After the conquest of the Persian [[VestigialEmpire empire]] by AlexanderTheGreat the {{Plunder}} was divided up. According to legend our rather AxCrazy YoungConqueror declared that his empire should go [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority to the strongest]]. Alexander's chief commanders took him quite literally and spent the next few generations trying to decide this important question. As they could not reach a decision they ended up in a state of mutual stalemate, which allowed the entry of TheRomanRepublic.

This era was noted for the spread of Greek culture and its mingling with other cultures. While most of the old fashioned Greek City-state's were reduced into insignificance, the BalanceOfPower allowed them to live after a fashion. Militarily this was a time of elaboration of Greek and Macedonian techniques. As every army was descended from Alexander's BadassArmy they could gain no tactical advantage over one another though they tried all kinds of techniques including the use of elephants. The result was simply a tie between the powers involved.

* AsskickingEqualsAuthority
* [[BadassArmy Badass Navy]]: The little MerchantCity of Rhodes [[AlwaysGetsHisMan kept the peace]] in the Eastern Mediterranean and protected commerce from {{Pirate}}s and the various warlords around.
* BalanceOfPower
* BeastOfBattle: Elephants
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: TheSiege of Rhodes by prince Demetrius whose nickname ironically means "the besieger" despite the fact that this was his most famous siege. Rhodes successfully beat him off and the famous Colossus of Rhodes was erected as a memorial.
* EyepatchOfPower: The one-eyed warlord Antigonus.
* GambitPileup
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon : There was a "contest" at the time to build the biggest and most ridiculous warships. Nobody won except the archeologists who got to explore them later.
* ProudMerchantRace: Rhodes
!!Depictions in fiction

* OverTheWineDarkSea and sequel novels in Harry Turteldove's (writing as H. N. Turtletub) ''Hellenic Traders'' series..