With the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), an era of European history begins, at the end of which the entire Mediterranean and large parts of Central Europe were united in the Roman Empire. The Hellenistic period saw the emergence of large territorial states in the Greek world, including Macedonia, the Seleucid Empire, and the Ptolemaic Kingdom. A hallmark of this time is the mutual permeation of Eastern and Greek culture; Greek becomes a world language and radiates into the Latin West. Key innovations include refined court cultures, a flourishing education system, as well as technical, scientific, artistic-literary, and economic achievements. This fascinating era comes to an end with Rome's conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt (30 BC). Burkhard Meissner provides a concise chronological overview of the history.