110-129 Hadrian, Walls, Circumcision & Beards

During this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Trajan (pictured) died in AD 117 and was succeeded by his distant cousin Hadrian who had been Governor of Syria.

Trajan was involved in the Armenian and Assyrian Wars in 113, then in 115 he conquered Mesopotamia, sailing down the Tigris River to the Persian Gulf.

In AD 115, too, the Jews of the Diaspora revolted in Egypt; and in 117, the year of Trajan's death, the Armenian king involved Assyria.

When Hadrian became emperor, he had been Governor of Syria and immediately caused trouble by banning circumcision among the Jews and making plans to rebuild Jerusalem as a Roman colony. A lot of Roman families had left Judea after the first Jewish Revolt of 66, so his plan was not well received.

In 122 Hadrian arrived in England after the annihilation of the 9th legion by Picts, and his famous wall was finished in 129.

Hadrian also brought home from Syria the custom of wearing a beard, and to keep in his good graces all Roman men followed suit including the Bishop of Rome, Sixtus I, whose name sounds a lot like the Greek word for "shaved".

90-109 Trajan Annexes SE Arabia & Corinth Christians Revolt

During this 20 year period the Roman Emperor Domitian (pictured) was murdered in AD 96. He was succeeded by the 66-year-old Nerva who died two years later in AD 98 and his adopted son Trajan (who was at the time Governor of Upper Germany) succeeded him.

Trajan was involved in the Romanian Wars, and then annexed south-east Arabia in 106, gaining a valuable trade route.

The Bishop of Rome from 91-101 was Clement I who had been ordained by Peter, the first Bishop of Rome, and gossip had it that he was a cousin of the Emperor Domitian.

Pope Clement I wrote 'The Epistle to the Corinthians' after a revolt among the Christian community in Corinth.