Blog # 5 - Seleucids arrive in Judea

Dear Diary,
We now have a new leader in town! They call themselves the Seleucids and they are great people! When they first came into Judea, we helped them get on their feet and gave them food and shelter and we also joined their army when they went to battle. They did not forget this and soon decided to return the favor. They have agreed to repopulate Judea and help rebuild our destroyed Temple! They also decided not to make us pay taxes and let us worship freely. I see the relationship between the Jews and the Seleucids to be a very promising one where we can maintain a good relationship with one another for years to come.

Diary Entry #4

Dear Diary,

I just heard that I’ve been accepted to the Alexandrian Gymnasium! I am so excited, and I feel I am prepared to deal with the possible dilemmas that I might face. For starters, I would have to learn how to speak Greek if I want to accomplish anything at all while I'm there. I assume that they will have a tutor that could teach me the language though so I'm not too worried about that. Another problem would be that I would have to travel very far from my farm in Judea to get there. I guess I'm going to have to get up extra early or find a new home in Alexandria. Finally, I'm going to have to pretend as though I am either not Jewish or a Hellenized Jew in order to fit in with the crowd. I hope that I will overcome these obstacles and become a huge success!