A timeline of the Hellenistic world from Alexander's death to Rome's conquest — successor kingdoms, cosmopolitan culture, and scientific breakthroughs.
Alexander's generals fight for decades over his empire, eventually creating three major successor kingdoms.
Ptolemy claims Egypt and founds a dynasty that will rule for nearly three centuries, creating Alexandria as an intellectual capital.
The Ptolemies create the ancient world's greatest center of learning, aiming to collect all human knowledge in a single institution.
Working in Alexandria, Euclid systematizes geometry into the foundational text that will be studied for over two millennia.
Archimedes of Syracuse makes groundbreaking discoveries in mathematics, physics, and engineering — including the principle of buoyancy.
The Alexandrian scholar calculates the Earth's circumference to within a few percent of the correct value using shadows and geometry.
Roman victory at Pydna ends Macedonian independence and begins Rome's domination of the Greek world.
The destruction of Corinth completes Rome's subjugation of Greece, though Greek culture will conquer its Roman conquerors.
Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra, making Egypt a Roman province and ending the last major Hellenistic kingdom.