Acts – Page 3 – OAJA.org

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 3, 357
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.7.1 on conversion to Judaism, issued by Emperor Constantius to Thalassius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	If anyone made a Christian by the venerable law (of the Church) becomes a Jew and joins their sacrilegious assemblies, when the accusation (against him) has been proven, We order that his property be claimed as property of the Treasury.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, pp. 223-225, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 5, 357
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Apostasy to Judaism” Issued by Emperor Constantius II and Julian-Caesar to Thalassius
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	If any Christian has become a Jew after the promulgation of this law, is implicated in impious sexual relations, an accusation if proven to be true, we decree that their belongings be appropriated by the fiscal treasury.
5. Source	Theodosian Code 16.8.7.
6. Researcher & Translator	Joan Paez
7. Year of Research & Translation	2015
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	361 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Law issued by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius, 361 AD
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“The order, with which the men of Jewish law delude themselves, and by which they are given immunity from curial duties, shall be rescinded, for not even clerics are free to subject themselves to the divine ministry before they pay in full all their dues to their motherland.”
5. Source	Codex Theodosianus, 12:1:99,
6. Researcher & Translator	Joan Paez
7. Year of Research & Translation	2015
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	363 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Synod of Laodicea
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Turkey [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	"Canons 16) The Gospels are to be read on the Sabbath with the other scriptures. 29) Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day […] if they shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ. 37) It is not lawful to receive portions sent from the feast of Jews or heretics, not to feast together with them. 38) it is not lawful to receive unleavened bread from the Jews and to be partakers of their impiety." [*Exact date of the Council is unknown.]
5. Source	Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 14. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1900.)
6. Researcher	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research	2016
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 1, 363
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Public Declaration written by Emperor Julian, addressed to all the Jews, 363 AD
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	…you shall make even greater supplication for my reign to God, the mightiest of all, the creator, who found me worthy to be crowned with his immaculate right hand. For it is natural that those who are visited by some care are preoccupied and do not have even the courage to raise their hands in prayer, while those that are entirely free from any care shall—rejoicing with their whole heart—perform the supplication-service for my Imperial authority to the greatest, in whose power it is to direct my reign for the best, according to my purpose.
5. Source	Julian, Epistulae, 51.
6. Researcher & Translator	Joan Paez
7. Year of Research & Translation	2015
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	364
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Mandatory Relocation of Jews issued by King Shapu II
3. Geography of Act	Persia
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) Shapur II forcibly transferred approximately 7000 Jews from outlying territories to the interior of Persia. "455 ROME;" jewishhistory.org
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jan. 15, 383
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Concerning Apostates" issued by Emperors Gratian and addressed to Praetorian Perfect Hypatius
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Where anyone accuses a deceased person of having violated and abandoned the Christian religion, and denounces him for having given his adherence to the sacrileges of the [Jewish] temples, or the rites of the Jews, and maintains that, in consequence, he has no right to make a will; he must institute proceedings within five years, as has been decided in cases brought to declare a will inofficious*.
5. Source	Justinian I: The Civil Law: Volume 3; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2017
8. Notes	Researcher *Unofficial."

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 18, 383
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.9.5 on the repeal of the exemption of Jewish community leaders from curial liturgies, issued by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius Augustuses to Hypatius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	The order with which men of Jewish status flatter themselves, whereby immunity from curial liturgies was given to them, shall be rescinded.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 231, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 18, 383
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Repeal of the Exemption of Jewish Religious Leaders from Community Service" by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	That command, by which those who practice the Jewish law are pampered, and through which immunity from civil duties is granted them, is hereby rescinded, since not even clerics should be free to devote themselves to holy works before they discharge the services owed the state. Therefore let whoever truly consecrates himself to God qualify, at his own expense, some other person to carry out his duties for him.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 46; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 383 as Theodosian code 12.1.99

1. Full Date of Act	May 18, 383
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.7.2 on Jewish wills, issued by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian and Theodosius Augustuses to Hypatius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	If anyone accuses a deceased person of having broken with and deserted the Christian religion and claims that he had gone over to the sacrileges of temples or to Jewish rites, and for that reason avers that he could not have made a (legal) will, he must lay out the grounds of his claims and obtain a date for the beginning of such a trial within five continuous years, which is the period fixed for actions against undutiful wills (actiones inofficiosae).
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 225, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	May 21, 383
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Prohibition of Christians from Participating in Pagan, Jewish, and Manichaean Cults" Issued by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	We punish Christians for going into the temples and to the altars of heretics, by denying these apostates the right to make wills. Furthermore, let the crimes of those persons be punished, who, having neglected the dignity of the Christian name and religion, have infected themselves with the plague of Judaism. Moreover let that binding and unceasing punishment which both my father Valentinian prescribed from his divine wisdom and my decrees have no less often commanded fall upon those who have from time to time preferred to hunt out the evil secrets of the Manichaeans and their wicked haunts. Also let the same punishments as those suffered by people guilty of this error be visited upon the authors of this proselytism, who have turned weak minds to their society; nay we even decree that more severe punishments, far beyond the ordinary, dependent on the decisions of the judges and the gravity of the crime committed, be pronounced upon the wicked contrivers of this type of crime. But to avoid continual criminal aspersions being leveled against the dead, and constant retrial in the courts of questions of heredity, long dormant during the passing of many years, we decree a time limit for cases of this nature; therefore, if a person accuses a dead person of having profaned and deserted the Christian religion, and declares that this dead person went over to the sacrileges of the rites and temples of the Jews, or the disgraceful acts of the Manichaeans, and the accuser proves that he himself did not make this declaration for the sake of the will, then let him start the correct proceedings within a space of five years, the time limit which has been established for testamentary cases, and make a proper beginning for the prosecution of such a case, so that, in the everlasting light of day he may prove his accusation of the crime and wickedness of the deceased (which accusation, if false, is a criminal act) when he has appeared in person making his accusation by public testimony; for this accuser, if ignorant of such a crime, and acquiescing in a lie for the benefit of evil persons, may not continually accuse anyone of this apostasy using as an excuse the fact that he did not swear in the name of God.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 47; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 383 as Theodosian code 16.7.3

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 22, 384
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Prohibition of the Possession and Conversion of Christian Slaves by Jews" Issued by Emperors Gratian, Valentinian II, and Theodosius I
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall purchase a Christian slave nor corrupt one who is a Christian with Jewish rites. But if public inquiry has discovered that this has been done, then the slave should be rescued and such masters shall be liable to fitting and proper punishment for their crime, with this in addition, that, if any former Christian slaves or Christians who have become Jews are found among the Jews, they shall be rescued from this unworthy servitude after a proper price has been paid by the Christians.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 48; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 384 as Theodosian code 3.1.5

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 14, 388
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 3.7.2 and 9.7.5 on Jewish marriage
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall receive a Christian woman in marriage, nor shall a Christian man contract a marriage with a Jewish woman. For if any person should commit an act of this kind, the crime of this misdeed shall be considered as the equivalent of adultery, and freedom to bring accusation shall be granted also to the voices of the public.
5. Source	Clyde Pharr, “The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions: A Translation with Commentary, Glossary, and Bibliography,” Princeton University Press, 1952, pp. 70 and 232, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 14, 388
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.9.6 on Jewish marriage, issued by Gratian, Theodosius and Arcadius Augustuses to Cynegius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall receive a Christian woman in matrimony, nor shall a Christian man enter wedlock with a Jewess. If anyone does anything of the kind, this criminal act shall be treated as adultery, and freedom of accusation is opened to the voices of the public.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 231, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 14, 388
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Prohibition on Intermarriage issued by Emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I, and Arcadius.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall take a Christian woman in marriage, neither shall a Christian marry a Jewess. Indeed, if anyone shall commit something of the kind, his crime shall be considered as adultery, with the right to accuse allowed [to] the general public.
5. Source	Council of Centers on Jewish-Christan Relations, “Roman Imperial Laws Concerning Jews (329-553),” ccjr.us, December 19, 2008.
6. Researcher	Michael Bazyler
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Dec. 30, 393
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Law issued by Theodosius I
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall retain his own marriage customs, nor seek marriage according to the law of the Jews, nor possess several wives at the same time.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 48; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 393 as Theodosian code 1.9.7

1. Full Date of Act	Dec. 30, 393
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.9.7 on Jewish marriage, issued by Emperor Arcadius Augsti to Infantius, Count of the East.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall observe his custom in contracting marríage, nor any Jewess be given in marriage according to their law, nor may one enter into different marriages at the same time.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 231, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 17, 397
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.12.1 on restrictions on Jewish conversion to Christianity, issued by Emperors Arcadius and Honorius Augustuses to Archelaus, Augustal Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Jews who, wearied by some charge or by debts, pretend that they wish to join the Christian religion so that they might escape their crimes or the burdens of their debts by taking refuge in churches, shall be shut out and not admitted until they have repaid all their debts or have been acquitted by proving their innocence.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 247, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 17, 397
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"On Jewish Converts Seeking Asylum in Christian Churches" Issued by Emperors Arcadius and Honorius
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Those Jews, who, harassed for debt or some other crime, pretend they wish to be joined to the Christian law, so they can avoid their crimes or payment of debts by taking refuge in the churches, should be prohibited entry into the church; nor should they be accepted as Christians before they have paid their debts in full or have been cleared of accusations against them by proving their innocence.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 66; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 397 as Theodosian Code 9.45.2 or 8.45.2

1. Full Date of Act	Aug. 28, 398
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Canon 84 & 89 issued by the Fourth Council of Carthage
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Tunisia
4. Text of Act	[Canon 89]: "Any one who is a slave to magical rites and incantations is to be segregated from the fellowship of the church; likewise any one who clings to Jewish superstition or festivals [is to be segregated from the fellowship of the church]… [Canon 84] Let no bishop forbid any pagan or heretic or Jew to enter the church and hear the word of God as far as the Mass of the Catechumens.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 55; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Sep. 13, 398
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 12.1.158 repealing the exemption of the Jews from curial liturgies, issued by Emperors Arcadius and Honorius Augustuses to Theodorus, Praefectus Praetorio.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	We learn that many city-curias totter throughout the Apulia and Calabria, because they belong to the Jewish superstition and consider that they should be exempt from the necessity of undergoing liturgies on the strength of some law passed in the regions of the East. We order in this authority, therefore, that that law, if it does exist, is to be abrogated, for it is evidently harmful to our regions.
5. Source	Amnon Linder (ed.), “The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation,” Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI, 1987, pp. 212-213
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	Researcher See the above source, pp. 201-204, for the law enacted in the East - on Jul. 1, 397 - that confirms the exemption of Office-Holders in the Communities and the Synagogues from Curial Liturgies.

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 11, 399
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 16.8.14 on the confiscation of the aurum coronarium issued by Emperors Arcadius and Honorius Augustuses to the Jews.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	It is characteristic of an unworthy superstition that the rulers of the synagogues of the priests of the Jews or those whom they themselves called apostles, who are dispatched by the patriarch at a certain time to collect gold and silver, should bring back to the patriarch the sum which has been exacted and collected from each of the synagogues. Wherefore, everything that We are confident has been collected, taking into consideration the period of time, shall be faithfully dispatched to Our treasury. For the future, moreover, We decree that nothing shall be sent to the aforementioned patriarch. The people of the Jews shall know, therefore, that We have abolished the practice of such depredation.
5. Source	Clyde Pharr, “The Theodosian Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions: A Translation with Commentary, Glossary, and Bibliography,” Princeton University Press, 1952, p. 468, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	Researcher According to Encylopedia.com, the aurum coronarium was a “voluntary contribution of world Jewry to support the Patriarchate in Palestine.”

1. Full Date of Act	Aug. 13, 399
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.10.1 on slave ownership, issued by Emperor Constantius Augustus to Euagrius.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	A Jew may not purchase a Christian slave or acquire one by gift or any other tide. But if a Jew should either have a Christian or think of possessing a slave of any other sect or people for any reason, and circumcises him, he shall not only be penalized by loss of the slave but he shall also be punished by a capital sentence; the slave himself shall be given his freedom as a reward.
5. Source	Bruce W. Frier, et al (eds.), “The Codex of Justinian: A New Annotated Translation, with Parallel Latin and Greek Text,” Cambridge University Press, 2016, p. 237, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	400 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Canon 16, Council of Gangra
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	"If, under any pretence of piety, any children (Jewish) shall forsake their parents ... if they are Christian, and shall stop revering their parents, because they claim that they honor their Jewish piety more than their parents, let them be anathema."
5. Source	Migne, P.L, vol. 67, Col. 56
6. Researcher & Translator	Joan Paez
7. Year of Research & Translation	2016
8. Notes	Researcher The commentators of this canon all refer here to St. Matthew xv., where the Lord speaks of the subterfuge by which the Jews under pretext of piety, defrauded their parents and ignored the law.

1. Full Date of Act	Jan. 3, 403
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Decree Regarding Jews” issued by Emperors Theodosius and Rumoridius
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Any Jews who are proven to be subject to a curia can be delivered up to the latter.
5. Source	Scott, Pearson Samuel: The Civil Law, Book XII; (Cincinnati; 1932).
6. Researcher	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research	2017
8. Notes	None