Mar. 10, 418

“Exclusion of Jews from Public Service” Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II [Holy Roman Empire; Present-day Italy]: “Entrance into the military service from any other occupation is denied those who are living in the Jewish faith. Therefore any Jews who are either engaged in government service or in the imperial army are permitted the grace of completing their terms of office and of terminating their enlistments (since such persons are really more ignorant than unfriendly), but in the future the grace we have now granted a few will not be continued. We decree, moreover, that those devoted to the perversity of this Jewish nation, who are proved to have entered the armed forces, shall be deprived of their honor at once, being allowed no sufferance for past good deeds. But we do not deny to the Jews who have been trained in liberal studies liberty to follow the law, and we permit them to have the honor of the curial service, which they can enjoy by their privilege of birth and nobility of family. These things ought to be enough for them, and they ought not to take their exclusion from military service as a disgrace.” [Editor’s note: Author’s footnote dates this law in 418 as Theodosian Code 16.8.24]
“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 58-59; Accessed online 8/2/2011