PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT

(4) The League Against the Persians revived by King Philip (338/7) as a way of 'uniting' the Greeks under himself (as 'hegemon': commander-in-chief) to fight the Persians (at least that's what he said). Forced Greek unity in violation of eleutheria ('liberty').

(5) Crusade of Hellenes against Asia (Philip and Alexander): expands the idea of what is Greek and brings Greeks into contact and gives them dominion over many other (older) civilizations

(7) Alexander's policy of intermarrying himself and his chieftains with members of the Iranian aristocracies of the Persian empire (e.g. Alexander himself and Roxane from Bactria/Afghanistan)

(8) Alexander's policy of founding new cities (32 ALEXANDRIAS): Greek language, Greek architecture, Greek gymnasium culture, Greek political institutions, but very mixed and mostly non-Greek citizens. The definition of 'Hellene/Greek' is no longer racial, ethnic, national-family, or even cultural in a natural develomental sense. 'Hellene' is a cultural term thereafter, but anybody can be a Hellene by adapting.

(9) Appearance in Greek cities of new artifacts, ideas, habits from other civilizations: new interpretations of reality (Aristotle)

(10) New religious cults and attitudes change the basic ideas of the Greek polis religion, as well as the meaning of life and death, reward and punishment (dualism of Mesopotamian Zoroastrianism)

(11) The breakup of Alexander's empire produces four separate monarchies (Ptolemies of Egypt, Seleucids of Syria-Mesopotamia, Attalids of Pergamum, Antigonids of Macedonia), who interfere in polis politics, to the point of severely damaging their political integrity through intimidation, domination.