Greek Empire

Under Philip II of Macedon and especially his son Alexander the Great, the Greek-speaking Macedonian kingdom expanded into the largest empire the eastern Mediterranean had yet seen. Alexander defeated the Persian Empire, conquered Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia, and carried Greek language and culture deep into Asia. Judea came under Macedonian rule around −332, beginning the Hellenistic period in Jewish history. After Alexander’s death in −323, his empire was divided among his generals, and Judea eventually became contested between the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt and the Seleucid rulers of Syria. Hellenistic influence transformed the region’s language, cities, education, and culture, while later Seleucid policies helped provoke the Maccabean Revolt and the rise of the Hasmonean state.