February
19

197:
Emperor Septimius Severus defeated the usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of
Lugdunum, Severus was trying to use syncretism to maintain imperial unity and
authority.  Since Jews, as well as Christian, resisted this conce…

February
13

515 BCE (3rd of Adar, 3245): Completion of the
construction of the Second Temple at Jerusalem.

996: Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim who “ordered…Jews
to wear wooden calves around their necks” began his reign today.

1130: The Papacy of Honorius I…

February 12

 553:
Byzantine Emperor Justinian ordered the public reading of the Greek translation
to Parshat Hashavuah (weekly Torah portion) on Shabbat morning and prohibited
Rabbis from giving drashot on the Torah portion.

1049:
Beginning of t…

 February
8

421:
Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire serving as
co-Emperor with Honorius. Constantinius only reigned for 7 months, but during
his long tenure Honorius was no friend of the Jews as can be seen by his prom…

February 4

211: The reign
of Septimius Servus, the Roman emperor who outlawed conversions to both Judaism
and Christianity in an attempt to unify his crumbling empire, came to an end.

362: Roman
Emperor Julian promulgates an edict that recognizes equ…

January
26 

1482: “The first edition of the Pentateuch with
vowel signs and accents appeared today at Bologna.

1531: Three tremors shake Portugal and numerous
houses are destroyed in Lisbon by an earthquake which the Pope and others
believe conf…

January
25

41: Claudius
is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate. “Claudius rescinded Caligula’s
provocative decrees affecting Judean and reaffirmed Jewish rights throughout
the rest of the Roman world.”  Claudius supported the cause of the Jew…