Hellenistic+World+Rise+-+Climate+and+Geographic+Factors

**Climate and Geographic Factors:

Climate:**

- temperate, mild wet winters, hot dry summers (Hadas, 213) - similar climate in all greek dynasties permitted only small changes in their lifestyle - This led to the spread of Hellenistic culture (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_the_geography_and_climate_of_Greece_and_the_Aegean_influence_the_development_of_Greek_civilization)


 * Geography:**

1. Antigonid Dynasty - situated in Macedonia and Central Greece (Walbank, 79) - mostly mountains, with ranges extending into the sea- chains of islands (Hades, 212) - soil not very fertile (212) - lots of coastlines and beaches (213) - good sailing conditions- good for trade, fishing (214) - prone to volcanoes and earthquakes (214)

2. Ptolemaic Dynasty - situated in Egypt (Walbank, 100) - deserts (Bugh, 82) - areas of fertile soil- contributed to significant grain exports (82)

3. Seleucid Dynasty - situated in Syria, Mesopotamia (Walbank, 123) - fertile land (123) - two major rivers- Tigris and Euphrates rivers (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/595616/Tigris-Euphrates-river-system/595616rellinks/Related-Links)

4. Attalid Dynasty - situated in Anatolia, which is now Turkey (Clarke, 186) - 16 miles from the Aegean sea (188) - includes river Caicus (188) - mountainous, high elevation (189) The Rise of the Hellenistic World