In the year 363 , the emperor Julian ( r. 355 – 363 CE ) , an apostate from Christianity , ordered the Temple rebuilt . The project 's failure has been ascribed to the Galilee earthquake of 363 , and to the Jews ' ambivalence about the project . Sabotage is a possibility , as is an accidental fire . Divine intervention was the common view among Christian historians of the time . As a reaction against Julian 's pro-Jewish stance , the later emperor Theodosius I ( r. 379 – 392 CE ) forbade the Sanhedrin to assemble and declared ordination illegal . Capital punishment was prescribed for any Rabbi who received ordination , as well as complete destruction of the town where the ordination occurred
Galilee earthquake of 363
Galilee earthquake of 363
Sanhedrin