The most important part of the Hellenistic age was the diffusion of Hellenism. Hellenism was the influence that the Greeks had on the rest of the world. The Hellenistic states were ruled absolutely by kings. These kings had a cosmopolitan view of the world, and were particularly interested in amassing as many of its riches as they could. As a result they worked hard to cultivate commercial relationships throughout the Hellenistic world. They imported ivory, gold, ebony, pearls, cotton, spices and sugar from India; wine from Syria and Chios ;silver from Spain; and copper from Cyprus.People moved fluidly around the Hellenistic kingdoms. Almost everyone in the former Alexandrian empire spoke and read the same language , koine, a kind of colloquial…show more content… No commander can win a battle, let alone a war by himself. Alexander, as many others, needed the support of his well-trained army in his conquests. It was Philip who revolutionized the Army, but Alexander took them to another level. The core of the greek army was the phalanx, a highly trained infantry soldier. They were positioned in a box formation, this made it impossible to attack them from any other than frontal position. All the soldiers in the phalanx were obedient, and very loyal. They carried light uniforms, that way they could maneuver on the field. They were armed with long, 18 to 20 meters pikes. Every soldier was required to place his pike on the shoulder of the man before him, which increased the defensive stance of the phalanx. Every unit of the phalanx had its own commander, which made easier communication . Mathematically speaking, each unit of the phalanx consisted of 1540 men, divided into three subdivisions of 512 men. Each division was divided in 32 “dekas”, or a line of 16 warriors.Aside from the phalanx, the army of Alexander the Great also included a unit of hypaspists,”shield-bearers.” They carried shorter spears, or javelins. The hypaspists were more mobile, and they could move from one side to another with ease. There were three classes of hypaspists, one of which was in charge of guarding the
