Hellenistic times are considered to start at the death of Alexander the Great, King of Makedonia, in 323 BC. Alexander had inherited from his father Philippos II a kingdom which encompassed the entire Greek homeland, for the very first time united into an encompassing State, which replaced the mosaic of city-States of the past. Moreover, Alexander's expeditions into the Levant, Central Asia and the Indus Valley had exported Greek culture on large scale. Greek civilisation had become a factor of influence in the then known world, in Egypt, in Syria, in Palestine, etc. There was one major glitch, though: Alexander left no successors, probably too busy travelling and fighting his way back and forth to Bakhtria (Afghanistan) and India. So, when he died, his conquered territories were split up over four Diadoch Kingdoms, all Hellenised ... and all quarelling. Meanwhile, in the West, Rome had started its expansion, from a small local kingdom to a regional power subjugating other Italic tribes and establishing a well-oiled Republic. First subduing the Greeks in their 8th and 7th century BC colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily, the Romans finally crossed the Adriatic Sea to Greece itself. In 168 BC the Makedonians who had been representing Hellenism since their victory over the 'Greeks of the South' in the 4th century BC, were slaughtered by Roman legions at Pydna, in Northern Greece. No big deal, though, - for those who were not at Pydna - because in reality, the Romans had political power, but imported Greek science, art and civilisation into Rome, which became Hellenised as well. Hellenistic and Roman Antiquity thus are to a large extent a continuum. Still, the names of the governors in the Greek Province ended on '-us' rather than '-os', and that hurt the Greek souls.