Background: Rome and Judaism

• The conquests of Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the Mediterranean (334–323 BC)
• The Septuagint – the Greek translation of the Old Testament (3rd century BC (not later than 200 BC))
• Pompey takes Jerusalem; the establishment of Roman rule and the reign of Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD)
• Herod the Great, Judea's incorporation into the Roman province, and the rule of the procurators (40 BC – 36 AD)
• Philo of Alexandria and Hellenized Judaism (20 BC – 50 AD)