While royal dynasts battled for dominion over Alexander the Great's disintegrating empire, an age of cultural globalization flourished, and people and ideas travelled freely over great areas, from the Rhone to the Indus, and Egypt to Tajikistan. In this Very Short Introduction, Peter Thonemann explores this extraordinary era--from the magnificent library of Alexandria to the city of Priene, which rotated honorary statues depending on whose rule they...