Category:Philo (subject)

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

Overview

Philo was born between 15 and 10 BCE 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, aristocratic Jewish family. Philo's ancestors had moved from Palestine to Egypt probably in the Ptolomaic Period and had been granted Roman citizenship from Julius Caesar. Philo's brother, Alexander the Alabarch, was a Roman government official, a custom agent responsible for collecting taxes on all goods imported into Egypt from the East. This position made him one of the richest and most influential men in the entire Roman Empire, and a personal friend of Emperor Claudius. 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 received in Alexandria the best Hellenistic education and was well acquainted in Greek culture, literature and philosophy. Like the cultured Greeks of his day, he attended the theater as well as sport and social events. Like the Hellenistic Jews of his days, he maintained a strong sense of his Jewish identity, once visited Jerusalem and the temple (Prov 2:64), and played an active role in Jewish political and religious affairs. He was critical both of those who took Jewish scriptures too literally and those who went to excesses in their allegorical interpretation of the laws.

Philo was a respected leader of the Jewish community of Alexandria. During the crisis relating to the pogrom which was initiated in 38 CE by the prefect Flaccus, he was elected to head the Jewish delegation, which apparently included his brother Alexander the Alabarch and nephew Tiberius Julius Alexander, and was sent to Rome in 39-40 CE to see the emperor Caligula. He reported the events in his writings Against Flaccus and The Embassy to Gaius.