PART 4. PALESTINE IN THE YEAR 301. THE POLITICAL SITUATIONWe begin to know ancient Palestine a little better. We have wandered throughthe country, and taken a look at the Israelite people and their life in its closerand broader context. Now we can begin to examine the historical conditions, inthe development they had reached up to the time that interests us, that is theyear 30. With an eye to the Gospel, it is first and foremost the political,religious and cultural situations which are important. In each case, we shall takea small glimpse back to the past.The concept 'political' was foreign to the Jews, which of course does notmean that there was not a factual situation which we would call 'the political'one. By this we mean the terrestrial, temporal political conditions, inland andabroad. After an historical overview we shall discuss first the official organs:the Sanhedrin, Herod Antipas and the procurator, Pilate. Then we shall describethe relationships within the people, which was divided and dissatisfied,although, taking account of developments in the world, the Jews had nosingular reason for complaint.1. Historical Overview1. The Greek Period. The pre-history of the political conditions in thePalestine of Jesus' time began with the emergence of the world's most genialgeneral, Alexander the Great. This young Macedonian, obsessed by the notionof uniting the world, conquered the entire Near-East in a blitzkrieg campaign.At his premature death however (323 BC), his empire was divided into 4 parts.His successors, the Diadochi, founded lasting but mutually envious empires.Palestine came under the Ptolemies (Egypt) but was the subject of dispute withthe Seleucids (capital Antioch), until the latter finally gained the upper hand(198 BC), when Antiochus III defeated Ptolemy V.2. The Seleucids. Once installed, the Seleucids started to implement inPalestine a policy of hellenisation: they abolished the sabbath and circumcisionand replaced the temple liturgy with pagan sol...