Hellenism and Persianism in Iran: Culture and Empire after Alexander the Great

Abstract

2020, No. 7the Sasanian concept of Ērānšahr-a geopolitical and cultural idea that geographically coincided largely with the concept of the Upper Satrapies used by the Seleucids. 4 Under the Seleucids a fundamental change in Iranian kingship occurred, when a blend of Iranian and Greek practices came into being, which persisted after the collapse of the Seleucid Empire in the second half of the second century. 5 But what is "Greek"? Hellenistic, Hellenic, Hellenization, HelleniskThe subject of Hellenism in Iran compels us to defijine four interrelated, problematic terms: Hellenistic, Hellenic, Hellenization, and Hellenism. These terms not only refer to historical culture but are also connected to modern ideas about culture and history.Defijining Hellenistic causes perhaps least problems, for the word is now most often used as a culturally neutral adjective to designate a period-roughly the last four or three centuries BCE-or to things from that period. Characteristic of the period is a signifijicant increase in connectivity, migration and economic exchange in central and western Afro-Eurasia caused by Macedonian imperialism. Empires tend to encourage intercultural connectivity, interregional economic integration and large-scale, long-distance mobility (both voluntarily and involuntarily). This of course began in the Achaemenid period-an age of globalization too-but in the Hellenistic Age, networks of connectivity expanded enormously because a linkage was achieved of the pre-existing land-based networks maintained by the Achaemenids and their agents, and the maritime networks operated in the Mediterranean by Greeks, Phoenicians, and others. 6 The period moreover saw the integration of the Indian Ocean world of connectivity into the Hellenistic world system. These networks extended far beyond the empires of Alexander and his successors. In addition, "Hellenistic World" denotes the area between the Pamirs and the Straits of Gibraltar, and between the Scythian plains and the Sudan, where this increased interconnectivity and mobility took place. 7 In this world we see the simultaneous use of two major linguae francae, Aramaic and Greek, and as a real sign of proto-globalization, if I may call it that, the spread of a common, international standard of coinage with approximately the same weight standards from Gibraltar to Taxila and a shared system of iconography to guarantee monetary value. 8 The adjective Hellenic means "Greek". It may refer to people with a Greek identity or the culture by which these people expressed their identity. One usually recognizes Greek style when one sees it. In addition, "Greek" of course indicates a language. In order not to make things too confusing, I will from now on write