J'aime bien ce commentaire-là:
Back in the "good old days," it was typical for a conquering group to impose their gods on the losers, thus incorporating different "ethnicities" under one religion. Even without imperialized religion, there was quite a bit of syncretism in the ancient world, e.g., the popularity of Astarte around the Mediterranean Basin.
Hellenization, spurred by the conquests of Alexander, attempted to meld the various ethnicities under one religion and culture. Hellenization was not entirely unidirectional: influences flowed from India and Central Asia as well as the Greek homeland. As Jews we should remember that the Makkabim rejected hellenization long before Christianity appeared.
Christianity did not necessarily separate religion and ethnicity. During the Middle Ages, Christendom was modeled as a super-ethnicity, in contrast to that of various infidels and pagans. Suspicion of New Christians during the Inquisition was based as much on ethnicity as religion, inasmuch the underlying assumption was that Jews and Moors were constitutionally incapable of turning their backs on their ancestral beliefs and peoples.
Hue.