30-49 Jesus, Caligula, Claudius & the Invasion of Britain

During this 20 year period Jesus of Nazareth was executed; the Roman Emperor Tiberius died in AD 37; Gaius Caligula (pictured) succeeded Tiberius; Caligula's uncle, Claudius, succeeded him; and Claudius invaded Britain in AD 43.

The year of my birth also marked the execution of Jesus of Nazareth, one of many prophets claiming to be the messiah - the King of the Jews who would free the Jews from foreign rule. Upon his death, his followers - led by Peter of Bethsaida - offended mainstream Jews by claiming that Jesus was the son of God and had been resurrected.

Had it not been for the conversion in 37 of Paul - a disgruntled member of the hereditary priestly class presiding over the rites in the Temple of Jerusalem - the new cult would have have been contained in Judea. As a Roman citizen, Paul traveled freely throughout Roman territory stirring up the Jews - particularly in Syria and Greece - but his inability to convince too many Jews that Jesus was the messiah eventually led to his momentous decision to spread what now became known as "Christianity" to non-Jews. In doing so, Paul caused a split with the Judean followers of Jesus.

The Judean followers of Jesus followed the messianic prophecy - the purpose of a messiah was to free the Jews from foreign rule, not convert foreigners - and they were disgusted at Paul for bringing unclean people, predominantly low-class urban Greeks, into their midst. They quite rightly claimed that what Paul was doing would have been anathema to Jesus.

The new Roman Emperor, Gaius (Caligula), stoked their hatred by presenting himself as a god. In 40 he ordered the Governor of Syria to erect a statue of him as a god in the Temple of Jerusalem which, had he lived to see it built, would have united all Jews to rise up against him.

Gaius averted trouble by installing Agrippa - the Romanized Jewish grandson of Herod, raised in Rome - as ruler of a part of Judea.

When Gaius was murdered in 41 his uncle, Claudius, became emperor and continuing trouble in Judea led him to actually cede the Roman province of Judea to Agrippa - who became known as King Herod Agrippa I.

Agrippa had Peter of Bethsaida imprisoned in 43 for rabble raising, but Peter was later released and joined forces with Paul, presiding over a church council in 49 admitting Gentiles to the church without having to submit themselves to Jewish ritual law..

Upon Agrippa's death, however, most of his territory reverted to government by Romans procurators - though Agrippa's son was allowed to oversee the administration of the Temple in Jerusalem.

What was happening in Judea among the Jews was of little interest to Claudius who had married the 14-year-old Valeria Messallina, and in 40 was the proud father of a daughter Octavia.

Claudius started the serious business of his reign by annexing the kingdom of Mauretania (Algeria), and when Caratacus, king of the Catavellauni tribe invaded the territories of the Atrebatese who appealed to Rome for assistance Claudius gained the opportunity to finish the work begun by Caesar in 55B.C. and expand the Roman Empire to include the British Isles.

He invaded Britain in 43 with four legions. After a shaky start when 40,000 superstitious troops refused to disembark from the invasion boats due to fear -- the Britons having a fierce reputation, sometimes charging into battle fully naked, dyed blue from head to toe, and screaming like banshees to terrify their enemies -- the army under the command of future Emperor Vespasian, split into 3 legions and commenced their attack, gaining control as far as the Midlands and Wales.

Claudius was present for the first 16 days of the campaign in order to gain credit for it. (The Romans never occupied the north of England or Scotland).

In that year, 43, Claudius had a son Britannicus named in honor of his father's conquest

In 46, he converted the client kingdom of Thrace into yet another province for Romans to settle in.

In 48 he had executed his unfaithful young wife, and in 49 he married his niece Agrippina and adopted her son Nero, four years older than Britannicus.

210-229 Six Roman Emperors!

In this twenty year period there were six Roman Emperors, one of which was the colorful Syrian, Elagabalus (pictured), who was murdered by his aunt.

The period started with the rule of the Roman Emperor Severus, an aristocrac from the Punic city of Lepcis Magna in Africa, who died in York in 211 while restoring military order in the north of England. He was succeeded by his sons Antoninus and Geta; then by the usurpers Macrinas and Elagabalus in 217; and then finally Alexander in 221.

Antoninus had Geta murdered in 212. He preferred the life of the common soldier to one of leisure and likened himself to Alexander the Great. He took up residence in Antioch, Syria, then Alexandria in Egypt (where he sacked the city because of imagined slights and then returned to Syria resolved to conquer the Parthian Empire.

He marched his troops beyond the Tigris, met no enemy, lost prestige among his men and a conspiracy of officers assassinated him in 217

Antoninus left a legacy for the Empire by issuing an edict by which all free inhabitants of the Empire were entitled to become Roman citizens.

Macrinas was a lawyer, he made peace with the Parthians by paying them off, but was executed following the proclamation in Syria that Antoninus had a son by the niece of Severus' Syrian wife.

It was a lie, but the priestly Syrian family of Severus' deceased wife was fabulously wealthy and accordingly influential, and as they had acquired Roman citizenship the boy, Elagabalus became Emperor in 217, arriving in Rome in 219 wearing the colorful robes of his priestly office, building a temple for the god that bears his name, marrying the Chief of the Vestal Virgins to create a divine marriage, naming his cousin as successor, and filling the administration with Syrians.

His cousin, Alexander, was better accepted by the Romans and as such Alexander's mother engineered in 221 the death of Elagabalus and his mother - her sister - and installed her son as emperor with her pulling the strings.

190-209 Two Africans Rule Rome, Emperor Severus & Pope Victor I

During this 20 year period Rome became ruled by the first non-Roman emperor -- Severus (pictured) -- through whose Syrian wife Rome later inherited some strange emperors.

It was also a murderous time. The young Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated in 192 and succeeded by Pertinax - son of an ex slave - who, in turn, was assassinated in 193 and succeeded by Didius Julianus who was finally succeeded by Severus who ruled from 193-211.

Severus was born to the native aristocracy of the Punic city of Lepcis Magna in Africa and had been the Governor of Upper Pannonia (Hungary).

His rule coincided with the rule in Rome of another African, Victor I, the Bishop of Rome from 189-198.

Severus had gained the support of the armies of the Danube and the Rhine, as well as the Governor of Britain, Clodius Albinos, but had to deal with another contender for the emperorship in Pescennius Niger, Governor of Syria who had seized Byzantium.

In 194 Severus besieged Byzantium and Egypt and Arabia switched allegiance to him. He then had to deal with Clodius Albinos, who declared himself emperor in 195! Severus met Clodius' army in Gaul, defeated him in 197 and as result was proclaimed Emperor of Rome.

On his return to Rome, Severus killed 29 senators and a large number of lower ranks and confiscated their property. For the first time in the history of the Empire, he stationed a garrison outside Rome - to prevent trouble - and made his base in the East.

Later in 197 Severus travelled down the Euphrates and captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon; in 198 he annexed North Mesopotamia as a province; and was eager for more conquests but the troops were weary and refused to obey orders.

150-169 Parthians, Plague, Germanic Tribes & Rapturists

In this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Antonius (pictured) died in 161, after a 24-year peaceful rule, and was succeeded by Marcus Aurelius who co-ruled with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus.

In 165, the King of Parthia replaced the Roman approved King of Armenia with his choice, and the Roman legion in the area was wiped out. Marcus sent Lucius to quell the situation but he dawdled, and in the meantime the Parthians had marched on, invading Media across the northern Tigris.

Plague broke out among Lucius' troops, spread throughout the Empire, then there was pressure from the Germanic tribes in 167 crossing the Alps, besieging Northern Italy.

In desperation Marcus auctioned his valuable possessions to raise funds for war as the plague had made tax collecting impossible.

During the pontificate of Soter, Bishop of Rome from 166-174, another heretic leader, Montanus, and his followers caused concern. Under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit they went into religious raptures during which they spoke in strange tongues and uttered prophecies - the purpose of which was to return the church to simplicity. They gained popularity in both the eastern and western empire -- but ridicule from non-Christians.

Marcus Aurelius was not well-disposed towards Christians, calling them "miracle-mongers, magicians and exorcisers" and to avoid persecution and ridicule the Church tried hard to stamp out the crazy Christian cults, imposing order and centralized control.

130-149 The Jewish Diaspora & Gnosticism

During this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Hadrian (pictured) died in AD 137 and was succeeded by Antonius.

Hadrian's Wall in Britain was finished the year before and in AD 131 there was a Jewish revolt in Jerusalem led by Simon Bar Kokhba against Hadrian's rule.

The Jewish revolt was brutally ended four years later, in 135, as a result of which the Jews were then forbidden to enter Jerusalem.

The Jewish Diaspora started around 132.

Around this time, Gnosticism began to be preached by newcomers to Rome. Led by Valentinus, they claimed superior knowledge of spiritual things and worshipped a Mother Goddess. They wanted to join the church, but the Bishop of Rome, Hyginus 138-142, was suspicious of their theology.

Pius I, who succeeded Hyginus as Bishop of Rome, and ruled over the church from 142-155, also had trouble with the Gnostic Valentinus - along with other new arrivals.

One new arrival was Cerdo, a Syrian, who taught about two equal gods, one good one bad, Jesus being the son of the former; and another new arrival was Marcion who believed the church was wrong to pay attention to the Old Testament, or even the new, and that Jesus was not the Messiah.