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Modern historians see the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC as the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Alexander and the Macedonians conquered the eastern Mediterranean, MesopotamiaThis is an article about the ancient middle eastern region. For the region in modern times, see Iraq, Syria. See also Mesopotamia, Ohio. Mesopotamia ( Greek: , translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan "the Land between the Rivers" or the Aramaic name Beth-N, and the Iranian plateauThe Iranian plateau is located between the northwest of the Indian subcontinent, the steppes of Central Asia and Mesopotamia. It stretches from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan (through Iran) to the Anatolian Kurdistan. See Geography of Iran. Plateaus, and invaded IndiaThe Republic of India is a large multicultural country in South Asia, with a population of over one billion. The Indian economy is the fourth largest in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and is the world's second-fastest growing economy.; his successors held on to the territory west of the TigrisThe Tigris ( Old Persian: Tigr Syriac Aramaic: Deqlath Arabic: , Dijla Turkish: Dicle biblical Hiddekil is the eastern member of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of Anatolia through for some time and controlled the eastern Mediterranean until the Roman RepublicSee also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). The Roman Republic traditionally lasted as a representative government of Rome and its territories from 510 BC until the establishment of the Roman Empire, typically placed at 44 BC took control in the 2nd3rd century BC 2nd century BC 1st century BC other centuries) ( 2nd millennium BC 1st millennium BC 1st millennium AD) Events BC 168 Battle of Pydna Macedonian phalanx defeated by Romans BC 148 Rome conquers Macedonia BC 146 Rome destroys Carthage in the and 1st2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century other centuries) The 1st century BC starts on January 1, 100 BC and ends on December 31, 1 BC. An alternative name for this century is the last century BC . 2nd millennium BC 1st millennium BC 1st millennium AD) E centuries BC. Most of the east was eventually overrun by the Parthians, but Hellenistic culture held on in distant locations like Bactria or the Cimmerian Bosporus.
Following Alexander's death, there was a struggle for the succession, known as the wars of the Diadochi (Greek, "successors"). These ended in 281 BC with the establishment of three large territorial states: