Events, Verisoph

168 BCE to 161 BCE Maccabean revolt and the rededication of the Temple 0 cit. Jews led by the Maccabees revolt against the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV, who had banned Jewish practice and defiled the Temple. Their victory restores Jewish worship and independence under the Hasmonean dynasty. The rededication of the Temple is remembered in the festival of Hanukkah. politics / religion / war ●●

167 BCE to 164 BCE The Maccabean Revolt 0 cit. Jewish fighters led by the Maccabees rebelled against the Seleucid king Antiochus IV after he restricted Jewish practice. Their rededication of the Temple is commemorated as Hanukkah. religion / war ●●●

165 BCE The Maccabean Revolt and Rededication 0 cit. Judas Maccabeus and his brothers drive out the Seleucid forces and rededicate the Temple in 165 BC by the traditional reckoning. The feast of dedication, Hanukkah, commemorates the event. politics / religion / war ●●●

c. 161 BCE to c. 70 The Pharisees and the doctrine of the Oral Torah 0 cit. The Pharisees taught that alongside the Written Torah of Moses ran an Oral Torah, an unwritten body of interpretation and law handed down through the sages. This claim, rejected by the rival Sadducees, became the foundation of the later rabbinic and legal tradition of Judaism. culture / religion ●●●

c. 150 BCE Hellenistic astrology fuses Babylon and Egypt 0 cit. In Greek-ruled Egypt, Babylonian planetary science, the zodiac, and Egyptian ideas combine into horoscopic astrology, complete with the twelve houses and the rising sign. This Hellenistic synthesis is the direct ancestor of all Western astrology. culture / religion ●●●●

149 BCE to 146 BCE Third Punic War 0 cit. no story Rome besieges and destroys Carthage, killing or enslaving its population. The city's territory becomes the Roman province of Africa. war ●●●

146 BCE Destruction of Carthage 0 cit. In 146 BC Roman forces ended the Third Punic War by storming and razing Carthage. The city was destroyed, its people enslaved, and its territory became the Roman province of Africa. politics / war ●●●●

141 BCE Han Empire grows to 57 million subjects ai_extracted 1 cit. no story The Han Empire started to emerge by 140 B.C. and became even more impressive in scope and organization than preceding Chinese empires. By the Christian era, no fewer than 57 million people were subject to its authority. ●●

c. 140 BCE The Hasmonean Kingdom 0 cit. The Hasmonean dynasty established an independent Jewish state in Judea that lasted until Roman intervention. It expanded Judean territory across much of the region. politics / religion ●●

c. 140 BCE Hipparchus builds on Babylonian records 0 cit. The greatest Greek astronomer, Hipparchus, uses centuries of Babylonian eclipse and planetary records to build his own theories, borrowing their arithmetic and their degrees. Babylonian science is the hidden foundation beneath Greek astronomy. culture / science ●●●

138 BCE Zhang Qian's mission and the opening of the Silk Road 0 cit. Emperor Wu sent the envoy Zhang Qian west around 138 BCE to seek allies against the Xiongnu. His journeys opened the overland trade routes later known as the Silk Road, linking China with Central Asia and beyond. economy / exploration ●●●●●

138 BCE Buddhist monastery built on the Kailas Range ai_extracted 1 cit. no story A Buddhist monastery was constructed on the slopes of the Kailas Range as far back as 137 BCE, showing early Buddhist penetration into Central Asia ●●

136 BCE Confucianism becomes state ideology 0 cit. Under Emperor Wu, the Han court adopted Confucianism as the guiding philosophy of the state. Officials were increasingly chosen for their knowledge of Confucian classics. politics / religion ●●●●

c. 133 BCE to c. 89 Han-Xiongnu Wars 0 cit. no story Han China fights a two-century intermittent war against the Xiongnu nomad confederation on its northern frontier. Han victories open the Silk Road and break Xiongnu power in the steppe. war ●●●

124 BCE Han China founds the Taixue imperial academy 0 cit. Emperor Wu of Han established the Taixue in 124 BC to train officials in the Confucian classics. It tied advancement in the state to a standard curriculum, an early link between schooling and government service. politics / society ●●●

c. 118 BCE The Han wu zhu coin 0 cit. Emperor Wu of Han standardized the bronze wu zhu coin, which stayed in production in various forms for over seven hundred years. It gave China a stable and long-lived unit of small change. economy ●●●

113 BCE to 101 BCE Cimbrian War 0 cit. no story The migrating Cimbri and Teutones crush several Roman armies before Gaius Marius destroys them. The emergency drives Marius' army reforms, which reshape Roman politics. war ●●

112 BCE to 106 BCE Jugurthine War 0 cit. no story Rome fights King Jugurtha of Numidia in a war marked by bribery scandals at home. The conflict launches the careers of Marius and Sulla. war ●●

108 BCE Marian reforms of the Roman army 0 cit. Consul Gaius Marius opened army recruitment to landless citizens, previously excluded, turning the Roman army into an effectively professional, standing force rather than a temporary levy of property owners. The state now equipped soldiers, who served long terms for pay and expected land grants on discharge. The reform strengthened Rome militarily but made legions loyal to individual generals rather than the state, a factor in the civil wars that followed. politics / war ●●●

c. 108 BCE Marian Reforms Professionalize Rome's Army 0 cit. The consul Gaius Marius opened army recruitment to landless citizens and put the state, rather than individual soldiers, in charge of equipping the legions. Soldiers now served long terms for pay and looked to their generals, rather than the Senate, for land grants and rewards after discharge. The reform created Rome's first professional standing army and tied soldiers' loyalty to individual commanders, a shift historians link to the collapse of the Republic. politics / war ●●●

c. 101 BCE The Celts honor Lugh, the Dagda, and Brigid 0 cit. Celtic peoples worshiped gods such as the skilled Lugh, the fatherly Dagda, and the goddess Brigid, known mostly from Irish texts and Roman accounts. Many local deities were tied to springs, rivers, and tribes. culture / religion ●●

c. 101 BCE The Nazca and their desert geoglyphs 0 cit. On the arid southern coast the Nazca culture etches enormous lines and figures into the desert floor, the Nazca Lines, and digs underground aqueducts called puquios to survive in a dry land. The exact purpose of the geoglyphs is still debated, with explanations ranging from ritual pathways to water and astronomical markers. culture / religion ●●

c. 100 BCE to c. 100 Emergence of Mahayana Buddhism 0 cit. New sutras and the bodhisattva ideal give rise to the Mahayana movement within Indian Buddhism. Mahayana becomes the dominant form of Buddhism in East Asia. religion ●●●

c. 100 BCE Founding of Teotihuacan 0 cit. The city of Teotihuacan was established in the Valley of Mexico. It grew into one of the largest cities in the ancient world with its great pyramids. culture / society ●●●●

91 BCE to 87 BCE Social War 0 cit. no story Rome's Italian allies revolt after being denied citizenship. Rome wins the war but concedes citizenship to most Italians, transforming the Roman state. politics / war ●●

c. 91 BCE Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian 0 cit. Sima Qian completed a comprehensive history of China from legendary times to his own era. It set the model for later Chinese official histories. culture ●●●

88 BCE to 63 BCE Mithridatic Wars 0 cit. no story Rome fights three wars against Mithridates VI of Pontus, who massacres Roman settlers and overruns Roman Asia. Pompey's final victory brings most of Anatolia and the Levant under Roman control. war ●●●

c. 84 BCE to c. 70 BCE Tigranes the Great builds a short-lived empire 0 cit. Tigranes the Great expands Armenia into a brief regional empire stretching from the Caspian toward the Mediterranean, taking the title King of Kings and building a new capital, Tigranocerta. His empire collapses quickly when Rome intervenes; the Roman general Lucullus defeats him at Tigranocerta in 69 BCE. Armenia soon becomes a buffer and battleground between Rome and Parthia. politics / war ●●●

74 BCE to 72 BCE The revolt of Spartacus 0 cit. An enslaved gladiator named Spartacus led a rebellion of tens of thousands against Rome. The uprising was defeated and thousands of the captured were crucified along the Appian Way. society / war ●●●

73 BCE to 71 BCE Third Servile War 0 cit. no story The gladiator Spartacus leads a slave revolt that defeats several Roman armies before Crassus crushes it. Thousands of captured rebels are crucified along the Appian Way. society / war ●●

72 BCE The crucifixions along the Appian Way 0 cit. no story After crushing the slave revolt led by Spartacus in 71 BCE, the Roman general Crassus had about 6,000 captured rebels crucified along the Appian Way between Capua and Rome. The bodies lined the road for days as a public warning. ●●

63 BCE Pompey Takes Jerusalem 0 cit. The Roman general Pompey captures Jerusalem in 63 BC and Judea comes under Roman power. This sets the political stage of the New Testament era. politics / war ●●

63 BCE Roman Conquest of Judea 0 cit. The Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BCE and brought Judea under Roman influence. Local client rulers governed under Roman authority. politics / war ●●●

58 BCE to 50 BCE Gallic Wars 0 cit. no story Julius Caesar conquers Gaul in eight years of campaigning, defeating the great revolt of Vercingetorix at Alesia. The conquest kills or enslaves millions and brings Gaul permanently into the Roman world. war ●●●●

c. 57 BCE Founding of Silla 0 cit. Silla was founded in the southeast of the Korean peninsula as one of the Three Kingdoms. It later unified much of Korea under its rule. politics ●●●

c. 54 BCE to c. 628 Roman-Persian Wars 0 cit. no story Rome and then Byzantium fight Parthian and Sasanian Persia in a nearly seven-century series of frontier wars. The long rivalry exhausts both empires on the eve of the Arab conquests. war ●●●●

c. 51 BCE Slavery in ancient Rome 0 cit. Slavery was central to the Roman economy, and enslaved people may have made up a fifth to a third of Italy's population. Most were captives of war, put to work in fields, mines and households. economy / society ●●●●

c. 51 BCE The cult of Isis reaches Rome and the wider empire 0 cit. The Egyptian goddess Isis gained a devoted following across the Roman Empire, with temples and mystery rites promising salvation. Her worship crossed classes and endured into late antiquity. culture / religion ●●

c. 50 BCE Glassblowing 0 cit. Craftsmen learned to inflate molten glass with a blowpipe to shape vessels quickly. Glassblowing made glass affordable and common for the first time. technology ●●

c. 50 BCE Salt as a medium of exchange 0 cit. Salt was valued for preserving food and was traded across long distances as a form of payment. Its economic importance survives in words and phrases tied to wages and value. culture / economy ●●

c. January 50 BCE Julius Caesar Crosses the Rubicon 0 cit. Julius Caesar led his legion across the Rubicon River into Italy, defying the Roman Senate's order to disband his army before returning to Rome. The act triggered civil war and marked one of the clearest breaches of the principle that Roman generals should not turn their armies against the civilian state. It became a lasting example of praetorianism: a military commander using his troops for domestic political power. politics / war ●●●

49 BCE to 45 BCE Caesar's Civil War 0 cit. no story Caesar crosses the Rubicon and defeats Pompey and the Senate's forces across Greece, Egypt, Africa, and Spain. His victory ends the Roman Republic in all but name. politics / war ●●●●

15 March 45 BCE Assassination of Julius Caesar 0 cit. Roman senators stab Caesar to death on the Ides of March, hoping to save the Republic. Instead the murder triggers civil wars that end the Republic and bring one-man rule under Augustus. politics ●●●●

c. 45 BCE July and August are renamed for Julius Caesar and Augustus 0 cit. The month Quintilis was renamed July for Julius Caesar after his calendar reform, and Sextilis became August for the emperor Augustus. Both men were later honored as divine by the Roman state. culture / politics ●●

15 March 44 BCE Julius Caesar is assassinated 0 cit. Senators who feared Caesar was becoming a king stabbed him to death in an attempt to save the republic. Instead his death led to civil war and the end of republican government. politics / war ●●●●

c. 37 BCE Founding of Goguryeo 0 cit. Goguryeo arose in the north of the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. It grew into a powerful kingdom that resisted Chinese expansion. politics ●●●

32 BCE to 30 BCE Final War of the Roman Republic 0 cit. no story Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra at the naval battle of Actium and annexes Egypt. The victory makes him Rome's first emperor as Augustus. politics / war ●●●●

2 September 32 BCE Battle of Actium 0 cit. Octavian's fleet defeats Antony and Cleopatra off the coast of Greece, leaving him sole master of the Roman world. The victory ends the Roman Republic's civil wars and opens the age of emperors. politics / war ●●●●

August 30 BCE End of Ptolemaic Egypt 0 cit. In 30 BC, after defeat at Actium, Cleopatra VII took her own life and Octavian annexed Egypt. The death of the last Ptolemaic ruler ended three centuries of Greek dynastic rule over Egypt. politics / war ●●●●

c. 29 BCE Pali Canon written down in Sri Lanka 0 cit. Sri Lankan monks commit the Buddhist scriptures to writing for the first time, according to Theravada tradition. The written Pali Canon anchors the Theravada school of Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. culture / religion ●●●

c. 28 BCE Praetorian Guard established 0 cit. Emperor Augustus formally organized the Praetorian Guard as a standing bodyguard for the Roman emperor, drawing on the older tradition of a general's personal cohort. Nine cohorts were stationed in and around Rome, eventually barracked at the Castra Praetoria. The guard became the most privileged unit in the Roman army, with higher pay and shorter service terms than legionaries. politics / war ●●

c. 28 BCE Augustus Establishes the Praetorian Guard 0 cit. Emperor Augustus formalized the Praetorian Guard, an elite force stationed in and around Rome to protect the emperor. Over the following two centuries the Guard repeatedly made and unmade emperors, becoming the textbook case of praetorianism, where the very troops meant to guard the state's ruler instead control who rules. The term "praetorian" entered later political vocabulary to describe any military force that dominates civilian government. politics / war ●●

16 January 27 BCE End of the Roman Republic 0 cit. On 16 January 27 BC the Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus, confirming his sole authority over the Roman state. The move marked the effective end of the Republic and the beginning of imperial rule. politics ●●●●●

27 BCE Founding of the Roman Empire 0 cit. Augustus became the first Roman emperor after the end of the civil wars. His reign began a long period of imperial rule over the Mediterranean world. politics ●●●●●

c. 27 BCE Augustus turns the republic into empire 0 cit. After winning the civil wars, Octavian took the title Augustus and held real power while keeping the outward forms of the republic. Rome shifted from shared republican rule to one-man imperial government. politics ●●●●●

c. 24 BCE Rome keeps the accounts of an empire 0 cit. Roman households and the state kept systematic accounts. Heads of households recorded daily cash in a diary and posted it to a formal ledger, and the emperor Augustus published a summary of imperial finances, the rationarium, and left a record of his own accounts. Roman practice tracked receipts and payments carefully but did not use the balancing double-entry method that came later. economy / politics ●●

c. 20 BCE Herod the Great Expands the Temple 0 cit. Herod the Great, a Roman client king, launched a major expansion of the Second Temple and its complex in Jerusalem. The Western Wall is a remnant of that platform. culture / religion ●●

c. 19 BCE Herod Rebuilds the Temple 0 cit. Herod the Great begins a grand rebuilding of the Temple about 19 BC. This enlarged Second Temple is the one known in the Gospels. politics / religion ●●

c. 18 BCE Founding of Baekje 0 cit. Baekje was founded in the southwest of the Korean peninsula as one of the Three Kingdoms. It became a center of maritime trade and cultural exchange with Japan. politics ●●●

c. 14 BCE Augustus establishes standing imperial legions 0 cit. Augustus fixed legionary service at a set term of years, standardized pay, and stationed a fixed number of standing legions permanently along the frontiers rather than raising armies for individual campaigns. He created a state treasury, the aerarium militare, funded by new taxes to pay veterans' discharge bonuses. This turned the Roman army into a permanent institution of the empire rather than a citizen levy raised for each war. politics / war ●●

c. 11 BCE Rome transports Egyptian obelisks to the imperial capital 0 cit. Emperor Augustus has obelisks shipped from Egypt to Rome to adorn the Circus Maximus and other public spaces, beginning a long practice of Western powers relocating Egyptian obelisks as trophies of conquest and prestige; later popes re-erected several in the 16th century as Christianized monuments topped with crosses. culture / politics ●●

c. 4 BCE The Nativity 0 cit. Ussher dated the birth of Jesus to 4 BC, in Bethlehem of Judea, shortly before the death of Herod the Great. Ussher reckoned this as exactly 4000 years after the creation. religion ●●●●●

c. 2 BCE Khoikhoi pastoralism spreads to the Cape 0 cit. Khoikhoi herders, descended from San groups who adopted livestock, spread sheep and later cattle herding into the Cape region around two thousand years ago. They lived alongside San hunter-gatherers, with whom they shared close linguistic and cultural ties. Khoikhoi society was organized around clans and cattle wealth well before European contact. economy / society ●●

c. 1 Kenya at the time of Christ looked nothing like today 0 cit. Two thousand years ago almost none of Kenya's peoples were where they are now. The land was held by Southern Cushitic herders and older hunter-gatherer foragers. The Bantu were only reaching the Lake Victoria basin in the west, and would not settle the central highlands or the coast hinterland for another thousand years. The Luo were still in southern Sudan and the Maasai far to the north; both arrived only after 1500. The map of distinct tribes is only three to eight centuries old, redrawn by migration after the time of Christ. exploration / society ●●●

6 Judea Becomes a Roman Province 0 cit. Rome converted Judea into a directly administered province in 6 CE, governed by prefects and procurators. Tension between Roman rule and Jewish religious life grew over the following decades. politics / religion ●●

September 9 Battle of the Teutoburg Forest wikidata 0 cit. no story battle between a coalition of Germanic peoples and an Imperial Roman army, 9 BCE ●●

9 Wang Mang and the Xin interregnum 0 cit. The official Wang Mang seized the throne in 9 CE and founded the short-lived Xin dynasty. His radical reforms failed and rebellion soon toppled him. politics ●●●

c. 16 Rome expels its astrologers, then obeys them 0 cit. Roman emperors repeatedly banish astrologers from the city while secretly keeping their own, so feared was the power to read a ruler's death in the stars. Astrology sat at the heart of Roman politics even as it was outlawed. politics / religion ●●

25 Restoration of the Eastern Han 0 cit. Emperor Guangwu restored the Han dynasty in 25 CE and moved the capital to Luoyang. This Eastern Han period lasted nearly two centuries. politics ●●●

c. 27 Baptism of Jesus and Start of the Ministry 0 cit. By the traditional reckoning Jesus is baptized by John in the Jordan about AD 27, in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, and begins his public ministry in Galilee. religion ●●●●

c. 30 Crucifixion of Jesus 0 cit. Roman authorities execute Jesus of Nazareth outside Jerusalem around the year 30. His followers' belief in his resurrection founds Christianity, which grows into the world's largest religion. religion ●●●●●

c. 30 Rise of the Kushan Empire 0 cit. Kujula Kadphises united the Yuezhi tribes and founded the Kushan Empire across Central and South Asia. The Kushans linked trade routes between China, India, and Rome. economy / politics ●●●●

c. 30 Philo of Alexandria bridges Logos and Scripture 0 cit. The Jewish philosopher Philo fused Greek thought with the Hebrew Bible, casting the Logos as a mediating power between the transcendent God and the created world. His synthesis shaped later Christian theology. ●●

c. 33 The Crucifixion and Resurrection 0 cit. The traditional dating places the crucifixion of Jesus at Jerusalem in AD 33, with AD 30 the main alternative, followed by the resurrection on the third day in the Gospel accounts. Ussher himself held to AD 33. religion ●●●●●

c. 33 Pentecost 0 cit. Fifty days after the resurrection, in the traditional reckoning of AD 33, the Holy Spirit descends on the disciples at Jerusalem. Acts presents this as the founding moment of the Christian church. religion ●●●●

33 Rome's bank panic under Tiberius ai_extracted 1 cit. no story Ahamed dates the first documented bank panic to A.D. 33, when the Emperor Tiberius injected public money to keep the Roman credit system from collapsing. It shows financial crises are far older than modern capitalism. ●●

c. 35 Conversion of Paul 0 cit. About AD 35 in the traditional reckoning Saul of Tarsus is converted on the road to Damascus. As the apostle Paul he becomes the leading missionary of the early church. religion ●●●

c. 43 to c. 84 Roman Conquest of Britain 0 cit. no story Rome invades Britain under Claudius and subdues most of the island over four decades, crushing Boudica's revolt along the way. Britain remains a Roman province for over 350 years. war ●●●

c. 45 to c. 58 Paul's Missionary Journeys 0 cit. Between about AD 45 and 58 Paul makes three missionary journeys from Antioch through Asia Minor and Greece, founding churches and writing many of the New Testament letters. exploration / religion ●●●

c. 50 The Council of Jerusalem 0 cit. About AD 50 the apostles and elders meet at Jerusalem to decide whether Gentile converts must keep the law of Moses. Acts 15 records their decision that they need not be circumcised. religion ●●

c. 55 Seneca, the Stoic at Nero’s court 0 cit. The statesman and playwright Seneca served as tutor and adviser to the emperor Nero while writing letters and essays that carried Stoic ethics to a Roman audience. Ordered to kill himself in 65 CE, he died as a Stoic sage was meant to. ●●

c. 60 to c. 62 Paul Imprisoned in Rome 0 cit. About AD 60 to 62 Paul is held under guard in Rome awaiting trial before Caesar, where Acts leaves him preaching freely. Several of his letters are traditionally assigned to this imprisonment. religion ●●

66 to 73 First Jewish-Roman War 0 cit. A Jewish revolt against Roman rule ends with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 CE. The war scatters the Jewish population and reshapes Judaism. religion / war ●●●

c. 67 Martyrdom of Peter and Paul 0 cit. Church tradition places the deaths of the apostles Peter and Paul at Rome about AD 67, under the persecution of Nero. religion ●●●

c. 67 Buddhism reaches China 0 cit. Chinese tradition dates the official arrival of Buddhism to an embassy under Emperor Ming, followed by the founding of the White Horse Temple at Luoyang. Buddhism goes on to become one of China's three major teachings. religion ●●●●

c. 67 Arrival of Buddhism in China 0 cit. Buddhism reached China from India along the Silk Road during the first century CE. Tradition dates its official introduction to Emperor Ming of Han and the founding of the White Horse Temple. religion ●●●●●

70 Fall of Jerusalem 0 cit. In AD 70 the Roman army under Titus destroys Jerusalem and burns the Second Temple. Christian tradition read the event as the fulfillment of Jesus's prophecy in the Gospels. politics / religion / war ●●●●

c. 70 Academy at Yavneh and the rise of rabbinic Judaism 0 cit. Tradition holds that Yohanan ben Zakkai establishes an academy at Yavneh after the loss of the Temple. There the rabbis reorganize Judaism around Torah study, prayer, and law rather than sacrifice. religion ●●●●

September 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and Fall of Judea 0 cit. In 70 CE Roman legions under Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple, ending the First Jewish-Roman War. The Judean commonwealth was crushed and its people scattered. politics / religion / war ●●●●

August 70 Destruction of the Second Temple 0 cit. Roman forces under Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE. The date is mourned in Judaism as Tisha B'Av and marked a turning point toward rabbinic Judaism. religion / war ●●●●●

70 Second Temple in Jerusalem destroyed ai_extracted 1 cit. no story The Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, marking the beginning of the Rabbinic Age in Judaism when the priesthood and temple order no longer existed and the Jewish people became dispersed around the world. ●●

August 70 Roman destruction of the Second Temple 0 cit. Roman forces under Titus crush the Jewish revolt and burn the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The loss of the Temple ends sacrificial worship and forces a lasting reshaping of the religion around study, prayer, and law. Its destruction is still mourned on the fast of Tisha B'Av. religion / war ●●●

71 Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem ai_extracted 1 cit. no story The Second Temple was destroyed, referenced as a date tied to zodiacal and numerological significance in Blavatsky's esoteric interpretation of biblical symbolism ●●

c. 73 Fall of Masada 0 cit. According to the historian Josephus, the last Jewish rebels at the desert fortress of Masada died as Roman forces closed in around 73 or 74 CE. The site later became a national symbol in Israel. culture / war ●●

c. 75 The last cuneiform tablet is an astronomical almanac 0 cit. The very last datable cuneiform texts, written when Babylon was already a ruin, are astronomical almanacs. The science of the stars was the final thing the world's oldest written civilization kept recording, outliving its temples and its kings. science / society ●●●

80 The Colosseum opens in Rome 0 cit. The emperor Titus opened the Colosseum with a hundred days of games. Gladiator fights and staged spectacles drew tens of thousands as mass public entertainment. culture / society ●●●●

c. 90 Pascha: Easter grows out of the Jewish Passover 0 cit. The earliest Christians tied Jesus's death and resurrection to the Jewish Passover, Pesach, at which it happened. In most of the world's languages Easter is still called some form of Pascha, from Passover, which is the festival's true root and name, not the Babylonian Ishtar of popular myth. culture / religion ●●●●

c. 95 Revelation names Rome 'Mystery, Babylon the Great' 0 cit. The Book of Revelation casts the Roman Empire as 'Babylon the Great, mother of harlots', turning Babylon into the enduring symbol of worldly power and corruption. The image still drives religious and conspiratorial talk of a 'Mystery Babylon' today. culture / religion ●●●

c. 96 Revelation on Patmos 0 cit. Tradition places the visions of the book of Revelation about AD 96, received by John in exile on the island of Patmos in the reign of Domitian. With it the New Testament canon closes. religion ●●●

c. 98 Tacitus records the gods of the Germanic tribes 0 cit. In his Germania, the Roman historian Tacitus described Germanic worship and matched their gods to Roman ones such as Mercury and Mars. These early gods are ancestors of the later Norse deities. religion / society ●●