Nadene Goldfoot
Philo, (20 BCE- after 40 CE) a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt, is a good example of a Hellenized Jew. He made a visit to Judah (not to become Palestine until 135 CE). He had participated in the deputation of Alexandrian Jews to Emperor Caligula of maniacal reputation during the anti-Jewish outbreaks in 40.
Caligula 31 August 12 AD – 24 January 41 AD), formally known as Gaius (Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 to 41. The Jewish community in Alexandria, which fell under Caligula’s rule, had sent an envoy to the Roman palace to discuss their issues with the emperor. Recorded by Philo, the conversation shows Caligula a bit miffed that the Jews wouldn’t worship him as a god: “You are haters of god,” Caligula tells the Jewish envoy, “as you do not think that I am a god, I who am already acknowledged to be a god by every other nation.” He then asks why the Jews don’t eat pork, to which their envoy replied, For the same reason “some people don’t eat lamb.” To which Caligula ripostes, “They’re quite right, it’s not very nice.”
But rather than murder the Jews—that would fall to Caligula’s successors, thirty years later, who ultimately massacred hundreds of Jews as they destroyed the Second Temple, in 70 A.D.—he adopted a tone of resigned pity. “These men,” Caligula said of the Jews, as their envoy left, they “do not appear to me to be wicked so much as unfortunate and foolish in not believing that I have been endowed with the nature of god.” Better he mete out only pity on the Jews, and not deadly wrath.
Philo's family was one of the wealthiest in Egypt. He received a Hellenistic education and his writings evidencing his familiarity with Greek literature, philosophy, etc., even his name shows his family's involvement. His command of Greek stems from his acquaintance with the philosophers, especially PLATO.
His Jewish education was slight: It is doubtful if he knew Hebrew, and his knowledge of the Bible appears to be derived from the Septuagint and from Hellenistic commentaries current among Alexandrian Jewry. These commentaries were allegorical and Philo adopted this approach in his own writings. His literary output was considerable, including metaphysics, ethics, and Bible commentary. He also wrote an historical work, parts of which survive in his account of the persecution by and retribution of Flaccus, governor of Egypt, during the anti-Jewish disturbances, and in a vivid description of the deputation to Caligula.
Hellenizing Israel: Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Greek culture. The main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Syria (now in southern Turkey), the two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa region, both founded at the end of the fourth century BCE in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period when it was destroyed in 70 CE where there was conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists. 
Upon the death of King Alexander the Great of Macedonia of Greek antiquity, said to be very handsome, in 323 BCE his huge empire, spanning from Greece to Pakistan, was divided among his generals. The three most powerful factions which emerged from the ensuing wars were the Seleucids, the Ptolemies and the Antigonids. From the years 274 – 168 BCE the Ptolemies and the Seleucids waged a dynastic war for the control of Syria which became Coele-Syria later as a Roman province."Syria" historically referred to a wider region, broadly synonymous with the Levant. The modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BCE. Aleppo and the capital city Damascus are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
It happened in ancient days when Syria was not Muslim. From Palestine to Persia one may trace the rise of Wisdom literature (the teachings of a sage concerning the hidden purposes of the deity) and apocalyptic traditions (referring to a belief in the dramatic intervention of a god in human and natural events) that represent these central concerns—i.e., national destiny, the importance of traditional lore, the saving power of kingship, and the revival of mythic images. Each of these native traditions likewise underwent hellenization (modifications based on Greek cultural ideas), but in a manner frequently different from their diasporic counterparts. The Greeks brought their polytheistic religion with them.
The major literary product of the contact of Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, specifically, Jewish Koine Greek. Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo, a Jew, and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors.
In 223 BCE, an 18 year old Antiochus III, a Greek King from the House of Seleucus who ruled Syria in the Hellenistic Period, ascended to the Seleucid throne after his brother Seleucus III, was murdered by his soldiers in Upper Asia (modern day central-western Turkey). Despite his youth, Antiochus soon proved he was both eager and shrewd as a ruler. Yet at times, he misplaced his trust in certain people: no more so than with a man called Molon.
Molon Ancient Greek: died 220 BC) was a general and satrap of the Seleucid king Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC). He held the satrapy of Media at the accession of that monarch (223 BC); in addition to which, Antiochus conferred upon him and his brother Alexander the government of all the upper provinces of his empire. But their hatred of Hermeias, the chief minister of Antiochus, soon led them both to revolt in 222 BCE. The two generals at first sent against them by the king were unable to oppose their progress, and Molon found himself at the head of a large army, and master of the whole country to the east of the Tigris. Molon committed suicide on the battlefield avoid capture. His body was impaled on the slope of the Zagros Mountains at the urging of Hermeias.
How did Syria turn into a Greek country?
The Dying Galatian was a famous statue commissioned some time between 230–220 BCE by King Attalos I of Pergamon to honor his victory over the Celtic Galatians in Anatolia. a Celtic people dwelling in Galatia, a region of central Anatolia surrounding present-day Ankara, during the Hellenistic period. They spoke the Galatian language, which was closely related to Gaulish, a contemporary Celtic language spoken in Gaul.
Phrygia, ancient district in west-central Anatolia, named after a people whom the Greeks called Phryges and who dominated Asia Minor between the Hittite collapse (12th century BCE) and the Lydian ascendancy (7th century BCE). In classical antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centred on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires of the time. Anatolia, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey.
Among the various Phrygian religious practices, the cult of the Great Mother (Cybele) predominated and was passed on to the Greeks. The religion of Phrygia, like the culture in general of the region, was a mix of Greek, Anatolian, and Near Eastern elements. In Rome, Cybele became known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). KYBELE (Cybele) was the great Phrygian mother of the gods, and goddess of motherhood, fertility and the mountain wilds. Her orgiastic cult dominated the central and north-western regions of Anatolia and was introduced to Greece via the island of Samothrake and the Boiotian town of Thebes.
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeks_in_Syria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo
https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/caligula-and-the-jews/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coele_Syria_(Roman_province)
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/explore-the-bible/15-things-about-syria-s-people-and-history-as-found-in-the-bible.html
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