Thank you, Glorydaz. Everybody is welcome to post on this thread.
And now, it's 54 AD.
Agrippina the Younger is happy that her husband Claudius has made her son Nero his heir. She hands Claudius a cup of wine, Claudius drinks it, and uh, dies suddenly. Conflicting records state that Nero and Britannicus were to be co-rulers, that Brittanicus would become co-ruler on his fourteenth birthday in another four months, and that Britannicus would become Emperor on his fourteenth brithday. But right now, Nero is Emperor.
Well-liked, brilliant, and overweight, Nero quickly annexes Aden, a port midway between Europe and India. Having declined in importance as traders had started going overland, the port lessens the chance of another famine due to shipping problems.
An exploring party returns from southern Egypt, reporting that the area is too poor to be worth conquering.
Felix, the crooked governor, had passed laws restricting the rights of Jews in their own land. Riots break out in Caesarea, and Nero decreases Jewish rights even farther.
Extending their control farther north, Romans defeat British rebels who had attacked one of their allies.