Alexander The Great
Persia never succeeded in subduing the Greeks, but an heir of Greek culture, Alexander of Macedon, eventually brought to and end the Persian Empire. Alexander was not simply a power-mad despot. A pupil of the philosopher Aristotle, he was thoroughly convinced that Greek culture was the one force that could unify the world. In 333 B.C. he passed from Macedonia into Asia Minor and defeated the Persian armies stationed there. Then he moved southward through Syria and Palestine to Egypt. Tyre and Gaza each offered stubborn resistance, but delays did not discourage Alexander, they simply strengthened his determination to win. There was no need for a campaign against the Jews and, indeed, legend makes Alexander a friend of the Jewish people. Jaddua, the High Kohen-(Priest), is said to have come out to meet Alexander, telling him of Daniel's prophecy that the Greek army would be victorious ( Dan. 8). Although historians do not take the story seriously, it does illustrate the friendly feelings between the Jews and the Macedonian conqueror. Alexander permitted the Jews to observe their laws, granted them exemption from tribute during Sabbatical Years and , when he built Alexandria Egypt (331 B.C.), he encouraged Jews to settle there and gave them privileges comparable to those of his Greek subjects.
Alexander was welcomed into Egypt as a deliverer from Persian oppression. His victorious armies retraced their steps through Palestine and Syria, then moved eastward. The cities of Babylon and Persia fell to Alexander, and he pressed on as far as the Punjab region of India. Although mighty in battle, it was Hellenistic culture rather than Macedonian rule that was Alexander's legacy to the Middle East. He determined to found a new city in each country of his empire which would serve as a model for the reordering of the life of the country as a whole along Greek lines. Materially speaking, this meant the erection of fine public buildings, a gymnasium for games, an open air theatre, and whatever would approximate the life of a Greek city-state. Individuals were encouraged to take Greek names, adopt Greek dress and the Greek language - in short to become Hellenized.
The material aspects of Hellenism must have seemed attractive for large segments of the population. Trade and commerce brought wealth to the new merchant class. Libraries and schools were welcomed by the scholar. Better housing and better food brought about a rise in the standard of living. Many in Yisrael, as elsewhere, were glad to accept this veneer of Greek culture. If idolatry had been the stumbling block to Israel in the pre-exilic period, Hellenism was the great post- exilic temptation. A third century B.C. writer observed, "In recent times, under the foreign rule of the Persians, and then of the Macedonians, by whom the Persian Empire was overthrown, intercourse with other races has led to many of the traditional Jewish ordinances losing their hold. " Many Jews took Greek names, accepted a school of Greek philosophy, and tried to combine the wisdom of Greece with the faith of their fathers. Others resisted Hellenism and became more and more engrossed in the study of their Law.
At the age of thirty-three, Alexander died in Babylon. For a number of years the future of the Near East was uncertain, but the generals succeeded in dividing the Empire among themselves and the tide of Hellenism increased. While the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria fought among themselves for land and power, they were in complete agreement concerning their social and cultural mission. The historians W. W. Tarn says that Alexander " so changed the world (that )nothing after him could be as it was before."