July 1998 can be seen in the New Additions page.

The date of inception was 4/8/1998.

Links to files at other site are indicated by [At some indication of the site name or location].

Locally available texts are marked by [At this Site].

WEB indicates a link to one of small number of high quality web sites which provide either more texts or an especially valuable overview.

The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook is part of the
Internet History Sourcebooks Project