Following the conquests of Alexander the Great and the sudden collapse of the independent Greek city-states, the Mediterranean world entered the Hellenistic Era (323–31 BCE). Cut loose from the tight-knit political communities of their ancestors, everyday individuals were suddenly cast into a massive, unpredictable global empire. In this climate of profound political displacement and anxiety, the focus of philosophy shifted away from abstract metaphysics (like Plato's Forms) toward practical, de