Editing Greeks (section)

===Hellenistic===
{{Main|Hellenistic period|Hellenistic Greece}}
[[File:Diadochen1.png|thumb|upright=1.25|The Hellenistic realms c. 300 BC as divided by the [[Diadochi]]; the Μacedonian Kingdom of [[Cassander]] (green), the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] (dark blue), the [[Seleucid Empire]] (yellow), the areas controlled by [[Lysimachus]] (orange) and [[Epirus]] (red)]]
[[File:Bust of Cleopatra VII - Altes Museum - Berlin - Germany 2017 (3).jpg|alt=|thumb|upright=0.8|Bust of [[Cleopatra VII]] ([[Altes Museum]], [[Berlin]]), the last ruler of a Hellenistic kingdom (apart from the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]])]]
The [[Hellenistic civilization]] was the next period of Greek civilization, the beginnings of which are usually placed at Alexander's death.<ref name=Boardman364>{{harvnb|Boardman|Griffin|Murray|1991|p=364}}</ref> This [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic age]], so called because it saw the partial [[Hellenization]] of many non-Greek cultures, extending all the way into India and [[Bactria]], both of which maintained Greek cultures and governments for centuries.<ref>{{cite news|last=Arun|first=Neil|title=Alexander's Gulf outpost uncovered|work=BBC News|date=7 August 2007|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6930285.stm|access-date=15 June 2009|archive-date=2 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102000605/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6930285.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> The end is often placed around conquest of [[Ptolemaic Egypt|Egypt]] by Rome in 30 BC,<ref name=Boardman364/> although the Indo-Greek kingdoms lasted for a few more decades.

This age saw the Greeks move towards larger cities and a reduction in the importance of the city-state. These larger cities were parts of the still larger [[Diadochi|Kingdoms of the Diadochi]].<ref>{{harvnb|Grant|1990|loc=Introduction}}.</ref><ref name=BritHel>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Hellenistic age|date=27 May 2015|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.|location=United States|id=Online Edition|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Hellenistic-Age|access-date=21 June 2022|archive-date=14 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414153342/https://www.britannica.com/event/Hellenistic-Age|url-status=live}}</ref> Greeks, however, remained aware of their past, chiefly through the study of the works of Homer and the classical authors.<ref name=Harris>{{harvnb|Harris|1991|pp=137–138}}.</ref> An important factor in maintaining Greek identity was contact with ''[[barbarian]]'' (non-Greek) peoples, which was deepened in the new cosmopolitan environment of the multi-ethnic Hellenistic kingdoms.<ref name=Harris/> This led to a strong desire among Greeks to organize the transmission of the Hellenic ''[[paideia]]'' to the next generation.<ref name=Harris/> Greek science, technology and mathematics are generally considered to have reached their peak during the Hellenistic period.<ref>{{harvnb|Lucore|2009|p=51: "The Hellenistic period is commonly portrayed as the great age of Greek scientific discovery, above all in mathematics and astronomy."}}</ref>

In the [[Indo-Greeks|Indo-Greek]] and [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrian]] kingdoms, [[Greco-Buddhism]] was spreading and Greek missionaries would play an important role in propagating it to [[China]].<ref>{{harvnb|Foltz|2010|pp=43–46}}.</ref> Further east, the Greeks of [[Alexandria Eschate]] became known to the [[Chinese people]] as the [[Dayuan]].<ref>{{harvnb|Burton|1993|pp=244–245}}.</ref>