How did the Greek understanding of polis become cosmopolis in the Hellenistic world?
What will be an ideal response?
Within the Hellenic world, Greece was almost entirely focused on the polis as the center of Greeks' lives. They had not held to an idea of country, or Greece, but focused instead on the individual city-state, with the collective polei making up the Hellenic world. While the polis did have trade and interaction with other polis and other parts of the Western world and Near East, their sense of cultural supremacy restricted their consideration of other regions of the world as something worthy or equal. This shortsightedness was a contributing factor to the relative ease with which Philip of Macedonia was able to take over the polis of Greece and form the League of Corinth. With Philip's death, Alexander continued the plans to create an empire that crossed into Persia, encompassing the diverse ethnic population there, as well as his other conquests all the way to the Indus Valley region. When Greece was placed in the context of being one area of the empire, and Greeks saw the achievements of different civilizations they had previously dismissed, the Greek world ceased to be the center of the universe and was put into the framework of a larger, more cosmopolitan world.
You might also like to view...
What was the purpose of Peter the Great's policy of economic development?
A) To create a free working class devoted to industry rather than agriculture. B) To create a wealthy merchant class capable of financing further expansion. C) To raise the standard of living of all Russians. D) To avoid the need of importing military armaments
The acceptance of the idea of __________ in the 1820s and 1830s reflected the emergence of a two-party system.
a) a loyal opposition b) a natural aristocracy c) equality of opportunity d) equality of rewards
Machiavelli wrote The Prince in the hope that the
a. French would restore political order in Italy. b. pope would actively promote a worldly order of Christians. c. Italian ruler would emerge from the Medici family. d. Spanish would remove the French from Italy.
The cultural heartland of ____________ was a part of the Chinese state for more than a thousand years, encouraging both the adoption of Chinese culture and periodic rebellions.
a. Japan b. Tibet c. Korea d. Vietnam