The discrimination against the Jews became stronger when Theodosius issued the edict of Ravenna (380), which made the profession of Christianity a requirement for all who held office under the government. After the death of Theodosius the Roman Empire was divided into an Eastern and a Western Empire. Palestine and the majority of the Jews were in the Eastern Empire, with its capital at Constantinople; and they remained subject to this rule until the Holy Land was conquered by the Mohammedans in 634. The legal treatment of the Jews, in both divisions of the Empire, was hostile, but the authorities tried to protect their lives and properties against the constantly increasing attacks of the mob. Such outbreaks occurred especially in the Greek cities of the Orient. Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, and St. Simeon, the Stylite, who for years lived on a pillar, stirred up the religious fanaticism of the masses by setting them against the Jews. These attacks resulted in loss of life and property, and when the emperors issued orders demanding the punishment of the lawless elements, the ecclesiastic leaders condemned this action as the evidence of partiality toward the Jews. Under Emperor Justinian (527-565) we hear for the first time of an interference with the internal religious life of the Jews by the secular authorities. An edict of this Emperor prohibited the reading of the Deuterosis in the synagogue. The word is a literal translation of the word Mishnah, but as the Mishnah could not have been read in the synagogue, we must assume that other Rabbinic works or the Targum are meant. The Byzantine Empire frequently had wars with its Persian neighbor, and one of these which threatened to be very critical occurred under Emperor Heraclius (622-628). In this, the Jews at first sided with the Persians, but when the Emperor on his way to the East appeared in Palestine, he promised them an amnesty if they would join his cause. This they did. On his return he broke his pledge, the monks assuring him of the divine pardon for this breach of faith, and punished the Jews severely for their defection. RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE ERA