Judah the prince, the patriarch or _nasi_ who edited the Mishnah, died early in the 3rd century. With him the importance of the Palestinian patriarchate attained its zenith. Gamaliel II. of Jamnia (Jabne Yebneh) had been raised to this dignity a century before, and, as members of the house of Hillel and thus descendants of David, the patriarchs enjoyed almost royal authority. Their functions were political rather than religious, though their influence was by no means purely secular. They were often on terms of intimate friendship with the emperors, who scarcely interfered with their jurisdiction. As late as Theodosius I. (379-395) the internal affairs of the Jews were formally committed to the patriarchs, and Honorius (404) authorized the collection of the patriarch's tax (_aurum coronarium_), by which a revenue was raised from the Jews of the diaspora. Under Theodosius II. (408-450) the patriarchate was finally abolished after a régime of three centuries and a half (Graetz, _History of the Jews_, Eng. trans. vol. ii. ch. xxii.), though ironically enough the last holder of the office had been for a time elevated by the emperor to the rank of prefect. The real turning-point had been reached earlier, when Christianity became the state religion under Constantine I. in 312. Religion under the Christian emperors became a significant source of discrimination in legal status, and non-conformity might reach so far as to produce complete loss of rights. The laws concerning the Jews had a repressive and preventive object: the repression of Judaism and the prevention of inroads of Jewish influences into the state religion. The Jews were thrust into a position of isolation, and the Code of Theodosius and other authorities characterize the Jews as a lower order of depraved beings (_inferiores_ and _perversi_), their community as a godless, dangerous sect (_secta nefaria, feralis_), their religion a superstition, their assemblies for religious worship a blasphemy (_sacrilegi coetus_) and a contagion (Scherer, _op. cit._ pp. 11-12). Yet Judaism under Roman Christian law was a lawful religion (_religio licita_), Valentinian I. (364-375) forbade the quartering of soldiers in the synagogues, Theodosius I. prohibited interference with the synagogue worship ("Judaeorum sectam nulla lege prohibitam satis constat"), and in 412 a special edict of protection was issued. But the admission of Christians into the Jewish fold was punished by confiscation of goods (357), the erection of new synagogues was arrested by Theodosius II. (439) under penalty of a heavy fine, Jews were forbidden to hold Christian slaves under pain of death (423). A similar penalty attached to intermarriage between Jews and Christians, and an attempt was made to nullify all Jewish marriages which were not celebrated in accordance with Roman law. But Justinian (527-565) was the first to interfere directly in the