Acts – Page 4 – OAJA.org

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 22, 404
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Law issued by Arcadius and Honorius
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy
4. Text of Act	We decree that Jews and Samaritans, who are deluding themselves with the privileges of imperial executive office, are to be deprived of all military and court rank.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 58; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 404 as Theodosian Code 16.8.16

1. Full Date of Act	May 29, 408
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Prohibition to Mock Christianity on Purim" Issued by Emperors Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Let the governors of the provinces prohibit the Jews from burning the effigy of Haman and maliciously setting afire images of the sacred cross fabricated in contempt of the Christian faith, in the special celebration of their festival to the memory of the punishment of Haman in bygone times; do this lest the Jews pollute the symbol of our faith with their jests, and look down upon the Christian law as inferior to their own rites, for they are in danger of losing what have so far been lawful privileges, unless they refrain from these unlawful activities.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 69; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 408 as Theodosian Code 16.8.18

1. Full Date of Act	Nov. 24, 408
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 16.5.44 on the disturbance of the Sacraments issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius Augustuses to Donatus.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	The new and unaccustomed audacity of the Donatists, heretics, and Jews has disclosed that they wish to throw into confusion the sacraments of the Catholic faith. Such audacity is a pestilence and a contagion if it should spring forth and spread abroad more widely. We command, therefore, that the penalty of a just chastisement shall be inflicted upon those persons who attempt anything that is contrary and opposed to the Catholic sect.
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. 458, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 1, 409
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Against God-fearers and Conversion to Judaism" Issued by Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	For it is certain that whatever deviates from the faith of Christians is contrary to Christian law. And certain persons even now dare thus to tamper with the law unmindful of their souls and the statutes, since these evil proselyters try to force certain Christians to adopt the foul and degrading name of Jew. Nevertheless it will not hurt to remind you frequently that those persons who are conversant with the Christian mysteries must not be forced to adopt the Jewish superstition or any other such sect adverse to the Roman rule after once accepting Christianity. And if anyone has tried to do this we decree that the authors of the deed with their accomplices shall be apprehended and punished by the penalty prescribed by the former laws, seeing that it is a worse thing than death and more awful than destruction for any Christian to be infected by the contagion of Jewish belief. And therefore lest we sanction something harmful to the churches or permit the loss of any person to the faithful and beloved of God, under the following precise definition, we decree that, if any one attempts to break this law, he will be held for the crime of lese-majeste.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 60; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 409 as Theodosian Code 16.8.19

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 1, 409
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.9.12 against Jewish religious sects, issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius Augustuses to Jovius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	A new crime of superstition has taken the previously unknown name of the Worshippers of the Heavens. They shall know that, unless they convert to the worship of God and the Christian religion, they shall be liable to the laws to which We ordered heretics to be bound. … Their buildings, which host gatherings of some strange doctrine, shall be confiscated for the churches. For it is certain that whatever differs from Christian faith is contrary to Christian law.
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. 233, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	Researcher According to the source above, the Worshippers of the Heavens were a “a Jewish sect who worshipped the sun and moon."

1. Full Date of Act	Aug. 8, 412
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Decree Regarding Jews” issued by Emperor Honorius and Theodosius and addressed to Praetorian Prefect Illyria
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	[…] We think that notice ought to be given to prevent them [Jews] from becoming arrogant, and, elated by their security, rashly commit some act against the Christian religion, by way of revenge.
5. Source	Scott, Pearson Samuel: The Civil Law, Book XII; (Cincinnati; 1932).
6. Researcher	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research	2017
8. Notes	Researcher Although the earlier part of this decree is pro-Jewish, this part of the decree is clearly anti-Semitic.

1. Full Date of Act	415
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Order of Cyrillus
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Egypt [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	“Cyrillus expels the Jews for the murder of a number of Christians from Alexandria.”
5. Source	Weigl, Johann Baptist: Theologisch-Chronische Behandlung über das wahre Geburts- und Sterb-Jahr Jesu Christi von Johann Baptist Weigl. Zweiter, praktischer Theil. (Theological-chronological treatment of the real birth-year and year-of-death of Jesus Christ, Second part.); (Sulzbach; 1849);
6. Researcher & Translator	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research & Translation	2020
8. Notes	Researcher The above is a translation of a German summary of the original text.

1. Full Date of Act	415
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Law issued by Honorius
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	We decree that Jewish masters may possess Christian slaves without reproach, but only on condition that they permit these slaves to follow their own religion. Moreover the judges of the provinces are to know, when the amount of their public confiscation has been inspected, that the insolence of those men who have thought to deceive them with timely prayers is to be reproved; and we decree that all possessions fraudulently elicited or to be elicited from Jewish masters are to be given back to them. If anyone breaks this law, he is to be punished as if he had committed sacrilege.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 62; Accessed online 8/2/2011
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 415 as Theodosian Code 16.9.3

1. Full Date of Act	Oct. 20, 415
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Code of Justinian 1.9.15 on Jewish juridical competence, issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius Augustuses to Aurelianus, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	If there is any dispute between Christians and Jews, it shall not be settled by the elders of the Jews but by the ordinary judges.
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. 235, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Oct. 25, 415
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Demotion of Patriarch Gamaliel VI and Restriction on Building Synagogues" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Since the moreexalted the office to which he has been raised, the more Gamaliel has presumed to disobey our commands with impunity, may Your Excellence in your power know that our clemency has issued certain commands to the illustrious magister officiorum: to wit, that the badges of the patriarch's honorable prefecture be stripped from him, likewise that he be reduced to that rank he held before he was granted the prefecture; furthermore he may erect no more synagogues, and if any are abandoned, he must destroy those if they can be torn down without rioting, and no Jews shall have the right to judge Christians: and if any dispute arises between Jews and Christians, it is to be settled by the governors of the province. If the patriarch or any other Jew attempts to befoul any Christian or freeman or slave of any sect with the mark of a Jew [circumcision], let him and the Jew be subject to the penalty of the laws. Also if any Jew keeps Christian slaves, the slaves are to be freed and placed in the custody of the church, according to the law of Constantine.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 71; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 415 as Theodosian Code 16.8.22

1. Full Date of Act	417
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	“Prohibition to build a new synagogue” issued by Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Holy Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) “Theodosius II prohibits the building of a new Synagogue.” Scherer, Johann E.: Die Rechtverhältnisse der Juden in den deutsch-österreichischen Ländern (Leipzig; 1901) p. 14
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 10, 417
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"The Possession of Christian Slaves by Jews" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Jews must not purchase Christian slaves nor acquire them as gifts. Let Jews who have impudently disobeyed this decree stop acquiring Christian slaves, and let the slaves themselves be granted freedom if the Jews voluntarily confess what they have done. But under this law we permit this Jewish sect to possess other slaves whom this evil superstition chooses to consider members of the true faith according to its own opinion, or others who follow this faith because of oath or legacy. Let the Jews do this so long as they do not misuse those slaves who are either willing to become Jews or those wishing to remain in the filth of their own sect; but only on the condition that, if these privileges have been violated, .the Jews who are authors of such great crimes shall be punished with capital punishment and also loss of all their property.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 73; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 417 as Theodosian Code 16.9.4

1. Full Date of Act	418
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Forced Conversions of Jews issued by Bishop Severus
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Spain
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) Severus, the Bishop of Minorca, claimed to have forced 540 Jews to accept Christianity upon conquering the Island. This is the first we know of Jews on this Island as well as the first case of Jews being forced to convert or face expulsion. "418 MAGONA ( Minorca- Balearic Islands off Spain's eastern coast);" jewishhistory.org
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 10, 418
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 16.8.24 on Jewish participation in the Imperial service issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosis Augustuses to Palladius, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Those persons who live in the Jewish superstition shall hereafter be barred from seeking entrance to the imperial service. To those persons who have undertaken the oaths of enlistment in the imperial service as members of the secret service or as palatines We grant the right to complete such service and to end it within the statutory periods, ignoring the fact rather than favoring it. But the regulation which We wish to be replaced for a few at present shall not be permitted in the future.
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. 470, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Mar. 10, 418
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Exclusion of Jews from Public Service" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	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.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 58-59; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 418 as Theodosian Code 16.8.24

1. Full Date of Act	423 C.E.
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Law issued by Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy [Provisional]
4. Text of Act	After other matters: Let no Jew dare to purchase Christian slaves. For we consider it a crime for devout slaves to be polluted from being owned by impious masters. But if any Jew has done this, then he will at once be found guilty and condemned according to the established punishment.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 73; Accessed online 8/2/2011
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 423 as Theodosian Code 16.9.5

1. Full Date of Act	Feb. 15, 423
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Policy on Synagogues" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II, February 15, 423 ‘It seems right that in the future none of the synagogues of the Jews shall either be indiscriminately seized or put on fire. If there are some synagogues that were seized or vindicated to churches or indeed consecrated to the venerable mysteries in a recent undertaking and after the law was passed, they shall be given in exchange new places, on which they could build, that is, to the measure of the synagogues taken. Votive offerings as well, if they are in fact seized, shall be returned to them provided that they have not yet been dedicated to the sacred mysteries; but if a venerable consecration does not permit their restitution, they shall be given the exact price for them. No synagogue shall be constructed from now on, and the old ones shall remain in their state.’
5. Source	“Roman Imperial Laws concerning Jews (329-553); 27. Policy on Synagogues.” No Author, Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 9, 423
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Policy toward Jews, Heretics, and Pagans" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Our decrees and those of our ancestors in which we have repressed the audacity and zeal of evil pagans, Jews, and heretics have been known and made plain to all. Nevertheless we wish the Jews to be gratified that this instance of their appeal to our laws has met with approval, and that we grant the following to their wretched pleading: that those who continue to act illegally under the cloak of Christianity must cease their outrages and assaults against the Jews, and that both now in the future, no one is to seize or burn down Jewish synagogues. Nevertheless the Jews themselves are to be condemned to perpetual exile and their goods confiscated if it is found that Jews have circumcised a man of our faith or have ordered one to be circumcised.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 74; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 423 as Theodosian Code 16.8.26

1. Full Date of Act	Apr. 9, 423
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 16.9.5 on Jewish slave ownership, issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius Augustuses to Asclepiodotus, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	No Jew shall dare to purchase Christian slaves. For We consider it abominable that very religious slaves should be defiled by the ownership of very impious purchasers. If any person should commit this offense, he shall be subject to the statutory punishment without delay.
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. 472, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jun. 8, 423
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	"Confirmation of Policy toward Jews, Pagans, and Heretics" Issued by Emperors Honorius and Theodosius II
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy; Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Let those decrees be valid which we formerly announced concerning the Jews and their synagogues: let it be known that neither are the Jews permitted to build new synagogues anywhere, nor are they to expand their old ones. Let the Jews know, moreover, that in the future they must refrain from doing other forbidden things, just as the provisions of the published law establish.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 75; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	2011
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 423 as Theodosian Code 16.8.27

1. Full Date of Act	425
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Forced Conversion of Jews by St. Augustine and St. Jerome
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	Commentary from other sources: 1) St. Augustine and St. Jerome branded Judaism a corruption and called for the enslavement and severe persecution of Jews until they agreed to convert. "425 ST. AUGUSTINE AND ST. JEROME;" jewishhistory.org
5. Source	None
6. Researcher	None
7. Year of Research	None
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Feb. 1, 425
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Theodosian Code 15.5.5 ordering Jews to observe seasons of fast and feast, issued by Emperor Theodosius Augustus and Valentinian Caesar to Asclepiodotus, Praetorian Prefect.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	On the following occasions all amusements of the theaters and the circuses shall be denied throughout all cities to the people thereof, and the minds of Christians and of the faithful shall be wholly occupied in the worship of God: namely, on the Lord’s day, which is the first day of the whole week, on the Natal Day and Epiphany of Christ, and on the day of Easter and the Pentecost, as long as the vestments that imitate the light of the celestial font attest to the new light of holy baptism;… If any person even now are enslaved by the madness of the Jewish impiety or the error and insanity of stupid paganism, they must know that there is a time for prayer and a time for pleasure. No man shall suppose that in the case of spectacles of honor of Our Divine Majesty he is, as it were, under some major compulsion by reason of the necessity in his duty to the Emperor, and that he will incur for himself the displeasure of Our Serenity unless he should neglect the divine religion and should give attention to such spectacles and if he should show less devotion to Us than customary.
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. 433, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Jul. 9, 425
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Expulsion of Jews from the Imperial Administration and the Legal Profession issued by Emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	We also deny to the Jews, and to the pagans, the right to practice law and to serve in the State service; we do not wish people of the Christian law to serve them, lest they substitute, because of this superior position, the venerable religion by a sect. We command, therefore, that all persons holding an unpropitious error be excluded, unless they are succored by a timely reform [of their erroneous views].
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	Jul. 9, 425
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Title Six of the Sirmondian Constitution, issued by Emperor Theodosius and Valentinian Caesar to the Illustrious Amatius, Praetorian Prefect of Gaul.
3. Geography of Act	Roman Empire
4. Text of Act	To Jews also and to pagans We deny the right to plead cases and to be members of the imperial service. It is Our will that persons of Christian faith shall not be slaves of such persons, lest by the occasion offered by ownership they should change the sect of the venerable religion. Therefore We order all persons of such ill-omened false doctrine to be banished, unless swift reform should come to their aid.
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. 479-480, available from archive.org.
6. Researcher	Kate Wraith
7. Year of Research	2025
8. Notes	None

1. Full Date of Act	Aug. 6, 425
2. Name of Act (or Short Description)	Constituto Sirmondianis No. 6 issued by Valentinian III
3. Geography of Act	Present-day Italy
4. Text of Act	We deny to Jews as well as pagans the right to try cases of law or serve in the army: we deny those following the Christian way of life the right to serve such persons, lest by using their opportunity as masters these Jews might find occasion to corrupt the venerable Christian faith. We command that all persons of this foul error be excluded from these offices, unless a complete betterment [i.e. conversion] shall come to their aid.
5. Source	“The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428).” James Everett Seaver. 1952, Page 63-64; Accessed online.
6. Researcher	Ziba Shadjaani
7. Year of Research	2015
8. Notes	Editor Author’s footnote dates this law in 425 as ‘Constitutio Sirmondianis No.6