With the death of Alexander the Great the ancient world surrounding the Mediterranean moved into the Hellenistic Age. This period would see great achievements in literature, art, politics and especially in the military.

The sudden death of Alexander the Great threw his recently expanded empire into a contest between his top generals for control of his newly gained territory. These successor kingdoms would play major roles in the following centuries of history, with the major kingdoms being the Seleucid Empire, Ptolemaic Egypt, and Antigonid Macedon.

To the west of these kingdoms lay the rising Roman Republic who through a series of foreign wars was expanding its control in the Mediterranean. These two different regions would greatly play off of each other throughout this time period, ultimately with one becoming victorious over the other.

The Hellenistic Period would see major improvements and changes in terms of how warfare was conducted. Armies would see the adoption of advanced equipment, standardized armies, as well as new tactics and coordination between different types of units in the field. Naval importance in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas would grow in importance as new heavier warships would be introduced. New weapons of war will also be introduced during this time period that would revolutionize both field and siege battle. The Hellenistic Period would come to a close with the defeat of the last Hellenistic kingdom by Rome at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.