Would the world be in better shape today if the Maccabees had lost?

Question

If Antiochus had not been such an intolerant *sshole who was determined to oppress the Jews, maybe Judaism would have accommodated itself to the Hellenistic worldview. Sober rational Greek thinking would have replaced the mysticism and superstition which gave rise to the absurdities of Christianity which after Constantine came to dominate the world for two thousand years.

But Antiochus had no idea of separation of church and state. His attitude was - my way or the highway. He forced the Jews into a defensive position from which grew centuries of living outside the mainstream and suffering endless persecution.

Imagine instead a productive merging of Judaism with Hellenism, with the outcome being a flowering of thought with universalism, not separatism, and not domination, at its root. Then when Rome was finally brought to order by Vespasian, you can imagine a golden age of tolerance and exploration of diverse ideas. This might then have given us a happier world today.

Answer 1

There was still a lot of Jewish Hellenism after Antiochus - witness Philo Judaeus. The Jews really split from it only after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 - leaving Jewish Hellenism as part of the Christian heritage.
The Jews were to the Romans as the Muslims to the Americans - the Zealots were the Al-Qaeda of their time.

Answer 2

What is wrong with the Jews following their own code of conduct though? You had Ancient regimes and religions that tried to force themselves on others.

And how would Vespesian have helped world peace? What about the rise of Islam some 600 years later?