Yesterday marked the anniversary of the burning of a synagogue by a Christian mob in the Levantine Roman city of Callinicum—roughly contiguous with Raqqa, currently the capital of Islamic State—in 388 CE. David B. Green writes:
[This] was not the first time that a Jewish place of worship had been destroyed by Christians in the early decades after the adoption of Christianity by Emperor Constantine. . . .
Much less is known about the background to the arson than about what followed, but apparently the bishop of Callinicum incited from the pulpit against the Jews and their evil teachings and ways. The burning of the synagogue was the response the bishop’s followers deemed appropriate. . . .
[T]he secular legal authorities of the province ordered the rioters of Callinicum and their rabble-rousing priest to compensate the Jews—either by rebuilding the synagogue for them or by paying them so they could undertake the reconstruction themselves. That judgment was then confirmed by Theodosius, at the time ruler of the eastern part of the Roman empire, whose seat was in Milan.
Under pressure from the church father St. Ambrose, then bishop of Milan, Theodosius eventually reversed the verdict.
Read more on Haaretz: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/this-day-in-jewish-history/1.734468