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 ... »
September 7 70: On the secular calendar the date on which a Roman army under Titus occupied and plundered Jerusalem. 1191: The Crusader army led by King Richard the Lionhearted defeated the army of Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf, north of Jaffa. The ... »
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... »