Alexander the ConquerorAlexander the Great: was a world conqueror; one of the most important figures in Western Civilizationso important because of his spread of Greek culturewas the son of the king of Macedonia (Phillip)Macedonia was a country just to the north of Greece. Phillip was assassinated and took over the throne of Macedonia. Alexander was convinced Greek culture was superior to other cultures.Had Aristotle as his person tutorSocratesplato Aristotle Alexander the Great (not a philosopher)Went on military exploits, conquering lands around the MediterraneanWent into the Persian empire, conquered everywhere he wentUnderstood widely to be one of the great military geniuses of ALL TIMEWas a brutal conquerorAlexander the HellenizerTried to get places he conquered to adopt Greek culturePeople started speaking Greek throughout the world, adopting customs, following Greek culture, accepting aspects of Greek religion (involved in Hellenizing)Significant in what ends up happening with Christianity years laterGreek was the common language among the educated people during Jesus’s time. All aspects of Greek was being used during Jesus’s time. What they were familiar with had been Hellenized. This effects how Christianity is spread and is understood.Hellenization:Hellas is the Greek word for GreeceHellenizing means implementing Greek culture in other places; making other places greekHellenization: process of making other countries adopt Greek cultureINTERLUDE: The Importance of Context: A wordvery important to know the context of something. Change context of word change what it meansexample: dude-means different things in different contextsHAVE TO KNOW THE CONTEXTII. The Historical Context: Octavius and the Pax RomanaThe Death of Alexander and the Rise of RomeThe Death of Alexander and the Rise of Rome:Alexander died 323 BCHis empire was divided up between his generals (his idea had been to unify the worlds that he conquered-died before this happen)Wasn’t before the roman empire rose that you got cultural unityRoman Empire: established by the city of RomeStarted off as a small farming villages, and grew and started conquering surrounding areas.Were three wars with the city of Carthidge. Rome came out victorious.Rome was in control of the Mediterranean before Jesus was bornMany civil wars took place when small powers wanted to have supreme powers. One of the leading power players was Octavius. Was the nephew and adopted son of Julius Caser (assassinated in the year 44 bce)Octavius: managed to ascend in power and brought an end to the civil wars that had been going on for 100 years. He became the roman empower. He was the first Roman EmperorBefore Octavius, Rome was ruled by a Senate but that was when Rome was a Republic.Octavius was now the ultimate leader and adopted the name Caesar Augustus. Rome managed to conquer the areas around the Mediterranean (focused more on the west)The Benefits of the Roman PeaceTime of relative safety-Romans got rid of pirates and bandits (world was relatively safe)Possibilities of travel: roads to travel on, safe to travelRomans built roads to troops could get places easilyPeople started traveling a lot moreCommon Coinage: like the Euro today-made things must easier for peopleCommon language: could travel and communicate with educated people.Greek was the common language-made travel much easier.Significant for the spread of Christianity**Common culture: Greek and Roman culture-very similar religions, institutions, cultural heritages, literatures (Greco-Roman world-Roman established political stability thru Greek culture)Need to know something about what is going on politically in the Roman EmpireINTERLUDE: The Importance of Context: A phraseSame thing applies to a phrase or a clause-meaning changes when you take it out of context (means something different depending on context)Example: I love you80 year old widow, husband just died-closing the casket: last words are I love you. These words mean you are the most important person in my life and I don’t know how I can go onmiddle aged women has been called to the county jail by her son who has been arrested. She tells him I love you- these means I am your mother, and im gonna stand by you all the way even if you mess something up16 couple in a parked car in a dark alley. Boy is starting to engage in activities girl is not approve of, but he says “I love you” – they mean they care about themselves, not youwords mean something different in different contextsIII. The Religious Context: Pagan Cults in the Roman World-word cult here doesn’t have negative connotations-refers to Cultus Deorum: The care for the Gods. Cult means any religious group. Pagan here is not negative either, used in a neutral way-anyone who accepts all polytheistic religions of the ancient world. Pagan Cults: religious practices of the Pagans in the ancient worldCharacteristics of the Cultus DeorumPolytheism: believed there were many gods. Gods for any place and every function; most ancient people would think its nonsense that there is only one god. Emphasized the abundance of the gods and that they should all be worshipedConcern for present existence-not concerned about the afterlife. Many people are religious b/c they are worried about the afterlife. Most people were living pretty close to the edge-poverty was everywhere-if you got a tooth access, you would probably die; all sorts of things that people couldn’t control. Gods are there to control these things. Worship the gods because you want to survive in the presentCultic acts: specifically, say prayers to the gods asking for their help and you perform sacrifices to the gods-animals, food products,Church and State: no sense of separation of Church and state like wave in America today. Opposite in ancient world. In Roman Empire, Roman gods are the most powerful-sponsored the worship of the Roman gods. If you refuse, you are making a political statement and you are an enemy of RomeTolerance: religions were widely tolerant of one another. Didn’t tolerate intolerance. Christians said there is only one god and you have to worship himThe Distinctiveness of JudaismINTERLUDE: The Importance of Context: A GestureContext of gesture: gestures mean one thing in different contextsEverything means something different in a different contextsPSYC 260 1st Edition Lecture 3 Outline of Last Lecture II. The leading questions III. The layout of the New Testament IV. Some