332 BCE- Alexander the Great conquers the area of Palestine, which is ruled by the conqueror up until his death in 323 BCE.  Upon his death, his generals fought among themselves for control of the empire, eventually it was split between them.  The Seleucid family acquired control of Syria and Iraq, with the Plotemies in Egypt.  Judah was a border state between the two, usually in the hands of the Plotemies.

    With this era of Greek rule brought the Greek culture that came with it.  In Judah, merchants and other members of the upper class became partially Hellenized.  But the majority of the lower classes still spoke Aramaic and saw the Greek culture as corrupting Judaism.  Many Hellenized Jews left the poor region of Judah to settle in other parts of the Ancient World, spreading Jewish ideas.  At the same time, these Jews adopted many Hellenic ideas, and the development of various ideas, such as the afterlife and possible resurrection, are found for the first time in the Jewish religion.

    For almost a century and a half, there was little tension between Hellenic culture and Judaism.  But with the rule of Antiochus Epiphanes IV, all of that changed.  Under his rule, a policy of forced Hellenization of the Jews was adopted, to both strengthen his rule and increase tax revenues.  Judah was ruled by a Jewish council presided over by the Temple's high-priest at the time.  Antiochus was able to gain their support by deposing the high-priest and appointing his brother, Jason, the new high-priest.  He agreed to reorganize Jerusalem as a Hellenic city named Antiochia after the emperor and founded a gymnasium.  Dedicated to Pagan gods, the gymnasium soon displaced the Temple as the center of Jerusalem's life.

    Eventually Jason was replaced by another high-priest called Menelaus, who pushed Hellenization even further.  Under his rule the greatest insults to the Jewish faith were conducted.  The Temple treasury was looted, and Temple worship was declared to be worship of Zeus Olympius.  When rumors spread that Antiochus had been killed in Egypt, Jerusalem rose up in revolt.  When Antiochus returned from Egypt, he recaptured the city and established a Greek speaking colony in the city's center and put the most extreme of the Pro-Hellenics in charge.  It was his action one year later which finally brought the full force of the Jewish people against him.

    Antiochus decided that the only way to keep Judah under control was to pan the practice of Judaism.  He had the Temple converted to the worship of Zeus Baal Shamayin, and a sacred rock set up in the House of the Lord to have sacrifices offered to it.  Observance of the Sabbath and circumcision were forbidden.  In a great movement, the Aaronid priests led a revolt against Antiochus and his Hellenization.  Luckily, Antiochus also had revolts in his eastern provinces, and was never able to send his entire army against Judah.  Both Egypt and a growing power called Rome supported the Jews also.  In the year 163, Jerusalem was finally retaken and the Temple was rededicated to the worship of the Jewish God.  The Davidic heir was placed on the throne of Israel, but most of the government was run by the Aaronid priests who led the revolt.

    The period of the suppression of Judaism under Antiochus stimulated the writings of many prophets.  Greatest of these was the Book of John. John was a legendary figure who lived in Babylon during the exile, the sixth century BCE.  Most of the first six chapters are stories about him, thought to have been composed after the exile.  Added to them chapter seven through twelve, thought to have been composed during the rule of Antiochus.  They are mostly revelations, and can be interpreted as having an immediate meaning to the author's contemporaries as well as long enduring prophetic significance.  The contemporary meaning is linked to Antiochus and the other kings of the day, and appear to have been written as a way of supporting the revolt against the Hellenization of Judaism.

    Most of the surviving account of the revolt comes from the First Book of Hasidim.  This book covers the history of Israel from 175 BCE to 132 BCE and was originally composed in Hebrew.  It appears that First Hasidim was written to emphasize the role of the Aaronid priests in the revolt, and downplay other groups that took a part.  The other surviving account is Second Hasidim which is a Hebrew condensation of a six volume history of the revolt.  It is a dry, scholarly work that often goes deep into the details of the number of people killed in various battles, and the specifics of Antiochus's attempted Paganization of the Temple.

    For the next century, Israel continued as an independent nation.  Although the line of David was restored to the throne, the country was very close to a theocracy, with the priests having large amounts of power.  During this period the country expanded places such as Samaria and Gailee where the native population was converted to Judaism.  This power was short lived, as soon the Romans came in and like the previous empires before, put their own puppet rulers in charge.  After a series of puppet rulers, Rome came in full control of the area of Israel in 6 CE.

    Notes-  The Book of John is very close to our Bible's Book of Daniel.  First and Second Hasidim are generally this history's version of First and Second Maccabees.

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