June 1, 2019

The Oxford Classical Timeline

I bought my 3rd Ed. of the Oxford Classical Dictionary in 2001, read all 1640 pages cover to cover, and got depressed because "That's all we know?!" I went through it again about four years later, highlighting in blue every YEAR cited for any event from Julius Caesar to Vespatian. Then I made a spreadsheet, transcribing a brief description of each event next to its year, using negative numbers for BCE, for sorting convenience. What follows below is that obnoxiously long list of events, year-by-year, sorted for coherence. Along the way I added a few notes here and there, typically marked with "HERO" or a question mark or a scholar's name at the start or the end of the note. For this post, I'm leaving those in, even where I have changed my opinion on things. For the late 60's CE, and perhaps bits elsewhere, I added material from David Rhoads's Israel in Revolution (1976); unfortunately, I didn't note the difference. This was only meant to be my working list of events, from 9 BCE to 70 CE, upon which to maintain order within the chronicle I was writing, called Jesus, Herod, and Caesar. It was amateur hour from top to bottom but my private spreadsheet remains a unique work, to my knowledge.

I am posting this mass of data today not necessarily for posterity but mainly in order to present an idea of what can be done. Given the proper resources, a team of scholars could produce a proper version of this in less than a year. I'd recommend using the OCD as a starting guide for selectivity and then following the OCD's footnotes to cite arguments for each date, along with the relevant sources from antiquity itself, be that Loeb Classical Library, inscriptions, coinage, or what have you. A bare bones reference work like this would be helpful for anyone working on New Testament backgrounds, chronology, or general context. Rather than cross-references, an index could list all the years in which reference is made to persons, places, or people groups. Inevitably, scholars will want to add on their own judgments on related content; I was sloppy a few times and modified this timeline only a few times to include New Testament data, but the original idea was to keep this as a starting point. Whoever takes this idea and runs with it, I hope you will feel the same way.

Other material can always be published later. We need to have something like this as a place for new work to begin. There is MUCH work yet remaining to be done.

And now, without further ado... here it is.

The Oxford Classical Dictionary's Timeline, from 9 BCE to 70 CE, Re-Sorted with Minor Additions

-9 Aretes IV becomes King of Nabatea
-9 Aretes IV recognized by Augustus as King of Nabatea
-9 Herod's unauthorized war against the Nabateans incurred imperial displeasure
-9 Tiberius completed the reduction of Pannonia
-9 Tiberius ends the Pannonian war
-9 Drusus completed the conquest of Germany from 12 to 9 (p.339) "while Tiberius subdued the balkans"
-9 Drusus forces reached the Elbe; but he died in camp after falling from his horse
-9 the Senate bestowed on him and his descendants the surname of Germanicus
-9 Nero Claudius Drusus (Drusus), dies in Germany (younger brother of Tiberius, stepson of Augustus)
-9 Nero Claudius Drusus ("Drusus") dies; adopted son of Augustus Caesar and younger brother of the later emperor Tiberius
-9 Nero Claudius Drusus dies (born in 38 BC) at age 29 (?) - brother of Tiberius
-9 Gaius Sentius Saturninus - legate of Syria c.9 to 6 BC

-8 before 7 BC Augustus spent a great deal of time in the provinces
-8 8/7 - herod's campaign in arabia incurred Augustus' displeasure (OCD p. 1042)

-7 HERO:  Saturninus held the census, the first one, which is why they had to go to ancestral homes
-7 HERO:  say that Luke 2:1-2 is misquoted; properly:  "this happened before Quirinius was governor"
-7 intrigues led Herod to execute his favorite wife Mariamme's two sons
-7 Agrippa I sent to live in Rome under the patronage of Antonia (3) (minor), until the death of the elder Drusus in 23 AD (when Sejanus was coming to power)
-7 Tiberius ended his campaigns in Germany (started in 9 when Drusus died)
-7 construction of the Tropaeum Alpium at La Turbie, above Monaco
-7 Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus legate of Illyricum between 7 and 2 (btw?), when he marched from the Danube to the elbe; later bridged the Rhine and the Ems marshes

-6 Galatian Governor, Cornutus Arruntius Aquila completed the Via Sebaste (according to milestones)
-6 Augustus attached the area south of Mt. Olgassys around Gangra [east of Bithynia] to the province of Galatia (southern paphlagonia, but not the coastline)

-6 Publius Quinctiilius Varus becomes legate of Syria

-6 Tigranes IV, son of Tigranes III, was crowned king of Armenia by the pro-Parthian party, to reign jointly with his sister-consort Erato
-6 ? - btw -6 and 1 - Tigranes IV was expelled by the Romans, but returned after the murder of the Roman nominee a few years later

-6 "after his 2nd consulship (7 BC)" - Tiberius was granted tribunican power and imperium in the east for five years for a diplomatic mission - the restoration of Roman authority in Armenia
-6 the attempt to advance Augustus' grandson and adopted son Gaius JC to a premature consulship, made with or without the emperor's approval, helped provoke Tiberius' withdrawal to Rhodes
-6 Tiberius retires from Rome, probably in part because of his estrangement from Julia, and her behavior
-6 Tiberius' retirement probably caused by the favor Augustus showed to the sons of Agrippa

-6 ALPS - Marcus Julius Cottius, son of an enfranchised native king, Donnus; offered no opposition to Augustus' pacification of the Alpine regions and continued ruling a number of native tribes as praefectus civitatium; erected an arch in honor of Augustus at Segusio (Susa) (begun in -7) and improved the road over the Mt. Genevre
-6 Legion I Germania sent to the Rhine (until 69)
-6 Taxation was reformed
-6 (?? Date ??)  p.217 OCD top right p. - the maintenance fothe loyalty of the soldiers depended on capacity to pay them… depended on the organization of revenues…which Augustus reorganized before X (?) BC/AD
-6 the efficiency of the exaction system was the only guarantee of the survival of the new order.  The whole world was enrolled, and noticed it (Luke 2:1, even if the process was not so sudden  as the experience in Judea implied).

-5 Gaius Julius Caesar (Agrippa's oldest) assumed the toga virilis at age 15, and was designated consul for AD 1

-4 when Judaea revolted after the death of Herod the Great, Varus marched rapidly southwards and dealt firmly with the insurgents (Joseph BJ 2.39ff)
-4 Aretes IV sends help to P. Qunctilius Varus against the Judean Rebels after Herod's death
-4 Archelaus appointed tetrarch (not King) by Augustus
-4 Nicolaus of Damascus, friend, historian and close adviser of Herod the Great - supported Archelaus who had come to Rome
-4 Nicolaus' history (written sometime between 20 BC and 14 AD) was partly preserved in Josephus' sections on the history of Herod the Great
-4 Philip was confirmed by Augustus as tetrarch of Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis, Gaulanitis (the Golan) and including Panias, where Philip founded the city of Caesarea Philippi (what year?)
-4 Philip was given a rule over a largely non-jewish, syrian population - and his rule was highly praised by Josephus
-4 Levick/Syme - Quirinius, Legate of Galatia, subdues the Homanadensians in the mountain borders of Galatia/Pisidia
-4 HERO:  Quirinius led Legions VII and V Aludae (Gallica); see AD 6 - Plautius Silvanus, Marcus

-3 ? Btw 4 BC and AD 1 ? Seneca born (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) at Corduba, Spain
-3 Severus Sulpicius Galba, future emperor, is born in 3 BC
-3 Quirinius completes the subjugation of the Homanadenses in Galatia/Pisidia
-3 3/2 BC - Phraates IV assasinated by his wife Musa, a former Roman slave presented to Phraates by Augustus
-3 Bowersock:  Augustus created a short-lived province of Arabia (annexed the Kingdom of Nabatea) (lasts until AD 1)

-2 Lucius JC (2nd son of Agrippa) assumed the toga virilis at age 15 and received the honors previously conferred on Gaius
-2 Augustus learned of Julia's alleged adulteries and banished her to Pandateria
-2 Scribonia, Augustus' ex-wife, accompanied her daughter Julia into exile
-2 Augustus formed the "House of the Pater Patriae" (???)
-2 Augustus:  the pinnacle of auctoritas was commemorated in 2 BC (???)
-2 Forum Augustum dedicated in 2 BC
-2 Augustus appointed 2 prefects to take overall charge of the praetorian guard, although he retained personal command
-2 the praetorian guard's role was to protect the emperor and members of the imperial family, suppress disurbances and discourage plots
-2 a detachment of the guard had accompanied the emperor on campaign, although it had no tactical role
-2 try to show where Quirinius was -- see 2 AD notes for a possibility….
-2 3/2 BC - Phraates V becomes king of Parthia - Musa's son!

-1 Gaius Julius Caesar (agrippa's oldest) married Livia Julia (Livilla) and was sent with proconsular authority to the east  [see Dio pages and note the year (1 BC); these are the "fragment" years, when we rely on the epitomators (I think!)-Hero]
-1 Hero:  see Bowersock for a reconstruction of Gaius and Aretas' dealings around this time, or maybe in 1-2 AD…

Reminder: There was no "Year Zero"

1 Bowersock:  Gaius and his forces made their way as far as the Gulf of 'Aquaba'; on this trip, Gaius reinstated Nabatea as a client Kingdom - just before setting out for Armenia
1 Tigranes IV was attacked by Augustus' adoptive son Gaius JC (who turns 20 this year)
1 Tigranes IV made overtures for peace, which Augustus received favorably, but he soon died fighting on his eastern frontier
1 after the heavy Roman protest and the expedition of Gaius Julius Caesar against him, Phraates V gave in, met the emperor's grandson on an island in the Euphrates and promised not to interfere in Armenia again
1 (or 2) - Marcus Vinicius (former co-campaigner with M.V. Agrippa) is commander of the Rhine Army
1 parchment codices (bound sheets, not scrolls) had come into use for classical literature by the 1st century AD, while the nominal form fo the book was the papyrus roll (in both East AND West)

2 Quirinius succeeded M. Lollius as guide and supervisor of Gaius Julius Caesar (2) in the east [hero:  stays at thru G's death in 4?] (and shortly after (year?) married Aemilia Lepida, a descendant of Sulla and Pompey
2 ? (-6 to 2) Quirinius prudently paid court to Tiberius on Rhodes (HERO:  imagine, on his way to the east - ? - or else 2 BC, after subduing the Homa's)

2 Gaius Julius Caesar (agrippa's oldest) conferred with the Parthian king on the Euphrates and appointed a Roman nominee king of Armenia; this led to a revolt, which Gaius supressed
2 Gaius JC (agrippa's oldest) repressed the Armenian revolt, but was seriously wounded at the siege of Artagira

2 Phraates V married his mother Musa (eyew!)

2 Tiberius returned from Rhodes to Rome (last date for Quirinius to pay court)
2 Thrasyllus returns from Rhodes with Tiberius to Rome
2 Tiberius returned to Rome, still out of favor

2 August 20 - Lucius (2nd son of Agrippa) died at massalia, on his way to Spain

3 No events recorded in OCD
3 Hero:  try Suetonius' Tiberius, to see what he did immediately after Rhoads
3 Hero:  also use Dio's account of Gaius' request to settle in Syria, and Augustus' request that he return to Rome… since Gaius begins travelling in January or February next year - to get as far as Lycia on Feb.21 - these letters must go here, in 3 AD!
3 Hero:  also we might use the story about Archelaus' cousin/wife here, since we don't have a specific year to put that in, anyway…
3 Hero:  this is so we have something to put in 3 AD.  (??)

4 Julia was allowed to move to Rhegium; Scribona voluntarily shared her exile

4 February 21 - Gaius JC (agrippa's oldest) died in Lycia on his way back to Italy; greatly to Augustus' sorrow and dismay
4 Livilla is widowed (by Gaius)

4 spring - by now, both Augustus' adopted sons were dead, and he adopted Tiberius, together with Agrippa JC (Postumus) (Agrippa's 3rd boy)
4 Tiberius' adoption by Augustus [with Postumus, also]
4 Tiberius adopted his nephew Germanicus JC
4 Germanicus Julius Caesar adopted by his uncle Tiberius, before Tib's adoption by Augustus
4 after Tib's adoption, Germanicus became a Caesar (previously Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus)

4 the 17 year old Drusus, son of Tiberius, becomes a Caesar - Drusus Julius Caesar
4 4 or after 4, but before 14 - Drusus married Livia Julia (Livilla), the sister of Germanicus

4 Augustus [also] adopted the 16 year old son of Agrippa, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Postumus, who became Agrippa Julius Caesar
4 Tiberius received more power in the adoption settlements (than young Agrippa)

4 Tiberius received tribunican power for ten years
4 Tiberius campaigns in Germany again (until 6)
4 Gaius Sentius Saturninus - legate under tiberius in Germany (also AD 5)
4 Phraates V deposed by the Parthian nobles who chose Orodes III
4 neither Orodes III nor his successor Vonones, one of the four sons of Phraates IV at Rome, were able to secure the nobles' support and pursue an active foreign policy

4 M. Plautius Silvanus proconsul of Asia (to 5)

5 Germanicus (son of Drusus, stepson of Augustus) married Vipsania Agrippina (2) (daughter of Marcus Agrippa, grandaughter of Augustus) - a son and grandson of theirs will become emperors, and a daughter of theirs will become almost more powerful than the others!  (Gaius, Agrippina, Nero)
5 5 - 9 was a food shortage at Rome caused by the diversion of supplies to emergency military operations in Dalmatia and Germany
5 Augustus established a discharge bounty of 20,000 sesterces for praetorian veterans and 12,000 for legionary veterans; auxiliaries were apparently excluded, at least in the early empire, but received benefits of citizenship.

6 Augustus established the military treasury with a personal grant of 170 million sesterces, to be supported in perpetuity by taxes on inheritance and auctions [this paid the retirements from here on out]
6 Augustus founded the Aerarium Militare, on the Capitol, to provide for the pensioning of discharged soldiers.  He provided 170 million sesterces from his own funds and an income from [inheritance and auction taxes]
6 Augustus founded a "special treasury" for the discharge of soldiers

6 Augustus abdicated young Postumus Agrippa, his adopted son, removed him from the julian family, took over his property and relegated him to Surrentum
6 Hero:  is there really NO stated reason for this exile, in the records????

6 Archelaus banished to Vienna by Augustus; his territory put under direct Roman rule
6 Archelaus is banished and Judaea became a Roman procuratorial province

6 Judaea was annexed together with Samaria and Idumea to form the Roman province of Judaea, administered by prefects (later procurators)
6 Caesarea becomes the administrative capital of Judaea under the procurators
6 Judaea - eleven toparchies are listed by Josephus in BJ 3.54-5

6 Quirinius legate of Syria, supervised the assessment of Judaea when that territory was annexed after the deposition of Archelaus
6 a census in Israel crystallized opposition and generated an ideology of resistance, called (by Josephus) the "fourth philosophy"
6 Hero:  it can't be a coincidence that Augustus re-did the treasury this year AND Quirinius went through Archelaus' treasure rooms… can it??

6 Tiberius ended his campaigns in Germany (started in 4)
6 Legion V Macedonia transferred from Macedonia to Moesia
6 first imperial legate recorded for Moesia
6 large scale preparations were made for further expansion via the invastion of Bohemia by two army groups
6 these preparations were interrupted by a serious revolt in Pannonia which took three years of hard fighting, under the command of Tiberius, to suppress
6 Rome invaded Bohemia (near southern germany?) but was confronted by prince Maroboduus of the Marcomanni tribe
6 Gaius Sentius Saturninus led the Rhine army east for the campaign against *Maroboduus, [winning ornamenta triumphalia]
6 invaded on both the west and the south, Maroboduus was saved by the outbreak of the rebellion in Illyricum
6 in Pannonia, the Breuci joined the Daesitiates in revolt under two chiefs called Bato
6 A Caecina Severus left Moesia to defend Sirmium against the Pannonians
6 Aulus Caecina Severus, governor of Moesia, marched to defend Sirmium against the Pannonian rebels, before returning to protect Moesia against the Dacians and Sarmatians
6 Tiberius begins suppressing the revolts of Pannonia and Illyricum
6 Tiberius sent back the legate of Illyricum (Marcus Valerius Messalla Messallinus) from the campaign against maroboduus to deal with the rebellions Pannonians and Dalmatians
6 (?) - MVMM, legate of Illyricum, reached Siscia after fighting a battle

6 dalmatia - a great rebellion is begun by the Daesitiates of Bosnia (see BATO)

6 Marcus Plautius Silvanus - legate of Galatia - may have fought the mountaineers of Isauria
6 under Augustus UNTIL 6 AD a Roman force, Legion VII, was stationed in the south of Galatia, and the province was usually governed by consular Legates
6 AFTER this time (and until the Flavian period), the governors of Galatia were more often of praetorian status

6 HERO:  didn't Macedonia lose an(other) legion on (or by) this year?  Check Thess notes.



7 Germanicus served under Tiberius in Pannonia (till 9)
7 ? - after 6 - Marcus Plautius Silvanus brought two legions from Galatia to Europe, served with distinction in the Pannonian War under Tiberius and received ornamenta triumphalia in 9
7 Legion VII (no title) moves from Galatia to help the effort in Pannonia
7 HERO:  make the 2nd Legion be V Alaudae (Gallica) which helped found Antioch
7 Aulus Caecina Severus, governor of Moesia, shared command of five legions with M. Plautius Silvanus and won a victory north-west of Sirmium and joined Tiberius at Siscia
7 the Senate exiled young Postumus Agrippa to the island of Planasia (see 6 AD)
7 Drusus Julius Caesar (2), born to Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina

8 Tiberius continues to command many Legions [count them, 5+?] against the Pannonians in the Balkans
8 Lucius Aemilius Paullus, husband of Julia (4, Agrippa's daughter); conspired against Augustus and was executed
8 Julia (4, daughter of Agrippa) was banished for her husband's conspiracy
8 Julia was young Agrippa's sister!

9 Tiberius completes the supression of revolts in Pannonia and Illyricum
9 dalmatia - rebellion ends
9 Illyricum was divided into two imperial provinces, known by the Flavian period as Dalmatia and Pannonia
9 "west" Ilyricum (Dalmatia) governed by imperial legates of consular rank who resided at Salonae
9 Pannoina made a province, named after the Illyrian peoples the Pannonii; lay south and west of the Danube in the valleys of the Drava and Sava and the latter's Bosnian tributaries
9 Pannonia now governed by legates of consular rank
9 celebration of Tib's victory in Pannonia was cut short by the news of the loss of three complete legions in the area between the Rhine and the Elbe

9 revolt in Germany led by Arminius of the Cherusci tribe; the Chatti tribe also took part
9 Publius Quinctilius Varus legate of the Rhine army, marching back with three legions from the summer-camp near Weser, he was treacherously attacked in difficult country by Arminius, whom he had trusted
9 Arminius, war-chief of the Cherusci, son of sigimer, lured P. Quinctilius Varus with three legions into difficult country near the saltus Teutoburgiensis and destroyed them
9 Varus - the Roman army was destroyed in the Teutoburgiensis Saltus and Varus took his own life
9 Varus was destroyed in "saltus Teutoburgiensis" - near modern Kalkriese, 16 km (10 mi) north of Osnabruck

9 the [Drusus'] achievements in Germany were largely swept away with P. Quinctilius Varus
9 the defeat had a profound effect on Augustus (the regime noticeably deteriorates in the last few years)
9 attempts at continued expansion were then abandoned, and the line of the Rhine-Danube de facto became the empire's northern frontier

9 With the Pannonian Victory and the Varus disaster falling in the same year, Augustus re-assigns many legions to new locations
9 Legion II Augusta based in Germany
9 Legion IV Scythica moved from Macedonia to Moesia -- HERO, NO, IT WAS LONG BEFORE NOW!
9 Legion VII part of the garrison of Dalmatia
9 Legion VIII Augusta stationed at Pannonia
9 Legion IX Hispana moved to Illyricum
9 Legion XI moved to Dalmatia
9 Legion XII Gemina (twin) moved to the Rhine (served in Illyricum in the early empire)
9 Legion XIV Gemina (twin) moved to upper germany (served in lllyricum in the early empire)
9 Legion XV Apollinaris (apollo's) based in pannonia (served in Illyricum in the early empire)
9 Legions XVII, XVIII and XIX all destroyed in a military disaster in the Teutobufg Forest under P Quinctilius Varus, who committed suicie; the legions' numbers were not used again
9 Legion XX Valeria Victrix transferred to lower Germany
9 Legion XXI Rapax (predatory) transferred t lower germany

9 Titus Flavius Vespasianus, future emperor Vespasian, born in Italy

10 Vonones, King of Parthia, flees to Armenia when Artabanus II takes the throne
10 Artabanus II becomes king of Parthia
10 Artabanus II secures the nobles' support and pursues an active foreign policy
10 Hillel, fl. C. AD 10-30

11 Germanicus served under Tiberius in Germany

12 Germanicus consul
12 (or 13?) Lucius Calpurnius Piso (2) made "praefectus urbi" (holds position for 20 years, until his death in 32)

12 Tiberius returned to Rome, after retrieving the situation on the Rhine after the Varian disaster

12 Rhoemetalces, king of the Bessi in Thrace (faithful allies, though they had been troublesome before Cicero's day) died;
12 Augustus partitioned the kingdom of Thrace between Rhoemetalces' son Cotys (who received the urbanized coastal area) and his brother Rhascuporis (who received the non-urbanized interior with only the title of dynast

12 31 August - future emperor Gaius Iulius Caesar Germanicus is born (to Germanicus and Agrippina the elder)

13 Germanicus made commander-in-chief in Gaul and Germany; won his first salutation as imperator [from his troops] in a campaign against the germans, clering them out of Gaul and re-establishing order there
13 by now, Germanicus was a popular figure, held like his father to entertain 'republican' sentiments, and his affability contrasted with Tiberius' dour reserve

13 (?) Hero - Dio & Tacitus put Augustus visiting Postumus in exile… check those sources

13 Hero:  Herod-Philip & Herodias give birth to Salome (3).  Say:  "This little baby is destined to cause the death of John the Baptist - who, at the time of her birth, was eating locusts and honey in the wilderness of Peraea.  (John turned 20 this year.)"
13 Richardson says Salome (3) was born in 14, but I'm assuming he takes Hoehner's date on John's beheading, too, so I'm backing up the birth of Salome 3 - to make her the same age for that event as R figured on, which is 15.

13 Tiberius' tribunican power was renewed for a further ten years (Hero:  point out this is the same power he was granted in 6 BC!!!)
13 concurrently, Tiberius held proconsular imperium, in 13 made equal to that of Augustus (Hero:  this might actually explain Luke's "15th year" better - not that it matters.  (I still say Luke can count any way he wants to count.)  But it's a nice extra option for the scholars.)

14 Tiberius kept his wife closely confined and stopped her allowance, so that she suffered malnutrition
14 Julia died of malnutrition before the end of the year; Augustus forbade (postumously ??) her burial in his mausoleum
14 Scribonia, Augustus' ex-wife, was with her daughter Julia when she died (in exile)
14 say:  "with her mother Scribonia by her side"

14 Augustus died 19 August, at age 75
14 Augustus died, September 17
14 PHRASE CHECK - Augustus, on his deathbed, advised Tiberius NOT to expand the empire any further!
14 Tiberius was 55 years old when Augustus died
14 Livia Drusilla's son was finally Emperor - she was 71 years old!
14 Tiberius makes Lucius Aelius Sejanus prefect of the guard (with his father L.Seius Strabo)

14 young Agrippa [Postumus] was killed immediately after the death of Augustus

14 Quintus Junius Blaesus, legate of Pannonia, fails to quell the mutiny which Drusus finally reduced
14 Drusus supressed a mutiny of the Pannonian legions after Augustus' death

14 Aulus Caecina Severus, governor of Lower Germany, where he faced a serious mutiny while campaigning with Germanicus
14 when the lower Rhine legions mutinied, Germanicus' remained loyal to Tiberius
14 (to 16) Vip. Agrippina (2) was with Germanicus on the Rhine
14 but Germanicus handled the situation without firmness, appealing and committing the emperor to meet demands
14 in Autumn, Germanicus led the repentant legions briefly against the Marsi in Germany; but he was eager to emulate his father and requonquer parts of Germany (Tiberius wanted to stick by Augustus' dying precept that rejected immediate territorial advance)

14 at the time of Augustus' death, there were 25 legions in service
14 Legion V Alaudae (Larks) moved to Lower Germany
14 Legion X Fretensis moved from Macedonia to Syria
14 Legion XII Fulminata (thunderbold armed) stationed in Syria (by this year, if not before)

14 for the total population of the roman empire, Beloch estimated about 54 million at the death of Augustus
14 Augustus deposited a copy of his Res gestae at Ancyra, (capital ?) of Galatia -- and another at Antioch Pisidia!
14 limits of the emprie will remain almost the same from now on (except for Britain in 43 and Dacia in 106)

15 Drusus consul

15 Germanicus, emulating his father Drusus, in AD 15-16, tried to recover Roman territory in Germany
15 Germanicus son of Drusus, emulating his father, tried to recover Roman territory in Germany; Germanicus' mother was Antonia (3); brother of Livia Julia and Claudius
15 spring - Germanicus campaigned against the Chatti, Cherusci and Marsi, and rescued the pro-Roman Cheruscan Segestes from Arminius
15 Germaicus burned the chatti town of Mattium, in lower germany
15 summer - Germanicus attacked the Bructeri, reached the saltus Teutoburgiensis, paid the last honours to Varus, and recovered legionary standards
15 summer - Germanicus - after an indecisive battle with the Cherusci under Arminius, his forces suffered heavy losses on their way back
15 Cherusci, under Arminius, successfully defended themselves against Germanicus' punitive expeditions (also in 16), inflicting heavy losses on the Romans

15 Vip. Agrippina (2) was with Germanicus on the Rhine
15 14 to 16:  Gaius on the Rhine with his parents and dressed in miniature uniform, was nicknamed 'caligula' ('bootee') by the soldiers

15 c.15 - Tiberius settled a colony of veterans at Emona, in modern SW Pannonia (modern Slovenia); on the main route from NE Italy to the Danube; under Augustus it had been the base for Legion XV Apollinaris

15 birth of Aulus Vitellius, future emperor (briefly), born to Lucius Vitellius (consul not till 34)
15 Julia Agrippina (the 'younger agrippina') born, eldest daughter of Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina (2) - born Nov.6 at Ara Ubiorum

16 Germanicus main campaign prepared a great fleet and transported his troops to the Ems, wence they proceeded to the Weser and defeated Armenius in two battles at Idistaviso (near Minden) and somewhat to the north
16 Germanicus recovered the eagle of the nineteenth and 20th (or 18th) legions in the Teutoburg Forest)
16 Germanicus was recalled by Tiberius
16 Germanicus' fleet suffered considerable damage from a storm on its homeward journey
16 Germanicus claimed that one more campaign would bring the Germans to their knees [but Tiberius refused]

16 Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus, great-grandson of Pompey, underwent the first great political trial of Tiberius' Principate; he planned to assisinate Tiberius, his sons, and other leading citizens; he committed suicide during the trial

16 Urgulania, taken to court by L. Caluprnius Piso (2), drove to the palace and refused to appear; Tiberius agreed to represent her, but Livia Drusilla (her close friend) met Piso's claim

16 Julia Drusilla born the second daughter of Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina (2)
16 C. Galerius prefect of Egypt (to 31); husband of Seneca's mother's stepsister (!) - go check:  carried Seneca back to Rome some year??

17 Drusus in Illyricum (until 20)

17 Tiberius judged that the German results did not justify the drain on Roman resources and recalled Germanicus to a triumph (may 26th)

17 Tiberius gave Germanicus a command to reorder the 'overseas' provinces as proconsul with maius imperium (subordinate to that of Tiberius)
17 Germanicus begins his mission to the east
17 Gaius went to the east with his parents
17 Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (3), governor of Syria, lent counsel and assistance to Germanicus when he journeyed to the east.

17 Tiberius annexed the kingdom of Comagene (restored in 38 by Gaius)
17 Archelaus, King of Cappadocia, lured to Rome, tried before Senate; died in Rome
17 Cappadocia turned into a procuratorial province

17 Tacfarinas, a Numidian, formerly an auxiliary trooper, took to brigadage and stirred up insurrection in Africa; (lasted until 24)

17 Legion XIII occupied Vondonissa (mod. Windisch, Switzerland)

17 the Roman historian Livy died at age 75 (Livy's history ends in 9 BC)

18 Germanicus entered his second consulship at Nicopolis, crowned Zeno son of Polemon (1) king of Armenia (so winning an ovatio) and reduced Cappadocia and Commagene to provincial status
18 Germanicus installed Zrtaxias (Zeno) in Armenia; Artabanus renewed friendship with Rome.
18 Germanicus installs Artaxias (Zeno) in Armenia; Artabanus acquiesced and renewed friendship with Rome
18 ? - 17 to 19 - Germanicus established another Roman nominee in Armenia, who survived successfully until 35
18 ? - 17 to 19 - Germanicus took over Commagene and Capadocia, which made it possible to halve the Roman sales tax
18 (to 19) Vip. Agrippina (2) was with Germanicus in the east until his death
18 Julia Livilla born to Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina (2)

19 Germanicus offended Tiberius by entering Egypt, which Augustus had barred to senators without permission, and by the informal dress he wore there; his reception was tumultuous
19 Germanicus' return to Syria saw enmity between him and Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (3), whom Tib had appointed governor as a check on Germanicus
19 Germanicus ordered Piso to leave the province of Syria
19 Germanicus fell mysteriously ill and died on 10 October, convinced Piso had poisoined him
19 Germanicus' death - compared by some with that of Alexander the great - provoked widespread demonstrations of grief and in Rome suspicion and resentment

19 Germanicus died in the east; Vip. Ag. & Gaius returned to Rome
19 Germanicus' death makes Drusus become Tiberius' sole prospective successor
19 Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (3), accused of poisoning Germanicus in the east
19 Germanicus' wife Agrippina accused Piso's wife, Munatia Plancina, of his murder; Munatia Plancina's friendship with Livia Drusilla saved her when Piso was condemned in 20

19 Germanicus death (the people had looked forward to his succession)
19 Germanicus - many honors were paid to his memory; his ashes were deposited in the mausoleum of Augustus at Rome.
19 Germanicus' reputation remained an overwhelming political advantage to his brother and descendants
19 Germanicus was Tiberius' brother Drusus' son
19 Germanicus' son Gaius later became emperor, as did his grandson, Nero

19 Gemellus' (Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero) was a twin son of Drusus (the twin who survived)
19 twin sons born to Drusus Julius Caesar and Livia Julia (Livilla) - the surviving one was Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero ("Gemellus")

19 Arminius, war-chief of the Cherusci, killed by his own kinsfolk (after five years of war and rebellion among his own and other tribes)

19 In Thrace, Rhascuporis killed Cotys (his nephew) and Tiberius deposed him
19 Tiberius divided the kingdom of Thrace between Rhoemetalces (son of Rhascuporis) as dynast, and the sons of Cotys under a Roman guardian, Trebellenus Rufus

20 Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (3) accused of extortion and of poisoning Germanicus
20 Piso condemnded
20 Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (3) took his own live before the trial (in the senate) was terminated, protesting his innocence and his loyalty to Tierius

20 Drusus receives an ovation for doing well in Illyricum

20 Legion IX Hispana (now called 'Macedonica') moved to Africa for the war against Tacfarinas

20 death of Drusus' mother, Vipsania Agrippina (daughter of Agrippa; ex-wife of Tiberius; mother of Drusus; divorced since 12 BC) she was the wife Tiberius truly loved, when Augustus forced him to divorce her in 12 BC and marry Julia

21 Drusus consul (II)

21 revolt in Gaul, minor (possibly also an army mutiny? Ocd 1523, top right quadrant)
21 Julius Sacrovir of the Aedui tribe and Julius Florus of the Treveri led a rebellion against Rome in Gaul, due to high levels of debt and high interest rates on money loans in a romanized area
21 Sacrovir collected a large army and occupied Augustodunum but was easily defeated by C. Silius, legate of the upper rhine army; he immolated himself with his followers in Gallic style

21 in Africa, the war against Tacfarinas has been going on since 17 AD - Tacfarinas, a Numidian, formerly an auxiliary trooper, took to brigadage and stirred up insurrection in Africa; (lasted until 24)
21 Quintus Junius Blaesus was one of Tiberius' preferred candidates for the war against Tacfarinas; he was prolongued in the command (proconsul of Africa) and broke the rebellion
21 Quintus Junius Blaesus' sister's son was Sejanus - Tiberius allowed Blaesus to accept the designation imperator from his own troops as a compliment to Sejanus; this was the last time a private citizen ever took the designation

22 Drusus received tribunican power

22 (at age 85) death of Strabo; parts at least of the Geographica were composed under Tiberius
22 Strabo's Geographia in 17 books is by far the most important source for ancient geography, a priceless document of the Augustan age, and a compendium of important material derived from lost authors (ocd p. 1447)

23 Drusus died (born in 13 BC) at age 36 (?) - son of Tiberius (murder suspected - Sejanus)
23 with Drusus' death, the succession question opened up again, with the sons of Germanicus pitted against Sejanus, who seems to have supported Drusus' surviving son 'Gemellus'
23 Nero Julius Caesar, eldest surviving son of Germanicus and Vipsania Agrippina (2), was (at age 17) next in succession to the Principate, along with his youner brother Drusus JC (2)
23 Drusus Julius Caesar (2) was regarded after the death of DJC (1) as second only to his elder brother Nero Julius Caesar as successor to Tiberius



23 L. Aelius Sejanus, now sole prefect, persuaded Tiberius to base the praetorians in one permanent camp in the eastern suburbs of Rome
23 Sejanus concentrates the guard in the barracks near the porta Viminalis
23 (also in Tiberius' reign, the guard was probably increased from 9 to 12 cohorts

23 Agrippa I leaves Rome, now age 32/33; he begins trying to raise money in Palestine and Italy (and Africa - ?)

23 Juba II died and was succeeded as king of Mauretania by his son Ptolemy (2), a grandson of Antony and Cleopatra

23 23/4 - Gaius Plinius Secundus born in Cisalpine Gaul (later known as the Elder Pliny who wrote the 37 book Naturalis Historia, an encyclopaedia of all contemporary knowledge)

24 Legion IX Macedonica moved back to Illyricum (from Africa)
24 Tacfarinas the Numidian trapped and killed at Auzia by P. cornelius Dolabella (2)
24 Urgulania, when her grandson (while praetor) was suspected of murdering his wife, she sent him a dagger and he committed suicide

25 Sejanus vainly asked Tiberius for the hand of Germanicus' sister, Julia Livia (often called Livilla)

26 Tiberius refused the request of Vip. Agrippina (2) to remarry

23 Tiberius, instead of confronting the succession problem, retired to Campania, never to enter Rome again
26 Tiberius retired from Rome, further increasing Sejanus' influence (he allegedly encouraged the move)
26 Tiberius retired from Rome, chiefly to avoid his mother, Livia Drusilla
26 Tiberius was supposed to have retired from Rome chiefly to avoid his mother, Livia Drusilla (wife of Augustus)

26 Pontius Pilate made prefect of Judaea (to 36)
26 after 26 - Pilate yielded to determined protests against image bearning shileds being brought into Jerusalem by troops
26 after 26 - Pilate - image bearing shileds set up in the palace, treated also as iconic, were removed at Tiberius' behest

27 or 28 - Marcus Julius Agrippa (2) II born to his father (and whom?)
27 Tiberius moves from Campania to Capri
 
27 Sejanus kept Agrippina under house arrest at her villa in Herculaneum - see Barrett
27 Sejanus kept Nero similarly constrained in Rome - again, Barrett (Tacitus et Seneca)

28 Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I, was born (Berneice is less than a year apart from, and will grow very close to her older brother Agrippa II)
28 Julia Agrippina (daughter of Germanicus & Vip. Agrippina 2) bethrothed to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (parents of future emperor Nero)

29 29-30, Nero Julius Caesar and Drusus Julius Caesar (2) and their mother Vipsania Agrippina (2) were disgraced
29 Vip. Agrippina had been the rallying point of a party of senators who opposed the growing power of Sejanus

29 Tiberius, beleiving the accusations of Sejanus against Nero Julius Caesar (son of Germanicus), denounced him in a dispatch to the senate
29 Drusus (2) backed Sejanus' attack on Nero JC
29 Nero JC was deported to Pontia

29 HERO:  WHO NOW BECOMES TIBERIUS' MAIN HEIR?  Drusus (III) (?)

29 Aulus Avillius Flaccus (Flaccus) prosecuted Vipsania Agrippina (2)
* Tacitus says the final move against Agrippina came AFTER Livia's death.
29 Agrippina and her eldest son Nero Iulius Caesar deported
29 Vip. Agrippina (2) was arrested on the instruction of Tiberius and banished by the senate to Pandateria (cf.islands) where she starved to death in 33
29 Agrippina the elder (Gaius' mother) banished; Gaius goes to live with Livia Drusilla and then Antonia (3) - what year? - until he joined Tiberius on Caprae
* Suetonius says Caligula lived with Livia AFTER Agrippina's banishment.
* Solution:  Suetonius meant the forced confinement at Herculaneum:  

29 Livia Drusilla's death (wife of Augustus, mother of Tiberius)
29 Livia Drusilla died at the age of 86!
29 Tiberius' hostility towards his mother ensured that her will was not executed

29 Antonia (3, daughter of Antony & Octavia, mother of Germanicus) begins raising her grandchildren Gaius and Iulia Drusilla (HERO:  though Gaius is 17, they say "raising"???)

29 HERO:  Herod Antipas divorced the daughter of Aretes IV
29 Herod Antipas marries his niece Herodias
29 Herod Antipas divorced his wife, a daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabatea, in favor of his niece Herodias (mother of Salome)
29 John the Baptist imprisoned in the fortress of Machaerus

30 Vip. Agrippina's second son, Drusus Iulius Caesar (2), was imprisoned
30 household informers brought about Drusus (2)'s denunciation

30 HERO -- a quiet year only because Sejanus was getting all his ducks in a row for his takeover… unless, that is, we simply have a dearth in the sources for 30 AD.

30 Sejanus elected consul for 31

31 Sejanus consul with Tiberius
31 Sejanus granted proconsular imperium, and he hoped for tribunician power

31 Tiberius was given evidence that Sejanus was attempting the downfall of Germanicus' youngest son Gaius - who then became the only likely successor
31 October - Tiberius warned by sister in law Antonia (3), sent a letter to the senate which ended by denouncing him (certainly of plotting against Gaius)
31 October - Sejanus was arrested, the guard having been transferred to Macro, 'tried' in the Senate and executed
31 Publius Memmius Regulus handled the overthrow of Sejanus for Tiberius in the Senate

31 when Sejanus fell, it was alleged that Livilla (Drusus' mother) who was Sejanus' mistress, had poisoned him
31 Gaius probably engineered the downfall of Sejanus, with Macro

31 Nero JC was put to death in Pontia

31 Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro (Macro), prefect of the vigiles, was Tiberius' agent in the overthrow of Sejanus, whom he succeeded as commander of the Praetorian Guard
31 (to 37) Macro predominated in politics while Tiberius lived
31 a purge of Sejanus' followers (and of supporters of Gemellus and rivals of Gaius' chief aide Macro) continued until Tib's death on 16 March 37

31 Seneca and his mother return to Rome from Egypt after his uncle died in a shipwreck

32 Flaccus made prefect of Egypt (to 38)
32 (to 38) Flaccus was friendly to the Greek elements of Egypt, and so anti-jewish
32 (to 38) year? - Philon (4) attacked Flaccus in his Against Flaccus

32 Lucius Calpurnius Piso (2), son of Cicero's famous enemy, consular legate of Galatia (13 BC?), and patron of the poet Antipater of Thessalonica - dies this year, at age 79
32 Piso (2) had been praefectus urbi for 20 years (since 12 AD)

32 after 26 - Pilate - control of a crowd objecting to the use of temple funds for the building of an aqueduct was achieved with heavy violence

33 Drusus (2) died, imprisoned in the palace, allegedly of starvation
33 Drusus Julius Caesar - Gaius' brother - dies; Gaius is only surviving son of Germanicus

33 Julia Livilla married M. Vinicius (consul in 30 and 45).
33 Julia Drusilla married to L. Cassius Longinus (consul 30)
33 Junia Claudia (daughter of Marcus Junius Silanus) married Gaius/Caligula

33 33/4 - the Legions IV Scythica and V Macedonica were engaged in cutting the vital tow-path through the danube gorge below Belgrade

33 senators became unable to pay their debts, and Tiberius made treasury disbursements [to take care of it]

33 Tacitus:  death and state funeral for Lucius Aelius LAMIA - who had been relieved of his "fictitious governorship of Syria" and made City Prefect… in whatever recent year Flaccus was appointed to succeed him.  (???)
33 Tacitus:  Proconsul Flaccus Pomponium also dies "subsequently" (In JA 18.6.2-3, Agrippa met with Flaccus -- so it was before this -- but what year?)

33 death of Vipsania Agrippina (2) (daughter of Agrippa and Julia-daughter-of-Augustus; widow of Germanicus; mother of Gaius and his three sisters, Agrippina, Drusilla and Julia(5))
33 HERO:  Gaius (caligula) and his two sisters all got married in the same year their mother died, in exile, of starvation… (!)
33 Vip. Agrippina (2) starved to death in the island(s?) of Pandateria

34 Lucius Vitellius consul for the first time
34 Philip son of Herod dies, and his territory is absorbed into the province of Syria
34 But Syria has no Governor this year (!!!)

34 failed indictment of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Caetulicus as an associate of Sejanus
34 Dio:  Tiberius visited his villa in Tusculum (winter of 33/34?) (??)
34 ? - 34 to 37 - ? Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (6) married Julia Drusilla



35 Lucius Vitellius made legate of Syria (to 37)
35 35-37:  Vitellius was a vigorous legate of Syria, inducing the Parthian Artabanus II to pay homage and conciliating the Jews
35 Tiberius encouraged rivals to the thrones of both armenia and Iran (Artabanus' aristocratic parthian opponents encouraged Tib. In this)
35 the Roman nominated ruler in Armenia [was no longer, in this year]
35 Artabnus II challenged Rome by installing his son Arsaces on the Armenian throne and claiming Achaemenian territories in the west.

35 "probably in AD 35/6, Antipas was involved in bringing together L. Vitellius, governor of Syria, and Artabanus II of Parthia
35 ? 36 - Aretes IV, without consulting Rome, invaded Peraea and defeated (?) Antipas
35 "in 36/37 Aretas took revenge on Antipas by successfully invading Peraea

35 future emperor Nerva is born in Italy (Nov 8 - Wiki)
35 future emperor Nerva born - Marcus Cocceius Nerva

36 Tiridates (3), grandson of Phraates (1) IV, was sent by Tiberius to contest the Parthian throne, with the military support of L. Vitellius, governor of Syria
36 (?) - Tiridates, expelling Artabanus II, was welcomed by the pro-Roman faction in the cities of Mesopotamia, and was crowned at Ctesiphon
36 the Parthian nobility revolts and forces Artabanus II to retire to Hyrcania, but he recovers his power later [that same year?]
36 Artabanus foreced to retire to Hyrcania
36 (?) - Tiridates was subsequently driven out again by Artabanus
36 Artabanus, in a meeting with L. Vitellius on the bank of the Euphrates, in the spring of 37 (Hero - no, 36), promised non-interference in Armenia
36 no - must be 36 - HERO; ocd - in the spring of 37, on the bank of the Euphrates, Artabanus II meets with L Vitellius and promises non interference in Armenia
36 HERO - ???? -- what year did Caligula's first wife die?  This?  Next?  & when/who'd he get remarried to?  (Dio or Tacitus or somebody put a line about Tiberius noticing that Macro had gotten his interest up in someone or another.  Well see.
36 Thrasyllus, Tiberius' personal astrologer, dies

36 Tiberius imprisoned Agrippa I for a treasonable remark

36 after 26 - Pilate - a military attack on Samaritans gathering at Mt. Gerizim finally led to accusations before L. Vitellius, legate of Syria, and then to Pilate's recall

37 new pressure from Parthian nobles forced Artabanus to flee again, but he was soon restored with the help of Izates, king of Abiabene

37 Macro was influential in securing Gaius' succession (? Earlier ?)
37 Gaius proclaimed emperor on 16 March 37 - the senate declared Tiberius' will invalid (to disqualify Gemellus)
37 Gemellus' (Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero) was a twin son of Drusus (the twin who survived)

37 Gaius conferred a kingship in Palestine upon his friend, the Herodian Agrippa I
37 Gaius acceded and appointed Agrippa I tetrarch of [Philip's tetrarchy] and of Lysanias.
37 Philip's old territory is put under Agrippa I

37 May; Antonia (3, daughter of Antony & Octavia) driven to suicide by Gaius
37 Antonia (3) dies on May 1 - she had been a restraining influence on Gaius

37 October - Gaius was seriously ill; many later speculate this was the cause of his "unhinged" behavior
37 October - that idea was suggested by Philo - about the illness

37 ? - check - Agrippa I, visiting Alexandria en route to his new kingdom, was mocked by the greek crowd and a pogrom was thereby unleashed
37 Agrippa I's appearance, when he passed through Alexandria, sparked off the anti-jewish riots there
37 ? - check - on Gaius' birthday (31 Aug) the Jews who survived the assaults on the Jewish quarter were rounded up in the theater and made to eat pork
37 37 to 44 - ??? - Herod Agrippa I also came to rule Abilene (what year?)

37 Gaius executed his grandmother Livia Drusilla's will (repressed by Tiberius)

37 Gaius gave his sister, Julia Livilla, special honors, like her two older sisters
37 Gaius gave his sisters, Julia Agrippina and Julia Drusilla special honors (along with Julia Livilla)
37 Gaius coupled the names of his three sisters with his own in vows and oaths
37 during Gaius' illness, Julia Drusilla was named as Gaius' heir (late 37)

37 Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the future emperor Nero is born on December 15, to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Julia Agrippina
37 Nero born (date?) to Julia Agrippina and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus.
37 37/38 - Josephus born in Judea

38 Artabanus II, king of Parthia, dies
38 Artabanus II dies (succeeded by whom?)

38 Gaius restored the kingdom of Comagene to King Antiochus IV
38 Antiochus IV installed by Gaius as King of Commagene; deposed soon afterwards

38 Macro, appointed prefect of Egypt, is forced to suicide with his wife Ennia before taking up office (ocd gives no reason)
38 before May 24 - Gaius executed both Macro and his rival Gemellus

38 late in the year - Gaius did have Flaccus arrested and replaced in Alexandria
38 Flaccus was unexpectedly arrested, condemned at Rome, perhaps on a charge of plotting with Gemellus and Macro, banished to Andros, and later put to death on Gaius' instructions

38 ? - 38 - ? Gaius disdainfully ignored the delegations sent to Rome by both Alexandrian groups (jew and gentile); leaving his successor to investigate and settle the mater
38 ?40? - Apion, sonof Posidonius, a greek-egyptian, head of the Alexandrian school; went as part of the delegation to Gaius after the anti--Jewish riots
38 ? - no dates in OCD for the statue fiasco in palestine - and the sense is given that Philo and Josephus' two accounts all seem to differ

38 Julia Drusilla died; public mourning was enforced throughout the empire and, though there was no precedent in Roman history for the consecration of a woman, she was consecrated as Panthea, probably on the anniversary of Augustus' birthday (sept. 28?)
38 Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Drusilla's widower, is promised the succession by Gaius; ? - after Julia died - ? (hero guess) OCD gives no year

38 Caligula killed Marcus Iunius Silanus (2)

38 Publius Memmius Regulus was forced to return to Rome to give his wife Lollia Paulina in marriage to Gaius, pretending to be her father
38 Lollia Paulina was forced to abandon her marriage with P memmius Regulus to marry Gaius

38 Gaius made Rhoemetalces (son of Cotys) King of southern Thrace

38 or 39,40, or 41 - Martial the Latin poet is born in Spain on 1 March; died between 101 to 104

39 Gaius divorced his wife Lollia Paulina
39 Lollia Paulina's husband, Publius Memmius Regulus did not (could not?) take her back
39 Gaius married his fourth wife sometime this year, milonia Caesonia, who had already borne him a daughter, proving her fertility

39 Gaius banishes his sister, Julia Livilla, to the Pontian islands for adultery with her brother-in-law Aemilius Lepidus (6)
39 ?39? - Gaius deposed Antiochus IV in Comagene
39 Gaius quarrelled with the senate, revised his attitude towards Tiberius' memory, announcing the return of slandering the emperor as a treasonable offense.
39 39/40 - Gaius summoned his cousin Ptolemy (som of juba and grandson of Antony) and executed him, perhaps because he wore a spectacular purple cloak in public (Suetonius)

39 Antipas asked Gaius for the title of King
39 Antipas deposed and exiled, on evidence offered by his nephew and brother-in-law Agrippa I
39 Agrippa I inherited the tetrarchy of Antipas
39 Gaius added Galilee and Peraea to Agrippa's territory

39 39/40 - the emperor Gaius attempted to have his statue placed in the Jewish Temple
39 Publius Petronius was commanded to erect a statue of the emperor Gaius in the Temple at Jerusalem, but demurred, pleading Jewish opposition
39 Publius Petronius - legate of Syria 39-42

39 Autumn - Gaius spent the winter in Gaul and on the Rhine (until 40)
39 Legion XV Primigenia - raised as a new legion by Gaius for his intended Germanic campaign; moved to lower germany
39 Legion XXII Primigenia (first-born) raised as a new legion by Gaius for his intended Germanic campaign
39 (or 40) winter - a conspiracy was revealed whose leader was executed (commander of the upper rhine army)
39 alleged conspiracy against Gaius - to murder him at Mogontiacum; M. Aemilius Lepidus and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus were accused (p.396)
39 Julia Agrippina discovered at Mogontiacum late in 39 to be involved in the conspiracy of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus
39 Julia Agrippina sent into banishment (sister 1 died, sister 2 gone)
39 Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus, legate of upper germany from 30 to 39; accused of leading a conspiracy to murder Gaius at Mogontiacum
39 Cornelius and Lepidus were both executed for the alleged conspiracy against Gaius
39 Lepidus executed when charged with participation in the conspiracy of Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus

39 39/40 - the only fixed date in Philo's life, when as an old man he led the Jewish embassy to Gaius
39 HERO - how can Philo lead the embassy in Rome at the same time when Gaius is away in Germany?
39 HERO2 - does that mean Philo's embassy arrived in autumn 39 and waited until late into 40 before Gaius returned?  That might fit…
39 40? - Apion, sonof Posidonius, a greek-egyptian, head of the Alexandrian school; went as part of the delegation to Gaius after the anti--Jewish riots

39 death of Aretes IV
39 ("or 40")  Valeria Messallina (great-granddaughter of Augustus' siter Octavia (2) on her father's and mother's sides) married her second cousin Claudius, then c.50 years old (she was born "before 20")
39 Dec.30 - Titus Flavius Vespasianus (the emperor Titus) is born, son of Vespasian
39 the future emperor Titus is brought up at court along with Britannicus, Claudius' son (Brit lives another 16 years)
39 Nov. - poet Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus) born - nephew of Seneca (2) the younger

40 Gaius returns to Rome in ovation on 31 August; now lives in constant danger of assassination, having no successor to avenge him, and displaying increasing brutality
40 Gaius Calpurnius Piso (2), exiled by Gaius, who compelled his wife Livia Orestilla to leave Piso for himself, and then accused the pair of adultery
40 Gaius Calpurnius Piso (2), the son-in-law and cousin of L. Calpurnius Piso (3)
40 Gaius killed Ptolemy, king of Mauretania, most likely from a desire to bring Mauretania under closer imperial control
40 L. Julius Graecinus - Agricola's father - is executed by Gaius

40 39/40 - the only fixed date in Philo's life, when as an old man he led the Jewish embassy to Gaius
40 HERO - how can Philo lead the embassy in Rome at the same time when Gaius is away in Germany?
40 HERO2 - does that mean Philo's embassy arrived in autumn 39 and waited until late into 40 before Gaius returned?  That might fit…
40 40? - Apion, sonof Posidonius, a greek-egyptian, head of the Alexandrian school; went as part of the delegation to Gaius after the anti--Jewish riots
40 40/41 - Gaius replied to Petronius with an order to committ suicide, but the news of the emperor's death arrived first
40 shortly before Gaius' assisination, Agrippa I dissuaded the emperor from desecrating the Temple of Jerusalem

40 39? - Herod Antipas was banished to Lugdunum Convenarum (modern St Bertrand-de-Comminges) a town in Aquitania

40 Aretes IV end in Nabatea (39?)
40 Malichus II becomes King of Nabatea (39?) until 70 AD

40 Gnaeus Iulius Agricola is born to a senator's family from Italy - he will one day become the father in law of the historian Tacitus

41 Seneca banished to Corsica for alleged adultery with Iulia (5) Livilla, a sister of Gaius
41 Gaius Julius Callistus - an influential freedman of the emperor Gaius, took part in the conspiracy leading to his murder
41 Decimus Valerius Asiaticus - suffect consul 35, consul II 46; from Vienna, first Gallic consul; brother-in-law through Lollia Paulina of Gaius, whose adultry with his wife allegedly caused him to join the plot to murder the emperor
41 a tribune in the praetorian guard named Chaerea Cassius was mocked by Caligula for his supposed effeminacy.  He played a leading part in the latter's murder. (41)  On Claudius' accession, he was executed.  ((centurion of lower germany in 14 - so, not young))

41 January 22 or 24 - Gaius murdered in the palace; his wife and daugher were also murdered.
41 January - Claudius, at age 49, becomes Emperor
41 Claudius won over the Praetorians with a huge donative

41 Claudius' third wife, Valeria Messalina, gives birth to his only son, Britannicus
41 Feb.12 - b.Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus; his first surname was Germanicus; 'Britannicus' was added after Claudius' invasion of Britain.
41 Tiberius Claudius Caesar 'Germanicus' (not 'Britannicus' until 43) - born 12 Feb to Claudius and Valeria Messalina; 

41 ? - Claudius restored Julia Livilla to rome (his niece)
41 Claudius restored Julia Agrippina
41 Claudius deified his aunt Livia Drusilla, 12 years after her death

41 Claudius ("in whose accession Agrippa had been invoked") added Judaea and Samaria to complete Agrippa's kingdom

41 Claudius reinstated Antiochus IV in Comagene
41 Antiochus IV restored to Commagene by Claudius

41 ?41? - Corbulo made proconsul of Asia under claudius (what year?)

41 Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I, married to Marcus, brother of Tiberius Iulius Alexander

41 Hoehner:  Herod, King of Chalcis (41-48) --- look him up!

41 Egypt:  A savage conflict between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria stood unresolved when Gaius died.

42 Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus (legate of Dalmatia) instigated by Annius Vinicianus and many senators and knights, persuaded his legions, VII and XI, to revolt.  After four days they abandoned him and his watchwords 'liberty and the republic'.  The legions received the titles 'Claudia Pia Fidelis'.
42 salonae ("Dalmatia") - proconsul L. Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus revolted unsuccessfully
42 Conspiracy included L. Vinicianus
42 Legion XI granted title Claudian loyal and faithful for their loyalty during the revolt of L Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus, governor of Dalmatia
42 the loyalty of Aulus Plautius, governor of Pannonia, probably helped to make the revolt of L. Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus futile (Claudius' first wife Urgulanilla had been a member of Aulus Plautius' family)

42 Messallina accused Julia Livilla of adultery with the younger Seneca (2) and she was again banished and then killed
42 Gaius Appius Junius Silanus (consul 28, son of G. Junius Silanus (2), acquitted of maiestas in 32, recalled from governorship of Tarraconensis to marry Mesallina's mother in 41)
42 Gaius Appius Junius Silanus refused the advances of Domitia Lepida (Mesallina's mother) and was accused by her and Narcissus (2) of planning to murder Claudius; he was killed in 42

42 41, 42 or 43 - Claudius was displeased by Agrippa's extension of the city wall in north Jerusalem, and by his inviting client kings to Tiberias

42 the eagle of the 18th (or 20th) legion was recovered (lost in the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD)

42 Mauretanias province(s?)

43 Lycia was combined with much of Pisidia and Pamphylia to form a new Roman province
43 Claudius annexes Provincia Lycia (SW corner of Asia Minor)
43 Claudius added the province of Lycia to the empire

43 Claudius left L.Vitellius in charge of Rome during the invasion of Britain
43 Claudius briefly took a personal part in the invasion of Brittain, leaving his friend Lucius Vitellius in charge of Rome
43 Narcissus, freedman secretary for Claudius, went to Gaul to embark the invasion force for Britain
43 Claudius annexes Britannia; the army of four legions, with auxilia, quickly overran the territory of the Catuvellauni
43 Legion II Augusta (Germany) helped in the invasion of Britain
43 Legion XIV Gemina (twin) took part in the invasion of Britain (moved to Britain)
43 Legion IX Macedonica participated in the invasion of Britain
43 Legion XX Valeria Victrix took part in the invasion of Britain; stayed there

43 Aulus Plautius commanded the British expedition, won a battle near the Thames River and staged Claudius' entry into the Belgic capital Camulodunum
43 the Roman physician Scribonius Largus accompanied Claudius to Britain (he later wrote the "Compositiones" (prescriptions); he was an empiricist in method, closely akin to Celsus
43 Vespasian (future emperor) was advanced by Narcissus to legate of Legion II Augusta and commanded it in the invasion of Britain, subduing the south-west as far as Exeter (43-7); leaving his 4 year old son, Titus, at home

43 c.43-45 - Legion VIII Augusta left Poetovio in Pannonia and XIII Gemina arrived
43 Legion IV Macedonica transferred from Spain to upper Germany, possibly to replace XIV Gemina
43 Legion XXII Primigenia (first-born) stationed at upper germany

43 ? - Claudius' son's surname was changed from Germanicus to 'Britannicus' after Claudius' invasion of Brittain

43 (c.42-45) Gaius Vibius Marsus, governor of Syria, was hostile to Agrippa I and checked the designs on Armenia of Vardanes, king of Parthia

44 procurators replaced King Agrippa I in Judaea
44 Claudius replaced Agrippa in Judaea with procurators ("procurators" ? - p.338)
44 Agrippa II did not succeed his father Agrippa I, but lived in Rome
44 all of Judea province

44 ?44? - Gaius Cassius Longinus Governor of Syria (what years?) see Josephus 20.1.1-2

45 45 - 47 was the 'universal famine' of Acts 11:28

45 a separate province of moesia first emerges in 45/46 after the breakup of the great balkan command which had united responsibility for the lower danube, macedonia and the thracian kingdom
45 Provincia Moesia now runs from the lower Danube to the black sea, to the Balkan range to the river Drinus (at the Danube)

45 c.45 - Legion XII Gemina (twin) transferred to Pannonia
45 Legion XXI Rapax replaced Legion XIII at Vondonissa (mod. Windisch, Switzerland)

46 (?) btw 43 and 48 - Decimus Valerius Asiaticus, at first enjoying the favor of Claudius, whom he accompanied to Britain, he fell victim to Valeria Messallina's plotting, was charged with treason, and committed suicide
46 or 47 - Polybius, a freedman and one of Claudius' secretaries, died by the contrivance of Messallina; his death provoked the other freedmen to counter-measures in 48 [against Messallina]

46 c.46 - Legion XXI Rapax (predatory) transferred to upper germany (from lower germany)

46 Tiberius Julius Alexander becomes procurator of Judaea (till 48)

46 Berenice, daughter of Agrippa I, married to her uncle Herod, king of Chalcis (the only man named Herod in these annuals that is not mentioned in the NT)

46 a certain Rhoemetalces, ruler of the now re-unified Thrace, was murdered by his wife
46 the whole Kingdom of Thrace became the Roman province of Thracia, governed by procurators
46 Claudius annexes Provincia Thracia (East of Philippi to Byzantium (?) )
46 Claudius added the province of Thrace to the empire

47 Claudius holds office of Censor and chooses his friend Lucius Vitellius as colleague in the censorship
47 Claudius chose his friend Lucius Vitellius for colleague in the censorship
47 Claudius celebrates the Secular Games (reinstitutes?)
47 Claudius celebrated games on a new cycle - the 800th birthday of Rome

47 ? - 46 to 48 - Alexander crucified the two sons of Judas the Galilean

47 Aulus Plautius departed Britain after most of lowland Britain had been overrun - for the last ovation awarded to a subject

47 Galatia:  the Via Sebaste runs from Perge through the Doseme pass (known to Polybius as the Climax) into the Pisidian highlands, past the Roman colonies or colonial settlements of Comama and Apollonia (see Barr.Atlas) until it reached the caput viae, Pisidian Antioch.  A further extension continued east to the colonies of Iconium and Lystra

48 Messallina participated in the formalities of a marriage service with the consul-designate C. Silius
48 Gaius Silius consul-designate for 48, fairest of the Roman youth, attracted Valeria Messallina; their liaison involved a scheme either to displace Claudius or (better) to make him abandon freedmen advisers for senators and knights.  The lovers celebrated a 'marriage' while the emperor was at Ostia (48) and the freedmen made Claudius act:  Silius and Messallina were killed
48 the freedman Narcissus turned against Messallina and, while Claudius was in a state of stunned incredulity, ensured that an executioner was sent (Messallina committed suicide first)

48 Narcissus, freedman secretary for Claudius, received honors for exposing Valeria Messallina, with whom he had collaborated in removing threats to Claudius
48 the power of Narcissus was weakened by the messallina affiar, involving the deaths of leading men, and eclipsed by that of m. Antonius Pallas, whose ally Julia Agrippina married Claudius

48 Plautius Lateranus (nephew of Aulus Plautius) deprived of his senatorial rank as a lover of Valeria Messallina

48 Lollia Paulina was an unsuccessful candidate for the hand of Claudius after the death of Messalina

48 (?) Lucius Vitellius, adopting the cause of Julia Agrippina, acted as a mouthpiece of a loyal senate in advocating her marriage to Claudius
48 Vitellius, censor, accused his daughter in law of filial incest to help Agrippina the Younger (claudius' wife); the girls name was Calvina Junia (she was banished in 49, but recalled by Nero after his mother's death)

48 Herod, king of Chalcis, dies; Berenice widowed
48 Berenice, widowed, lives with her brother, M. Iulius Agrippa II

49 ? - or 50, 51, or 52 ? - Gaius Julius Callistus, an influential freedman, was unsuccessful in championing the claims of Lollia Paulina to be Claudius' (fourth) wife (man died c.52)
49 ?49? - Lucius Vitellius advocated Iulia Agrippina's marriage to Claudius

49 Claudius marries Iulia Agrippina, mother of Nero, daughter of Claudius' own brother Germanicus (she was his niece!)
49 Claudius married his neice, Julia Agrippina (the oldest daughter of Germanicus)

49 Lucius Junius Silanus committed suicide on the day Claudius married Agrippina - Agrippina had gotten him expelled from the senate, allegedly for incest with his sister
49 Agrippina secured Lollia Paulina (her rival)'s banishment on the charge of consulting astrologers - she was drivien to suicide

49 Agrippina, as claudius' new wife, had Seneca recalled from exile in order to teach her son rhetoric and to secure his betrothal to claudius' daughter octavia (3)
49 Seneca recalled from exile through the influence of the younger Agrippina and made praetor
49 Seneca appointed tutor of Agrippina's son, Nero, then 12 years old

49 Plutarch born (before 50) at Chaeronea in Greece (later known for his biographies of famous greeks and romans)

50 Agrippina aided in her ambitions by Pallas, Seneca and Burrus (M. Antonius Pallas, the younger Seneca, and Sextus Afranius Burrus
50 ? - Agrippina (2) received the title Augusta (!)

50 Claudius adopted Nero as a partner for his own son to assure their joint accession to power (Nero was more than three years older than Britannicus)
50 Claudius adopted Nero as the guardian of his own son, Britannicus
50 on adoption, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus becomes Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar, or, as he is sometimes called, Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus

50 Agrippa II appointed king of Chalcis in the southern Beqa' valley

50 c.50 - Londinium established at Cornhill and Ludgate Hill north of the Thames river, laid out beside modern Longdon Bridge

51 Sextus Afranius Burrus appointed sole prefect of the praetorian guard by Claudius
51 Burrus made prefect of the praetorian guard

51 Nero received the toga virilis at the early age of 13
51 Nero granted proconsular power outside Rome

51 Corinth - Latin remained official language of Corinthian gov't until Hadrian
51 Corinth - "diolkos" - the stone trackway across the isthmus of Corinth for transporting ships and/or cargoes between the Saronic and the Corinthian gulfs; wheeled wagons ran in carved grooves c.1.5 m (5 ft) apart; traffic probably moved in one direction at a time; it was used by a fleet as late as AD 883; [probably cargoes were unloaded and reloaded, to lighten the ship]
51 Timothy/Thessalonica:  Olympus was not an obstacle to communication, which was achieved by way of Tempe or the basin of Karya to the east, and the col of Petra and the valley of Titarese to the west

51 an attempt to prosecute Lucius Vitellius failed - he probably died soon after
51 Lucius Vitellius died, receiving a public funeral and a statue in the Forum commemorating 'unswerving devotion to the Princeps'

51 Vologeses I, king of Parthia [ocd gives no details on the beginning of his rule - on page 1611]

51 24 October - future emperor Domitian is born

52 ? "C." ? L. Iunius Gallio Annaeanus proconsul of Achaia (Syll.^3 2. 801)
52 Antiochus IV protected Cilicia against the Cietae
52 Claudius Felix appointed procurator of Judaea by Claudius

53 Nero marries Claudia Octavia, a daughter of Claudius and Messallina (not much older than 13); Nero disliked and neglected her

53 Agrippa II's territory was exchanged for the area in the Lebanon and anti-Lebanon region once ruled by Philip (4) and then by his own father
53 Berenice persuaded Polemon, priest-king of Olba in Cilicia, to marry her, to quiet rumours of incest with her brother; but the marriage did not last long

53 Marcus Ulpius Traianus, the future emperor Trajan, is born in Spain (in 97, at age 45, he will become the first non-Italian born emperor)
53 future emperor Trajan is born - (18 Sept - Wiki)

54 Tiridates (4), brother of Vologeses I of Parthia; Vologeses set Tiridates on the throne of Armenia
54 Vologeses I, king of Parthia, set his brother Tiridates (3) on the throne of Armenia
54 by 54, Claudius' eastern governors had allowed the Parthians to gain control of Greater Armenia,a serious blow to Roman prestige
54 ?54? - Corbulo made Legate of Cappadocia and Galatia with the command against Parthia (war over control of Armenia)
54 ?54? - years of war with Parthia over Armenia - ?
54 Antiochus IV supported Cn. Domitius Corbulo against the Parthians

54 Oct - Claudius, at age 63, dies
54 October 13 - Claudius dies, poisoned by Agrippina
54 Agrippina was generally believed to have poisoned Claudius to make room for Nero
54 Agrippina employed Locusta (Lucusta) a noted poisoner of Gallic origin, to poison Claudius
54 Claudius' death conveniently made it impossible for him to give his natural son the toga of manhood (Brit. Age 13)

54 on Claudius' death, his freedman Narcissus was immediately forced to suicide

54 nero emperor
54 when Claudius died on 13 Oct, nNero was escorted into the praetorian camp by the prefect Sex. Afranius Burrus
54 the senate conferred the necessary powers on nero and declared his adoptive father a god and Agrippina his priestess
54 ? - Nero's first speech to the senate, written by Seneca, was a promise to rule according to Augustan precedent (Suetonius)

54 December - coins are minted showing Agrippina's head facing Nero's on the obverse

54 Nero's first five years are hailed by contemporary poets as a golden age
54 to 59 - Agrippina, Seneca and Burrus basically handled the government, leaving the young emperor to his pleasures
54 Burrus retained his post under Nero.  He was Nero's adviser for many years, and, with the younger Seneca, was responsible for the first period of Nero's government.
54 to 59 - Nero at first heeded his advisers because they protected him from his domineering mother and indulged him within limits
54 to 59 - Agrippina was almost co-regent with Nero during his first years, but after Pallas had fallen (in 55) and Burrus and Seneca turned against her (when?) she lost her power.

54 Marcus Junius Silanus (3) son of Torquatus, a great-great grandson of Augustus, was proconsul of Asia in 54
54 Agrippina thought MJ Silanus' lineage dangerous to her son Nero and that Silanus might try to avenge the death of his brother L Junius Silanus
54 MJ Silanus was poisoned while proconsul of Asia in 54 (his son exiled and killed in 65)

54 ? - btw 54 and 68 - Nero gave Galilee to Herod Agrippa II

54 Corinth:  Isthmian Games (if still held after 146 BC) are held this year near Corinth (april or may)

55 Agrippina sems to hve considered using Britannicus to prop up her failing influence, but he very soon died
55 Agrippina decided to show sympathy for Claudius' natural son Britannicus, thus sealing his doom
55 Britannicus died early in the year; poisoned by Nero's order
55 ? - Briannicus died, almost certainly poisoned by Nero's order
55 ? - nero used Locusta the Gaul to poison Britannicus

55 Burrus survived an unfounded charge of conspiracy
55 ? - poet Lucan, studying at Athens, is recalled by Nero and admitted to his inner circle
55 Nero's suspected murder of Britannicus

55 Seneca encourages Nero to take a mistress, Claudia Acte, a wealthy freedwoman
55 Claudia Acte, freedwoman of Nero (possibly already maumitted by Claudius), became Nero's mistress

55 Tiberius Claudius Balbillus made prefect of Egypt from 55 until 59, when Agrippina died (who favored him)

55 Pallas fell, hurting Agrippina's power somewhat

55 Nero restored Plautius Lateranus (nephew of Aulus Plautius and Messallina's lover)

55 Legion XIV Gemina was established at Wroxeter in Roman Britain

55 Dec - Seneca writes "De clementia" recommending the practice of the virtue to Nero (published)

56 Titus/Paul/Corinth - Olympus was not an obstacle to communication, which was achieved by way of Tempe or the basin of Karya to the east, and the col of Petra and the valley of Titarese to the west
56 "Tempe" - defile about 8 km (5 mi) long in NE Thessaly by which the river Peneus reaches the sea.  The common word tempe describes all defiles, thessalika tempea all the passes giving access to Thessaly or linking its two plains; the Tempe of the Peneus, between Mts. Olympus (1) and Ossa, is the most famous... it formed the easiest route between Thessaly and Macedonia

56 56/7 - Legion IV Scythica transferred permanently from Moesia to Syria (Vespasian moved them to Zeugma)
56 56/7 - Legion VII moved from Dalmatia to Moesia

56 Tacitus born c.56, probably in Narbonese or Cisalpine Gaul

57 Titus Clodius Eprius Marcellus - prosecuted for extortion in 57 (after Legateship of Lycia)

58 Seneca attacked by P. Sullius Rufus

58 Titus/Crete - Jews are known on Crete from the 1st cent. BC tto the 5th cent AD
58 Titus/Crete - seat of proconsul at Cyrene (ocd.422)

58 Corbulo started the Armenian/Parthian war in earnest, having reorganized the armies in the east
58 Antiochus IV supported Cn. Domitius Corbulo against the Parthians (yes, again!)
58 ? - or after 58? - Corbulo captured Artaxata and Tigranocerta, installed Tigranes (4) V as king of Armenia
58 Gaius Licinius Mucianus served under Corbulo
58 Gaius Licinius Mucianus was governor of Lycia-Pamphylia

58 Marcus Salvius Otho - husband of Poppaea Sabina and friend of Nero - sent to govern Lusitania and remained there until Nero's death (68)
58 with Otho gone, Nero began his affair with Otho's wife Poppaea in earnest - increasing the ire of his mother Agrippina
58 Poppea Sabina, during her 2nd marriage to the future emperor Otho, became the mistress of Nero
58 Claudia Acte gradually supplanted by Poppaea Sabina

59 Agrippina's resistance to Nero's affair with Poppaea Sabina led nero to enlist the prefect of the fleet of Misenum to drown her in a collapsible boat
59 when the drowning scheme failed, she was stabbed at her villa - this spectacular crime marked the end of the good part of Nero's reign
59 march - Agrippina murdered at Baiae by a freedman, Anicetus, acting on Nero's instructions.
59 Nero's murder of Agrippina was allegedly at the instigation of Poppaea
59 Nero's certain murder of his mother (the younger agrippina)

59 Burrus managed Nero's relations with the public after the murder of his mother.

59 Nero held games called the Juveniles to accompany the first shaving of his beard (the Iuvenalia - youths of 14 to 17 participated)

59 ?59? - ? - what year - ? Corbulo received the governorship of Syria

60 first Neronian games; Lucan wins a prize for a poem praising Nero
60 nero introduced - for the first time at Rome - public games in the Greek fashion to be celebrated every five years

60 Rubellius Plautus was banished by Nero to Asia Minor and Gaius Musonius Rufus followed him

60 Illyricum appears on a military diploma of AD 60 to denote the province of Pannonia alone

60 to 61 - the Boudiccan revolt
60 to 61 - Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni (East Anglia, Britania) led the Iceni to rise in rebellion while the governor, Suetonius Paulinus, was occupied in the west.
60 Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, governor of Britain, learned of Boudicca's revolt and returned swiftly from Ireland with his advance-guard but, unable to concentrate an adequate force, was compelled to abandon Londinium and Verulamium to be sacked; retreating (along Watling Street) to his main force, he routed Boudicca's attack
60 60/61 - Londinium had grown to 62 acres by the time of its destruction in the Boudiccan revolt
60 to 61 - Agricola serves as Tribunus Laticlavius in Britain during the Boudiccan revolt
60 Legion XIV Gemina (twin) defeated Boudicca (60-61)
60 the disastrous revolt of Boudicca in Britain was expensive to Rome

60 (?) 54 to 60 (?)… Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, sent to re-establish Roman influence in Armenia, was at first successful, Vologeses being occupied on his eastern frontier with a rebellion

60 Tigranes V, great-grandson of Archelaus (5) of Cappadocia and of Herod the Great (HOW?), was sent from Rome to replace Tiridates (4) on the throne of Armenia
60 Tiridates fled Armenia, and a Roman nominee Tigranes V (4) was crowned as king of Armenia
60 Tiridates (4) fled before the Romans and was temporarily displaced by Tigranes (4) V
60 Antiochus IV granted part of Armenia for his help
60 Tigranes V laid waste to Adiabene, a Parthian vassal kingdom

60 (?) 60…vologeses returned to the war in Armenia…
60 the Arsacid king Vologeses I sent his general Monaeses to invade Armenia, and Tigranes was shut up in Tigranocerta
60 the siege of Tigranocerta was raised after negotaions; Tigranes V was withdrawn by the Romans and disappeared from history
60 60-61? - ? - Tigranes driven out of Armenia
60 (?) - Tiridates (4) was reinstated by Vologeses of Parthia

60 60?-62 - Porcius Festus, procurator of Judaea - was, like his predecessor Felix, harassed by sicarii terrorists and by a pesudo-prophet
60 after 60? - Festus supported Agrippa II against the priests in a dispute over a palace extension

61 Nero opened a gymnasium and distributed free oil to competitors

61 Boudicca venturing a battle with Paulinus' main force, her troops were easily routed and she herself took poison
61 Gaius Julius Classicianus Alpinus, procurator of Britain, favored a policy of conciliation and begged Nero to recall the harsher C. Suetonius Paulinus
61 Gaius Suteonius Paulinus' severity towards the rebels of Britain led to discords with the procurator Julius Classicianus and his own recall

61 61/2 - Legion V Macedonia moved from Moesia to Armenia

61 Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus born in Italy (later known as pliny the younger - the elder was his uncle); Pliny is known for his many letters on all sorts of topics, which were published between 99 and 112

62 59?62? - Burrus opposed Nero's divorce from Octavia (3), which only took place after his death in 62.
62 Burrus died.  That he was poisoned is asserted by Suet. & Dio, but regarded by Tac as unproven.
62 Burrus died, thus ending Seneca's influence as well
62 Burrus' death; Seneca asks to retire and give Nero his own vast wealth; retirement was refused; wealth accepted "later"

62 Nero divorces Claudia Octavia for sterility (a charge of adultery having failed) in order to marry Poppaea Sabina; when popular demonstrations were held for her, he contrived fresh charges of adultery and treason, banished her to Pandateria, and had her put to death (June 9)
62 ? - Nero now divorced his barren wife Octavia and married Poppaea who was pregnant
62 Nero divorced, banished and executed Claudia Octavia (his wife!) - allegedly at the instigation of Poppaea
62 nero married Poppaea

62 for the first time under Nero, a treason charge of the unrepublican sort, based on irreverence towards the emperor, was admitted (see Maiestas) [WHO WAS IT??]

62 ? - Tacitus saw Ofonius Tigellinus as Nero's evil genius, rather like Sejanus to Tiberius
62 Sergius Rubellius Plautus (a great-grandson of Tiberius), in 62, in Asia; in 62 he was killed, allegedly at the insistance of Tigellinus, though his father in law L. Antistius Vetus urged him to resist
62 Nero orders the murder of Rubellius Plautus, the last known male descendant of Tiberius' son Drusus (through his daughter Julia)

62 renewal of Pathian/Armenian war; Corbulo requested a separate general, L Caesennius Paetus be sent to Armenia; Paetus defeated
62 Lucius (Iunius Publius) Caesennius Paetus, Legate of Syria, ordered by Nero to advance to Armenia (mission failed, capitulated to Parthians on disgraceful terms)
62 Nero ordered L.Caecennius Paetus, legate of Cappadocia, to advance to Armenia; his mission failed and he captiulated to the Parthians on disgraceful terms in his camp at Rhandeia
62 62/63 (?) - Vologeses, king of Parthia, at one time gained an advantageous treaty from L. Caesennius paetus, after the latter's capitulation at Rhandeia.

62 Festus died in office

62 ? Or 63?  Lucan publishes three books of his epic "The Civil War" about Caesar and Pompey

63 Poppaea bore a daughter Claudia Augusta, but the child died at fourmonths
63 ? - Poppaea's child was a girl, Claudia Augusta, who was born in January of (?) and died four months later

63 ? Or 64? Nero banned Lucan from public recitation of his poetry and from speaking in the lawcourts, due to growing hostility between the two, for which various reasons are given

63 Corbulo made Legate of Cappadocia AND Galatia AND Syria!!!  He restored Roman prestige and concluded a durable agreement with Parthia
63 Corbulo was the greatest general of his time (Tacitus Ann.12-15; Cass.Dio 60-3)
63 Corbulo's son in law, Annius Vinicianus, legate under him of Legion V macedonia
63 Tib. Jul. Alexander was Corbulo's general staff officer in Armenia
63 Legion XV Apollinaris (apollo's) moved to the east for Corbulo's campaigns
63 Parthia's nominee to Armenia's throne, Tiridates (4) admitted a Roman protectorate
63 Armenia - finally, peace was made and Tiridates agreed to go to Rome and pay homage to nero for his throne:  this he did in 66

63 Legion X Gemina (twin) transferred from Spain to Pannonia

63 Gessius Florus marries Cleopatra, a friend of Poppaea Sabina, Nero's wife - and thus Florus gained the favor of Nero

63 (or 65) - Gaius Cestius Gallus (Cestius) appointed Legate of Syria (to 67)

64 (?) - by a compromise with Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Tiridates agreed to journey to Rome and receive the crown of Armenia ceremonially from Nero (66)

64 Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus, son of MJ Silanus Torquatus, was forced to suicide because he could boast descent from Augustus

64 Poppaea secured the Judean procuratorship for her friend's husband, Gessius Florus
64 Gessius Florus appointed procurator of Judaea by Nero
64 hero - Florus goes into Judaea expecting to take personal advantage for wealth…

64 c.64 - Josephus participated in a delegation to Rome, which convinced him of the impracticality of resistance

64 a fire broke out in the early hours of 19 June in shops around the circus maximus and spread north through the valley between the Palatine and the Esquiline
64 the fire lasted for nine days in all and reduced three of the fourteen districts of the city to rubble, leaving only four districts untouched
64 Nero provided recovery helps, but also claimed some private (burnt, destroyed) land for a grand palace and spacious parks in the center of Rome
64 Nero (post-fire) built a 125 acre park in the center of Rome, with an artificial lake and it's main entrance from the forum along a new via Sacra
64 Hero:  Nero's park may have been private; may not be public; info in the entry on his personal reference - Domus Aurea - but unclear entry

64 rumors started in Rome that nero had started the fire and recited his own poems over the burning city
64 to combat the rumors, nero made the Christians scapegoats, burning them alive to make the punishment fit the alleged crime

64 after Nero's sacrilegious thefts following the great fire in July, Seneca virtually retired to his chamber and handed over a great part of his wealth
64 the Latin poet Martial came from Spain to Rome and was supported by the younger Seneca, then the most celebrated Spaniard in the city (both were spaniards)
64 (Martial had no publications until the 70's)
64 through summer, Seneca writes the most popular of his philosophical works, "the Moral Letters"

64 c. 60 to 64 - the protracted wars with Parthia over Armenia [and now the great fire, too] contributed to the financial strain on Rome
64 due to the financial strains, both the gold and silver were reduced in weight and the silver content of the denarius lowered by more than 10 per cent

65 pregnant again, Poppaea is supposed to have died from a kick Nero gave her in a fit of temper; she was accorded a public funeral and divine honors
65 death of Poppaea

65 Nero accused Lucius Junius Silanus Torquatus (son of MJ Silanus 3) of treason and incest with his aunt; he was exiled and murdered before he left Italy
65 Nero exiled the rhetor and teacher Verginius Flavus, because of his popularity (!!)
65 Nero's paranoic prosecutions in Rome led to a conspiracy to assisinate him and make C. Calpurnius Piso (2) emperor

65 the Pisonian conspiracy was betrayed; Piso and his accomplices, senators including Lucan, knights, officers of the praetorian guard, and one of the prefects, Faenius Rufus, were executed
65 Gaius Calpurnius Piso (2), the figurehead of the great conspiracy against Nero; a futile leader; after its betrayal had no thought for action other than suicide
65 poet Lucan joined the conspiracy of C Calpurnius Piso (2), and was forced to open his veins on its discovery (April 65 death)
65 Gaius Cassius Longinus exiled as part of Piso's conspiracy; great-grandson of Cassius the tyrannicide; had been the leading Roman lawyer under Claudius and Nero, praetor, suffect consul and governor of Asia and Syria; also, in 65 AD, he was blind (!); Vespasian recalled him and he founded a school for lawyers
65 Gaius Musonius Rufus (who returned to Rome after Rubellius' death) was banished on the discovery of the Pisonian conspiracy - banishe dto Gyaros in the Agean
65 Plautius Lateranus took part in the Pisonian conspiracy and was executed

65 Nero now suspected all, and more deaths followed, including Seneca, Petronius and the Stoics Thrasea Paetus and Barea Soranus
65 Seneca forced to commit suicide for alleged participation in the unsuccessful Pisonian conspiracy
65 ?65? - Gallio forced to commit suicide after his brother's ruin

65 Epaphroditus, Nero's freedman and secretary, received military honors for helping him unmask the Pisonian conspiracy
65 Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, a tribune of the guard, was given the consularia ornamenta by Nero for his part in supressing the pisonian conspiracy
65 Publius Petronius Turpilianus - contributed to the repression of the Pisonian conspiracy
65 Nerva was influential as a confidant of Nero, who admired his poetry and presented him with triumphal ornaments and other honors after the supression of the conspiracy of C Calpurnius Piso

65 Annius Vinicianus escorted Tiridates (4) to Rome.

65 65/66 - Legion XX Valeria replaced Legion XIV Gemina at Wroxeter in Roman Britain

66 Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus condemned by Nero ("he showed opposition by abstention"); committed suicide
66 Titus Clodius Eprius Marcellus - one of the accusers of Thrasea paetus and received 5 million sesterces after the condemnation
66 Demetrius the Cynic exiled to Greece under Nero (but returned in the time of Vespasian)
66 (summer) Annius Vinicianus gave his name to a plot against Nero at Beneventum (southern italy)
66 nero formed a new legion from sailors at Misenum - Legion I Adiutrix (helper)
66 Nero married his third wife, Statilia Messallina, after putting to death her fourth husband Julius Vestinus Atticus
66 Nero married Statilia Messallina

66 Tiridates (4), a member of the ruling Parthian dynasty, came to Rome to receive the diadem of Armenia from nero's hand
66 Tiridates received (?) the crown of Armenia, in Rome, ceremonially, from Nero
66 Romans recognized the rule of an Arsacid king over Armenia
66 Romans began the construction of military forts, boundary markers and a road along the upper and middle Euphrates (which stood as the boundary for 500 years)

66 Caesarea - elimination of the Jewish population of 20,000, allegedly in a single day, sparked off the first Jewish revolt against Rome
66 the outbreak of revolt in Palestine also provoked Greek-Jewish violence in a number of other Syrian cities.  The failure of the revolt saw further attacks on urban Jews.

66 Florus demanded 17 talents from the temple treasuy, which led to rioting and bloodshed and helped to precipitate the great insurrection
66 Agrippa II and his sister Berneice (4) were explled from Jerusalem by the Jewish leadership, having failed to persuade the Jews to tolerate Gessius Florus' conduct as procurator
66 Berenice tied, at first single handed and then with Agrippa, to prevent the Jewish revolt, and in 69, in Agrippa's absence, she supported the Flavian cause
66 Agrippa II, unable to prevent revolt, supplied calvary and archers to the Romans throughout the war, to 70

66 The temple sacrifices for the emperor's welfare were terminated
66 Cestius marched into Palestine to restore calm, but failed to occupy Jerusalem and on his withdrawal he was defeated at Beth-horon.
66 Legion X Fretensis sent to fight with Cestius against Jerusalem
66 to 70 - Legion XII Fulminata (thunderbolt armed) fought in the Jewish war
66 Legion XII Fulminata MAY HAVE temporarily lost its eagle during the retreat of Cestius Gallus from Jerusalem
66 Legion XV Apollinaris (apollo's) fought in the Jewish war (to 70)

66 a provisional government in Jerusalem appointed regional leaders, chose a demotic high priest by lot, abolished debt and issued its own freedom coinage
66 the Zealots were one of three factions (according to Josephus) who controlled Jerusalem from 66 to 70
66 66/67 - Justus, a leading citizen of Tiberias, a moderate, opposed Josephus' command in Galilee 

66 September - Nero himself left for Greece, to perform in all the Greek games
66 Nero's new wife, Statilia Messallina, accompanied him on his artistic tour in Greece, where she was honored; she maintained a brilliant position after Nero's death; otho contemplated marriage with her
66 Nero invited Corbulo to Greece and compelled him to commit suicide (Corbulo probably did not abuse his popularity, but his son in law Annius Vinicianus conspired)
66 Vespasian (future emperor) accompanied Nero to Greece and allegedly offended him by falling asleep at one of his recitals
66 Vespasian - 66 - "but by the end of the year he was entrusted with suppressing the rebellion in Judaea.
66 or 67 - ? - while in Greece, Vespasian was selected from the emperor's entourage to deal with a revolt in Judaea

67 Cestius died.
67 Nero appointed Gaius Licinius Mucianus governor of Syria about the time when he sent Vespasian to Judea

67 Titus Flavius, although only of quaestorian rank, joins his father in his mission to suppress the Jewish revolt
67 Titus Flavius takes command of Legion XV Apollinaris
67 Titus years in Judaea (67-70); Titus fell in love with Berenice

67 ? - the two Galilees (upper and lower) were controlled by Josephus in the Jewish revolt and rapidly subdued by Vespasian
67 in Galilee, the conflict between pro- and anti-war elements made resistance ineffectual
67 67/68 - ? - In Tiberias, the people were anti-Roman, but the upper classes loyal; according to Josephus' Life, the city repeatedly changed sides, then surrendered to Vespasian
67 Justus of Tiberias, implicated in the revolt of Tiberias, fled to Agrippa II, who protected him and later made him his secretary

67 in Jerusalem, three rebel factions conducted a civil war until the last stages of the siege, to 70

67 Nero - still in Greece - at a special celebration of the Isthmian Games at Corinth on 28 November, declared the liberation of Greece from Roman administration and taxation!
67 nero's short lived restoration of Greece's autonomy caused local hardship, but won him some Greek approval. (ocd p.652)
67 66/67 - ? - Nero deposed and executed three senatorial commanders - Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo who had served him well in the east, and the Scribonii brothers who governed the two Germanies
67 Statilia Messallina accompanied Nero on his artistic tour in Greece, where she was honored

67 ? - Legion XIV recalled by Nero for his intended eastern campaign

68 Legion III Gallica transferred by Nero to Moesia just before his death
68 Legion X Gemina (twin) sent back to Spain from Pannonia

68 Galba approached by C Iulius Vindex, who was instigating revolt against Nero.
68 ? - at last Nero, in response to the warnings of his freedman Helius, returned to Italy
68 March - soon after nero's return, C. Julius Vindex, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis (transalpine gaul) rose in arms
68 or 69 (?) - Lucius Verginius Rufus, governor of Upper Germany since 67, held discussions with the rebel C. Julius Vindex; rejected his army's attempts to declare him emperor, but was slow to support Galba, remitting the choice to the senate
68 May - Vindex defeated by the governor of upper germany
68 Vindex was defeated

68 Nero entrusted to Publius Petronius Turpilianus the command against the rebels; his conduct was ambiguous and he was killed by Galba
68 nero's failure to respond decisively had encouraged others to defect

68 in Africa, L Clodius Macer revolted
68 Lucius Clodius Macer ('Clodius') legate of Africa, revolted from Nero and cut of the corn-supply of Rome; exectued by Galba [for treason?] in October

68 in Spain, Galba declared himself "legate of the senate and roman people"
68 Severus Sulpicius Galba - consul 33, gov. upper Germany 40-2, proconsul of Africa 44-5; gov of hispania tarraconensis from 60
68 Galba marched on Rome (encouraged by C Nymphidius Sabinus and the praetorians), accompanied by Otho, governor of Lusitania
68 Galba, as emperor, executed several opponents including L Clodius Macer who had raised revolt in Africa; and killed soldiers Nero recruited from the fleet
68 Galba declined to pay the praetorians the donative promised by Nymphidius - big mistake
68 Galba sent his newly recruited legion to Pannonia
68 Galba made Legion I Adiutrix (helper) a formal leagion

68 in Rome, the praetorians were told that nero had already fled abroad and were bribed by C. Nymphidius Sabinus, one of their prefects, to declare for Galba
68 the Senate followed the praetorians, decreeing Nero a public enemy
68 Nero took refuge in the villa of his freedman Phaon and there he committed suicide, reputedly lamenting, "what an artist dies with me!"

68 Epaphroditus, Nero's man, accompanied him in his final flight, and helped him commit suicide
68 Epaphroditus - by what year - owned Epictetus, who was born in Hieropolis in Phrygia in 50 or 55 (?)
68 Epaphroditus returned to Rome until he was killed by Domitian in 95

68 Gaius Nymphidius Sabinus, now prefect of the praetorians, promised an enormous donative to the praetorians, who deserted Nero for Galba
68 Gaius Nymphidus Sabinus forced Tigellinus to resign and intended to demand the prefecture for life without colleague from Galba
68 Galba refused to honor Sabinus' promise of money to the praetorians, who then killed Sabinus
68 Otho supported Galba and hoped to be his heir

68 Statilia Messalina maintained a brilliant position after nero's death; noted for her eloquence and literary culture as well as for her beauty - Otho contemplated marriage with her (?68/69?)

68 by mid-68, Vespasian had largely subdued Judaea apart from Jerusalem itself but conducted no further large scale campaigns
68 Vespasian settled his differences with the gov. of Syria, C. Licinius Mucianus; they successively recognized Galba, Otho and A Vitellius
68 Titus Flavius is dispatched to convey Vespasian's congratulations to Galba, but turned back on hearing of the turmoil in Rome, pausing to consult the oracle of Venus at Paphos, whose allegedly encouraging response he brought to his father

68 November - Galba appointed Vitellius governor of Lower Germany; Vitellius won over the disaffected soldiers in the province by an ostentatious display of generosity

68 the Zealots attacked the existing leaders of the rebel Jewish state, seized control of the Temple and, despite reverses at the hands of other Jewish factions, maintained an independent role until the capture of Jerusalem by Titus in 70

69 Jan 1 - the legions of Upper Germany (who felt they'd been cheated of their reward for defeating Vindex) renounced their allegiance to Galba
69 2 January - Vitellius was proclaimed emperor by his troops and quickly won the support of the legions of Upper Germany, which had refused allegiance to Galba on 1 January

69 Galba chose L Calpurnius Piso Frugi Licinianus as his successor
69 Otho, when NOT named Galba's successor, fomented revolt among the praetorians, who murdered Galba on 15 January 69
69 Praetorians murder Galba on Jan 15
69 Jan 15 - Otho was hailed emperor among the praetorians (having turned against Galba and organized a conspiracy)

69 Egypt, Africa and the legions of the Danube and the Euphrates declared for Otho, but the legions of the Rhine had already chosen Vitellius and their military preparations were far advanced

69 by march, the Vitellians' advanced guard had crossed the Alps and the Othonian expedition to southern Gaul achieved little
69 Legion XV Primigenia sent a detachment to help Vitellius invade Italy
69 Legion XXII Primigenia (first-born) accompanied Vitellius on his march to Rome

69 Otho insisted on a decisive battle before he could oppose with equal strength (his danubian legions arrived only gradually)
69 Otho's troops advanced from Bedriacum, 22 miles east of Cremona, and were irretrievably defeated
69 two decisive battles both fought at Badriacum (or Betriacum), midway between Verona and Cremona in Cisalpine Gaul; vitellius' troops defeated Otho's, but were defeated by Vespasian's some months later; both battles apparently nearer to Cremona than Bedriacum
69 April - otho's army defeated at Bedriacum by the Vitellian forces (before the 16th)
69 april 16 - Otho committed suicide

69 Lucius Verginius Rufus was removed from office by the suspicious Galba, became suffect consul for the 2nd time under Otho, and after his murder again refused the purple

69 spring - Vespasian and Mucianus begin planning to use the eastern legions to gain power

69 (since some year after 63) Tib. Jul. Alexander prefect of Egypt
69 July 1st - Alexander's troops took the oath for Vespasian
69 july 1 - two egyptian legions under Tiberius Julius Alexander proclaimed Vespasian
69 July 1 - troops in Egypt are the first to acclaim Vespasian emperor
69 July 3 - legions in Judaea proclaimed vespasian, and the syrian legions a little later
69 July - Mucianus set out with a task-force against Italy while Vespasian was to hold up the grain ships at Alexandria and probably Carthage.  However, the Danubian legions declared for Vespasian and the legionary legate Antonius Primus invaded Italy.  After his crushing victory at Cremona the city was brutally sacked. (70?)

69 July - Vitellius entered Rome, made offerings to Nero and had himself created consul in perpetuity
69 July - after Vespasian's acclamation, the legions in pannonia, Dalmatia and Moesia rapidly deserted Vitellius

69 Agricola joined the Flavian side and recruited troops in Italy

69 Gaius Licinius Mucianus led the Flavian army through Asia Minor and the Balkans to invade italy (on the way, able to repel a Dacian incursion into Moesia)

69 Gaius Calpetanus Rantius Quirinalis Valerius Festus - legate of the African legion - arranged the murder of the proconsul L. Calpurnius Piso (3), allegedly to demonstrate his loyalty to Vespasian (Piso had a marriage connection to Vitellius)

69 M. Antonius Primus led the legions of Pannonia, Dalmatia and Moesia to invade Italy (Vitellius failed to block the Alpine passes)
69 October - battle of Cremona
69 two decisive battles both fought at Badriacum (or Betriacum), midway between Verona and Cremona in Cisalpine Gaul; vitellius' troops defeated Otho's, but were defeated by Vespasian's some months later; both battles apparently nearer to Cremona than Bedriacum
69 October - as the Flavians advanced on Rome (even before) there were steady desertions from Vitellius' cause though his (new, german) praetorians remained loyal

69 Gaius Julius Civilis, a Batavian prince (see Batavi) and Roman citizen mistreated by Nero, pretended to support Vespasian, but planned a nationalist revolt
69 Gaius Julius Civilis (Civilis) attacked a legionary camp at Vetera (Xanten) with eight cohorts of Batavians and unconquered German tribes (unsuccessfully)
69 Legion XV Primigenia surrendered to the rebel Civilis; Vespasian disbanded it

69 Primus pressed on, entering Rome on 21 December, the day after Vitellius' death.  The senate immediately conferred all the usual powers on Vespasian, though he dated his tribunican years from 1 July, negating the acts of senate and people and treating his legions as an electoral college
69 the *Capitol of Rome was burnt
69 after capitol was burnt] the Flavian army now attacked the city and overcame Vitellian resistance in fierce street fighting.
69 Sabinus (Vespasian's brother, prefect of the city) persuaded Vitellius to abdicate, but the agreement was frustrated by the mob in Rome, and some of the emperor's soldiers who forced Sabinus and his supporters to take refuge on the Capitol, where the temple of Jupiter was burnt down
69 Flavius Sabinus - elder brother of Vespasian; took part in the invasion of britain 43 (suffect consul ?47); Legate of Moesia for seven years (c.53-60) ad praefectus urbi for 12 years; killed by Vitellius in Dec 69, in Rome
69 20 Dec - Vitellius was dragged through the streets, humiliated, tortured, and killed

69 Domitian remained in Rome during his father's campaign against A Vitellius

69 dec / jan,70 - Titus (in Judea), after the Flavian victory was created consul in absentia and given proconsular imperium

69 Antiochus IV helped Rome in the Jewish Revolt (also 70)

69 when - ? - Legion VI Victrix (Victorious) transferred from Spain to the Rhine frontier
69 when? - Legion XIV sent back to Britain by Vitellius
69 when? - Mariccus, a Gaul, declared himself liberator of the provinces of Gaul and attracted a large following before being supressed on the orders of Vitellius

69 c.69 - Polycarp, future "bishop" (???) of Smyrna and correspondant of Ignatius of Antioch

70 Gallic tribes joined Civilis and the depleted legionary garrisons (including Vetera) were forced to surrender
70 the men at Novaesium (Neuss) [roman legionary garrison??] took an oath to the 'Gallic empire'
70 Classicus Julius from Trier, a wealthy Roman citizen, commanded a cavalry of his own tribe; defected to the rebel C Julius Civilis and attempted to rouse the Gallic tribes
70 the Lingonian, Julius Sabinus, forced the Roman soldiers on the Rhine to swear loyalty to a 'Gallic Empire'; and remained loyal to Civilis (the rebel joined by Classicus)
70 Q Petillius Cerialis, despatched to suppress the Gallic rebellion, defeated Civilis at Rogodulum and occupied Trier (Augusta Treverorum)
70 Vespasian sent Quintus Petillius Cerialis Caesius Rufus (defeated in Britain during Boudicca's revolt in 60, while commanding Legion IX Hispania) to put down the revolt of C. Julius Civilis in the Rhineland - because Cerialis was then governor of Lower Germany
70 Legion XI (claudian loyal and faithful) sent to upper germany to help suppress the revolt of Julius Civilis
70 Legion XXI Rapax (predatory) fought against Julius Civilis before taking its station in Lower Germany (again)
70 Legion XIV transferred to the Rhine for the campaign against Julius Civilis
70 Civilis suffered a final defeat near Vetera and was forced to surrender, though his ultimate fate is unknown
70 Legion I Germania disbanded for collusion with the rebel C. Julius Civilis

70 Primus fell from favor and took the blame [for the sacking of Rome].  It was alleged that Primus' invasion was against orders (certainly Mucianus would have opposed his action) but victory could never have been bloodless.

70 Corbulo's daughter, Domitia Longina became Domitian's wife; the homage of the new dynasty to the name and influence of the greatest recent general

70 Gaius Dillius Vocula - legate of legion 22 Primigenia in Upper Germany; murdered in spring 70

70 summer - Vespasian returned to Italy in the late summer of 70; he claimed 40 thousand million sesterces were needed to support the state and increased (sometimes doubled) provincial taxation - such measures were essential after the costs incurred by nero and the devestation of the Civil Wars

70 Vespasian regrouped the legions - six legions in Cappadocia, Syria and Judaea (? - 1,4,1 or 2,3,1 - ?)
70 Legion III Gallica moved back to Syria
70 Legion VIII Augusta moved to upper germany
70 Legion X Gemina (twin) moved to lower Germany
70 Legion XII Fulminata transferred to Cappadocia
70 Legion XVI Flavia Firma (Flavian Steadfast) - Vespasian reconstituted Legion XV Primigenia for station in the east; serving in Syria by 75
70 Legion XII Fulminata stationed at the town of Melitene in Cappadocia

70 Titus Clodius Epirus Marcellus - made proconsul of Asia 70-73
70 Lucius (Iunius Publius) Caesennius Paetus, appointed governor of Syria by Vespasian
70 Vespasian appointed L. Caecinnius Paetus (see 62 AD) as governor of Syria

70 Titus captured Jerusalem and was hailed as imperator by his troops
70 Legion X Fretensis took part in the siege of Jerusalem
70 victory of Vespasian and Titus, confirmed by the burning of Jerusalem and the (perhaps accidental) destruction of the Temple; Jewish owned land in judaea was expropriated

70 Agrippa II accompanied Titus during the later stages of the war
70 After the war, Agrippa II was rewarded by an enlargement of his territory

70 Josephus remained close to Titus until the fall of Jerusalem, making several attempts to persuade the besieged city to surrender
70 Josephus was given roman citizenship and an imperial house to live in in Rome, a pension and land in Judea

70 Judea becomes a regular province, ruled by a praetorian legate who commanded a legion withdrawn from Syria
70 the province of Judea was governed by legates and a legion (X Fretensis) was stationed in Jerusalem
70 the camp of Legion X Fretensis was located at Jerusalem
70 Caesarea again becomes the administrative capital of Judaea
70 Caesarea Maritima made a colony by Vespasian

70 the failure of the revolt in palestine provoked (again) Greek-Jewish violence in a number of cities

70 Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai and a few colleagues start an academy at Jamnia (Yavneh) in Judaea, which became the foundation of rabbinic Judaism
70 Jewish religious and cultural life centered for a generation on Jamnia (Jabneh), an enclave on the Judean coast, where a new definition of Judaism without a Temple was evolved by the first rabbis
70 the rabbis emphasized study as a form of worship

70 c.70 - Suetonius born (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus) - Latin biographer of the first twelve caesars, "De vita Cesarum" (The Caesars), published in the early 2nd century


Anon...

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