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The First Millenium

V

Vince

Member
I had some fun with this on another forum. It is a brief history of The Roman Empire and Christianity, beginning with the year 1 AD. This thread, starting with the year 1 AD, will deal ONLY with the history of that year. Anyone is allowed to post, but you may only post about what happened in that year. Remember that some of these dates are approximate.

For the record, Jesus was probably born in 4 BC. He might have been born in 6 BC, or as late as 7 AD. To keep things straight, I will assume that He was born in 4 BC. There is no year "0."

And now, for the year 1:

Buddhism first appears in China.

Augustus Caesar begins the twenty-eighth year of his reign.

Tiberius, who will later become emperor, defeats rebellions in Germany.
 
Confucius is given his first royal title (posthumous name) of Lord Baochengxun Ni.
 
2 AD

Augustus Caesar reluctantly agrees to allow Tiberius Caesar to return to Rome from exile, but only as a private citizen. Tiberius had married Augustus's daughter and after a career as a brilliant general, Tiberius had held several major positions.

Despite their falling out, Tiberius would become Emperor after Augustus's death.
 
In the year 3:

Augustus adopts his grandson Gauis, expecting him to become the next Emperor. But Gaius is killed in battle the next year.

The Apostle Paul is born in south-central Turkey. He is the son of a Pharisee.
 
4

Augustus summons the brilliant general Tiberius to Rome, making Tiberius his heir.

Augustus also allows his only child, Julia, to return from exile. Julia had been very well-educated, but had been extremely immoral. When she was caught in a plot to assassinate her father, he exiled her to a tiny island for six years.
 
In the year V:

Rome acknowledges a British king and receives ambassadors from the Germans. But Rome also conquers "Lower Germany," which is part of the Netherlands today. It gets its name from being downstream from "Upper Germany."

Julius Caesar had previously conquered Lower Germany and annihilated some tribes, but they had successfully rebelled.
 
Welcome to the year 6!

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius becomes Governor of Syria and nominally of Judea. Quirinius had been a successful small-scale military leader and small-time politician. He was put in charge of Syria and assigned the task of taking a census in Judea in order to begin taxing the citizens.

Quirinius conducted the census in Judea (according to Josephus), which resulted in a revolt in the province, led by Judas the Galilean, and supported by the Pharisee Zadok. The high priest dissuaded most of the population from joining in, however. The revolt is repressed, and the rebels are crucified, but it results in the birth of the Zealot movement, the members of which regard God as their only master. If this is the census referred to in the Gospels, then Jesus was born in either 6 or 7 AD.
 
In the year VII AD:

Rome has various revolts, partly because of the census. The purpose of the census was to raise taxes and draft soldiers.

Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus dismisses the Judean ethnarch Herod Archelaus. When his father, Herod the Great died, Herod Archelaus was declared king of Judea by the army. He brutally supressed a revolt by the Pharisees, killing 3,000 of them. In Rome, many leaders urged Caesar not to make him king, fearing his cruelty, but Augustus made him ethnarch of Judea, Edom, and Samaria.

But in 6 AD, Rome brought Judea under direct Roman rule, and Herod was dismissed. He is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. Joseph was told by God that Herod the great was dead, and that Joseph could return to Israel. Mt 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:
23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

Herod continued to rule with cruelty. Augustus had wanted Israel to be ruled by their own kings, who would be tributary to Rome, but he finally had his fill of Herod's evil and incompetence. Herod was exiled to France, where he lived peacefully, and Judea was put under direct Roman rule.
 
Not much happened in the year 8.

Wanting to increase the population, Augustus had outlawed adultery, but Ovid kept writing dirty poems, so Augustus exiled him.

Things were so dull that Augustus brought a rhinoceros and an elephant to Rome to fight to the death. (The elephant won).
 
Before I get into the year 9, I want to remind everyone that ANYONE is allowed to post on this thread. There are plenty of years for everyone. But let's keep it in order. This is post #9, and post #10 needs to deal with the year 10. Although I am focusing on Roman, Biblical, and early Christian history, ANY historical insights on these years are welcome.


Assuming that Jesus was born in the year 4 BC, He was left behind in Jerusalem by His parents this year.
How could such a thing have happened? Although twelve-year-old Jesus was not yet filled with the Holy Spirit, he excelled in both wisdom and understanding. He understood that God wanted Him to go to the Temple after the Passover celebrations were over. There, rabbis often taught, and God wanted Jesus to learn from these lessons. Jesus neither sinned nor made a mistake when He stayed at the Temple. Surprised that His parents hadn't realized what He was doing, He obediently returned home with them. For about 18 more years, Jesus would have time to meditate on what He had learned, preparing Him for His public ministry.
 
This is a fun thread. I haven't posted any history yet because I don't know all that much history from this time period. Keep posting though, I love history and time-lines are cool. I'll jump in when I have something you don't already know.
 
Thanks, Handy. I'm glad that somebody else has posted on this thread. The rest of you are welcome to join in.

In the year X AD:

The Greek dynasty of Bactria is destroyed. Bactria covered parts of the former Soviet Union and Afghanistan. Left-over from the conquest of Alexander the Great, it was ruled by a Greek minority, even though it was separated from Greece. At their height, they ruled parts of India.

Fearing Bactria's power, China sent undercover agents to foment revolt, and the kingdom divided as various usurpers appeared. The last Greek ruler fell in the year 10.

That same year, fearing revolts, China outlawed private ownership of crossbows.

In Israel, Hillel,the greatest of all Jewish rabbis, turned his school over to Gamaliel.

Meanwhile, Tiberius, the future emperor, had four more legions under his command at the Rhine River. Ignoring the emperor's orders, he held his position, feeling that invading Germany would be a disaster. The Germans used the time to strengthen their forces.
 
11

Germanicus, the great-nephew of Augustus Caesar, conquers the Netherlands and secures the Empire all the way to the Rhine. But the Germans keep causing problems, and Rome is forced to divert needed troops to defend its borders in Germany.

For the record, Germanicus was named after Germany, not vice-versa.
 
XII

Augustus has his fill of Tiberius's excuses and orders a full-scale invasion of Germany.

Annius Rufus becomes Prefect of Judea. Nothing important happens during his term. So, what is a "prefect"? It was a general Roman term for an appointed ruler. While magistrates held authority in their own persons, a prefect was assigned to rule over a certain area, and his authority ended when his assignment did.
 
13 AD

Tiberius wins! They hold a triumphal parade in his honor in Rome after he beats the Germans.

Strabo ("Squinty-Eyed") writes that the earth is a sphere, whose surface is curved by gravity. Strabo's 17-volume "Geography" is an outstanding record of the ancient world.

Determined to prevent civil war after he died, Augustus kept Tiberius (his chosen successor) in Rome and sent Germanicus, with eight legions, away on military missions.

History does not record anything from Israel this year, suggesting that things were going well. Ananias was still High Priest, and work on Herod's Temple was continuing.
 
14 AD

The Emperor, Caesar Augustus dies, and Tiberius is proclaimed Emperor in his place. Hearing the news, troops in Germany rebel, but Germanicus defeats them.

A census shows that there are 4,973,000 Roman citizens.

55 years old at the time, Tiberius wanted the Senate to run the Empire, while he would have absolute veto power. The Senate insisted that Tiberius rule, telling them what he wanted, and they would figure out how to do it. Tiberius reluctantly gave in.

A minor revolt broke out from Roman troops who wanted better pay. Sejanus, an important Bible figure whom most people never heard of, is assigned troops to quash the rebellion.
 
Welcome to 15 AD.

Germanicus fights the Germans to a draw.

Valerius Gratus is appointed prefect of Judea. He rules for 11 years, switching high priests several times.
 
It is now 16 AD!

Germanicus, commanding 50,000 men, decisively defeats a large German army under Arminius. Arminius had managed to unite large numbers of German tribes, and the previous year, the Germans had massacred three Roman legions in an ambush. The defeated Arminius was later assassinated by rival chiefs.

Despite the victory, the campaign had been too expensive for Rome. Germanicus withdrew to the Rhine River, and Rome never again launched a major incursion east of the Rhine.
 
Here is a bit of Chinese history from this time frame. Keep in mind the old saying "What goes around, comes around."

Wang Mang (45 bc-ad23), Chinese emperor, founder and only ruler (ad9-23) of the Xin dynasty. A nephew of a Han empress, Wang Mang became a regent in 8 bc but fell from favor when his cousin, the emperor, died the following year. Recalled as regent in 1 bc, he maneuvered his way to a position as acting emperor in ad 6 and three years later openly assumed the throne. Wang tried to resolve the economic problems then afflicting the realm. He ordered a redistribution of large estate lands to peasants, established government monopolies, and strengthened the bureaucracy. Natural catastrophes causing harvest failure and famine, however, produced great unrest among the populace, which flared up in rebellions. Wang was killed by rebels in his capital at Chang’an.

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761 ... _mang.html
Click to expand...
 
Good article, Handy. I want to remind folks that EVERYBODY is welcome to post on this thread. I am describing Roman, Jewish, and Christian history one year at a time, but all contributions and comments are welcome.
 
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