Roman Empire
The Roman state under emperors, from Augustus to the fall of the western empire in 476, including its Christianization.
Category: States
- January 16, 27 BCEThe settlement of 27 BCE; Octavian becomes Augustus
On 13 January 27 BCE Octavian formally returns power to the Senate. On 16 January he accepts a ten-year charge over key provinces, including Hispania, Gaul, Syria and Egypt, which gives him most of the legions. The Senate gives him the title Augustus.
- c. 25 BCEHerod builds Caesarea Maritima
Between about 25 and 9 BCE Herod builds the port city of Caesarea Maritima, inaugurated in 9 BCE. When Judea becomes a province in 6 CE it is the seat of the Roman governor, and the Pilate Stone was found there.
- July 1, 23 BCEThe second settlement of 23 BCE
After a severe illness Augustus resigns the consulship on 1 July 23 BCE. In a new deal with the Senate he keeps his imperium across the empire and receives tribunician power for life.
- 6Judea becomes a Roman province
In 6 CE Augustus deposes Herod Archelaus, ethnarch of Judea, Samaria and Idumea, and turns Judea into a Roman province under a prefect, the first being Coponius. The capital moves from Jerusalem to Caesarea. Syria's legate Quirinius takes a census for taxes.
- September 17, 14Tiberius becomes emperor
Augustus dies on 19 August 14 CE. On 17 September the Senate confirms Tiberius as princeps. He rules until 16 March 37, a span that covers the ministry and death of Jesus and Pilate's time in Judea. In 26 he leaves Rome for Capri.
- 26Pontius Pilate becomes prefect of Judea
Pontius Pilate governs Judea from 26 CE to 36 or 37, under Tiberius, keeping Caiaphas as high priest throughout. Josephus reports clashes over imperial standards in Jerusalem and an aqueduct paid from the Temple treasury. A 1961 inscription at Caesarea names him.
- c. 30The crucifixion of Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth is crucified in Jerusalem under Pontius Pilate, most likely at Passover in 30 or 33 CE. Tacitus mentions it, and the baptism and crucifixion are the points scholars accept most widely. The Gospels differ over how much blame falls on Pilate.
- c. 36Pilate is recalled
After the Samaritans complain to Vitellius, governor of Syria, Pilate is recalled to Rome in 36 or 37. Tiberius dies on 16 March 37 before he arrives. Caiaphas is removed from the high priesthood after Pilate's fall.
- 40Caligula orders a statue in the Temple
In 40 CE, after Jews tear down an altar to the imperial cult at Jamnia, Caligula orders a statue of himself placed in the Jerusalem Temple. Philo leads delegations to the emperor and Agrippa opposes the plan. Caligula is assassinated in early 41.
- 41Agrippa I rules Judea
Agrippa I, a grandson of Herod the Great and friend of Claudius, helps Claudius to the throne and in 41 CE receives Judea, Samaria and Idumea, a realm about as large as Herod's. He dies at Caesarea in 44, and Judea returns to direct Roman rule under procurators.
- c. 48 – c. 62Paul writes the earliest surviving Christian texts
From c. 48 CE the apostle Paul writes letters to early Christian communities, among them Galatians, 1 Thessalonians and Romans. They are the oldest writings of the New Testament.
- 67Vespasian conquers Galilee
Nero sends Vespasian, who conquers Galilee in 67 CE, taking Yodfat, Tarichaea and Gamla. In Jerusalem rival factions, among them Zealots, John of Gischala and Simon bar Giora, fall into civil war.
- July 1, 69Vespasian is proclaimed emperor
On 1 July 69 CE Vespasian is acclaimed emperor at Alexandria, in the Year of the Four Emperors that followed Nero's suicide. He leaves for Rome and his son Titus finishes the war in Judea. Vespasian founds the Flavian dynasty.
- c. 70The Gospel of Mark, the earliest gospel, is written
Around 70 CE, near the First Jewish–Roman War and the destruction of the Temple, the Gospel of Mark is composed. Most scholars see it as the first gospel; its place of writing is debated.
- 71The Flavian triumph
In 71 CE Vespasian and Titus celebrate a triumph in Rome for the Jewish war, carrying spoils from the Temple, the menorah among them. Coins proclaim Judaea Capta, "Judea conquered".
- c. 81The Arch of Titus
About 81 CE Domitian builds the Arch of Titus on Rome's Via Sacra after his brother's death. Its reliefs show the triumph of 71, with the Temple menorah among the spoils, one of few contemporary images of Temple objects. It later becomes a symbol of the Jewish diaspora.
- 97Gan Ying is sent west toward Rome
In 97 CE Ban Chao sends Gan Ying toward Daqin (Rome). He reaches Parthian-ruled Tiaozhi and a great "western sea", perhaps the Persian Gulf or the Black Sea, and turns back after sailors warn of a voyage of up to two years. His report on Daqin comes from secondhand sources.
- c. 140Marcion proposes the first Christian canon
Around 140 CE the teacher Marcion offers a canon of ten Pauline letters and an edited Gospel of Luke, rejecting the Hebrew scriptures. His list is often seen as prompting the church to define its own.
- 166An embassy from "Andun" reaches Han China
In 166 CE the Hou Hanshu records an envoy of Andun, king of Daqin, landing at Rinan with ivory, rhinoceros horn and tortoise shell. Andun may be Marcus Aurelius or Antoninus Pius. Several historians think the party were merchants, not diplomats.
- c. 200Alexander of Aphrodisias heads the Peripatetic school at Athens
About 200 CE Alexander of Aphrodisias heads the Peripatetic school at Athens and dedicates On Fate to Septimius Severus and Caracalla (198-209). His commentaries on Aristotle are later translated into Arabic and quoted by Maimonides. Pomponazzi revives his view of the soul.
- 226A Roman merchant reaches the court of Wu
In 226 CE a merchant from Daqin named Qin Lun reaches Jiaozhou, and the local prefect sends him to Sun Quan's court at Nanjing, where Sun asks him about his homeland. The Weilüe and the Book of Liang record the visit.
- c. 240Origen compiles the Hexapla
By about 240 CE the scholar Origen of Alexandria sets out the Hebrew Bible in six parallel columns: Hebrew, its Greek transliteration and four Greek versions, including the Septuagint. Only fragments survive.
- c. 280Porphyry writes the Isagoge
Porphyry (c. 234-c. 305), writes the Isagoge (date unknown), an introduction to logic often read as a guide to Aristotle's Categories. It sorts predicates into genus, species, difference, property and accident. Latin and Arabic versions make it a standard textbook.
- 331Constantine orders fifty Bibles for Constantinople
In 331 the emperor Constantine commissions Eusebius of Caesarea to supply fifty Bibles for the churches of his new capital, Constantinople, an early sign of large-scale Bible production.
- c. 350Codex Sinaiticus, an early complete Greek Bible, is copied
In the mid-4th century (c. 325–360) a Greek Old and New Testament is copied in one codex. Codex Sinaiticus includes deuterocanonical books such as Tobit, Judith and Sirach, plus the Epistle of Barnabas.
- 367Athanasius lists the 27 books of the New Testament
In his Easter letter of 367, Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria names the same 27 New Testament books Christians use today, the earliest known list of exactly that set.
- 393The Synod of Hippo accepts a Christian canon
In 393 a North African church synod at Hippo Regius, in the circle of Augustine, probably becomes the first council to accept the Catholic canon of Old and New Testament books, deuterocanonical books included.
- 397The Council of Carthage confirms the canon of Scripture
In 397 the Council of Carthage accepts a summary of the Synod of Hippo's decisions and its list of biblical books. A further council in 419 repeats it, shaping the canon of Latin Christianity.