By the eighth century, the intricate Conglomerate had survived nearly everything the world could throw at it — Persian irruptions, Arab vanquishing, civil wars, and pestilences. It had lost half its home, but not its soul. The conglomerate that now stood was slender, harder, and unmistakably Greek. Its capital, Constantinople, was still the richest and most sophisticated megacity on Earth. Its scholars still spoke the language of Plato, its churches still glistered with gold mosaics, and its emperors still claimed to rule “ by the grace of God. ” But the coming many centuries

When Rome fell in the West, utmost people assumed the world was ending. Armies collapsed, metropolises burned, and trade routes dissolved. Yet far to the east, along the props of the Bosporus, another Rome was rising — one that spoke Greek, allowed Greek, and saw itself as the guardian of everything the ancient world had erected. This is the story of Byzantium — the conglomerate that noway called

By the late Hellenistic period, Greek culture and study had spread across three mainlands, blending with original traditions, impacting governance, education, and wisdom, and setting the stage for Rome’s intellectual and artistic dominance. Part 3 examines the capstone of Hellenistic achievements, their integration into the Roman world, and their enduring heritage into latterly centuries. Scientific Achievements and the Pursuit of Knowledge Hellenistic wisdom represented a mature, methodical approach to understanding the natural world.