September 2

44 BCE: Cicero delivers the
first of his fourteen Philippics (oratorical attacks) on Mark Antony. He will
make 14 of them over the next several months. From a Jewish perspective it
might be proper to say “a pox on both of your houses.”&nbs…

August 19

43 BCE:
Octavian. later known as Augustus compels the senate to elect him Consul. As
the first Emperor of Rome (in fact, if not in name) Augustus would follow the
policies of “moderation and accommodation” towards Judea begun by his uncle,
J…

August 17

986: During the days of
the First Bulgarian Empire, the army of Emperor Samuil of Bulgaria and his
brother defeat the Byzantines led by Basil II. 
The Bulgarian Empire had provided a haven for Jews escaping from the Byzantine
Army so th…

August 16

1027:  The King of Georgia, Giorgi I, passed away.
Jews were among the subjects of this monarch who ruled over a country situated
in the Caucuses, on the eastern edge of the Black Sea.  Leonti Mroveli, an eleventh century
chronicle…

August 14

508: Maurice, the Emperor of the Byzantine Emperor
who in 592 would punish “the entire Jewish community of Antioch after a Jew
violated one his laws” began his reign today.

1084: Yusuf al-Mu’tamin, King of Zaragoza defeated
Sancho Ramirez, …

August 9

48 B.C.E.: Julius
Caesar defeated Pompey at the battle of Parsalus. This victory helped to cement
Caesar’s position and put an end to Pompey. Considering Pompey’s behavior
towards the Jews, including his desecration of the Temple, Caesar’s vi…

August 6

412: Roman emperors
Honorius and Theodosius II command that Jews should not be persecuted because
of their religion or have their property confiscated without cause but Jews are
warned not “to disrespect Christianity. (As reported by Austin C…