If they were so great, what happened to them?
Have you ever watched the Olympics ...or looked upon kids playing out on a track & field , or in a gymnasium? Ever been to a concert out in an amphitheatre, or seen a play under the stars? Ever entered into a government building and noticed the architecture of columns and heard men deliberating in the halls of democracy? Or walked into a library or into a Museum and learned something new ?
If they were so brilliant, they would have found a way to defeat or make peace with Rome.
Well I would say that Rome in many ways was conquered by the Hellenes , and lived not unaffected by the gifts of culture ideas structures they incorporated into their own society. You could ask the same question of the tribe of Israel who's "Lord of Lords " very much seemed to abandon them so entirely, around 73ACE. That rebel insurgency at Masada did not fair well, and no host of Jehova's angels bearing swords and pestilence stopped Flavius Silva's legions. And many a good jewish pacifist /moderate was assassinated by these brave rebels who brought down the wrath of Rome upon them , including Jesus if that particular story be true.
the Bible intolerantly condemns all "pagan" worship
Yes, it does. That's why it's the First Commandment.
There were the more moderate voices of reason, who's passion lay in the accords of peace at that time . You'll find such men in many other cultures in history as well, who brave such tumultuous times , who dare to try and teach temperance and be willing to carry the burden of conviction . The Romans crucified many who bore the name of "Jesus" which was a common name at that time ...one they crucified up in the north of Galliea for leading a "pacifist" movement. But not your Jesus of Nazereth , but another . One other great sage/teachers in the schools of the Talmud at that same time , and contemporary of Jesus was----> Rabbai Hillel who still today is revered as one of the great fathers of the Jewish Life Schools ..
Note the similarity of the Rabbai Hillel's thoughts to your chosen favorite Nazerene's, and remember that it is one of the more famous of jewish sayings/stories ...almost "Greek" or Helene in its cosmopolitan flavor :
jewfaq.org
"The Talmud tells that a gentile came to the stern Rabbai Shammai saying that he would convert to Judaism if Shammai could teach him the whole Torah in the time that he could stand on one foot. Rabbai Shammai drove him away with a builder's measuring stick! Hillel, on the other hand, converted the gentile by telling him,
"That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it."
Of course there as many good Greek men or Roman that held the same kind of world view. And many of each were murdered routinely for such an outlook, for these were the times. Of course you would say there was only one .
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