Between 334 and 323 BC, Alexander the Great and his armies conquered much of the known world, creating an empire that stretched from Greece and Asia Minor through Egypt and the Persian Empire in the Near East up to India. This unprecedented contact with cultures far and wide assimilated Greek culture and its arts and exposed Greek artistic styles to a host of new, exotic influences. Stylistically, Hellenistic art is seen as more elaborate than its predecessor, the Golden Age. Friezes and monumental statues were created to be admired from all angles, encapsulating spectators watching the depiction of Greek expansion. One of the defining features of the Hellenistic period was the division of Alexander the Great's empire into smaller dynastic empires founded by the diadochi, or the rival generals and friends of Alexander the Great who served him. Each subsequent dynasty exercised royal patronage different from that of the city-state. Architecturally, this resulted in vast urban plans and large complexes that had mostly disappeared from city-states by the 5th century BC. This urban planning was quite innovative for the Greek world; instead of manipulating space by correcting its defects, building plans conformed to natural environments. One city, in particular, embodied revolutionary architecture during the Hellenistic period. Pergamon in Asia Minor featured the Pergamon Altar as a monumental construction built during the reign of King Eumenes II on one of the terraces of the acropolis of the ancient city of Pergamon. Initially built as a monument to the emerging power of the Attalids, visitors could admire works of colossal and humbling dimensions. The path that connects the lower part of the city with the acropolis leads to the visit... to the center of the card... with the bodies of the snakes that coil around all three figures. Strangled by serpents, Laocoön appears to be desperately trying to loosen the serpent's grip without sparing a glance at his dying children; one, who appears defeated by the monsters, and another, who appears rebellious (and, in some accounts of the story, runs away). In a style similar to the Pergamon Altar, the sons are disproportionate to their father's stature, indicating a hierarchical scale that emphasizes Laocoön's cultural significance. Further evident Hellenistic art, the sculpture is intended to be viewed from every angle, ultimately influencing later artistic periods such as Renaissance and Baroque art. Hellenistic sculpture repeats the innovations of the "second classicism": perfect sculpture in the round, which allows you to admire the statue from all angles by studying draperies, transparencies and figurative poses.