Your Day in the Ancient Greek World
February 23
February 23 in ancient Greece is represented in our source-audited archive by 3 verified records spanning AD 47 to AD 532. Together, the entries below connect this calendar date with different moments in the ancient Greek world through historical and documentary evidence.
Across the centuries
On This Day
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AD 47
Life on This Day
Three Brothers Divide Four Enslaved People Inherited from Their Father
On February 23, AD 47, three brothers at Tebtynis divided four enslaved people inherited from their father Herodion. Their mother’s lifetime right to the services of one of those people was preserved under the father’s will.
Sources
Primary evidence
- P.Mich. V 323 = P.Mich. inv. 1264 recto
Modern scholarship
- University of Michigan APIS
Public links
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AD 303
Event That Shaped History
The Imperial Church at Nicomedia Is Destroyed
On February 23, AD 303, imperial officials and soldiers destroyed the Christian church at Nicomedia in sight of Diocletian’s palace. The attack preceded publication of the first general persecution edict on the following day.
Sources
Primary evidence
- Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum 12
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History VIII.1
Modern scholarship
- Modern scholarship on the Diocletianic Persecution
Public links
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AD 532
Event That Shaped History
Construction Begins on Justinian’s Hagia Sophia
On February 23, AD 532, construction of the present Hagia Sophia at Constantinople began only weeks after the Nika riots had destroyed its predecessor. Justinian entrusted the project to Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus.
Sources
Primary evidence
- Later Byzantine chronological tradition for the construction start
Modern scholarship
- Modern Hagia Sophia chronology
- Journal of Late Antiquity scholarship on the construction date
Public links