Did Constantine Pass a Law Against People Who Converted to Yahudi Practice?

315 CE · Emperor: Constantine · Codex Theodosianus 16.8.1 (18 October 315)

What the ancient record says

Yes, but read exactly what it targeted. A law of Constantine (C.Th.

16.8.1) addresses conversion between the communities, concerned with people moving into Yahudi practice and with Yahudim attacking members who became Christianoi. Religious identity becomes a matter of imperial law: before Constantine, writers argued, leaders condemned, councils attempted exclusion; under imperial rule, religious affiliation increasingly entered Roman legislation, the historical change.

It shows Constantine's government was no longer religiously neutral about movement between communities; the state had begun legislating the boundaries. Caution: later summaries compress several Constantinian provisions into one sentence, do not; each statute needs its exact date, recipient, legal reference, and operative penalty before claiming what was criminalized.

Secure locator: C.Th. 16.8.1, 18 October 315 (Internet History Sourcebooks Project).

Did Constantine simply order all Yahudim to become Christianoi? This law does not establish that (an exaggeration); it imposed restrictions and protected conversion in one direction, not a universal forced-baptism decree; later rulers enacted additional measures.