Roman Empire

On 27 February 380, Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica and made Nicene Christianity the only legal religion of the Roman Empire. Christianity had joined a very exclusive club.

On 11 February 55 AD, Britannicus — the biological son of Emperor Claudius — collapsed at a dinner party and died. He was thirteen years old, one day short of manhood. The poisoning that killed him was not an aberration. It was how the Julio-Claudian dynasty did business.

On 4 February 2 BC, the Roman Senate hailed Augustus as Pater Patriae — Father of the Fatherland. He had been ruling Rome for thirty years. He wept.