Alexander Conquers Persia

At the Battle of Gaugamela, Alexander the Great decisively defeated the Persian King Darius III, effectively ending the Achaemenid Persian Empire and beginning the Hellenistic age.

Alexander’s conquest brought Greek culture, language, and philosophy to the Near East, including Judea. This Hellenization profoundly affected Jewish culture and would later create tensions leading to the Maccabean revolt.

The spread of Greek (koine) as a common language would later facilitate the writing and distribution of the New Testament.