It was on account of this old man and his nephew that Apollodorus had
forborne to-day to decorate his house, for the Rabbi Gamaliel, who had
arrived only the day before from Palestine, and had been welcomed by his
Alexandrian relatives, condemned every form of communion with the
gentiles, and would undoubtedly have quitted the residence of his host if
he had ventured to adorn it in honor of the feast-day of the false gods.
Gamaliel's nephew, Rabbi Ben Jochai, enjoyed a reputation little inferior
to that of his father, Ben Akiba. The elder was the greatest sage and
expounder of the law--the son the most illustrious astronomer and the
most skilled interpreter of the mystical significance of the position of
the heavenly bodies, among the Hebrews.

It redounded greatly to the honor of Apollodorus that he should be
privileged to shelter under his roof the sage Gamaliel and the famous son
of so great a father, and in his hours of leisure he loved to occupy
himself with learned subjects, so he had done his utmost to make their
stay in his house in every way agreeable to them. He had bought, on
purpose for them, a kitchen slave, himself a strict Jew and familiar with
the requirements of the Levitical law as to food, who during their stay
was to preside over the mysteries of the hearth, instead of the Greek
cook who usually served him, so that none but clean meat should be
prepared according to the Jewish ritual. He had forbidden his grown-up
sons to invite any of their Greek friends into the house during the visit
of the illustrious couple or to discuss the festival; they were also
enjoined to avoid using the names of the gods of the heathen in their
conversation--but he himself was the first to sin against this
prohibition.

He, like all the Hebrews of good position in Alexandria, had acquired
Greek culture, felt and thought in Greek modes, and had remained a Jew