Your Day in the Ancient Greek World
February 15
February 15 in ancient Greece is represented in our source-audited archive by 2 verified records spanning 108 BCE to AD 438. 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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108 BCE
Life on This Day
A Deferred Sale Is Written in Demotic and Greek
On February 15, 108 BCE, a papyrus reportedly from Memphis recorded a sale with deferred delivery. The main contract is written in Demotic and signatures on the reverse include Greek, preserving a bilingual commercial transaction from Ptolemaic Egypt.
Sources
Primary evidence
- Brooklyn Museum 37.1796E, TM 45998
Modern scholarship
- Brooklyn Museum Open Collection
- R. H. Pierce, Three Demotic Papyri in the Brooklyn Museum
Public links
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AD 438
Event That Shaped History
The Theodosian Code Is Promulgated in the East
On February 15, AD 438, an imperial constitution dated at Constantinople promulgated the completed Theodosian Code in the Eastern Roman Empire. The compilation gathered imperial legislation from Constantine onward into sixteen books.
Sources
Primary evidence
- Theodosius II, Novella I, dated Constantinople, February 15, 438
Modern scholarship
- Oxford Journal of Law and Religion
- J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire
Public links