January 3

106 BCE:
Birthdate of Marcus Tullius, the Roman statesman and orator.  From the Jewish point of view he was just one
more anti-Semitic intellectual.  “He
denounced Judaism as a ‘barbarous superstition.’” He defended a Roman officia…

January
1

630:  Prophet Muhammad sets out
toward Mecca with the army that will capture it bloodlessly.  At first Mohammed “had hoped to find is main
supporters among the Jewish tribes” of Arabia. 
This can be seen in his early adoption …

December 31

335: End of
the Papacy of Sylvester I “who convinced Constantine to prohibit Jews from
living in Jerusalem.”

535:
Byzantine General Belisarius took the city of Syracuse which marks the
completion of the conquest of Sicily. In 536 he would…

December 27

175 BCE (Tevet 3585): This day
marked the completion of the Septuagint
translation of the Bible into the Greek language. According to a letter from
Aristeas to Philocrates, 72 sages, (six from each Israelite tribe) were brought
to by Ptole…

 December 20

69: General Vespasianus occupied Rome on
the same day that the Emperor Vitellius was murdered.  Vespasianus is better known as Vespasian, the
Roman general who was in charge of putting down the Great Revolt in Judea.  He br…