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.

10-29 Tiberius and the Jewish Messiahs

During this 20 year period (AD 10 - 29) the Roman Emperor Augustus died in AD 14 and was succeeded by his step-son, Tiberius (pictured).

From the start of Roman rule of Judea in 6AD - when Herod's son had failed to keep order - expectations about the imminent arrival of a messiah who would free them from foreign rule were met by several charismatic prophets who attempted, unsuccessfully, to lead the masses in revolt against the Romans.

Jesus of Nazareth was one of these charismatic Jewish prophets, but he was more interested in fulfilling the messianic prophecy and becoming King of the Jews than leading the masses to rebel against the Romans.

His fight, first, was with the priests in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem whose usurious practices were as repugnant to him as his teachings were to them.

Had Jesus succeeded in being recognized as the messiah - the King of the Jews - there is no doubt that his next fight would have been against the Romans, but in persuading the Roman Governor to order the execution of Jesus (ostensibly for treason, but actually for impiety) the Jewish priests succeeded only in empowering the followers of Jesus.

BC30-11 Octavian becomes Emperor Augustus

In my first twenty years, from 30-11 BC, Octavian (pictured) -- the adopted son of Julius Caesar -- transformed the Roman Republic into a despostic regime, the Roman Empire, with him as Emperor Augustus.

Octavian had bribed Antony's legions in Greece, Asia Minor, and Cyrenaica to his side and on his march towards Egypt received the submission of local kings and Roman governors along the way. He finally reached Egypt in 30 BC, but to avoid capture first Antony and then Cleopatra committed suicide.

On his triumphant return to Rome Octavian took control with the full consent of the Senate and citizens tired of never-ending civil wars and incompetent and unstable government.

He designated governors loyal to him to the dangerous "frontier" provinces -- where the majority of the legions were situated -- and purged the Senate, refilling it with his supporters from the provinces and outside the Roman aristocracy.

He was careful, however, to leave Republican institutions intact -- consuls continued to be elected, tribunes of the plebeians continued to offer legislation, and debate still resounded through the Roman Curia.

By 27 BC the transition was complete and in that year Octavian offered back all of his extraordinary powers to the Senate which it refused and titled him Octavian Augustus -- the revered one.

Augustus arranged for his 14 year old daughter to marry his 17 year old nephew in 24 BC, but the young man died and later he made her marry his step-son Tiberius.

Once Octavian named Tiberius as his heir, it was clear to everyone that the Republic was not going to be restored, and by the time Augustus died very few people existed who remembered a time before an Emperor ruled Rome.