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Years of Tiberius
Tiberius' years are reckoned as factual (not regnal) beginning from his co-regency with Augustus in A.D. 12. By that reckoning, Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius and crucified in A.D. 30 (consistent with the harmonized gospel accounts of Passion Week) the 18th year of Tiberius as reported by Eusebius (as preserved in Jerome).
Synchronisms of Jesus Christ's baptism and crucifixion with Years of Tiberius and related history are developed in detail below and summarized in the following table:
Tiberius months JO ND JO ND JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD JA SD year AD Jesus The 1st year of Tiberius began as coregent in October of A.D. 12 and he was named head of state in September of A.D. 14 which pushed his factual year earlier two months, reckoned thereafter from the fall month of September through August of the following year.
Consequently, Tiberius' 15th year spanned the last 4 months of A.D. 26 (when Christ was baptized just after His 30th birthday) to the first 8 months of A.D. 27, and Tiberius' 18th year spanned the last 4 months of A.D. 29 into the first 8 months of A.D. 30 (when Christ was crucified on April 3rd).
Above, "JO" means January through October, "JA" means January through August, "SD" means September through December, and "ND" means November through December, all ranges inclusive.
It must be noted, there exist two double-dated coins which contradict the analysis below, and date Tiberius' reign as beginning A.D. 14 with Augustus' death. At present, these double dated coins aren't reconciled with the analysis below, and further research is being done on them and how Actian years are reckoned and synchronizations with other eras. These coins are:
Below are discussions of:
Tiberius' years are reckoned as "factual" meaning a full year or rule is reckoned from the actual accession to the anniversary of the same accession. The 1st year begins on the day of accession and the 2nd year begins exactly a year later. The basis for this assessment is:
- Seutonius seemingly uses a regnal year reckoning only for Tiberius' years subsequent to his joint-governorship with Augustus, but uses factual year reckoning for Augustus (giving Augustus credit for years shared with Tiberius), as well as for Caligula and Claudius.
- Tacitus seemingly uses factual year reckoning for Tiberius, but did not record history prior to Tiberius, and his history covering Caligula and Claudius is lost.
- Coins minted by Gratus and Pilate and circulated in Judea are dated consistent with a factual year reckoning for Tiberius.
Seutonius records of Julius; De Vita Caesarum: Julius:
LXXX. ... About sixty persons were engaged in the conspiracy against him, of whom Caius Cassius, and Marcus and Decimus Brutus were the chief. It was at first debated amongst them, whether they should attack him in the Campus Martius when he was taking the votes of the tribes, or some of them should throw him off the bridge. whilst others should be ready to stab him upon his fall; or else in the Via Sacra, or at the entrance of the theatre. But after public notice had been given by proclamation for the senate to assemble upon the ides of March [15th March], in the senate-house built by Pompey, they approved both of the time and place, as most fitting for their purpose.
LXXXVIII. He died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was ranked amongst the Gods, not only by a formal decree, but in the belief of the vulgar. For during the first games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his memory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be the soul of Caesar, now received into heaven: for which reason, likewise, he is represented on his statue with a star on his brow. The senate-house in which he was slain, was ordered to be shut up, and a decree made that the ides of March should be called parricidal, and the senate should never more assemble on that day.
Seutonius does not give a duration for Julius' reign, just his death on March 15, 44 B.C.
Seutonius records of Augustus; De Vita Caesarum: Augustus:
"VIII. He lost his father when he was only four years of age; … However, returning to Rome, he took possession of his inheritance, although his mother was apprehensive that such a measure might be attended with danger, and his step-father, Marcius Philippus, a man of consular-rank, very earnestly dissuaded him from it. From this time, collecting together a strong military force, he first held the government in conjunction with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, then with Antony only, for nearly twelve years, and at last in his own hands during a period of four and forty.
XCVIII. He expired in the same room in which his father Octavius had died, when the two Sextus's, Pompey and Apuleius, were consuls, upon the fourteenth of the calends of September [the 19th August], at the ninth hour of the day, being seventy-six years of age, wanting only thirty-five days. ... "
Octavian was renamed Augustus in 27 B.C. and was officially the first Roman emperor, but from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14 is 41 years, not "four and forty".
Subsequent to Julius Caesar's death in March of 44 B.C., a triumvirate of Octavian (Augustus), Lepidus and Antonius existed until Lepidus was removed in 36 B.C. and Antonius was defeated at Actium in 31 B.C. Consequently, rule in Augustus' "own hands" may have begun by full-year regnal reckoning in 30 B.C. through to A.D. 11 (the last full regnal year prior to joint governance with Tiberius in A.D. 12), which yields only 41 years of "government held in his own hands", not "four and forty".
By regnal accession year reckoning, and ignoring joint governance with Antonius and Lepidus, Augustus acceded to sole rule in 31 B.C., his 1st regnal year would begin 30 B.C., and upon his death on August 19 A.D. 14 would be credited with all of A.D. 14 as a regnal year, hence would have reigned 44 years: 30 B.C. through A.D. 14, but not "in his own hands" because the government was shared with Tiberius for the last 3 years of A.D. 12, 13, and 14.
Notably, if Seutonius reckons Augustus acceded to sole rule in 31 B.C., and his 1st regnal year would begin 30 B.C. and gives Augustus regnal year credit for all of A.D. 12 (the last year in which Augustus had some sole reign) and ignores the years of A.D. 13 and 14 during which Augustus shared governance with Tiberius, then regnal year reckoning still yields 42 years: 30 B.C. regnal years + A.D. 12 regnal years.
Seutonius' 44 year reckoning for Augustus is only possible in factual years (reckoned from the defeat of both Lepidus and Antonius) and including joint governance with Tiberius (in spite of the qualifier "in his own hands").
Seutonius records of Tiberius; De Vita Caesarum: Tiberius:
"LXXIII. ... But being detained by storms, and the increasing violence of his disorder, he died shortly afterwards, at a villa formerly belonging to Lucullus, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 87 and the twenty-third of his reign, upon the seventeenth of the calends of April [i6th March], in the consulship of Cneius Acerronius Proculus and Caius Pontius Niger."
The phrase "twenty-third of his reign" would generally imply full year regnal reckoning, and implicitly from A.D. 15 was the 1st regnal year with A.D. 14 being the accession year and ignoring joint governance This would be conclusive if it were the only evidence, and if Seutonius himself hadn't also recorded Tiberius' earlier express joint governance, by law.
Seutonius records of Caligula; De Vita Caesarum: Caius Caligula:
"LIX. He lived twenty-nine years and ruled three years, ten months and eight days."
By regnal accession year reckoning, Caligula acceded after Tiberius death in March of A.D. 37, 1st regnal year would begin January A.D. 38, and upon his death on January 24 A.D. 41 would be credited with all of A.D. 41 as a regnal year, hence would have reigned 4 years: 38, 39, 40 and 41, not "ruled three years, ten months and eight days". Seutonius is reckoning Caligula's reign in factual years.
Seutonius records of Claudius; De Vita Caesarum: Claudius:
"XLV. ... He died on the third day before the Ides of October in the consulship of Asinius Marcellus and Acilius Aviola, in the sixty-fourth year of his age and the fourteenth of his reign [October 13, 54 A.D.]. He was buried with regal pomp and enrolled among the gods, an honor neglected and finally annulled by Nero, but later restored to him by Vespasian."
By regnal accession year reckoning, Claudius acceded after Caligula's death on January 24 of A.D. 41 and Claudius 1st regnal year would begin January of A.D. 42, and upon his death on October 13, A.D> 54 would be credited with all of A.D. 54 as a regnal year, hence would have reigned 13 regnal years; 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54. Yet Seutonius credits Claudius with a 14th year of reign which is only possible by reckoning from January (or February) of A.D. 41 through and including October of A.D. 54, which is again a factual reckoning.
Tacitus records of Tiberius; The Annals - Book 6:
[6.51] And so died Tiberius, in the seventy eighth year of his age. ... On his return from Rhodes he ruled the emperor's now heirless house for twelve years, and the Roman world, with absolute sway, for about twenty-three. ...
Note Tacitus' precise qualification "with absolute sway for about". Tacitus doesn't simply say "Tiberius ruled the Roman world for twenty three years", because it was neither twenty three years nor always absolute. It was longer and had a co-regency period.
By regnal accession reckoning from Augustus' death in August of A.D. 14, Tiberius' 1st regnal year wouldn't begin until January of A.D. 15 and his last regnal year would run until January of A.D. 38 following his death, and his reign would then be exactly 23 full regnal years. But Tacitus doesn't say 23 years, rather Tacitus qualifies with "absolute sway for about" twenty three years.
Tacitus was precise in his wording because he a) wasn't reckoning by regnal years (which are full and exact) and b) Tiberius had earlier ruled the Roman world not with absolute sway but as co-regent for more than two additional years since October of A.D. 12.
Seutonius records that Tiberius co-regency began in October of A.D. 12 and Tacitus records Tiberius' entire reign not by 23 full regnal years, but about (i.e. not full, and not exactly) 23 more years with absolute sway subsequent to 2+ earlier years with joint sway.
Tacitus was not uncertain. He had the same complete, exact to-the-month-and-day record of Tiberius as did Seutonius, and Tacitus knew regnal years are full, exact years, and that there is nothing "about" to be reckoned for regnal accession years. But that is not what Tacitus recorded. Rather, Tacitus summarized with appropriate nuance that Tiberius' rule was "about" 23 years, having an earlier additional 2 years and 2 months that were not "absolute" but joint governance, since October A.D. 12.
Coinage of the Roman Prefects of Judea:
Dates on coins minted by Gratus and Pilate reconcile with Years of Tiberius when reckoned factually from his joint governance with Augustus in October of A.D. 12 through to Tiberius' death in March of A.D. 37, and synchronize with the baptism of Jesus Christ in A.D. 26 ("the fifteenth year of Tiberius when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea" as recorded by Luke) and Julia Augusta's death in A.D. 29. The reconcilation and synchronisms are summarized in the following table:
↓ crucifixion Minted 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Tiberius 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Gratus LΒ LΓ LΔ LΕ LΙΑ Pilate LΙϚ LΙΖ LΙΗ
As summarized earler and documented below, Tiberius years were generally reckoned on a factual basis beginning with his joint-governance with Augustus.
Lest too fine a point be put on it, factual reckoning of Tiberius' years (as demonstrated in the chronology below) also synchronizes exactly to biblical accounts of Daniel's 483-year prophecy of "69 Weeks" (Dan 9:25) fulfilled with the baptism of Jesus Christ in A.D. 26 in Tiberius' 15th year, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and crucified on April 3rd (Gregorian) A.D. 30 in Tiberius' 18th year, the only year which also harmonizes all gospel accounts of Passion Week with the Essene, Hillel II, Julian and Gregorian calendars including the US Naval Observatory data for vernal equinoxes.
Tiberius' 1st year (as co-regent):
There can be no question of Tiberius' co-regency. It was a matter of law and record:
Seutonius; De Vita Caesarum: Tiberius:
XX. After two years he returned to the city from Germania [12 A.D.] and celebrated the triumph which he had postponed, accompanied also by his generals, for whom he had obtained the triumphal regalia. ...
XXI. Since the consuls caused a law to be passed soon after this that he should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him, he set out for Illyricum on the conclusion of the lustral ceremonies; ...
Subsequent to the consuls having made Tiberius joint governor with Augustus (everyone seemingly aware of Augustus' poor health and pending death, his grip on power waning, and that Tiberius was the heir designate who had just achieved a military victory in Pannonia), Augustus then 7 months later made out his will:
Seutonius; De Vita Caesarum: Augustus:
CI. He had made a will in the consulship of Lucius Plancus and Gaius Silius on the third day before the Nones of April [April 3, 13 A.D.], a year and four months before he died, in two note-books,written in part in his own hand and in part in that of his freedmen Polybius and Hilarion.
Augustus would then die 16 months after having made out that will:
Seutonius; De Vita Caesarum: Tiberius:
LXXIII. ... Detained, however, by bad weather and the increasing violence of his illness, he died a little later in the villa of Lucullus, in the seventy-eighth year of his age and the twenty-third of his reign, on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of April, in the consulship of Gnaeus Acerronius Proculus and Gaius Pontius Nigrinus [March 16, 37 A.D.]. ...
Tiberius' 2nd year (as co-regent):
Augustus dies on August 19th, A.D. 14 near the end of Tiberius 2nd year as co-regent (anniversary month is October). Tiberius delays accepting the Senate's confirmation of head state until Sept 17th:
Seutonius; De Vita Caesarum: Tiberius:
XXII. Tiberius did not make the death of Augustus public until the young Agrippa had been disposed of. ...
XXIV. Though Tiberius did not hesitate at once to assume and to exercise the imperial authority, surrounding himself with a guard of soldiers, that is, with the actual power and the outward sign of sovereignty, yet he refused the title for a long time, with barefaced hypocrisy now upbraiding his fiiends who urged him to accept it, saying that they did not realise what a monster the empire was, and now by evasive answers and calculating hesitancy keeping the Senators in suspense when they implored him to yield, and fell at his feet. Finally, some lost patience, and one man cried out in the confusion: "Let him take it or leave it!" Another openly voiced the taunt that others were slow in doing what they promised, but that he was slow to promise what he was already doing. At last, as though on compulsion, and complaining that a wretched and burdensome slavery was being forced upon him, he accepted the empire, but in such fashion as to suggest the hope that he would one day lav it down. His own words are: "Until I come to the time when it may seem right to you to grant an old man some repose."
Note that "Tiberius did not hesitate at once to assume and to exercise the imperial authority ... with the actual power and the outward sign of sovereignty, yet he refused the title for a long time" and the taunt "slow to promise what he [Tiberius] was already doing" imply that Tiberius was in fact acting as emperor prior to accepting the title.
Tacitus; The Annals - Book 1:
VII. Meanwhile at Rome people plunged into slavery--consuls, senators, knights. The higher a man's rank, the more eager his hypocrisy, and his looks the more carefully studied, so as neither to betray joy at the decease of one emperor nor sorrow at the rise of another, while he mingled delight and lamentations with his flattery. Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius, the consuls, were the first to swear allegiance to Tiberius Cæsar, and in their presence the oath was taken by Seius Strabo and Caius Turranius, respectively the commander of the prætorian cohorts and the superintendent of the corn supplies. Then the Senate, the soldiers and the people did the same. For Tiberius would inaugurate everything with the consuls, as though the ancient constitution remained, and he hesitated about being emperor. Even the proclamation by which he summoned the senators to their chamber, he issued merely with the title of Tribune, which he had received under Augustus. The wording of the proclamation was brief, and in a very modest tone. "He would," it said, "provide for the honours due to his father, and not leave the lifeless body, and this was the only public duty he now claimed."
As soon, however, as Augustus was dead, he had given the watchword to the prætorian cohorts, as commander-in-chief. He had the guard under arms, with all the other adjuncts of a court; soldiers attended him to the forum; soldiers went with him to the Senate House. He sent letters to the different armies, as though supreme power was now his, and showed hesitation only when he spoke in the Senate. His chief motive was fear that Germanicus, who had at his disposal so many legions, such vast auxiliary forces of the allies, and such wonderful popularity, might prefer the possession to the expectation of empire. He looked also at public opinion, wishing to have the credit of having been called and elected by the State rather than of having crept into power through the intrigues of a wife and a dotard's adoption. It was subsequently understood that he assumed a wavering attitude, to test likewise the temper of the nobles. For he would twist a word or a look into a crime and treasure it up in his memory.
Dio; Roman History, Volume 4, Book 57.3:
[Sidenote: A.D. 14 (_a. u._ 767)] by translator Herbert Baldwin Foster
[-3-] Tiberius acted in this way at that time chiefly because it was his nature and he had determined upon that policy, but partly also because he was suspicious of the Pannonian and Germanic legions and feared Germanicus, the ruler of the Germany of that day and a favorite of theirs. He had previously made sure of the soldiers in Italy by means of the oaths established by Augustus; but as he was suspicious of the others he waited for either possible outcome, intending to save himself by retiring to private life in case the legions should revolt and prevail. For this reason he often feigned sickness and remained at home, so as not to be compelled to say or do anything definite. I have even heard that when it began to be said that Livia against the will of Augustus had kept the empire for him, he took such action[1] that he might appear to have received it not from her (with whom he was on very bad terms), but under compulsion from the senators through surpassing them in excellence. Again I have heard that when he saw that people were cool toward him he waited and delayed in order that they in the hope of his voluntarily resigning the empire might no adopt rebellious measures until he had secured an unshakable control of the government. Still, I do not record these stories as the true causes of his delay, but rather his usual disposition and the disturbance among the soldiers. He sent some one from Nola and had Agrippa killed at once. Yet he declared this had not been done by his orders and he threatened the perpetrator of the deed. Instead of punishing him, however, he allowed men to invent versions of the affair some to the effect that Augustus had put him out of the way just before his death, others that the centurion who was guarding him slew him on his own responsibility for some revolutionary dealings, others that Livia and not Tiberius had ordered his death.
The point of the foregoing is to provide background on why Tiberius delayed the formalities of being made sole head of state. He already had, by law, governing authority, and with Augustus dead and Livia's plans coming to fruition there was little to prevent his being made head of state. But Tiberius was concerned only with appearances - he sought the appearance of being a humble man upon whose shoulders were forced the weighty burdens of rule by his trusting subjects. Hence there was a delay in the formalities.
Since being made emperor by the Senate on September 17, A.D. 14, from a standpoint of reckoning factual years, little changes aside from the factual year anniversary, formerly in October, is now September (one month earlier). September now becomes the anniversery month for all of Tiberius' factual years henceforth in Tiberius' Chronology (below).
Upon Augustus' death and being made sole head of state, Tiberius immediately appointed Gratus as Prefect of Judea to replace Rufus (who had been Augustus' appointee):
Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews - book 18, section 29:
[29] As Coponius, ... After him came Annius Rufus, under whom died Caesar, the second emperor of the Romans, the duration of whose reign was fifty-seven years, besides six months and two days (of which time Antonius ruled together with him fourteen years; but the duration of his life was seventy-seven years); upon whose death Tiberius Nero, his wife Julia's son, succeeded. He was now the third emperor; and he sent Valerius Gratus to be procurator of Judea, and to succeed Annius Rufus. This man deprived Ananus of the high priesthood, and appointed Ismael, the son of Phabi, to be high priest. He also deprived him in a little time, and ordained Eleazar, the son of Ananus, who had been high priest before, to be high priest; which office, when he had held for a year, Gratus deprived him of it, and gave the high priesthood to Simon, the son of Camithus; and when he had possessed that dignity no longer than a year, Joseph Caiaphas was made his successor. When Gratus had done those things, he went back to Rome, after he had tarried in Judea eleven years, when Pontius Pilate came as his successor.
Based on the factual year reckoning as established above, Tiberius, in his 3rd year had immediately upon Augustus' death, replaced the Roman prefect of Judea (Rufus appointed under Augustus) with Gratus, who as reported by Josephus held office for 11 years.
Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews - book 18, section 29:
[29] As Coponius, ... When Gratus had done those things, he went back to Rome, after he had tarried in Judea eleven years, when Pontius Pilate came as his successor.
In late A.D. 25 or into 26, Tiberius in his 14th year, then replaced Gratus (in his 11th year) with by Pontius Pilate, thus establishing Pilate as Prefect (governor) in Judea prior to and synchronous with Jesus' baptism. Pilate would hold office for 10 years until ordered by Vitellius (in Tiberius' 24th year) to return to Rome and answer to Tiberius for provoking Jewish unrest in Judea:
Historians didn't provide the month of any events associated with Judean prefects, just their general years and consequently the table below only portrays their approximate inaugural events and anniversaries.
Early in Tiberius 15th year, probably between September and October of A.D. 26, Jesus Christ was baptized, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea (all Bible cites are NASB):
Mat 3:13 Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.
Mar 1:9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
Luk 3:1-3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, (2) in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. (3) And he came into all the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins;
Luk 3:21-23 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, (22) and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased." (23) When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli,
This synchronism of A.D. 26 and Tiberius 15th year is further synchronized with Daniel's 483-year long 69-week prophecy (and commensurate synchronism's with that earlier historical record) which prophecy and synchronism's are fulfilled with the anointing of the Messiah (Jesus' baptism).
Julia Augusta (Livia Drusilla), wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius, died early in A.D. 29, the year only being reported by Seutonius and Dio:
Dio; Roman History, Volume 4, Book 58.2:
[Sidenote: A.D. 29 (_a. u._ 782)] by translator Herbert Baldwin Foster
[-2-] During this same period Livia also passed away at the age of eighty-six. Tiberius paid her no visits while she was ill and did not personally attend to her laying out. In fact, he made no arrangements at all in her honor save the public funeral and images and some other small matters of no importance. As for her being deified, he forbade that absolutely. The senate, however, did not content itself with voting merely the measures which he had ordained, but enjoined upon the women mourning for her during the entire year, although it approved the course of Tiberius in not abandoning even at this time the conduct of public business. Furthermore they voted her an arch (as had never been done in the case of any other woman), because she had preserved not a few of them, had reared many children belonging to citizens, and had helped find husbands for numerous girls,--for all of which acts some called her Mother of her Country. She was buried in the mausoleum of Augustus.
Tiberius would not pay a single one of her bequests to anybody.
Seutonius; Remarks on Tiberius:
In this period died, in the eighty-sixth year of her age, Livia Drusilla, mother of the emperor, and the relict of Augustus, whom she survived fifteen years.
Seutonius; Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius:
L. He first manifested hatred towards his own relations in the case of his brother Drusus, betraying him by the production of a letter to himself, in which Drusus proposed that Augustus should be forced to restore the public liberty. In course of time, he shewed the same disposition with regard to the rest of his family. So far was he from performing any office of kindness or humanity to his wife, when she was banished, and, by her father's order, confined to one town, that he forbad her to stir out of the house, or converse with any men. He even wronged her of the dowry given her by her father, and her yearly allowance, by a quibble of law, because Augustus had made no provision for them on her behalf in his will. Being harassed by his mother, Livia, who claimed an equal share in the government with him, he frequently avoided seeing her, and all long and private conferences with her, lest it should be thought that he was governed by her counsels, which, notwithstanding, he sometimes sought, and was in the habit of adopting. He was much offended at the senate, when they proposed to add to his other titles that of the Son of Livia, as well as Augustus. He, therefore, would not suffer her to be called " the Mother of her country," nor to receive any extraordinary public distinction. Nay, he frequently admonished her " not to meddle with weighty affairs, and such as did not suit her sex;" especially when he found her present at a fire which broke out near the Temple of Vesta,1 and encouraging the people and soldiers to use their utmost exertions, as she had been used to do in the time of her husband.
LI. He afterwards proceeded to an open rupture with her, and, as is said, upon this occasion. She having frequently urged him to place among the judges a person who had been made free of the, city, he refused her request, unless she would allow it to be inscribed on the roll, "That the appointment had been extorted from him by his mother." Enraged at this, Livia brought forth from her chapel some letters from Augustus to her, complaining of the sourness and insolence of Tiberius's temper, and these she read. So much was he offended at these letters having been kept so long, and now produced with so much bitterness against him, that some considered this incident as one of the causes of his going into seclusion, if not the principal reason for so doing. In the whole years he lived during his retirement, he saw her but once, and that for a few hours only. When she fell sick shortly afterwards, he was quite unconcerned about visiting her in her illness; and when she died, after promising to attend her funeral, he deferred his coming for several days, so that the corpse was in a state of decay and putrefaction before die interment; and he then forbad divine honours being paid to her, pretending that he acted according to her own directions. He likewise annulled her will, and in a short time ruined all her friends and acquaintance; not even sparing those to whom, on her death-bed, she had recommended the care of her funeral, but condemning one of them, a man of equestrian rank, to the tread-mill.
Tacitus; The Annals - Book 5: A.D. 29--31
I. IN the consulship of Rubellius and Fufius, both of whom had the surname Geminus, died in an advanced old age Julia Augusta. A Claudia by birth and by adoption a Livia and a Julia, she united the noblest blood of Rome. Her first marriage, by which she had children, was with Tiberius Nero, who, an exile during the Perusian war, returned to Rome when peace had been concluded between Sextus Pompeius and the triumvirs. After this Cæsar, enamoured of her beauty, took her away from her husband, whether against her wish is uncertain. So impatient was he that he brought her to his house actually pregnant, not allowing time for her confinement. She had no subsequent issue, but allied as she was through the marriage of Agrippina and Germanicus to the blood of Augustus, her great-grandchildren were also his. In the purity of her home life she was of the ancient type, but was more gracious than was thought fitting in ladies of former days. An imperious mother and an amiable wife, she was a match for the diplomacy of her husband and the dissimulation of her son. Her funeral was simple, and her will long remained unexecuted. Her panegyric was pronounced from the Rostra by her great-grandson, Caius Cæsar, who afterwards succeeded to power.
II. Tiberius however, making no change in his voluptuous life, excused himself by letter for his absence from his last duty to his mother on the ground of the pressure of business. He even abridged, out of moderation, as it seemed, the honours which the Senate had voted on a lavish scale to her memory, allowing only a very few, and adding that no religious worship was to be decreed, this having been her own wish. In a part of the same letter he sneered at female friendships, with an indirect censure on the consul Fufius, [p. 190] who had risen to distinction through Augusta's partiality. Fufius was indeed a man well fitted to win the affection of a woman; he was witty too, and accustomed to ridicule Tiberius with those bitter jests which the powerful remember so long.
III. This at all events was the beginning of an unmitigated and grinding despotism. As long indeed as Augusta lived, there yet remained a refuge, for with Tiberius obedience to his mother was the habit of a life, and Sejanus did not dare to set himself above a parent's authority. Now, so to say, they threw off the reins and let loose their fury. A letter was sent, directed against Agrippina and Nero, which was popularly believed to have been long before forwarded and to have been kept back by Augusta, as it was publicly read soon after her death. It contained expressions of studied harshness, yet it was not armed rebellion or a longing for revolution, but unnatural passions and profligacy which the emperor imputed to his grandson. Against his daughter-in-law he did not dare to invent this much; he merely censured her insolent tongue and defiant spirit, amid the panic-stricken silence of the Senate, till a few who had no hope from merit (and public calamities are ever used by individuals for interested purposes) demanded that the question should be debated. The most eager was Cotta Messalinus, who made a savage speech. Still, the other principal senators, and especially the magistrates, were perplexed, for Tiberius, notwithstanding his furious invective, had left everything else in doubt.
A number of events occurred as a direct consequence of Julia Augusta's death: Tiberius' hatred of her was revealed in that he refused to execute her will, refused to allow public honors of her such as being declared "Mater Patriae" (Mother of the Fatherland), refused to allow himself to be titled "Son of Livia", and defied the Senate's decree to erect an arch in her honor; and Sejanus' power was now unchecked and he caused a Senate trial of Agrippina and Julius Nero whom the Senate exiled to Pandataria off the coast of Naples.
All the above serves to demonstrate two points:
- Enough transpired in A.D. 29 consequent to Julia Augusta's death, that she had to have died early enough in A.D. 29 to permit the various Senate honors to be enacted and defied by Tiberius and for Sejanus to cause a Senate trial and exile of Agrippina and Nero.
- Tiberius sufficiently hated his mother to cause her honorific to be removed from the coins Pilate was minting in Judea. Recall above that Pilate had previously minted a year earlier in A.D. 28 (Tiberius' 16th Year) the first "LIS" dated coins with the text "Of Tiberius Emperor" and "Empress Julia" (Emperor Tiberius' mother and wife of Emperor Augustus, hence her name Julia Augusta), but now in A.D. 29 subsequent to Julia's death, Pilate's next "LIZ" dated coins (Tiberius' 17th Year) were now minted without "Empress Julia".
The change from including "Empress Julia" on Pilate's "LIS" coins (dated in the 16th Year of Tiberius, minted in A.D. 28) to now excluding "Empress Julia" on Pilate's"LIZ" coins (dated in the 17th Year of Tiberius, minted in A.D. 29), establishes another synchronism only possible when Tiberius' years are reckoned as factual beginning in A.D. 12 with his joint-governorship with Augustus.
In the Tiberius chronology below, commensurate with Julia Augusta's death early enough in A.D. 29 to accommodate the various events including the minting of coins in Judea without her honorific, it is consequently assumed that the timeframe for Pilate to mint these coins was generally about the same timeframe every year, and "March" has been estimated as such a timeframe which satisfies this coin-minting criteria for A.D. 28, 29, and 30.
Jesus Christ was crucified on April 3rd (Gregorian) in A.D. 30, the 18th year of Tiberius, Pilate was still governor of Judea and had issued the Judean coin for Tiberius' 18th year.
The synchronism's of Christ's crucifixion on Jewish Passover in A.D. 30, and the only year in which the Lord's supper could be held 1 day earlier on Essene Passover, both synchronized with Gregorian, Julian and Hillel II calendrics as well as US Naval Observatory data on the vernal equinox in A.D. 30, and Tiberius 18th year all further synchronized with Eusebius reporting the crucifixion in Tiberius' 18th year.
The only failed synchronism in April A.D. 30 is that of Phlegon's reporting for Ol 202.4 which equates to A.D. 32/33 (highlighted in yellow in the chronology below) of an unusual eclipse (ostensibly the "darkening" of the sky at the 6th-9th hours of the crucifixion as reported by Matthew, Mark and Luke) which Eusebius (as preserved by Jerome) associates with the 18th year of Tiberius:
Eusebius Chronicle (preserved by Jerome) - 202nd Olympiad, 4th year:
d Jesus Christ, according to the prophecies, which had been spoken about him beforehand, came to the Passion in the 18th year of Tiberius, at which time also we find these things written verbatim in other commentaries of the gentiles: an eclipse of the sun happened 1, Bithynia shaken by earthquake, and in the city of Nicaea many buildings collapsed: all of which agree with what occurred in the Passion of the Saviour. Indeed Phlegon, who is an excellent calculator of olympiads, also writes about this, in his 13th book writing thus:
[Phlegon:] "However in the fourth year of the 202nd olympiad, an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea." These things the aforementioned man (says).
The proof however of this matter, that in this year the Saviour suffered, the gospel of John presents, in which it is written that after the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, the Lord preached for three years. Also Josephus, a native writer of the Jews, attests that around that time on the day of Pentecost, the priests first perceived an earth tremor and certain (loud) sounds. Then, that an unexpected voice suddenly burst out from the innermost part of the Temple saying: "Let us flee from this abode." However the aforementioned man writes that in the same year Pilate the governor secretly in the night set up images of Caesar in the temple, and from this arose the first cause of the rebellion and turmoil of the Jews.
In A.D. 35, in his 23rd year, Tiberius gives policy authority for all Roman eastern provinces to Vitellius.
Tacitus; The Annals - Book 6: A.D. 32—37
XXXII. This suited the wishes of Tiberius. ... He then intrusted the whole of his eastern policy to Lucius Vitellius. The man, I am aware, had a bad name at Rome, and many a foul story was told of him. But in the government of provinces he acted with the virtue of ancient times. He returned, and then, through fear of Caius Cæsar and intimacy with Claudius, he degenerated into a servility so base that he is regarded by an after-generation as the type of the most degrading adulation. The beginning of his career was forgotten in its end, and an old age of infamy effaced the virtues of youth.
In A.D. 36, in the 24th year of Tiberius, Vitellius replaces Pilate with Marcellus as prefect of Judea, and orders Pilate (in Pilate's 10th year as prefect) to return to Rome and answer to Tiberius for problems in Judea:
Tacitus; The Annals, - Book 6: A.D. 32—37
XXXVII. Vitellius, as soon as Artabanus had fled and his people were inclined to have a new king, ... Vitellius thought it enough to have displayed the arms of Rome, and he then bade Tiridates remember his grandfather Phraates, and his foster-father Cæsar, and all that was glorious in both of them, while the nobles were to show obedience to their king, and respect for us, each maintaining his honour and his loyalty. This done, he returned with the legions to Syria.
XXXVIII. I have related in sequence the events of two summer-campaigns, as a relief to the reader's mind from our miseries at home.
Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews - book 18, section 88:
[88] But when this tumult was appeased, the Samaritan senate sent an embassy to Vitellius, a man that had been consul, and who was now president of Syria, and accused Pilate of the murder of those that were killed; for that they did not go to Tirathaba in order to revolt from the Romans, but to escape the violence of Pilate. So Vitellius sent Marcellus, a friend of his, to take care of the affairs of Judea, and ordered Pilate to go to Rome, to answer before the emperor to the accusations of the Jews. So Pilate, when he had tarried ten years in Judea, made haste to Rome, and this in obedience to the orders of Vitellius, which he durst not contradict; but before he could get to Rome Tiberius was dead.
On March 16th A.D. 37 in his 25th factual year at the age of 78, Tiberius dies before Pilate arrives. Four days later Vitellius is received in Jerusalem at the Passover (computed from Nisan 14th A.M. 3797 as March 20th (Julian), as reported by Josephus:
Josephus; Antiquities of the Jews - book 18, section 88:
[88] ... So Pilate, when he had tarried ten years in Judea, made haste to Rome, and this in obedience to the orders of Vitellius, which he durst not contradict; but before he could get to Rome Tiberius was dead.
It is roughly 2000 nautical miles from Caesarea to Rome, requiring perhaps 6-8 weeks under normal circumstances, but winter conditions on the Mediterranean from September through November are to be avoided. But because such a voyage of several weeks brought Pilate to Rome after Tiberius' death in March of A.D. 37, it is presumed Pilate did not leave until early A.D. 37 and that Vitellius replaced Pilate with Marcellus prior to winter in A.D. 36, at the end of Pilate's 10th year (or possibly when he was beginning an 11th) as Prefect of Judea.
Tiberius' chronology (on factual reckoning beginning October of A.D. 12):
AD Month Olympic A.U.C Tiberius Prefects Event 12 Jan 765 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct October 23rd Tiberius governs jointly with Augustus Nov 1st Tiberius begins 1st factual year. Dec 13 Jan 766 Feb Mar Apr April 3, Augustus prepares his will May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov 2nd Tiberius begins 2nd factual year Dec 14 Jan 767 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 1st Aug 19, death of Augustus; Tiberius sends Valerius Gratus to replace Annius Rufus (Ant 18.2.2) who begins minting "LΒ" TIB coin within 1-2 months Sep 3rd Sep 17, Tiberius named head of state, factual years begin 2 months earlier Oct Nov Dec 15 Jan 768 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 2nd Gratus begins 2nd year Sep 4th Tiberius begins 4th factual year Oct Nov Dec 25 Jan 778 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug 11th Gratus begins 11th and final year as Prefect of Judea Sep 14th Tiberius begins 14th factual year Oct Nov Dec 26 Jan 779 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 1st Pontius Pilate replaces Gratus as Prefect of Judea early in 26 AD Jul Aug Jesus' 30th birth day week of Aug 13 Sep 15th Tiberius begins 15th factual year Oct Jesus baptized 26 AD; Tiberius 15th year; Pilate was governor of Judea; Nov Dec 27 Jan 780 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 2nd Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 16th Tiberius begins 16th factual year Oct Nov Dec 28 Jan 781 Feb Mar Pilate mints coin: "LIS" 16th year "Of Tiberius Emperor" with "Empress Julia" Apr May Jun 3rd Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 17th Tiberius begins 17th factual year Oct Nov Dec 29 Jan 782 Feb During [AUC 782] Julia Augusta (Livia Drusilla) died at age 86 (Dio 58.2); Mar Pilate mints coin: "LIZ" 17th year "Of Tiberius Emperor" sans "Empress Julia" Apr May Jun 4th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 18th Tiberius begins 18th factual year Oct Nov Dec 30 Jan 783 Feb Mar Pilate mints coin: "LIH" 18th year "Of Tiberius Emperor" Apr 202.4 Jesus crucified, April 3 (Gregorian) 30 AD; 18th year of Tiberius (Eusebius) May Jun 5th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 19th Tiberius begins 19th factual year Oct Nov Dec 31 Jan 784 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 6th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 20th Tiberius begins 20th factual year Oct Nov Dec 32 Jan 785 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 7th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 21st Tiberius begins 21st factual year Oct Nov Dec 33 Jan 786 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 8th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 22nd Tiberius begins 22nd factual year Oct Nov Dec 34 Jan 787 Feb Mar Apr May Jun 9th Pilate still Prefect of Judea Jul Aug Sep 23rd Tiberius begins 23rd factual year Oct Nov Dec 35 Jan 788 Feb Mar Apr Tiberius entrusts entire eastern policy to Vitellius (Annals 6.32) May Vitellius 1st summer campaign against Artabanus & Parthians (Annals 6:38) Jun 10th Jul Aug Sep 24th Tiberius begins 24th factual year Oct Nov Dec 36 Jan 789 Feb Mar Apr Samaritan embassy to Vitellius accuses Pilate of murder (Ant. 18.88) May Vitellius 2nd summer campaign against Artabanus & Parthians (Annals 6:38) Jun 11th Jul Aug 1st Vitellius sends Marcellus to Judea; orders Pilate to Rome (Ant. 18.88) Sep 25th Tiberius begins 25th factual year
Dangerous winter Mediterranean sailing conditions
Oct Nov Dec 37 Jan 790 Feb Latest Pilate departs for 6-8 weeks Caesarea to Rome Mar March 16, Death of Tiberius; Vitellius received at Passover (Ant. 18.4:3) Apr Pilate arrives Rome after Tiberius death (Ant. 18.4.2) May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Tiberius honors and years.
The following is excerpted from:
Finegan, Jack Handbook of Biblical Chronology, rev, Hendrickson Publishers, 1999; pp 89, 330-31
Birth of Tiberius Claudius Nero Tiberius Consul I Tiberius Imperator I Imperator II Consul II Tribunicia potestate I Tribunicia potestate II Tribunicia potestate III Tribunicia potestate IIII Tribunicia potestate V Tiberius adopted by Augustus and designated as his successor; called Tiberius Julius Caesar Tribunicia potestate VI Tribunicia potestate VII Imperator III Tribunicia potestate VIII Tribunicia potestate VIIII Tribunicia potestate X Imperator IIII Tribunicia potestate XI Tribunicia potestate XII Imperator V Imperator VI Tribunicia potestate XIII Tiberius governs the provinces jointly with Augustus Tribunicia potestate XIIII Tribunicia potestate XV Imperator VII Death of Augustus Funeral of Augustus Tiberius voted new head of state; called Tiberius Caesar Augustus Tribunicia potestate XVI Tribunicia potestate XVII Tribunicia potestate XVIII Tribunicia potestate XVIIII Consul III Tribunicia potestate XX Tribunicia potestate XXI Tribunicia potestate XXII Imperator VIII Consul IIII Tribunicia potestate XXIII Tribunicia potestate XXIIII Tribunicia potestate XXV Tribunicia potestate XXVI Tribunicia potestate XXVII Tribunicia potestate XXVIII Tribunicia potestate XXVIIII Tribunicia potestate XXX Tribunicia potestate XXXI Tribunicia potestate XXXII Consul V Tribunicia potestate XXXIII Tribunicia potestate XXXIIII Tribunicia potestate XXXV Tribunicia potestate XXXVI Tribunicia potestate XXXVII Tribunicia potestate XXXVIII Death of Tiberius 570. According to Luke 3:1ff, it was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar that the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness and that he went into the region about the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And at the time, when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized and thus made his initial public appearance. The fifteenth year of Tiberius would appear to be an exact date, and no doubt it was such in the mind of the writer and probably also to most of the readers of that time, but the matter is not so simple to the modern student. Events and honors in the life and reign of Tiberius have been set forth above in Table 42. Tiberius Claudius Nero was born on Nov 16, A.U.C. 712 = 42 BC On June 26 A.U.C. 757 = AD 4, he was adopted by Augustus and designated his successor,157 from which time he was called Tiberius Julius Caesar.
On Oct 23, A.U.C. 765 = AD 12, he celebrated a triumph for his military victories in Germany and Pannonia. Referring to this event, Suetonius158 says that "the consuls caused a law to be passed soon after this that he should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him." The date when Tiberius thus began to govern the provinces jointly with Augustus was probably AD 12,159 although arguments have been presented for putting it in AD 11 or 13.160 In this connection Tacitus describes Tiberius Nero as collega imperii, "colleague in the empire" (Annals 1.3), and some consider him joint emperor with Augustus from this time on.161
On Aug 19, A.U.C. 767 = AD 14, Augustus died, with the funeral on or around Sept 12. On Sept 17 the Senate met, voted the deceased emperor a deity, Divus Augustus, and voted his designated successor, Tiberius, the new head of state. As emperor he was known as Tiberius Caesar Augustus. So Tiberius ruled as a colleague of Augustus from AD 12, and as a successor of Augustus from Aug 19 (or from Sept 17 if you count from the vote of the Senate), AD 14, and his rule continued until his death on Mar 16, A.U.C. 790 = AD 37.162 In Table 150 a preliminary numbering of his regnal years is given. Column 1 numbers from the time when Tiberius began to govern jointly with Augustus, and column 2 from the first full calendar year after that. Column 3 numbers from the death of Augustus and the succession of Tiberius, and column 4 from the first full calendar year after that. A further series of brief tables (nos 140-156) is intended to recognize other variables in calendars and regnal years which could, at least in theory, be involved.
157 Dio, Roman History 55.13.1.
158 Tiberius, 21.
159 Suetonius, ed J.C. Rolfe (LCL), vol 1, 323.
160 Holzmeister, Chronologia vitae Christi, 66.
161 The Encyclopaedia Britannica 22:176.
1
2
3
4765 12 Tiberius governs jointly with Augustus 1 766 13 2 1 767 14 Aug 19, death of Augustus. Sept 17, Tiberius named head of state 3 2 1 768 15 4 3 2 1 769 16 5 4 3 2 770 17 6 5 4 3 771 18 7 6 5 4 772 19 8 7 6 5 773 20 9 8 7 6 774 21 10 9 8 7 775 22 11 10 9 8 776 23 12 11 10 9 777 24 13 12 11 10 778 25 14 13 12 11 779 26 15 14 13 12 780 27 16 15 14 13 781 28 17 16 15 14 782 29 18 17 16 15 783 30 19 18 17 16 784 31 20 19 18 17 785 32 21 20 19 18 786 33 22 21 20 19 787 34 23 22 21 20 788 35 24 23 22 21 789 36 25 24 23 22 790 37 26 25 24 23
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(last updated June 17, 2009)
