The emergence of Christianity, the rise of empires, and the idealism of the Hebrews; it all creates a fascinating perspective towards the proceeding paragraphs concerning this statement: "Roman conquerors and emperors, aware of the problems of their Hellenistic predecessors, went to considerable lengths to avoid antagonizing this small unusual group of people." This statement under certain analysis poses several points of view. In order to analyze this properly we must break down the statement and understand it each part for what it means.The first part of the statement: "Roman conquerors and emperors, aware of the problems of their Hellenistic predecessors" This part of the statement quotes the fact that the Roman conquerors and emperors looking in the past, realized that they must learn from the mistakes that their predecessors had done in order to survive. Specifically, an example of some of the problems that the Hellenistic predecessors had would be during around the second century B.C. when "a powerful Jewish faction, which included a High Priest of Yahweh, supported hellenization." (Kishlansky, 100) This attempt at allowing two cultures proved to be ineffective. "With the assistance of the Seleucid kind, this faction set up a gymnasion in Jerusalem where Jewish youths and even priest began to study Greek and participate in Greek culture. Some even underwent painful surgery to reverse the effects of circumcision so that they could pass for Greeks in naked athletic contests. This rejection of tradition infuriated a large portion of the Jewish population. When the Seleucids finally attempted to introduce pagan cult into the temple in 167 B.C., open rebellion broke out and continued intermittently until the Jews gained independence in 141 B.C." (Kishlansky, 100) This statement is very powerful concerning the fact that there was an attempt towards unity but because of culture indifferences and their particular devotion...
