Timeline of the First Century

27 BC

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• Augustus becomes the first Roman emperor.

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37 BC

 

• Herod becomes the king of Judea.

• Starts a long-term construction project to rebuild the second temple in Jerusalem.

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c. 6–4 BC

 

• Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.

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6 BC

 

• Sentius Saturninus, governor of Syria, begins the census of Judea (part of Syria at the time).

• Zealot insurgents revolt against the Romans over their mandatory census (cf. Acts 5:37).

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c. 4 BC

 

• Wise men visit Bethlehem to see Jesus.

• Herod massacres Judean children, followed by his own death.

• Judea is divided between Herod's sons; Antipas takes Galilee.

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c. AD 6

 

• Quirinius finishes the census of Judea.

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c. AD 7

 

• 12-year-old Jesus' bar mitzvah at the Jerusalem temple.

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AD 14

 

• Tiberius becomes the second Roman emperor.

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AD 26

 

• Pontius Pilate becomes Judea's fifth Roman governor.

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c. AD 28

 

• John the Baptist is executed by Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee and Perea.

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c. AD 25–30

 

• Jesus' ministry of teaching and healing.

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AD 30

 

• Jesus' trial before Pilate, crucifixion, and resurrection.

• Jesus ascends to heaven forty days after his resurrection.

• The apostles begin preaching about Jesus as the Messiah.

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c. AD 35

 

• The deacon Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr (Acts 7).

• Paul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus and becomes an apostle.

• Jesus' followers are first called "Christians" at Antioch (Acts 11:26).

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AD 37

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• Caligula becomes the third Roman emperor.

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AD 40

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• Caligula orders a statue of himself at the Jerusalem temple, nearly causing the Jews to revolt. 

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AD 41

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• Caligula is assassinated; Claudius becomes the fourth Roman emperor. 

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AD 44

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• Romans annex Judea as a province after Herod Agrippa dies. 

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c. AD 47–48

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• Paul's first missionary journey—with Barnabas, goes to Cyprus and Galatia. 

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AD 49

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• Claudius expels all of the Jews from Rome, including Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:2). 
   

c. AD 49–52

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• Paul's second missionary journey—with Silas, goes to Asia Minor and Greece.

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c. AD 50

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• Council of Jerusalem decides Christian Gentiles do not have to observe Jewish customs (Acts 15).

• Thessalonians receive Paul's earliest letter.

 

c. AD 50–70

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• The three synoptic gospels are written (in chronological order: Mark, Matthew, and Luke).

• An early Christian liturgical text known as the Didache is composed in Syria.

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c. AD 52

 

• Paul begins his third journey after visiting Jerusalem and Antioch.
   

c. AD 52–55

 

• Paul stays in Ephesus and writes the letters to the Galatians and the Corinthians.

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AD 54

 

• Nero becomes the fifth Roman emperor.
   

c. AD 55–57

 

• Paul travels through Greece and writes letters to the Romans.

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c. AD 57–64

 

• Paul returns to Jerusalem, where he is arrested and imprisoned at Caesarea Maritima.

• He appears before Festus and appeals to Caesar and voyages to Rome across the Mediterranean.

• While under house arrest in Rome, Paul writes letters to Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.

• Paul is released and possibly journeys to Spain; he writes letters to Timothy and Titus.

• Paul returns to Rome, where he is martyred.

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AD 64

 

• Great Fire of Rome, after which Peter and Paul are martyred.

• Nero blames the Christians for the fire while starting construction on his "Golden House."

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AD 66–73

 

• First Jewish–Roman War.

• Christians flee to Pella to escape the violence (cf. Matt. 24:16–21).

• Romans sack Jerusalem and its temple.

• Josephus writes about the Zealots' war against the Romans in The Jewish War.​

• Rome bans the Jews from entering Jerusalem with the threat of death.

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AD 68

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• Essenes hide their Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran to protect them from the Romans.

• Nero commits suicide.

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AD 68–69

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• "Year of the Four Emperors," including Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius.

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AD 79

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• Vespasian becomes the ninth Roman emperor.

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AD 70–1967

 

• "Times of the Gentiles" in Jerusalem (Luke 21:24) starts with the Roman siege and ends with the Six-Day War.

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AD 79

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• Titus becomes the tenth Roman emperor.

• Mount Vesuvius erupts and destroys the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
   

AD 80

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• Titus finishes the Colosseum that Vespasian first commissioned in AD 72; it holds 50,000 spectators.
   

c. AD 80–90

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• The gospel of John is written.

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AD 81

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• Arch of Titus built in Rome to commemorate Titus' victory over Judea.

• Domitian becomes the eleventh Roman emperor.

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c. AD 85–90

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• The three letters of John are written.

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c. AD 90

 

• John is exiled to Patmos and writes Revelation.

• Council of Jamnia canonizes the Hebrew Bible, the start of Rabbinic Judaism.

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AD 93–96

 

• Domitian's reign of terror, including the persecution of Christians.

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c. AD 100

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• Death of the apostle John.

• The codex first appears in Rome; Christians prefer it over the traditional Jewish scroll.
   

c. AD 110

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• Ignatius of Antioch becomes the first documented Christian martyr outside the Bible; dies at the Colosseum.

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AD 130–135

 

• Second Jewish–Roman War.

• Rome bans the Jews from entering Judea with the threat of death.

• Hadrian renames Judea "Palestine," the Latin rendering of Philistia, the main enemy of the ancient Israelites.

• Hadrian builds a temple to Jupiter on the temple mount and renames Jerusalem "Aelia Capitolina."
   

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