c. 425 CE: MIDRASH BERESHITH RABBAH

Composition of the Midrash Genesis Rabbah which interprets verses from Genesis in aggadic style.

434 CE: ATTILA

–leads the Hunnic Empire:

Attila lived 406–453 CE, and was also known as Attila the Hun or the Scourge of God. Attila led the Huns from 434 until his death 19 years later. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from Germany to the Baltic Sea. During his rule, he was one of the most feared of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires’ enemies, but he never actually attacked either Rome or Constantinople. His propaganda was that the Sword of Attila had come to his hand by miraculous means.

In much of Western Europe, he is remembered as the epitome of cruelty and rapacity. In contrast, some Northern European histories and Chronicles lionize him as a great and noble king. He plays a major role in three Norse sagas.

435–438 CE: ROMAN INJUNCTION v. SYNAGOGUES

The Theodosian Code prohibits, among other things, the construction of new synagogues.

442 CE: JEWISH QUARTER IN CONSTANTINOPLE

Jews concentrate in the copper–workers’ quarter of Constantinople, situated near the church of Hagia Sophia.