At the height of the Roman Empire, Alexandria in Egypt was the largest city in the empire after Rome. Its population of close to one million people included native Egyptians, Macedonians, Greeks, Persians, and Jews. Its strategic position at the mouth of the Nile was enhanced by its several harbors, two large ones on the seaward side of the city and several smaller ones on Lake Mareotis, the intercoastal waterway that separated the city from mainland Egypt. Through these ports traveled papyrus, articles made of glass, textiles, and perfumes and medicines manufactured in the city; wheat from Egypt's interior; and luxury items such as silk, gems, spices, and perfumes imported from India and Africa.

Alexandria was founded in 331 B.C. by Alexander the Great who understood the importance of its location and is said to have personally marked out its borders. It was set up to be like a typical Greek city. Its citizens were allowed to enact their own laws, mint their own coins, and during many periods of its history, were exempt from paying royal taxes. A dynasty known as the Ptolemies ruled their kingdom from Alexandria from 304 to 30 B.C. when the last Ptolemeic ruler, Cleopatra VII killed herself and her kingdom was taken over by Rome.

Alexandria was famous as a center of culture and learning. The university there (called the Museum) housed a library with over 700,000 scrolls, including carefully edited versions of classical Greek authors such as Homer. Euclid, the "father of geometry," Archimedes, and other important scientists studied here. And it was here, on Pharos Island, where Ptolemy II is said to have housed the seventy-two Jewish scholars he brought together to make a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint. In addition, important religious texts like Wisdom of Solomon and 2, 3 and 4 Maccabees were authored by Jews in Alexandria.

Jews had lived in Alexandria from its founding. Under the Ptolemies they participated in almost every aspect of its commercial, cultural, and political life and were granted considerable privileges, though never full citizenship. They lived in various parts of the city, but especially in the northeastern quarter. The extensive writings of one prominent Jew, the scholar Philo, have been preserved. These include writings that try to explain the Law of Moses in terms of Greek philosophy. Athough there was occasional tension between the Jews and the city's Greek and Egyptian population when the Ptolemies ruled, the largest persecution of Jews occured under Roman rule. In A.D. 66, riots started by local Greeks resulted in the destruction of many Jewish-run businesses and the expulsion of Jews from the Greek sections of the city.

It is not clear when or how Christianity first came to Alexandria, though tradition gives this honor to Mark, the Gospel writer. In any case, the good news about Jesus Christ most likely was brought into the city by Jews from Palestine who preached in the city's many synagogues (see Acts 2:10). Apollos, who preached in Ephesus and was instructed in "God's Way" by Priscilla and Aquila, was an educated Jew from Alexandria (Acts 18:24-28). Alexandria's long association with Greek philosophy and Jewish learning provided fertile ground for some of the Christian church's first theologians, including Clement, Origen, Arius, and Athanasius.