You are hereHomeBARJuly/August 1990Small Inventions? They Changed How People Lived in the Hellenistic Age I define the Hellenistic period as extending from 336 B.C. (the death of Philip II of Macedon and the ascension of his son Alexander the Great) to 44 B.C. (when Augustus consolidated his power over the Roman world). Join the BAS Library! Already a library member? Log in here. Institution user? Log in with your IP address.