However this may be, Alexander's tutor had been in Asia and had met a
Jew there, if his disciple Clearchus of Soli is to be trusted. "The
man," Aristotle says, "was by race a Jew out of Coele-Syria. His
people are descendants of the Indian philosophers. It is reported that
philosophers are called Calani among the Indians and Jews among the
Syrians. The Jews take their name from their place of abode, which is
called Judaea. The name of their city is very difficult; they call it
Hierusaleme. This man, then, having been a guest in many homes and
having come down gradually from the highlands to the sea-coast, was
Hellenic not only in speech but also in soul. And as we were staying
in Asia at the time, the man cast up at the same place and interviewed
us and other scholars, making trial of their wisdom. But inasmuch as
he had come to be at home with many cultured persons he imparted more
than he got." The date of this interview is probably determined by the
fact that Aristotle visited his friend Hermias, tyrant of Atarneus, in
347-345 B.C. There is no reason to doubt the probability or even the
accuracy of the narrative. Megasthenes also describes the Jews as the
philosophers of Syria and couples them with the Brahmins of India.
This hellenized Jew who descended from the hills to the coast is a
figure typical of the period.
26. _The Ptolemies._--After the death of Alexander Palestine fell in the
end to Ptolemy (301 B.C.) and remained an Egyptian province until 198
B.C. For a century the Jews in Palestine and in Alexandria had no
history--or none that Josephus knew. But two individuals exemplify the
different attitudes which the nation adopted towards its new environment
and its wider opportunities, Joseph the tax-farmer and Jesus the sage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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