August 24

410:
The Visigoths under Alaric begin to pillage Rome for three days. According to
tradition, the treasures of the Temples taken by the Romans in 70 now fell into
his hands.  The Visigoths would move and
by the start of the 8th century …

August 20

430: The Vandals, a
Germanic tribe, established a kingdom in North Africa.  The Jews lived there peacefully and
flourished until the Almohad conquest in the 11th century.

636: Arab forces defeat
the Byzantine Christians at the Battle o…

August 18

1201:
Founding of Riga, capital of modern-day Latvia. The first Jews appeared in Riga
three centuries later and despite Czars, Nazis and Commissars continue to live
in the city to this day.

1227:
Genghis Khan dies.  According to Arthur…

August 13

236:
The body of Hippolytus, the author of Contra Judaeous, which blamed the harsh
conditions of the Jews on their rejection of Jesus was buried in a cemetery on
the Via Tiburtina

339:
The Roman Emperor “issued a decree forbidding intermarr…

August 12

30 BCE: Cleopatra committed suicide.  According to Josephus, the Egyptian tried to
convince her lover and co-ruler, Marc Antony, to give her control over lands to
the east including Syria and Palestine. 
Herod was so afraid of her …