Page "History of the Jews in Greece" Paragraph 12

The empire of Alexander the Great conquered the former Kingdom of Judah in 332 BCE, defeating the Persian empire which had held the territory since Cyrus ' conquest of the Babylonians.

After Alexander's death, the Wars of the Diadochi led to the territory changing rulership rapidly as Alexander's successors fought over control over the Persian territories.

The region eventually came to be controlled by the Ptolemaic dynasty, and the area became increasingly Hellenistic.

The Jews of Alexandria created a " unique fusion of Greek and Jewish culture ", while the Jews of Jerusalem were divided between conservative and pro-Hellene factions.

Along with the influence of this Hellenistic fusion on the Jews who had found themselves part of a Greek empire, Armstrong argues that the turbulence of the period between the death of Alexander and the 2nd century BCE led to a resurgence of Jewish messianism, which would inspire revolutionary sentiment when Jerusalem became part of the Roman Empire.