AKA Inter-testamental Period, 400 Years of Silence.
The time between the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Alexander the Great spread Greek culture and language to this area of the world that would be the Roman Empire. Conquered the Persians, Babylonians, bringing dramatic power shift.
(Origin of the Bible class notes, March 1, 2023. Pink jaguar print composition book. Page 3.)
History
When Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C., his empire was split up among his four generals. Judea was given to Seleucus I then was annexed by Ptolemy of Egypt in 320 B.C. The Palestinian people were under severe political and social pressure. Their conquerors generally sought to conciliate the Jews. Ptolemy encouraged them to migrate to multicultural Egypt.
In 205 B.C., Ptolemy V died suddenly, and Antiochus III of Syria annexed Judea. An Egyptian army moved to check his advance but was defeated near Sidon in 198 B.C., after which Judea became part of the Seleucid kingdom. Antiochus was tolerant toward the Jews, yet maintained firm political control over the country, just as the Egyptians had done. Eventually, civil strife throughout the Near East toward the end of the Greek period attracted the attention of the Romans, who were coming to the forefront as a military and political power. Roman legions entered Asia Minor in 197 B.C. and were attacked by the Syrians. After a long campaign, Scipio Africanus crushed Syrian forces at Magnesia in 190 B.C., paving the way for further Roman advances into Palestine.
The Seleucid kings clung to their power and treated the Jews with increasing severity. The Seleucids had become propagandists for pagan Hellenic culture and were bent on bringing Greek traditions into orthodox Judaism. Hellenizing occurred with particular severity under Antiochus IV (175-164 B.C.), causing the Hasmonean family to rise up in revolt. The resistance under Judas Maccabeus was so successful that the Syrian regent Lysias guaranteed the return of Jewish liberties, obstructing the hellenizing party in Judea. In 142 B.C., Judea became independent from Syria, and under John Hyrcanus (135-105 B.C.) achieved some political and territorial solidarity. The whole situation was unstable at best, though, and was complicated by the conflicts between Hellenizers and the more traditional Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes. In the meantime, some purist religious groups such as members of the Dead Sea community broke away from the orthodox Jews and founded their own settlements in the inhospitable wilderness of Judea.
In 64 B.C., Pompey attacked Syria and made it into a Roman providence. While acting to quell unrest in Judea, the Romans were attacked by fanatical Jews who were ultimately slaughtered on the Temple mount. The Romans kept a garrison in Jerusalem thereafter and incorporated Judea into the newly fashioned province of Syria. The subsequent Herodian dynasty governed under the supervision of Rome, which maintained legions in Judea until after the second Jewish Revolt (A.D. 132-135).
At the birth of Christ, one out of every two people was a slave. Jewish resistance to hellenizing influences produced times of repression and persecution that made the Jews long for deliverance and take interest in the possibility of a messiah coming from God to remedy the situation.
(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Old Testament and New Testament Apocrypha by R. K. Harrison, Page 80-81.)
Apocryphal Books
Many parts of books, letters, "gospels," apocalypses, and so on were written in the style of the Old Testament books during this time. Many were anonymous, but some were presented under the name of a familiar Old Testament figure or member of the Christian church. Much of it was the result of religious and political ferment as the Jews felt their faith and very existence threatened by the pagan influence of Hellenistic Greek culture then the oppression of the invading Roman forces.
The apocalyptic writings dealt with the struggle between good and evil and the expectation of a new age in which God would reward the faithful with spiritual blessings. Their messianic figures, especially in New Testament Apocrypha, were not infrequently balanced by an antichrist, both of them being attended by many angelic personages.
(The Origin of the Bible: Newly Updated by F. F. Bruce, J. I. Packer, Philip W. Comfort, and Carl F. H. Henry, 2020. Old Testament and New Testament Apocrypha by R. K. Harrison, Page 79.)