September 23

484 BCE:  Birthdate of the very influential Greek playwright Euripides. Wherever Greek culture spread, writers attempted to create drama
in the manner of Euripides.  During the
time of Hellenization of the Jews, a Jewish p…

September 13

586
BCE (3 Tishrei 3338): On the civil calendar assassination of Gedaliah ben
Achikam. He had been appointed Governor of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar in an
attempt to revitalize the Jewish community. His assassin, Ishmael ben Natanya,
a descen…

September 22 

384:
Roman Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I forbid Jews from
buying or owning Christian slaves. If any such slaves are found with Jews, they
must be removed and sold to other Christians. If a Jewish master converts…

September 21

19 BCE:
Virgil, the classical Roman poet passes away. Eclogue 4, the so-called
Messianic Eclogue, is the best known of Virgil’s Eclogues or “Selected Poems
also known as Bucolics or “Pastorals.. Written in 40 B.C., during the consulship
o…

September 18

825
BCE: The Jewish people began a 14-day celebration
to dedicate the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple project was initiated by
King David, and built by his son, King Solomon. Solomon’s Temple was the
spiritual center of Jewish life f…

September 15

53: Birthdate of Trajan who was Roman emperor
from 98 until his death of 117. In the last decade of his rule, Trajan began a
campaign against the Parthians, a people living east of the Roman Empire.  Since this territory bordered Jud…

September 10

134
CE: The great Talmudic sage, Rabbi Akiva, was taken captive by the Romans, and
executed five days later in Caesarea, Israel. Rabbi Akiva had been a
40-year-old shepherd who could not even read the Aleph-Bet. One day, he came across
a …