Timeline 1CE -299CE
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1CE Dec 25, The
celebrated birth of Christ in Bethlehem. The birth of Jesus is
celebrated on Dec. 25th because the Romans needed to replace the pagan
holiday called the Feast of the Unconquered Sun. In Ethiopia Jan 7 is
the day that Christmas is celebrated. According to the gospel of
Matthew, Joseph soon fled with his family to Egypt following a decree
by Herod that ordered all boys of Bethlehem under age 2 to be put to
death. The gospels of Luke and Matthew are inconsistent on historical
facts. Christ’s birth on this day was officially set by the Roman
Church in 336AD. [see 6-2BCE]
(SFC, 12/4/94, p. S-4)(SFC, 8/2/99, p.A10)(Econ,
1/1/05, p.38)
1CE As long as 2,000 years ago, a
Native Indian People later known as the Cherokee, lived in the area of
the Southern Appalachians who had probably split from the Iroquois
about this time.
(NG, 5/95, p.78)
c1CE Stone forts were built on the
3 Aran islands: Inishmore, Inishmaan, and Isisheer, whose total area
was 18 sq. miles. The islands are on the west coast of Ireland at the
mouth of Galway Bay.
(SFEC, 1/23/00, T8,9)
c1CE The 2000 year-old city of
Dujiangyan, perched on the hills where the River Min leaves the Tibetan
highlands for the Sichuan plain, was founded.
(SFC,12/26/97, p.A18)
c1CE In Laos stone jars at the
Plain of Jars that measured on average 10-feet high and 9-feet wide are
believed to be 2,000 years old and to have been used for burials. Only
300 jars are intact due to the bombing during the 1960s Vietnam War.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.E)
c1CE The Mayan city of La Milpa
was founded.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.A10)
c1CE Ceramic cups are found in
Karanog graves of Nubia that depict a herdsman with his dog and cattle,
a face with scarification patterns on the forehead, and eye-motifs.
(MT, 10/95, p.10-11)
c1CE Nazca, Peru. The Owl Man was
dug out of a dry hillside with one arm pointing to the sky and the
other to earth.
(NG, March 1990, J.B. Carlson, p.76)
c1CE Settlers began arriving to
Madagascar from Polynesia
(SFC, 6/23/96, zone 1 p.5)
c1-30 The life of Jesus Christ. In
1998 "The Acts of Jesus -- What Did Jesus Really Do? The Search for the
Authentic Jesus" was published with translation and commentary by
Robert W. Funk, director of the Westar Institute and The Jesus Seminar.
In 2001 Philip Jenkins authored "Hidden Gospels: How the Search for
Jesus Lost Its Way," in which he examines the motives and methodologies
of radical biblical scholars.
(SFEM, 4/19/98, p.6)(WSJ, 4/30/01, p.A16)
1-100CE The first century CE Villa dei Papiri by the
Bay of Naples was used as a model for the J. Paul Getty Museum of the
20th cent. on the Pacific Coast Highway of California.
(Hem., Nov. '95, p.78)
c1-100CE Steam engines--machines harnessing the heat
energy of hot steam to perform work--date to the steam turbine invented
by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century CE called the aeolipile.
However, the aeolipile was regarded as a curiosity demonstrating a
mechanical principle and was not developed into a practical engine.
(HNQ, 1/18/01)
1-100CE A Teutonic tribe known as the Frisians (or
Friesians) settled in what is now the Netherlands in the first century
A.D.
(HNQ, 3/5/00)
c1-100CE Hungary was the Roman province of Pannonia
and Pecs was the capital.
(Hem., 6/98, p.128)
1-100CE Christianity came to Illyrian populated
areas.
(www, Albania, 1998)
1-100CE The first century Greek physician,
Dioscorides, recommended the use of orchid tubers as an aphrodisiac.
(NH, 4/97, p.77)
1-100CE The 1st century Roman gourmet, Marcus Gavius
Apicius, was thought to be the writer of the earliest known cookbook.
(SFEC, 4/16/00, Z1 p.2)
1-100CE Quintus Curtius Rufus, Roman historian, wrote
a Latin test on the History of Alexander the Great. It was translated
into French in the 15th century.
(SFEC, 1/26/97 BR, p.7)
1-100CE The Greek city of Berenice on the coast of
Libya was acquired by the Romans. The site later became a suburb of
Benghazi and was studied by British archeologist John Lloyd (d.1999) in
the 1970s.
(SFC, 6/15/99, p.C6)
1-300CE Kushan Empire. The Kushan nomads, pushed west
by Huns, united with the Scythian nomads 130 years before Christ and
raged across the Central Asian steppes. When they crossed the Amu Darya
(the Oxus river to Alexander the Great) they laid waste the
Greco-Bactrian lands. They later rebuilt the cities they had sacked and
created the great Kushan Empire on their own debris.
(NG, March 1990, p.63)
1-600CE In Thailand the Non Muang Kao was a moated
settlement of this time.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.G)
c1-1250CE The cliff-dwelling Anasazi flourished in
the Four corners area of the American Southwest.
(NH, 5/96, p.8)
c1-1500 Paintings were made on rock surfaces in the
central mountain ranges of the Baha Peninsula by unknown native
Indians. In 1997 Harry W. Crosby published "Cave Paintings of Baha
California."
(WSJ, 3/5/98, p.A20)
2CE Feb 17, Jupiter again appeared
to pass very close to the star Regulus, "the King’s Star."
(SSFC, 12/23/01, Par p.9)
2CE May 8, Jupiter appeared to
pass very close to the star Regulus, "the King’s Star" for a 3rd time
in recent months.
(SSFC, 12/23/01, Par p.9)
2CE Jun 17, Jupiter and Venus drew
close together and appeared to fuse as a single star. This was later
thought to be the Biblical star of Bethlehem.
(SSFC, 12/23/01, Par p.9)
2CE A Chinese census counted
57,671,400 people.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.12)
2-8CE Ovid wrote the
"Metamorphosis." It was an epic poem that begins with the creation of
the world and ends with the rise of Julius Caesar. Rolfe Humphries made
a translation in 1955 that became a standard. A 1997 translation by Ted
Hughes, "Tales From Ovid," retold 24 of the original 250 stories.
(WSJ, 1/9/98, p.A14)
3CE Feb 19, Sadiq Hidajat, Persian
writer (Blind Person Owl), was born.
(MC, 2/19/02)
3CE Aug 12, Venus-Jupiter were in
conjunction: alleged "Star of Bethlehem." [see Feb 17, May 8, Jun 17,
2CE]
(MC, 8/12/02)
3-427CE The Korean Kokuryo Dynasty rules over
Manchuria. Its second capital is said to have been Jiban. A
contemporary Chinese guidebook claims that Jiban at this time was
controlled by China's Western Han Dynasty.
(WSJ, 10/9/95, p.A-8)
4CE Gaius Caesar (24), the nephew
and adopted heir of Caesar Augustus, died.
(WSJ, 6/23/07, p.P16)
4CE Tiberius (42BC-37CE) was
chosen by Augustus as emperor of Rome. He later banished the young Nero
to the island of Ponza.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T12)
c4CE Romans terraced the steep
slopes of the Mosel River for the cultivation of grapes.
(SFEC, 4/30/00, p.T8)
6CE The Romans named Caesarea as a
regional capital.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
6CE Sulpicius Quirinius
(Cyrenius), Roman governor of Syria, ordered a 2nd census of Judea.
(Econ, 1/1/05,
p.38)(www.biblehistory.net/volume2/Quirinius.htm)
9CE Sep 9, Publius Quinctilius
Varus (59), Roman governor of Germania (6-9CE), died of likely suicide
following defeat at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest.
(http://www.fact-index.com/p/pu/publius_quinctilius_varus.html)
9CE Wang Mang usurped the Chinese
throne and ended Han rule.
(eawc, p.15)(NG, Feb, 04, p.21)
9 CE Emperor Tiberius of Rome
subjugated the Illyrians and divided present day Albania between
Dalmatia, Epirus, and Macedonia.
(www, Albania, 1998)
12-41CE Caligula (little boots, a nickname by the
soldiers), Gaius Caesar. He was chosen by Tiberius as successor.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77-78)
13 Nov 16, Tiberius made his
triumphant procession through Rome after siege of Germany.
(MC, 11/16/01)
14CE Caesar Augustus died and rule
passed to Tiberius.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)
15CE May 24, Julius Caesar
Germanicus, Roman commandant, was born.
(MC, 5/24/02)
17CE Jan 2, Publius Ovidius Naso,
Roman poet, died.
(MC, 1/2/02)
17CE May 26, Germanicus of Rome
celebrated a victory over the Germans.
(HN, 5/26/98)
19CE Oct 10, Julius Caesar
Germanicus (33), Roman commandant of Rijnleger and the best loved of
Roman princes, died of poisoning. On his deathbed he accused Piso, the
governor of Syria, of poisoning him.
(HN, 10/10/98)(MC, 10/10/01)
22CE Sulpicius Quirinius
(Cyrenius), Roman soldier and civilian governor of Syria, died.
(Econ, 1/1/05,
p.38)(www.biblehistory.net/volume2/Quirinius.htm)
23CE Chinese rebels known as Red
Eyebrows entered Changan and beheaded Emp. Wang Mang. Liu Xiu (Guang Wu
Di), a 9th generation descendant of Emp. Liu Bang, proclaimed himself
emperor and led his followers to Luoyang to begin the Eastern Han rule.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.21)
23CE Tiberius lost his son Drusus,
and from then on seems to have lost interest in the Empire and occupied
himself with pleasure.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)
23-79CE Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus,
Roman naturalist, encyclopedist and writer. He died in the eruption of
Vesuvius. [see 79CE] He wrote the classic 37-volume "Natural History."
"Among these things but one thing seems certain -- that nothing certain
exists, and that nothing is more pitiable or more presumptuous than
man."
(WUD, 1994, p.1106)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A2)(AP, 11/5/98)
25-220CE The Eastern Han Dynasty received embassies
from Persia who brought lions to the court as tribute. From this
originated the Lion Dancing which represents purity and protection to
the Chinese. The dances are preformed on special occasions and on the
Chinese New year.
(Hem. 1/95, p. 123)(WSJ, 2/19/98, p.A20)
27-37CE Tiberius moved to the isle of Capri and never
returned to Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.77)(SFEM, 10/11/98, p.54)
28CE Jan 28, The Roman Emperor
Nerva named Trajan, an army general, as his successor.
(HN, 1/28/99)
c29-30CE Aug 28, John the Baptist was beheaded by
King Herod, perhaps at whim of Salome.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(MC, 8/28/01)
30CE Apr 30, Jesus of Nazareth was
crucified. Christ died on hill of Golgotha, Jerusalem. His path along
the Via Dolorosa was later disputed as to whether he was tried by
Pontius Pilate at the palace of Herod or at the Roman fortress of
Antonia. His death was at an abandoned quarry, the site of today’s
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 1998 Robert Funk and the Jesus Seminar
published "The Acts of Jesus: The Search for the Authentic Deeds of
Jesus." The group had published an earlier work "The Five Gospels," in
which the sayings of Jesus were examined. In 1999 Thomas Cahill
authored "Desire of the Everlasting Hills," a book about Jesus and his
effect on the world.
(V.D.-H.K.p.16)(SFC, 3/27/97, p.C2)(SFEC, 4/12/98,
BR p.8)(HN, 4/30/98)(WSJ, 11/5/99, p.W12)
30CE When the Roman governor of
Palestine was confronted by an angry Jewish crowd demanding the
execution of the leader of a small, radical religious movement, like
Socrates, he cross-examined him. When he asked him if he was a king,
the man replied, "To this end I was born, and for this cause I came
into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone that belongs to
the truth will hear me." The governor, being a Roman, answered as any
educated Roman would. For Pontius Pilate had been raised on the Greek
and Roman skeptical traditions that denied that there was anything like
certain truth, only probable knowledge. So, as any other Roman would
have done, he asked the question, "What is truth?," but received no
answer. In 2000 Ann Wroe authored the historical novel "Pontius Pilate."
(WWW, WC, 8/15/98)(SFEC, 5/21/00, Par p.19)
30CE Dismas was the repentant
thief crucified with Christ.
(WSJ, 11/2/98, p.B1)
c30 Lazarus lived in Cyprus as a
bishop after the miracle by Christ.
(NH, 4/97, p.62)
c30 Easter [in commemoration of
the resurrection of Christ] is generally observed on the Sunday
following the first full moon of spring. In 1215 the 4th Lateran
Council announced that "Christ descended into Hell, rose again from the
dead, and ascended into Heaven. But he descended in soul, rose again in
the flesh, and ascended equally in both."
(PacDis, Spring/'94, p. 40)(WSJ, 4/18/03, p.W13)
~30 St. John wrote the "Book of
Revelations" and the "Apocalypse" on the Greek island of Patmos.
(WSJ, 11/10/95, p. A-6)
~30 In the midst of political
persecution the early Christians sold their possessions and began
taking their meals together, but they kept their houses. In 1998 Andrew
Harvey published "The Teachings of the Christian Mystics," selections
the gospel of Thomas to Thomas Merton.
(WSJ, 11/26/97, p.A12)(SFEC, 4/12/98, BR p.8)
30-40 The decade following the
execution of Jesus. In 1998 John Dominic Crossan published "The Birth
of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately
After the Execution of Jesus."
(SFEC, 4/12/98, BR p.8)
30 From about 30 to 64/67 Peter
served as the first pope. By 2003 he was still noted as the
longest-serving, for a total of 34 or 37 years.
(AP, 10/16/03)
31CE Mar 25, The 1st Easter,
according to calendar-maker Dionysius Exiguus.
(MC, 3/25/02)
31 Sep 18, Sejanus, Roman head of
praetorian guard, was executed.
(MC, 9/18/01)
33CE Apr 3, Christ was crucified
(according to astronomers Humphreys and Waddington). The date is highly
debated. [see Apr 30, 30CE]
(MC, 4/3/02)
33-34CE Road builders linking Roman legionary camps
during the reign of Tiberius left inscriptions in the rock in the
Lepenski Vir region on the Danube near the Iron Gates gorges.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.25)
36CE Ancient Chinese records
recorded an August meteor shower that was later assumed to be the
Perseids. The meteorites originated when the Swift-Tuttle comet passed
so close to the sun that its ice head melted and left a stream of
pea-sized particles.
(SFC, 8/11/99, p.A2)
37CE Feb 15, Claudius Drusus
Germanicus Caesar Nero (d.68CE), emperor of Rome (54-68), was born.
[see Dec 15]
(MC, 2/15/02)
37 Mar 16, Tiberius Claudius Nero
(78), Roman emperor (14-37), died on a trip to the Italian mainland
from his home on Capreae. He was succeeded by Caligula.
(PCh, 1992, p.36)(HN, 3/16/99)(AP, 3/15/07)
37CE Mar 18, The Roman Senate
annulled Tiberius’ will and proclaimed Caligula emperor.
(HN, 3/18/99)
37CE Dec 15, Nero Claudius Caesar,
emperor of Rome who is blamed for the great fire of Rome, was born.
Nero (Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus) was born (d. 68CE). [see Feb 15]
(WUD, 1994, p.959)(HN, 12/15/98)
37CE Caligula succeeded Tiberius
and went mad within a year. His cruelty was so bad that he was murdered
by the tribune of the palace guard after 4 years. He imprisoned his
nieces on the island of Ponza for converting to Christianity.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T12)
37 Some 20,000 pieces of jewelry
and other objects were buried about this time with a warrior-prince and
5 women in northern Afghanistan. In 1978-79 a team led by Russian
archeologist Viktor Sarianidi discovered their 6 sealed tombs at a site
called Tillya Tepe (hill of gold). The findings became known as the
“Golden Hoard of Bactria.”
(WSJ, 11/19/08, p.D7)
37-41 Caligula ruled Rome. He had
2 large ships built and anchored for his pleasure on Lake Nemi.
(AM, 5/01, p.26)
37-100?CE Flavius Josephus, original name Joseph Ben
Matthias, Jewish historian and general.
(AHD, 1971, p.707)
39CE Nov 3, Lucan, Latin poet
(Bellum Civile), was born in Cordova, Spain.
(MC, 11/3/01)
39CE Dec 30, Titus, 10th Roman
emperor (79-81) and conqueror of Jerusalem, was born.
(MC, 12/30/01)
40CE Jun 13, Gnaeus Julius
Agricola, Roman general and governor of Britain, was born. [WUD says
37-93CE]
(WUD, 1994, p.29)
c40CE Saul of Tarsus, while on the
road to Damascus, experienced a profound conversion to Christianity. He
became known as St. Paul. In 1997 A.N. Wilson wrote "Paul: The Mind of
the Apostle." Wilson argued that Paul was the real founder of the
Church of Jesus. Paul was a student of the Jewish scholar Raban Gamliel.
(CU, 6/87)(SFC, 3/28/97, p.C11)(Internet)
40CE Mauretania was divided into
the provinces of Tingitana and Caesariensis.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.22)
40-60CE The Pont du Gard was built to carry an
aqueduct serving Nimes, France. The 160-foot high structure is 900 feet
long with 3 tiers of stone arches.
(www.vers-pont-du-gard.fr/anglais/tpatrimoine11.php)
c40-107 St. Ignatius Theorphorus, Apostolic Father.
He served as the bishop of Antioch.
(WUD, 1994 p.708)
41CE Jan 24, Shortly after
declaring himself a god, Gaius Caligula Germanicus, emperor from 37-41,
was assassinated by two Praetorian tribunes.
(HN, 1/24/99)(MC, 1/24/02)
43CE The Romans conquered Britain
and founded settlement on the "Tamesis River" where a bridge could be
built that grew to become London.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, BR p.3)
43CE The Briton Caratacus, also
known as Caradoc and chief of the Catuvellauni, mounted a guerrilla
uprising against the Romans. His uprising ultimately failed after he
was betrayed by the Brigantian queen, Cartimandua. He was taken to Rome
where he was later pardoned by Claudius.
(HNQ, 9/23/00)
43CE The Romans brought with them
the board game latrunculi (little soldiers), when they conquered
Britain.
(Arch, 1/05, p.39)
45CE Greek sailors discovered the
monsoon winds and were able to sail from the Horn of Africa to Kerala,
India in 40 days. This shifted the spice trade from north Indian ports
to Muziris which called the "first commercial center of India."
(NG, 5/88, p.609)
46?-120?CE Plutarch, Greek biographer and
philosopher. He was the author of Plutarch's Lives. The work was set up
as a series of dual biographies that compared Greek and Roman statesmen.
(AHD, p.1009)(Wired, Dec. '95, p.229)
48CE Claudius married his niece
Agrippina.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)
c49CE The Church convened a
council in Jerusalem about this time. The participants adopted the
missionary principle of St. Paul, which stressed the universal scope of
salvation.
(CU, 6/87)
50CE The "Periplus of the
Erythraean Sea" was written about this time and indicated contact with
the Somali coast of East Africa by the Egyptians and Ethiopians.
(NH, 6/97, p.43)
50CE Kushan ruled over
Afghanistan under King Kanishka.
(www.afghan-web.com/history/)
50CE Graeco-Buddhist Gandharan
culture reach its height.
(www.afghan-web.com/history/-web.com/history/)
52CE Tradition in the State in the
state of Kerala, India, has it that the Apostle Thomas converted Hindus
to Christianity in this year.
(NG, 5/88, p.598)
52 St. Paul of Tarsus, Christian
preacher, arrived in the port city of Ephesus (Turkey) about this time
and spent 3 years there. Silt from the Kaistros River ended cargo
shipping by the end of the first century. By 2007 the sea was 7 miles
from the former port.
(SFC, 8/16/07, p.E2)
53CE Sep 18, Marcus Trajanus
(d.117), 13th Roman emperor (Trajan's Arch) (98-117), was born at
Italica near Seville, Spain.
(http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Trajan)
54CE Oct 13, Roman emperor
Claudius I died, after being poisoned with mushrooms by his wife,
Agrippina. Nero (37-68CE), son of Agrippina, succeeded his great uncle
Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.
After the murder of his wife, Octavia, Nero descended deep into a
religious delirium. His acts became wild and unintelligible and he was
displaced by his soldiers with Galba after which he committed suicide.
(WUD, 1994, p.959)(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(AP, 10/13/97)(HN,
10/13/01)
56CE Tacitus, Publius Cornelius
was born. He was the Roman author of the Histories (begins with the
death of Nero), and the Annals (begins with Tiberius' reign and goes to
the end of Nero). Only a portion of the Histories survives (69-70CE).
Of the Annals only those books dealing with the early career of
Tiberius, and some treating the reigns of Claudius and Nero survive.
(V.D.-H.K.p.81)
56CE Huan Tan, Go strategist,
died. In his book “Xin Lun” (New Treatise) he advised that the best
approach to the game is to spread your pieces widely so as to encircle
the opponent.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.128)
57CE The King of Nakoku sent an
envoy to the Eastern Han capital Loyang, the 1st recorded envoy to
China from Japan.
(www.museum.city.fukuoka.jp)
59CE Agrippina became insane and
was murdered by her son, Nero.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)
60CE Feb 10, St. Paul is believed
to have been shipwrecked near Malta while enroute to Rome for trial for
practicing Catholicism. The story is told in the Bible’s New Testament
Acts of the Apostles, chapter 27. The event is marked in Malta every
February 10.
(WSJ, 6/21/08,
p.W8)(www.maltamedia.com/artman2/publish/out_about/article_5012.shtml)
60CE A comet appeared and was
interpreted by the people of Rome to mean the impending death of their
new emperor.
(NG, 12/97, p.105)
60CE Boudicaa, queen of the Iceni
in Britain, burned Roman London. Boudicaa rose up in revolt against the
Roman occupation of Britain. When Prasutagus, chief of the Iceni
tribe, died without heirs, the Romans confiscated his lands. His wife
and Queen, Boudicaa, protested and as a result was publicly scourged.
Calling on all native Britons to rise against the oppressors, she then
led them in revolt, killing 70,000 Romans and destroying several towns
before she was defeated and captured. She killed herself while in Roman
custody.
(NGM, 5/77)(HNQ, 8/5/00)
62CE Nero murdered his wife
Octavia.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)
c62-113CE Pliny the Younger, Gaius Plinius Caecilius
Secundus, Roman writer, statesman and orator. He described the death of
his uncle, Plinius the Elder, at the 79CE eruption of Vesuvius in a
letter to Tacitus.
(WUD, 1994, p.1106)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A142)
c62-63 James, the "brother" of
Jesus, was stoned to death for teaching the divinity of Christ. He had
led the church in Jerusalem for the 3 decades following the death of
Jesus. In 2002 a stone ossuary, looted from a Jerusalem cave, was found
with an Aramaic inscription that read "James, son of Joseph, brother of
Jesus." In 1997 Robert Eisenman authored "James, the Brother of Jesus."
In 2003 Hershel Shanks and Ben Witherington III co-authored "The
Brother of Jesus: The Dramatic Story & Meaning of the First
Archeological Link to Jesus & His Family." In 2003 the stone
ossuary was declared a fake.
(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A12)(SSFC, 4/20/03, p.E2)(AP,
6/18/03)
c63CE The Norse Skalds Kaparmal
are written. These have been translated and interpreted by the
Frenchman Paul Du Chaillu.
(K.I.-365D, p.109)
64CE Jul 18, The Great Fire of
Rome began. After the fire Nero began to build his Golden House in the
center of the city.
(V.D.-H.K.p.78)(AP, 7/18/97)
64CE Jul 19, The Circus Maximus in
Rome caught fire.
(MC, 7/19/02)
64CE Nero initiated the first
persecution against the Christians. According to Seneca Nero sentenced
hundreds of Christians to die by "tunica molesta," a naphtha
impregnated "shirt of torture."
(CU, 6/87)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.58)
65CE Jun 8, Jews revolted against
Rome, capturing the fortress of Antonia in Jerusalem.
(MC, 6/8/02)
65CE Lucius Annaeus Seneca (b.4BC)
(aka Seneca the younger), Roman intellectual, died. He was a Stoic
philosopher and playwright and wrote a version of "Medea." Seneca was
Nero's teacher. Nero had Seneca compose his speeches. Seneca and his
colleague were ordered by Nero to contrive the murder of Agripinna. He
was forced to commit suicide after the conspiracy of Caius Piso to
murder Nero. His wife Paulina cut her wrists together with Seneca but
Nero ordered that she be saved. Seneca's blood did not flow well and he
asked for poison which was refused. He then requested a hot bath to
increase the blood flow and apparently was suffocated by the steam.
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
(V.D.-H.K.p.80)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.57)(SFEC,
8/2/98, Z1 p.8)(Econ, 10/4/08, p.54)
66CE Jan 26, The 5th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
(MC, 1/26/02)
66 Jewish Zealots called sicarii
(from the Latin word for dagger) murdered Roman officials and
high-ranking Jews whom they considered as enemies to Israel’s war of
independence.
(NG, 11/04, p.76)(Econ, 10/27/07, p.33)
66-70 The Jews during this period
laid in supplies and prepared to hide during their revolt against the
Romans. In 2006 archeologists in northern Israel reported the discovery
of chambers, linked by short tunnels, that would have served as a
concealed subterranean home.
(AP, 3/14/06)
66-73 Roman general Vespasian's
army assaulted the forces of Jewish rebel Joseph ben Matthias at
Jotapata in Galilee. During the Jewish revolt of 66-73 CE, Emperor Nero
chose Titus Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian) to subdue Judea. Vespasian
was eminently qualified for this martial task. He was fresh from
crushing a German rebellion, and as commander of Legio II, he had
played a significant role in the conquest of Britannia (Britain) by
Nero‘s predecessor. Joseph, meanwhile had assembled his own army from
the rebel bands of Galilee and trained them in the Roman model. He also
fortified many towns, the strongest being Jotapata, a natural fortress
perched on a rock outcrop. It was surrounded on three sides by
steep valleys that made attack virtually impossible. The only approach
to the city was from a hilltop to the north, and that was blocked by a
dry moat fronting a sturdy wall.
(HNQ, 12/4/00)
67CE Two monks entered China on
the Silk Road and introduced Buddhism in Luoyang.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.28)
67CE Some 37,000 Jewish prisoners
were held at the Roman stadium in Tiberias after they lost a naval
battle on the Sea of Galilee.
(SFC, 6/18/02, p.A2)
c67CE St. Paul, Catholic apostle
to the Gentiles and writer of many epistles, died. He founded one of
the first Christian churches in Europe at Philippi in Macedonia. He was
martyred by Nero and according to tradition invoked his right as a
Roman citizen to be beheaded.
(WUD, 1994, p.1058,1081)(NG, 12/97, forum)
68CE Jun 9, Nero (31), Roman
Emperor (54-68), committed suicide.
(AP, 6/9/97)(MC, 6/9/02)
68-69CE Galba reigned as the Roman emperor. He was a
commander of Roman forces in Spain and acclaimed emperor by his 2
legions. When the praetorian guard accepted Galba, Nero committed
suicide.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)
69CE Jan 2, Roman Lower Rhine army
proclaimed its commander, Vitellius, emperor.
(MC, 1/2/02)
69CE Jan 10, Roman emperor Galba
adopted Marcus Piso Licinianus as Caesar.
(MC, 1/10/02)
69CE Jan 15, Servius Sulpicius
Galba (70), 6th emperor of Rome (68-69), was murdered along with his
newly adopted successor, Piso Licinianus. Marcus Salvius Otho (36)
committed the murder and forced the senate to recognize himself as
emperor.
(PC, 1992, p.37)
69CE Apr 16, Otho (32-69)
committed suicide after he was defeated by Vitellius' (15-69) troops at
Bedriacum.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)(HN, 4/16/98)
69CE Sep 1, Traditional date for
the destruction of Jerusalem. [see Aug 29 70CE]
(MC, 9/1/02)
69 Dec 20, Vespian’s supporters
entered Rome and discovered Vitellius in hiding. Vitellius, a Roman
commandant of Rhine and the 7th emperor, was dragged through the
streets before being brutally murdered. Vitellius had been acclaimed
emperor by his legions in Germany in place of Galba. He was then killed
in Rome fighting the supporters of Vespasian, the Roman commander of
Judea. Gen. Vespasianus occupied Rome.
(WUD, 1994, p.1667)(HN, 12/20/98)(MC, 12/20/01)
69 Dec 21, Vespacian, a
gruff-spoken general of humble origins, entered Rome and was adopted as
emperor by the Senate.
(PCh, 1992, p.37)
70 May 31, Rome captured the 1st
wall of the city of Jerusalem.
(MC, 5/31/02)
70 Aug 29, The Temple of Jerusalem
burned after a nine-month Roman siege. The Second Temple of Jerusalem
was destroyed by Rome’s 10th Legion and the Jews there were exiled. In
the Jewish War the Israelites tried unsuccessfully to revolt against
Roman rule. The destruction buried the shops that lined the main
street. Archeologists in 1996 found numerous artifacts that included
bronze coins called prutot. Carpenters from Israel’s Antiquities
Authority used manuscripts of the Roman master builder Vitruvius to
reconstruct contraptions used in the construction of the temple.
(SFC, 5/23/95, p.A-10)(SFC, 8/28/96, p.A10)(WSJ,
6/22/98, p.A20)(HN, 8/29/98) (SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T11)
70 Jun 5, Titus & his Roman
legions breached the middle wall of Jerusalem.
(MC, 6/5/02)
70 Jul 1, Roman Emperor Titus
assaulted the walls of Jerusalem with battering rams.
(MC, 7/1/02)
70 Aug 8, Tower of Antonia was
destroyed by the Romans.
(MC, 8/8/02)
70 Aug 29, The Temple of Jerusalem
burned after a nine-month Roman siege. The Second Temple of Jerusalem
was destroyed by Rome’s 10th Legion and the Jews there were exiled. In
the Jewish War the Israelites tried unsuccessfully to revolt against
Roman rule. The destruction buried the shops that lined the main
street. Archeologists in 1996 found numerous artifacts that included
bronze coins called prutot. Carpenters from Israel’s Antiquities
Authority used manuscripts of the Roman master builder Vitruvius to
reconstruct contraptions used in the construction of the temple. In
2007 Martin Goodman authored “Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient
Civilizations.”
(SFC, 5/23/95, p.A-10)(SFC, 8/28/96, p.A10)(WSJ,
6/22/98, p.A20)(HN, 8/29/98)(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T11)(Econ, 1/20/07, p.90)
70 Sep 7, The Roman army under
Titus occupied and plundered Jerusalem.
(MC, 9/7/01)
70 Sep 27, The walls of upper city
of Jerusalem were battered down by Romans.
(MC, 9/27/01)
70 The Gospel of Mark, the
earliest chronicle of the life of Jesus, dates to about this time.
(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A12)
70 Josephus recorded that
Vespasian and his son Titus plundered 50 tons of gold and silver during
the Roman conquest of Jerusalem.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
70 The Jerusalem mansion of Queen
Helene, who came from a royal clan that ruled Adiabene (northern Iraq),
was destroyed along with the rest of Jerusalem. In 2007 archeologists
uncovered remains of the structure. Helene converted along with her
family to Judaism when they came to Jerusalem in the first half of the
first century AD.
(AP, 12/7/07)
70 A Roman punitive expedition
forced the Garamantes of southern Libya to enter into an official
relationship with Rome.
(AM, 3/04, p.28)
71 Vespasian and his son Titus
paraded the treasure plundered from Jerusalem in triumph through the
streets of Rome. They used the 50 tons of gold and silver to help
finance the building of the Colosseum.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
73 Jewish zealots on Mount Masada
chose to perish by their own hands rather than surrender to slavery
under the Romans.
(SFEC, 3/28/99, p.T5)
73 When the Jewish rebellion
against Roman rule was crushed, many Jewish refugees fled in all
direction. Those who fled to Europe became known as Ashkenazim.
(Econ, 6/4/05, p.75)
75 The treasure plundered from
Jerusalem in 70AD by the Romans under Vespasian and his son, Titus, was
put on public display in the Temple of Peace in the Roman Forum and
stayed there into the early 5th century.
(SFC, 10/23/06, p.A15)
76CE Jan 24, Publius A. Hadrianus,
14th Roman Emperor (117-138), was born. [see Mar 15]
(MC, 1/24/02)
76CE Mar 15, Hadrian, Roman
Emperor (builder of Hadrian's Wall), was born. [see Jan 24]
(MC, 3/15/02)
78CE Mar 3, Origin of Saka Era in
India.
(SC, 3/3/02)
79CE Aug 24, Pliny the Elder,
Roman naturalist, witnessed the eruption of long-dormant Mount Vesuvius
and was overcome by the fumes as he tried to rescue refugees. The
eruption buried the Roman cities of Pompeii, Stabiae, Herculaneum and
other, smaller settlements in 13 feet of volcanic ash and pumice. An
estimated 20,000 people died. The event was described by Pliny the
Younger, the elder’s nephew, in a letter to Tacitus.
(HFA, '96, p.36)(DD-EVTT, p.70)(AP, 8/24/97)(WUD,
1994, p.1106)(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A2)(HNQ, 6/16/98)
79CE Aug 25, Gaius Plinius
Secundus, [Plinius Maior], Roman admiral, writer, died in the eruption
of Mount Vesuvius. [see Aug 24]
(MC, 8/25/02)
79CE Nov 1, Pompeii was buried by
eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. [see Aug 24]
(HN, 11/1/98)
79CE The Hindu calendar was
updated to the solar year with this year as year 1. The original dated
back to about 1000 BC.
(SFC, 1/1/00, p.A18)
80CE The Colosseum was inaugurated
under Emp. Titus (Vespacian) with 100 days of gladiator combat. The
poet Martial described one combat between Verus and Priscus. The
amphitheater occupied the site of a large artificial lake, created by
Nero for his Domus Aurea.
(SFC, 7/20/00, p.C3)(AM, 3/04, p.54)(WSJ, 1/25/05,
p.D12)
80CE The Theater of Pompey was
burned and restored by Titus and Domitian.
(RFH-MDHP, p.214)
81 Sep 13, Titus Flavius
Vespasianus, emperor of Rome (69-81), died at 42.
(MC, 9/13/01)
81-96 The reign of Domitian.
Soldiers under his reign earned an annual salary of about 1,200
sesterces.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)(AM, 5/01, p.36)
c81-138 Secret police agents in Ancient Rome were
known as frumentarii. Growing out of an Augustine messenger service—the
cursus publicus—frumentarii were originally just supply sergeants
responsible for such mundane functions as the purchase and distribution
of grain. However, under the reign of Domitian (a.d. 81-96), or
possibly Hadrian (117-138), they were turned into intelligence officers
and gradually became more involved in state security.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)
82CE Jul 27, Joseph of Arimathea,
died and was buried in tomb he once lent to Jesus.
(MC, 7/27/02)
85-130CE Some 2000 letters on wooden tablets were
excavated beginning in 1973 at Vindolanda in northern England from
Roman soldiers stationed there.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.14)
86CE Sep 19, Antoninus Pius, 15th
Roman emperor (138-161), was born.
(MC, 9/19/01)
c90CE Luke, a Greek-born physician
and contemporary of St. Paul, authored his Gospel about this time. St.
Luke’s feast day is October 18.
(www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_dir.htm)(www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=76)
90-168CE Claudius Ptolemy, geographer and mapmaker,
collected information from travelers and constructed maps of the then
known world. His maps were forgotten as the Roman Empire declined and
were not rediscovered until the early 1400s. Robert Newton in his book
"The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy" (1977), called him "the most successful
fraud in the history of science."
(ATC, p.15)(NH, 6/97, p.43)(LAT, 3/30/05)
95CE St. John the Divine
established a Christian colony on the Greek island of Patmos after
being exiled from Ephesus by Emperor Domitian. It is said that he wrote
here the Book of Revelations in a grotto overlooking the main town.
Greek Orthodox tradition says that he is the apostle John but that is
not confirmed.
(SFEC, 1/18/98, p.T6)(WSJ, 6/28/02, p.W8)
96CE Jul 1, Vespasian, a Roman
Army leader, was hailed as a Roman Emperor by the Egyptian legions.
(HN, 7/1/98)
96CE Sep 18, Domitian, Roman
emperor, died. He was murdered and was succeeded by Nerva.
(V.D.-H.K.p.83)(MC, 9/18/01)
97CE Oct 27, To placate the
Praetorians of Germany, Nerva of Rome adopted Trajan, the Spanish born
governor of lower Germany.
(HN, 10/27/98)
97CE Sextus Julius Frontinus,
Roman water commissioner, wrote of Rome: "The city looks cleaner,
different, the air is purer and the causes of pollution that gave the
air so bad a name with the ancients are now removed."
(SFEC, 7/2/00, p.T1)
97-105CE Flavius Cerialis was prefect of Cohort IX of
Batavians and the last occupant of the commandant’s house at
Vindolanda. The cohort was transferred to the Danube to join Trajan’s
forces gathering for the Second Dacian War.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.17)
98CE Jan 27, Marius Cocceius Nerva
(67), emperor of Rome (96-98), died.
(MC, 1/27/02)
98CE Cornelius Tacitus referred to
the Baltic peoples in his book Germania. "In the East the Svebes washes
the shores inhabited by the Aistian tribes (Aestiorum gentes)."
(DrEE, 10/12/96, p.2)
98-117CE Trajan, rules as emperor over Rome. His
reign coincides with the apex of Roman territorial power. Along with
his successor Hadrian, he converted the flexible frontiers of Rome to a
line of fixed walls and forts.
(V.D.-H.K.p.64)
c100CE Oct 31, The pagan Celts of Britain and Ireland
celebrated Samhain on October 31 as the end of the season of the sun
and the beginning of the season of darkness. It was believed that on
this day the souls of the dead revisited their homes. Bonfires were lit
to chase away evil spirits. When the Romans conquered Britain in the
first century A.D., their fall harvest festival, Poloma Day, mixed with
the traditions of Samhain to form a major fall festival at the end of
October.
(HNPD, 10/31/99)
c100CE The first Chinese dictionary was compiled.
(ATC, p.33)
c100CE Since before this time in the central-west
section of Arabia, Mecca attracted desert dwellers due its fresh water
well. It is in a desert valley surrounded by mountains and is a
crossroad for two heavily traveled long-distance trade routes.
(ATC, p.56)
c100CE A Greek merchant was sent by the Romans
occupying Egypt to investigate rumors of a booming trade between Indian
Ocean ports. His report was written as: The Periplus of the Erythraean
Sea.
(ATC, p.141)
c100CE Raban Gamliel in the first century is credited
with arranging the Amidah, considered by many to be the most important
prayer in the Jewish liturgy. Raban Gamliel was the most influential
Rabbi in the period following the destruction of the Temple. This was a
time when many different rabbis each had their own individual domains.
(www.kolshalom.com/divrei/dvarilana1.html)
c100CE A mural was painted about this time at the
Mayan ceremonial site of San Bartolo (Guatemala). It was uncovered by
archeologist William Saturno of the Univ. of New Hampshire in 2001.
(SFC, 3/13/02, p.A4)(USAT, 1/16/04, p.10A)
100CE Dioscorides, a Roman
physician, named the marijuana plant cannabis sativa.
(WSJ, 2/8/05, p.D7)
100-150 Archeologists in 1998 uncovered evidence of a
pre-Columbian civilization from under the Pyramid of the Moon in
Teotihuacan that was dated to this time. The skeleton of a man was
found by a team led by Saburo Sugiyama. The most important and largest
city of pre-Colombian central Mexico, the Nahuatl meaning of
Teotihuacan was "Where Men Become Gods" or "The City of Gods." Just
north of Mexico City, Teotihuacan was planned at about the beginning of
the Christian era and was sacked and burned by invading Toltecs in 650.
(SFC, 10/22/98, p.C2)(SFEC, 11/8/98, p.T10)(HNQ,
4/24/99)(SFEC, 9/19/99, p.A22)
100-200 Serdica was home to a Roman amphitheater. It
stood on the trade road between the Danube and Constantinople. Known to
the Romans as Serdica, it later became known as Sophia, the capital of
Bulgaria.
(AM, 7/04, p.14)
c100-200 A report from London on 6/27/96 said that
the British Library had acquired Buddhist texts that date back as early
as the 2nd cent CE. The texts were believed to be part of the canon of
the Sarvastivadin sect, which dominated Gandhara, now north Pakistan
and east Afghanistan.
(SFC, 6/27/96, p.A12)
c100-200 Simon Ben Azzai, second century (A.D.)
Jewish scholar: "In seeking wisdom thou art wise; in imagining that
thou has attained it thou art a fool."
(AP, 11/15/97)
100-200 Celsus, a second century scholar, thought
that Christianity was a threat to the social order. He made some
attempt to strip away its mythology and identify the historical Jesus.
(WSJ, 5/26/98)
100-200CE Poompuhar (southern India) grew during the
reign of Karikal Cholan, the second-century Chola king who established
trade ties with China, Arabia and the Roman Empire. In the 20th century
remnants of brick buildings, water reservoirs, a boat jetty and Roman
coins were found during undersea excavations.
(AP, 1/14/05)
100-400CE In the Canary Islands Roman artifacts were
found in strata dated to this time. The islands were described by
Plutarch and Ptolemy gave their precise location.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.22)
c100-700 A group of agricultural Indians (today
called the Moche) inhabit the desert margin between the Andes and the
Pacific in what is today called Peru. They raised huge monuments of sun
baked mud where they laid their dead with fine gold and pottery. They
irrigated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and peanuts. The ate
llamas and guinea pigs and caught fish in the Pacific. [2nd source
dated the Moche from 0-800] The Nasca [Nazca] Indians also inhabited
this area about this time.
(NG, Oct. 1988, p. 510)(SFEM, 4/13/97, p.16)
c100-700 In Peru the Nazca Lines are a complex series
of huge birds, animals and other figures etched into the ground by the
Nazca culture some 225 miles southeast of Lima.
(SFC, 9/1/97, p.A14)
100BC-1500 In Vietnam the city of
Hoi An was the principal port of the seafaring Champa kingdom, that
embraced Indian culture. The kingdom withstood attacks from the
Chinese, Vietnamese, Khmers and Mongols. Archaeological study in Hoi An
in the 1990s proved that more than 2000 years ago Hoi An was an
embryonic port town of the Sa Huynh people. From the 2nd to the 15th
centuries, Hoi An was the main port of the Champa Kingdom. In these
centuries, Hoi An became a prosperous commercial port town, very well
developed and famous in Asia.
(SFEC, 4/26/98,
p.T4)(www.hoianworldheritage.org/ehoian/cultural/lichsu_vh_chinh.htm)
100-1300 Time period of the Anasazi culture of
northern Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah and Colorado.
(WUD, 1994, p.53)
100-1300CE The Bir-Kot Shwandai site in northern
Pakistan marks an urban settlement.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.C)
103-105CE Apolodorus of Damascus built a bridge over
the Danube for Emperor Trajan. It connected the Roman provinces of
Moesia Superior and Dacia (the Yugoslavian and Romanian banks
respectively).
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.26)
104CE There was a fire in Rome.
Emp. Trajan built massive baths over the Domus Aurea of Nero.
(WSJ, 1/25/05, p.D12)
105CE Ts'ai Lun (Cai Lun), a
Chinese government official (eunuch), told Emperor He about making zhi,
i.e. paper. By the end of the second century, the Chinese were printing
books on rag paper using wooden type.
(V.D.-H.K.p.154)(NG, Feb, 04, p.9)
105CE Flavius Cerialis, prefect of
Cohort IX of Batavians at Vindolanda in northern England, was
transferred to the Danube to join Trajan’s forces gathering for the
Second Dacian War.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.17)
106CE Nabatae, whose capital was
Petra, became a Roman province under Trajan. The Roman city of Jerash
was one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis.
(WUD, 1994, p.948)(SFEM, 4/11/99, p.8)(AM, 3/04,
p.60)
c109CE Silk was carried by a caravan from China to
Persia for the first time.
(ATC, p.33)
c111CE A Roman amphitheater was built at Nyon,
Switzerland. An inscription at the site had a dedication to the emperor
Trajan.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.10)
117 Aug 8, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus
(Trajan), emperor of Rome (98-117), died.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
117 Aug 11, The Roman army of
Syria hailed its legate, Hadrian, as emperor, which made the senate's
formal acceptance an almost meaningless event. One of his first acts
was to withdraw Rome’s army from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq).
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)(Econ, 7/19/08,
p.94)
117 The Trimontium amphitheater
was built in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The area was later sacked by Attila the
Hun and the site was covered in dirt until a landslide exposed it in
1972.
(SSFC, 7/16/06, p.G4)
117-138 The reign of Hadrian.
(HNQ, 10/5/00)
117-180CE Aulus Gellius, Roman writer.
(RFH-MDHP, p.214)
118CE Jul 9, Hadrian, Rome's new
emperor, made his entry into the city.
(HN, 7/9/98)
120-130CE Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered a great wall
to be built in northern England along with a series of forts "to
separate the Romans from the barbarians." It extended for 73.5 English
miles from the estuary of the river Tyne on the east to Solway Firth on
the west.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.15)
121 Apr 20, Marcus Aurelius
(d.180), 16th Roman emperor, philosopher, was born. He authored the
"Meditations." [see Apr 26]
(V.D.-H.K.p.64)(HN, 4/20/98)
121 Apr 26, Antonius Marcus
Aurelius, [Marcus A. Verus], Emperor of Rome (161-180), was born. [see
Apr 20]
(MC, 4/26/02)
121-135CE The Temple of Venus and Rome was built in
Rome.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.14)
122 Sep 13, Building began on
Hadrian's Wall.
(MC, 9/13/01)
125 Lucius Apuleius, Roman
philosopher and satirist, was born about this time. His work included
"Metamorphoses."
(WUD, 1994, p.74)(WSJ, 5/14/99, p.W8)
125 The Gospel of John dated to
this time. A papyrus fragment mentioned Jesus.
(SFC, 10/22/02, p.A12)
126CE Aug 1, Publius Helvius
Pertinax, Roman emperor (193 CE), was born.
(MC, 8/1/02)
130 Antinous, the Greek lover of
Roman Emperor Hadrian, died in the Nile. Hadrian insisted that Antinous
be given the status of a god.
(Econ, 7/19/08, p.94)
131CE Sep 22, Claudius Galenus
(d.201), Italian physician and scholar, was born.
(http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/galen.html)
132 Zhang Heng introduced an
earthquake weathercock, a device that could inform the Chinese court of
a distant earthquake.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.28)
132CE Jewish rebels occupied the
mountain ridge of Hebron during the Bar Kochba revolt against the
Romans. The remains of an ancient synagogue and mikveh are still
visible.
(SFEC, 12/22/96, p.T2)(Econ, 7/19/08, p.94)
135CE Roman Emperor Hadrian sent
12 divisions under Julius Severus to quell the Jewish rebellion led by
Simon Bar Kokhba, who was killed at Bethar. An estimated 600,000 Jews
were killed. Hadrian ordered Jerusalem plowed under and Aelia
Capitolina was built on the site. He barred Jews from returning and
survivors dispersed across the empire. Judea was renamed
Syria-Palestina.
(SFC, 12/26/96, p.C16)(PBS, Nova, 11/23/04)(PC, 1992
ed, p.41)
136-140CE Hyginus was pope. He was later proclaimed a
saint.
(WUD, 1994, p.697)
138 Jul 10, Publius A. Hadrianus
(b.76), Roman emperor (117-138), died. He was responsible for Hadrian's
Wall in Britain, begun in 122.
(www.roman-emperors.org/hadrian.htm)
138-161 Antoninus Pius succeeded Hadrian to Rome.
(AM, 11/00, p.13)
139 Hadrian’s Mausoleum was built
in Rome.
(SSFC, 5/1/05, p.F8)
c140CE Emperor Antoninus Pius ordered Hadrian’s Wall
to be abandoned and a more northerly defense to be established.
Remnants could later be seen of the Antonine Wall around Falkirk,
Scotland. Roman troops advanced northwards into the Scottish lowlands,
driving the barbarians back before them and establishing a new frontier
called the Antonine Wall, named for the new Emperor, Antoninus Pius.
The Antonine Wall was later abandoned, reoccupied, and abandoned a
second and final time under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
(NG, 12/97, forum)(HNQ, 9/9/00)
c140 The Persians begin to
frequently trade with the Romans and Chinese.
(ATC, p.33)
141 Mar 20, The 6th recorded
perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
(MC, 3/20/02)
141-155 St. Pius I, pope, martyr.
(PGA, 12/9/98)
145CE A temple was completed in
Rome as a tribute to Emperor Hadrian. In 1802 it became the site of the
Rome stock exchange.
(WSJ, 12/13/96, p.B11A)
150CE Ptolemy of Alexandria
published his theory of epicycles, the idea that the moon, the sun and
the planets moved in circles which were moving in circles which were
moving in circles around the Earth.
(Econ, 2/7/04, p.75)
c150CE About this time the lateen sail was first used
on the Mediterranean Sea.
(ATC, p.12)
c150CE The subterranean graveyard beneath the Appian
Way had existed from about this time and probably originated as the
private open-air burial ground of the noble Cecili family of Rome.
About 200CE it became the first official Christian cemetery.
(ITV, 1/96, p.59)
150-200CE The Temple of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan
(City of the Gods) was built near what later became Mexico City.
Quetzalcoatl was considered as the origin of all human activities on
earth, the creator of land and time and its divisions.
(SSFC, 5/6/01, p.T9)(SSFC, 11/9/03, p.C7)
151 The Almagest by Claudius
Ptolemy, roughly translated as "the Greatest Compilation," was
published around this time and became one of the most influential
scientific texts in history. He argued that the cosmos consisted of
concentric spheres with the Earth at the center.
(LAT, 3/30/05)(SSFC, 2/5/06, p.M1)
155 Feb 23, Polycarp, disciple of
Apostle John, was arrested and burned at stake.
(MC, 2/23/02)
155 St. Pius I, pope, was martyred.
(PGA, 12/9/98)
156 Montanus of Phrygia (central
Asia Minor) pronounced himself to be the incarnation of the Holy Spirit
and that the New Jerusalem was about to come crashing down and land in
Phrygia. His followers were called Montanists.
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.34)
c160CE The Romans abandoned their garrison at
Cramond, Scotland, and retreated to Hadrian’s Wall.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.14)
160-230 Tertullian, Carthaginian theologian.
(WUD, 1994, p.1466)
161 CE Mar 7, Marcus Aurelius became emperor on the
death of Antoninus Pius [Titus Aurelius], age 74, at Lorium. Antoninus
ruled from 138-161.
(HN, 3/7/99)(MC, 3/7/02)
161CE Aug 31, Lucius Aelius
Aurelius Commodus, emperor of Rome (180-92), was born.
(WUD, 1994 p.297)(MC, 8/31/01)
166CE A Roman envoy arrived in
China. This was their 1st recorded official contact.
(ATC, p.33)(Econ, 12/18/04, p.58)
167 Feb 13, Polycarp, a disciple
of St. John and bishop of Smyrna, was martyred on the west coast of
Asia Minor.
(HN, 2/13/99)
180 Mar 17, Antonius Marcus
Aurelius (58), [Marcus Verus], Emperor of Rome, died.
(MC, 3/17/02)
180 Jul 17, Christenen Cittinus
Donatus Natzalus Secunda Speratus Vestia was sentenced to death in
Carthage.
(MC, 7/17/02)
c180 Pausanius, traveler and
geographer, wrote a description of Greece which we have and it is, so
to speak, the first guide book known.
(WUD, 1994 p.1058)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.58)(SSFC,
12/1/02, p.C3)
180 A Roman military transport
ship was built about this time, as Marcus Aurelius passed the throne to
the emperor Commodus. It later sank in the Rhine. In 2003 archeologists
in the Netherlands unveiled the preserved ship.
(AP, 5/15/03)
180 A smallpox epidemic hit Rome
and killed 3.5 to 7 million people including Emp. Marcus Aurelius. It
was dubbed the Plague of Antonine.
(NW, 10/14/02, p.46)
c182-c251 Origen of Caesarea, a church father, urged
Christians not to celebrate birthdays because they were a pagan custom.
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.W15)
185 Dec 7, Emperor Lo-Yang of
China saw a supernova (MSH15-52?).
(MC, 12/7/01)
188 Apr 4, Caracalla, [Marcus
Aurelius Antonius], well-bathed Roman emperor (211-217), was born.
(MC, 4/4/02)
190 General Dong Zhuo seized power
in China and placed a child, Liu Xie, on the throne.
(NG, Feb, 04, p.28)
190 The abacus was invented about
this time.
(NW, 9/2/16, p.34D)
192 Dec 31, Lucius A.A. Commodus
(31), Emperor of Rome (180-192), was murdered. His mistress Marcia,
Chamberlain Eclectus, and praetorian prefect Laetus hired the wrestler
Narcissus to strangle Commodus after they found their names on an
imperial execution list.
(PCh, 1992, p.42)(MC, 12/31/01)
193 Mar 28, Publius Helvius
Pertinax, Roman Emperor (192-93), was assassinated.
(HFA, '96, p.26)(MC, 3/28/02)
193 Apr 9, In the Balkans, the
distinguished soldier Septimius Seversus was proclaimed emperor by the
army in Illyricum.
(HN, 4/9/99)
193 Apr 14, Lucius Septimus
Severus (d.211), a native son of Leptis Magna in Libya, was crowned
emperor of Rome. Under his rule the empire reached its greatest extent
with almost 50 provinces.
(AM, 11/00, p.12)(MC, 4/14/02)(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D12)
193CE Jun 1, The Roman Emperor,
Marcus Didius (61), was murdered in his palace.
(HN, 6/1/99)(MC, 6/1/02)
195CE Sho-saiko-to is a Chinese
formula of bupleurum root, pinellia tuber, scutellaria root, jujube
fruit, ginseng root, glycyrrhiza (licorice) root, and ginger rhizome.
It is used to help prevent liver cancer.
(WSJ, 9/25/95, p.B7B)
197 Feb 19, Lucius Septimius
Severus' army beat Clodius Albinus at Lyon. D Clodius Septimus Albinus,
Roman dignitary in England, died in the battle.
(MC, 2/19/02)
c197CE The sculpture of a lioness devouring a man
made about this time was found in 1997 in the mud of the Almond River
near Edinburgh, Scotland.
(SFC, 1/22/97, p.A9)(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.14)
199-217 Pope Zephyrinus led the Church.
(ITV, 1/96, p.59)
200 The first Runic inscriptions
that have survived to the modern day dated from around this time. The
Runic alphabet, also known as Futhark, consists of 24 letters, 18
consonants and 6 vowels.
(www.ancientscripts.com/futhark.html)
c200CE The Forma Urbis Romae was a 60 by 45-foot map
carved out of marble that detailed every building, room and staircase
in 2nd century Rome.
(Wired, 11/98, p.117)
c200 Romans began making glass
objects that included windows, bottles and drinking vessels.
(SFEC, 6/20/99, Z1 p.8)
c200 The Mishna, a section of the
Talmud consisting of a collection of oral laws, was edited by Rabbi
Judah Ha-Nasi in the Jewish city of Sepphoris.
(WUD, 1994, p.916)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.64)
c200CE Pope Zephyrinus assigned his deacon, Calixtus
(a former slave), to administer the large underground complex beneath
the Appian Way. The subterranean graveyard had existed from about
150CE. This first official Christian cemetery probably originated as
the private open-air burial ground of the noble Cecili family of Rome.
From this time on it became known as the Catacombs of St. Calixtus. It
extended over an area of 20 km., one 3-5 levels, and includes some
500,000 tombs.
(ITV, 1/96, p.59)
c200CE West African people called Bantu, which means
"the people," migrated into central and southern Africa.
(ATC, p.24)
c200CE Barbarian invasions and civil wars begin in
the Roman empire.
(ATC, p.33)
200-300 A Roman bathhouse was constructed in Milan
and its columns still stood in the 20th century.
(SFEC, 7/13/97, p.T3)
200-300 The Chinese scholar Wang Bi wrote an
extensive commentary on the I Ching. He lived only to the age of 23.
His commentaries dominate Chinese thinking on the I Ching until the
Confucian revival in the 11th century. In 1997 an English translation
by Richard John Lynn was published.
(NH, 9/97, p.12)
c200-300 Diophantus, a 3rd century Hellenistic
mathematician, wrote a series of classical texts on Algebra called
Arithmetica.
(SFEC, 4/5/98, Z1
p.8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diophantus)
200-300 In Laos evidence has indicated the presence
of a Hindu Shrine at Wat Phu with prehistoric levels below.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.F)
200-300 Campeche (Mexico), from the 3rd century, was
the principal town of the Maya kingdom of Ah Kin Pech (place of
serpents and ticks).
(SSFC, 1/25/09, p.E4)
200-300 The original Polynesians arrived at Hawaii
probably from the Marquesas. They brought with them edible plants and
animals.
(SFEM, 2/8/98, p.10)
200-400CE A giant statue of Buddha was made at
Bamiyan some 100 miles west of Kabul. It was destroyed by the Taliban
in 2001.
(AM, Jul/Aug ‘97 p.19)(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A16)
c200-400 Sealed royal tombs were found in 2 pyramids
at the Yaxuna Maya site in Mexico.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.H)
200-400 Christianity spread rapidly in Numidia and
the diocese of Lamiggiga was established. It was later abandoned and
just the name was used as an honorary jurisdiction for Catholic
auxiliary bishops.
(SFC, 9/19/98, p.C1)
c200-700CE In Cambodia at Angkor Borei excavations
were proceeding on what might have been the capital of the ancient
kingdom of Funan.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.A,D)
200-1215 The Fremont people lived in Utah and etched
into rock designs of animals and people.
(SFEC, 3/14/99, p.T8,9)
c200-1450 The Hohokam people lived in the area of
Tucson, Arizona.
(SSFC, 3/31/02, p.C6)
203 Lucius Septimus Severus
(d.211), emperor of Rome, returned to visit home at Leptis Magna, Libya
(SSFC, 6/27/04, p.D12)
205-270CE Plotinus was an Alexandrian philosopher in
Rome and founder of Neo-Platonism, which strongly influenced the later
Augustine, who taught of a mystical union with the Good through the
exercise of pure intelligence. He founded Neo-Platonism, a religion
that for a time rivaled Christianity. Neo-Platonism developed out of
the philosophical doctrines of Plato in the fourth century B.C.
Plotinus developed the spiritual side of Plato's thought into a
mystical philosophy teaching reunion with the One and that material
things are unworthy. Saint Augustus, formerly a Neo-Platonist, brought
some of his ideas into Christian theism.
(V.D.-H.K.p.93)(HNQ, 5/11/98)
211 Feb 4, Lucius Septimus Severus
(64), emperor of Rome (193-211), died.
(MC, 2/4/02)
211-217CE The reign of the Roman emperor Caracalla
(188-217). Coins were minted at the Jewish city of Sepphoris during the
reign of Caracalla.
(WUD, 1994, p.221)(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.64)
215 Clement of Alexandria, a
Church father, died. He cited early efforts to fix the Nativity on Apr
19, 20th or May 20.
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.W15)
c216-276 Manes, aka Manicheus or Mani, Persian profit
and founder of the dualistic religious system called Manichaeism.
It was a combination of Gnostic Christianity, Buddhism and
Zoroastrianism and other elements. The basic doctrine was based on a
conflict between light and dark, with matter being regarded as dark and
evil.
(WUD, 1994, p.871)
217 Apr 8, Caracalla (29), [Marcus
Antonius], Roman emperor (198-217), was murdered in his baths.
(MC, 4/8/02)
220 The Han Dynasty dissolved as
Liu Xie abdicated. Three separate kingdoms became established: Shu in
the west, Wu to the east of the gorges, and Wei in the north. The later
classic "Tale of the Three Kingdoms" traced the collapse of the Han
Dynasty.
(NH, 7/96, p.33)(WSJ, 9/16/99, p.A26)(NG, Feb, 04,
p.28)
220CE At Baalbeck in the Bekaa
Valley of Lebanon the Romans constructed an incomplete acropolis that
contained a Temple of Jupiter and a Temple of Bacchus.
(SFEC, 4/13/97, p.T9)
220CE The Kushan empire [Afghanistan] fragmented
into petty dynasties.
(www.afghan-web.com/history/-web.com/history/,
5/25/98)
222 Mar 11, Varius A. Bassianus
(18), Syrian emperor of Rome (218-22), was murdered.
(MC, 3/12/02)
224-641CE The Sassanid Dynasty ruled over Persia.
(ATC, p.32)
226CE The Iranians conquered the
Parthians.
(WUD, 1994, p.1051)
c226 In Iran Zoroastrianism was
revitalized as a state religion under the Sassanians.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
227-261CE The Sassanids (A.D. 227-651), ruled the
Persian Empire despite attempts by the Roman Empire (27 B.C.-A.D. 476)
and later the Byzantine (or Eastern Roman) Empire to conquer it. Bam
was founded during the Sassanian Period along one of the East-West
trade routes collectively known as the Silk Road.
(HNQ, 12/22/00)(SFC, 12/27/03, p.A12)
230 The St. Georgeous Church was
built in Jordon. In 2008 archeologists found a cave under the church
with evidence that it was used as a church by 70 disciples of Jesus in
the first century after his death, which would make it the oldest
Christian site of worship in the world.
(AP, 6/11/08)
230 In Tunisia a Roman coliseum
was built in the town of El Jem that could hold 30,000.
(SFEC, 4/12/98, p.T5)
c230 St. Cecilia of the patrician
Cecili family was martyred [possibly during the persecutions of
Diocletian]. She lived in Trastevere where she reportedly sang hymns
all day and so became the patroness of music. She was decapitated by
Roman soldiers after 3 abortive attempts.
(WUD, 1994, p.237)(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
230 Quintus Septimius Florens
Tertullianus (anglicized as Tertullian), early Christian apologist,
died. He was a church leader and prolific author of Early Christianity.
Tertullian was born about 150 and lived and died in Carthage (later
Tunisia).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertullian)
232-238CE In China tens of thousands of bamboo strips
and wooden boards recording regional government matters during the
Three Kingdoms period were found in an ancient well during construction
in 1997 in the southern city of Changsha.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.26)
235 Mar 18, Marcus Aurelius
Alexander, Syrian emperor of Rome (222-235), was murdered.
(MC, 3/18/02)
235CE An inscription in Greek in
the Calixtian Complex of Rome was dedicated to the pope St. Pontian,
who died in the Sardinian mines.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
235CE An inscription in Greek in
the Calixtian Complex of Rome was dedicated to pope St. Anterus, who
reigned for only 43 days and died in prison.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
238 May 10, Gaius Julius Verus
Maximinus ("The Thracian"), Roman Emperor, was murdered.
(MC, 5/10/02)
238CE Solinus wrote that the
Hibernian mother places the first morsel of food in her child’s mouth
with the point of her sword.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.11)
239 In Japan Queen Himiko (Pimiko,
Queen of Wa) of the Kingdom of Yamataikoku sent an envoy to China.
(www.gias.snu.ac.kr/wthong/)
243 The text "De Pascha Computus"
calculated the spring equinox, March 25, under the Julian calendar from
the first day of creation. The author used this to derive March 28 as
the birthday of Jesus.
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.W15)
250CE An inscription in Greek in
the Calixtian Complex of Rome was dedicated to pope St. Fabian, who
re-organized the Church in a period of peace and was then martyred
during the Decian persecutions.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
250-300CE The smaller Buddha at Bamiyan, 114 feet
high, dated to about this time. It was a gigantic magnification of a
Gandhara image. It was destroyed by the Taliban in 2001.
(WSJ, 3/5/00, p.A22)(SFC, 2/12/02, p.A16)
250-600CE Early classic period of the Maya.
(AM, May/Jun 97 suppl. p.B)
250-710CE The Japanese Kofun period. Mongoloid people
from Korea continued to enter Japan and mixed with the older Jomon
populations.
(AM, Mar/Apr 97 p.38)
250-800 This period was covered in the 2000 book
"Late Antiquity" edited by G.W. Bowersock, Peter Brown and Oleg Grabar.
(WSJ, 2/2/00, p.A24)
c250-900 During this time about a hundred thousand
Mayans lived in the area of Tikal (meaning "the place where spirit
voices are heard"). It was abandoned after some 15 hundred years of
continuous habitation.
(SFEM, 6/13/99, p.8)
250-900 The classic period of Maya culture.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.A10)
253 Valerian became emperor of
Rome and ruled until 260 when he was captured and executed by Persian
King Shapur I.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Valerian_I)
254CE May 12, St. Stephen I began
his reign as the 23rd Catholic Pope. According to the "Liber
Pontificalis" he instituted the rule that clerics should wear special
clothes at their ministrations.
(SC, Internet, 5/12/97)(HN, 5/12/98)
254CE Pope St. Lucius I, who spent
part of his pontificate in exile, was buried in the Calixtian Complex
of Rome and has an inscription in Greek.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
256 The Anatolian city of Zeugma
on the Euphrates was sacked by Persian King Shapur I. This was soon
followed by a devastating fire and an earthquake and Zeugma was
abandoned. In 2000 the area was submerged as part of the Southeast
Anatolia Project of dams for power.
(SFEC, 5/7/00, p.A23)(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
257 Aug 2, Pope Stefanus I (St.
Stephen), bishop of Rome (254-57), heretic fighter, died.
(MC, 8/2/02)
258 Aug 6, Pope Sixtus II, bishop
of Rome (257-58), was beheaded upon orders of Emperor Valerian.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)(MC, 8/6/02)
258 Sep 14, Thascius Caecilius
Cyprian (b.~200), Christian writer and Bishop of Carthage (248), died
as a martyr in Carthage.
(http://www.fact-index.com/c/cy/cyprian.html)
258 A red agate cup with gold
handles, the Santo Caliz, was sent to Spain by Pope Sixtus II and St.
Laurence as Rome went under siege by the Persians. In 1437 the church
moved it to the Cathedral of Valencia.
(SSFC, 5/27/06, p.G3)
258-260 Persia and Rome engaged in a 2-year war.
(WUD, 1994 ed., p.1667)
260 Persia’s King Shapur I
captured Roman Emp. Valerian.
(Arch, 9/00, p.41)
260-268 Emp. Gallienus, son of Valerian, ruled Rome
until he was assassinated.
(AM, 5/01,
p.40)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Valerian_I)
260-339 Eusebios (Eusebius of Caesarea, c263-340),
Christian theologian and historian. He served as Bishop of Caesarea
from 315-340.
(WUD, 1994 p.492)(AM, 7/01, p.33)
266CE King Odenathus of Palmyra,
ruler of the Roman province of Syria, was murdered. Zenobia Septimia,
his wife, took control in the name of her teenage son, Vaballathus.
(ON, 7/00, p.1)
267 Dec 26, Dionysius, bishop of
Rome and saint, died.
(MC, 12/26/01)
268 Roman Emp. Gallienus, son of
Valerian, was assassinated.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Valerian_I)
269 Nov 20, Diocletian was
proclaimed emperor of Numerian in Asia Minor by his soldiers. He had
been the commander of the emperor's bodyguard.
(HN, 11/20/98)
270 Feb 14, The early Christian
martyr, St. Valentine, was beheaded about this time by Emperor Claudius
II, who executed another St. Valentine around the same time. The
Catholic Bishop Valentine was clubbed, stoned and beheaded by Emperor
Claudius II for refusing to acknowledge the monarch’s outlawing of
marriage. The Catholics then made Valentine a symbol to oppose the
Roman mid-February custom in honor of the God Lupercus, where Roman
teenage girls’ names were put in a box and selected by young Roman men
for "sex toy" use until the next lottery. The two Valentines merged
into a single legendary patron of young lovers. St. Valentine’s Day
evolved from Lupercalia, a Roman festival of fertility.
(SFEM, 2/9/97, p.11)(SFC, 2/14/97, p.A26)(SFC,
2/4/04, p.D7)
270 Feb 15, Valentine's Day
probably has its origins in the Roman feast of Lupercalia, which was
held on February 15. One of the traditions associated with this feast
was young men drawing the names of young women whom they would court
during the following year--a custom that may have grown into the giving
of valentine's cards. Another legend associated with Valentine's Day
was the martyrdom of the Christian priest St. Valentine on February 14.
The Roman emperor believed that men would remain soldiers longer if
they were not married, but Valentine earned the wrath of the emperor by
secretly marrying young couples. The first American publisher of
valentines was printer and artist Esther Howland, who sold elaborate
handmade cards for as much as $35 at the end of the 19th century.
Complex and beautiful machine-made cards brought the custom of
valentine exchanging within the reach of many Americans.
(HNPD, 2/14/99)
270 Zenobia of Syria proclaimed
herself "Queen of the East" and attacked Roman colonies adjoining her
and conquered Egypt.
(ON, 7/00, p.1)
272 Roman emperor Aurelian sent an
army to attack Zenobia’s troops in Egypt and was repulsed.
(ON, 7/00, p.1)
272CE Queen Zenobia led a failed
uprising against the Romans, which left the city of Palmyra partly
destroyed. Forces of Emperor Aurelian laid siege on Palmyra, from which
Zenobia and a few retainers escaped. They were soon captured by Roman
scouts. In 1967 Agnes Carr Vaughn authored "Zenobia of Palmyra." In
1994 Richard Stoneman authored "Palmyra and Its Empire: Zenobia’s
Revolt Against Rome."
(AMNHDT, 11/99)(ON, 7/00, p.3)
274 Feb 27, Constantine I was
born. He became the great Roman emperor (324-337) who adopted
Christianity. [see c288]
(MC, 2/27/02)
274 Dec 25, Emperor Aurelian
imported into Rome the cult of Sol Invictus and made its Dec 25
festival a national holiday.
(WSJ, 12/18/98, p.W15)
276 Jul 16, Marcus Annius
Florianus, emperor of Rome (276), was murdered.
(MC, 7/16/02)
280CE By this time descendants of
the Nok people were farming near the southeastern coast of Africa on
the fertile slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kirinyaga. They called
themselves Bantu.
(ATC, p.137-138)
280-473 During some time in this period Sun Zi, also
known as Master Sun, authored the famous Chinese mathematical text “Sun
Tze Suan Ching.” The 3-volume book contained the Chinese remainder
problem in volume 3.
(www.math.sfu.ca/histmath/China/3rdCenturyBC/Sunzi.html)(Econ,
3/24/07, p.92)
283CE Pope St. Eutychian escaped
persecution but struggled with early heresies. He was buried in the
Calixtian Complex of Rome and has an inscription in Greek.
(ITV, 1/96, p.60)
283 Sebastian, a Christian
soldier, enlisted in the Roman army about this time. Emp. Diocletian,
unaware that he was a Christian, appointed him as a captain of the
Praetorian Guard. When he treated Christian prisoners due for martyrdom
kindly, Diocletian reproached him for his supposed ingratitude and
ordered him executed by arrow. He survived and returned to preach to
Diocletian. In 287 Diocletian ordered Sebastian to be beaten to death.
(www.economicexpert.com/a/Sebastian.htm)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Sebastian)
284 Aug 29, Gen Gaius Aurelius V
Diocletianus Jovius (3) became emperor of Rome. Reign of Diocletian
(Era of Martyrs), began.
(MC, 8/29/01)
284 Nov 20, Diocletian (245-316)
became Emperor of the Roman Empire and continued to 305. Under his rule
the last and most terrible persecution of the Christians took place,
perhaps some 3,000 martyrs. He divided rule over the empire among four
men. He put two rulers to oversee the east and two to oversee the west.
He also established four capitals. He moved his own capital from Rome
to Nicomedia, south of Byzantium in Asia Minor. He also increased the
size of the Roman army from 300,000 to 500,000 men.
(http://bode.diee.unica.it/~giua/SEBASTIAN/Diocletian.html)(V.D.-H.K.p.91)(ITV,
1/96, p.58)
286-336 King Trdat III ruled over Armenia.
(MH, 12/96)
c288CE Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, Roman
emperor Constantine I (324-337), was born in Yugoslavia. In a battle
against an army led by his brother-in-law, Maxentius, at the Milvian
bridge near Rome Constantine was victorious. The night before this
battle was when Constantine dreamed of an angel holding a cross and
saying "In this sign thou shalt conquer!" [see 274]
(WUD, 1994 p.314)(V.D.-H.K.p.91)
290CE Oct 1, [Christian] Bacchus, Roman soldier and
martyred saint, was killed.
(MC, 10/1/01)
290 Oct 7, [Christian] Sergius,
Roman soldier and martyred saint, was decapitated.
(MC, 10/7/01)
293 Mar 1, Roman emperor
Maximianus introduced tetrarchy.
(SC, 3/1/02)
c293 The Roman fort at Qasr
Bashir, Castra Praetorii Mobeni, was built under Aurelius Asclepiades,
governorship of Arabia.
(AM, 11/00, p.14)
296CE Apr 22, St. Gaius ended his
reign as Catholic Pope.
(HN, 4/22/98)
296CE Roman Emp. Diocletian
ordered the burning of alchemical manuscripts for fear their
discoveries would debase his coinage. This may have set back the
science of distillation.
(Econ, 12/20/03, p.68)
297 The Roman poet Eumenius first
mentioned the Picts. The 2 most important Pictish groups were the
Verturiones and the Caledones.
(AM, 7/01, p.46)(AM, 11/04, p.41)
299-311 The period of Christian persecutions begun by
Diocletian.
(WSJ, 10/30/98, p.W11)
Go to 300AD