With the death of Alexander, the Greek empire divided into two rivaling ones: the Seleucid Empire of the north and the Ptolemaic empire of the south. Precariously sandwiched between them was the Land of Israel. The deceptively peaceful period which saw the creation of the Septuagint and mass assimilation turned out to be the calm before the storm of Greek oppression, the Maccabee rebellion, and the Chanukah victory and miracle.