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About This Project
Vol.I - Augustus Caesar
- 9 BC - Zechariah & Gabriel
- 8 BC - Elizabeth & Mary
- 7 BC - Census in Bethlehem
- 6 BC - Living in Egypt
- 5 BC - Herod and Governor Varus
- 4 BC - Herod dies; Joseph picks Nazareth to avoid Archelaus; Varus puts down four rebellions
- 3 BC - Israel Split Three Ways
- 2 BC - Arabian Peace
- 1 BC - Caesar's Grandson
- 1 AD - Gaius, Aretas, Antipas
- 2 AD - Quirinius and Gaius
- 3 AD - Gaius lays dying
- 4 AD - Tiberius Caesar!
- 5 AD - Caesar warns Archelaus
- 6 AD - Jesus turns 12; Archelaus exiled; Quirinius takes Judea
- 7 AD - Jesus still 12 at Passover
- 8 AD - Illyricum
- 9 AD - Pannonia & Dalmatia
- 10 AD - Hillel & Gamaliel
- 11 AD - Germanicus Caesar...
- 12 AD - Tiberius back to Rome
- 13 AD - Equal Power; Still #2!
- 14 AD - Augustus dies; Tiberius Rules
Vol.II - Tiberius Caesar
Vol.III - Caligula & Claudius
Vol.IV - Nero and Beyond
Extras: Before 9 BC
About Me
- Bill Heroman
- Arlington, Texas, United States
- Believer, Husband, Father, Reader, Writer, Teacher
2 notes:
Major Sources for this year include Suetonius 3.15 and Cassius Dio 55.10a.7-9 & 55.12.3-13.1.
Archelaus’ 2nd thru 9th years of rule are barely mentioned in Josephus’ Antiquities (17:340-1).
But the years of Jesus getting left in Jerusalem perfectly match the years of Archelaus' rule, which means it's not a coincidence! Anyway, the scripture references for these years are Matthew 2:22 and Luke 2:41.
Here are the footnotes to the manuscript (draft) version of 3 AD:
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1 Ariobarzanes the Mede was chosen last year by Caesar, to be appointed in Armenia.
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2 Syria now has no Governor, for a brief time. There was no “vice-Governor” to step in. Gaius’ staff of Praetors and other subordinates would have stayed, to run things, but no one person was over them. It certainly wasn’t Quirinius. At this point, Quirinius was still bound by his original charge, which was to advise and watch out for the Emperor’s grandson. We have every reason to expect Quirinius stayed alongside Gaius until the very end.
Without Gaius in Syria, the Legion’s Commanders didn’t have anyone with the authority to lead them outside of the province. After this year, Ariobarzanes gets killed and a series of Kings struggle over Armenia. Meanwhile, in Parthia this year, Phrataces scandalously wed his own mother! The Parthian nobles were so disgusted they began plotting an overthrow, which happens next year – after which Parthia also goes through a series of Kings for several years.
There’s a lot of history there, but it doesn’t really affect the rest of our story, except to point out that Parthia & Armenia remain unstable as long as Rome keeps ignoring them; and that Rome basically has to keep ignoring them as long as the uprisings in Europe keep happening!
But for now, here’s the story: The Kingdoms of Parthia & Armenia are going to be unstable for about a decade, and Rome is going to ignore both completely until after the Death of Augustus. So this is the last real mention worth making of either far eastern Kingdom until 17-18 AD.
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3 It’s interesting that Limyra is close to the foot of the Via Sebaste, that same Galatian road that Quirinius used to march around Pisidia from 5 to 2 BC. It’s tempting to imagine Quirinius convincing Gaius to winter early, reasoning that he knew the area so well. Ironically, Rhoads wasn’t much farther down the coast!
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4 There were still rumors about Livia’s involvement in Lucius’ death and Gaius’ wounding. Also this year, the Roman people pressed Augustus to let his daughter, Julia return from exile. He absolutely refused, but they kept pleading with him until next year, when he lets her move to a nicer place on the mainland.
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