Book excerpt: The emphasis of this volume is on Greek literature produced in the period between the foundation of Alexandria late in the fourth century B.C. and the end of the 'high empire' in the third century A.D. Here we see a shift away from the city states of the Greek mainland to the new centres of culture and power, first Alexandria under the Ptolemies and then imperial Rome, Greek literature, being traditionally cosmopolitan, adapted to these changes with remarkable success, and through the efficiency of the Hellenistic educational system Greek literary culture became the essential mark of an educated person in the Graeco-Roman world.