Cyril has come in conflict with the civil administration over the zeal with which he champions orthodoxy in his Alexandrian see.

He closes the churches of the Novatians, a schismatic sect that denies the power of the church to absolve those who had lapsed into idolatry during persecution.

Following Jewish attacks upon Christians in 414-15, he incites the Greeks to kill or expel the Jews from Alexandria and seize their property.

Forcing his way into the synagogue at the head of a mob, he expels the Jews and gives their property to the crowd.

The prefect Orestes, who refuses to condone this behavior, is set upon and almost stoned to death.

Only one Jew, Adamanlius, agrees to be baptized.

Riots ensue, and Cyril, who if not directly responsible at least had done nothing to prevent them, is forced to acknowledge the authority of the civil government.

Some Jews return to Alexandria within a few years, but many will return only t around 650 after the Muslims conquer Egypt.