The Hellenistic period of culture in the antique world is associated with the history of the last
three centuries of the Roman Republic, considered from both the chronological and substantive
aspects. Hellenism shaped the cultural essence of the Republic. At this same time Republican
Rome managed to subjugate all the Hellenistic countries.
Within the sphere of Greek Hellenistic culture there existed numerous libraries, the most
outstanding being in Alexandria and Pergamon. These libraries had their influence on cultural
development in Rome, where by degrees private book collections were created, and later also
public libraries were founded, frequently basing on volumes plundered from Hellenistic collections.
In this way the Hellenistic book collections exerted their influence on the development of
libraries in Rome and also had their impact on cultural and intellectual life during the time of the
Republic
