Introduction
A note on the above photo.
Listen to the era here.
100 B.C.
Eyes of Rome turn toward Britain as a source of wealth and trade (Foundations, by Peter Ackroyd, pg. 22)
The Isaiah Scroll, a complete copy of the book of Isaiah, is copied by the Qumran community (100-75 B.C.)
75 B.C.
In Korea, the Goguryeo, a federation of warrior tribes, are living just north of the Yalu River, skilled horsemen and archers, they were culturally related to the nomads of the great Eurasian steppe, from whom they may be descended, they first appear in Chinese records around this year as a group engaged in peaceful trade, however, from the first century AD, they began to gradually move south, raiding northern Korea and stirring up trouble for the Chinese in the process
64 B.C.
Strabo, a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire, is born in Amaseia, Pontus, (modern-day Amasya, Turkey),
“What the Britons thought about themselves, and their place in the wider world, is a matter of speculation. It is clear, though, that just as Britain was becoming a reality for Rome in the first century B.C., so was Rome looming larger for the Britons. There were trade links: luxury goods from the Roman world began increasingly to be placed in the graves of the British elite; there are finds of glass vessels, of fig pipes, of amphorae once filled with Mediterranean wine. According to Strabo, Britain was an exporter: of hides, hunting dogs and slaves.”
(Under Another Sky pg. 10)
60 B.C.
Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian and the author of a universal history called the Library, travels to Egypt between 60-57, his Library consisted of 40 books, 15 of which survive (Encyclopedia Britannica)
“and they [the books of the Library] include a description of Britain, in his Greek rendering Pretennia – the first surviving use of the word. Tantalizingly, he promises to return to the subject of Britain in more detail when he comes to describe the actions of Caesar, but that part of the book is lost.”
(Under Another Sky pg. 9)
55 B.C.
Julius Caesar invades Britain for the first time, it does not go well
50 B.C.
Julius Caesar records the existence of Druids in Britain, he records that the high priests of England, the Druids, adverts to the practice of human sacrifice, he says they create wicker-work which ‘they fill with living men and, setting them on fire, the men are destroyed by the flames,’ in his account the Druids priests are the lawmakers of the land who determine rewards and punishments, they settle disputes over boundaries and over property (Foundation 21)
The Roman writer Pliny (around this time?) records that the Druids ‘esteem nothing more sacred that the mistletoe’ and that the high priests ‘select groves of oak, and use the leaves of the mistletoe in all sacred rites,’ the sacrificial victim was tied to the trunk of the oak tree, and his priestly killers wore chaplets of oak leaves, the Druids practiced divination, magic and astrology, they believed in the immortality of the soul that passes through various incarnations, they worshipped the sun and moon also (Foundation pg. 21) (Click here to see a present day Druid Website)
53 B.C.
Battle of Carrhae takes place (between Parthians and Romans), Crassus is captured and executed by the Parthians (ancient.eu)
47 B.C.
Herod the Great begins his career as military governor over Galilee
46 B.C.
Octavius (later Caesar Augustus) accompanies Julius Caesar on his triumphal procession after his victory in Africa over his opponents in the Civil War (Encyclopedia Britannica)
45 B.C.
Octavius, despite his ill health, joins the dictator, Julius Caesar in Spain (Encyclopedia Britannica)
44 B.C.
March 15 Julius Caesar is assassinated, the Ides of March
Octavius hears of Caesar's death while completing his academic and military studies in Apollonia (now in Albania), when he travels back to Italy, he is told that Caesar had adopted him as his son and heir, against the advice of his stepfather and others, he decided to take up this perilous inheritance and proceeded to Rome (Encyclopedia Britannica)
43 B.C.
December 7, Cicero is assassinated in Formia, Italy
42 B.C.
After the civil war following Julius Caesar’s assassination, Octavian (Augustus) and Mark Antony defeated the forces of Cassius and Brutus at a major battle near Philippi
40 B.C.
Herod the Great is appointed king of Judea by the Roman Senate
38 B.C.
Octavian (later called Caesar Augustus) marries Livia Drusilla and forms a significant link with the aristocracy (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The land of present day Spain becomes a Roman province called Hispania; Hispania had already been a part of Greece, and therefore has many Greek ruins, including a 120ft. lighthouse off the coast of Galicia, “The Romans built not only highways, theaters, circuses, bridges, aqueducts, and temples; they also brought their political and juridical institutions and their concepts of social and family life,” wrote the French historian Jean Descola (IWQ pg. 10)
37 B.C.
After suppressing a significant opposition from the aristocracy in Jerusalem, Herod the Great officially begins his reign in Judea
29 B.C.
The first temple to the actual “godhead” of the emperor is built in Pergamum in Asia Minor (Church History in Plain Language pg. 43)
Caesar Augustus centers his administration of the province of Africa on the site of Carthage, thereafter it became known as Colonia Julia Carthago, and it soon grows prosperous enough to be ranked with Alexandria and Antioch; Carthage became a favorite city of the emperors, though none resided there (Encyclopedia Britannica)
27 B.C.
RULERS & ROYALTY: Cesar Augustus begins his rule
Gallia Aquitania is established after the Gallic Wars (it will later be the Duchy of Aquitaine, where Eleanor of Aquitaine is from, and will be part of the Angevin Empire)
19 B.C.
Arch of Augustus is built in Rome to commemorate victory over the Parthians
END OF INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD & NEW TESTAMENT BEGINS
15 B.C.
Roman brothers, Tiberius & Drusus conquer the Alps and make them part of the Roman Empire. (The History of Switzerland, Green)
6 B.C.
Jesus is born in Bethlehem (now in the West Bank) because of Caesar Augusts’ census (Luke 2:2 says that this was “the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria” but right now we only have archaeological evidence that Publius Sulpicious Quirinius was appointed governor of Syria in A.D. 6, so either this was a different Quirinius, or it’s the same Quirinius and he had an earlier term before this one.)
Jesus was most likely born in a cave that was being used as a stable (Justine Martyr in the second century identified a cave near the village as Jesus’ birthplace, there are written references of the Nativity Cave that go back to A.D. 160)
Early in the year 6 B.C., Gabriel appears to Zechariah in the Temple while he is burning incense at the altar and tells him he will have a son and quotes Malachi 4:5-6, the last prophecy given in the Old Testament:
“He will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17
John the Baptist is born only months before Jesus
4 B.C.
Magi from the east come to visit Jesus, who is now two years old (magi were originally a religious caste among Persians, Magi were devoted to astrology, divination, and the interpretation of dreams, this led to the extension of the meaning of the word, and by the first century B.C. the terms magi and Chaldean were generally used to describe fortune tellers and the exponents of esoteric religious cults throughout the Mediterranean world. “Magus” or “Sorcerer” is the name given to Simon in Acts 8:9 and several others)
When the Magi (could have been two, or could have been more than three) visited Herod the Great, the king became fearful that armies from the east would join together and depose him. Herod the Great had usurped power by aligning himself with Rome and was not the true heir to the throne)
Herod the Great dies that same year, and his son Archelaus begins his rule in Judea, but is unusually cruel and tyrannical and is eventually deposed 10 years later—he is the reason Joseph and Mary settle in Nazareth in the district of Galilee, the gold, incense and myrrh the Magi gifted, were the most valuable, transportable and marketable items of the day, and was perfect for sustaining Mary and Joseph in Egypt
Seneca the Younger is born (stoic philosopher, dramatist, and statesman)
3 B.C.
RULERS & ROYALTY: The Han Dynasty rules in China – Augustus is Ceasar of Rome
Jesus turns one year old
2 B.C.
RULERS & ROYALTY: The Han Dynasty rules in China – Augustus is Ceasar of Rome
Jesus turns two years old
1 B.C.
RULERS & ROYALTY: The Han Dynasty rules in China – Augustus is Ceasar of Rome
Jesus turns three years old