Category:Philo (subject)

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Philo of Alexandria (c.20 BCE - c.40 CE) was a Jewish Hellenistic philosopher.

Overview

Philo lived in Alexandria of Egypt, which at that time was one of wealthiest and most populated cities in the Roman Empire and home of the largest Jewish community outside the land of Israel.

According to Josephus, Philo came from a wealthy and prominent family who had moved from Palestine to Egypt. His brother, Alexander the Alabarch, was a Roman government official, a custom agent responsible for collecting dues on all goods imported into Egypt from the East. Alexander’s two sons (and Philo's nephews), Marcus Julius Alexander and Tiberius Julius Alexander were also involved in Roman affairs and played an important role in Jewish politics. Marcus Julius Alexander was the first husband of Berenice, the daughter of Herod Agrippa I; Tiberius Julius Alexander was governor of Judea (46-48 C.E.), prefect of Egypt under Nero (66-69 CE), and a supported of the Flavii Emperors during the Jewish War (69-70).

Philo was a respected leader of the Jewish community of Alexandria and played an active role in Jewish political and religious affairs. Once he visited Jerusalem and the temple, as he himself stated in Prov. 2.64. During the crisis relating to the pogrom which was initiated in 38 C.E. by the prefect Flaccus, he was elected to head the Jewish delegation, which apparently included his brother Alexander and nephew Tiberius Julius Alexander, and was sent to Rome in 39-40 B.C.E. to see the emperor Caligula. He reported the events in his writings Against Flaccus and The Embassy to Gaius.