date of ourlord's birth

8/14/2019 Date of OurLord's Birth

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Reasoning The Scriptures

Whether Christ was crucified on A.D.33??? 1

Whether Christ was crucified on A.D.33???

By M.S.Mariadas and Y.R.DinakaranBible Students, M.B.S.A

There are several things to be proved, and everything can be proved and always scripturesand prophecies are correct and only our blind beliefs and assumptions will fail. Because of thegeneral belief of the scholars of his time our beloved pastor Russell also believed certain things,Brother Russell believed April 3, A.D 33 as the year of the crucifixion of the Lord. To thepresent day many scholars uphold it. Because of the belief of A.D33, King Herod got extensionof Life Vol II 60/61.

Westberg, Husband, fotheringham, Ogg, Reicke, Maier and Herald Hoehner still believeAD.33. But the difficulty is with Herod. Since our beloved pastor Russell was also forced tobelieve AD.33 according to then available facts, and hence the question of Herods deathbecomes a problem. The reason Bro Russell has given about the Eclipse is not concrete and it

has not supported by any other external confirmation. We are not challenging and disputingwith any one, we are highly indebted and thankful to Bro Russell for his amazing harvestWork; for it is Bro Russell led unto this much of fact finding. We are not against our Pastor butwe are against Herod who got unnecessary extension of Life. Since in Christs chronologicalfactors Herods death is very important to decide many things, we have studied a little andwant to share our thoughts with the House hold of faith, and if we are wrong Lord mayoverrule us and we are pleased to be corrected. These topics are not so essential to the publicwe think it is time waste to discuss. But having come to know that Herod died in BC 4 only,there is no other way to go but to change AD 33.

Our beloved pastor and brother had enlightened us up to the facts given by Dr.Faussett, Smith

and Josephuss eclipse account with regard to the death of Herod Dr.Faussett page 285, underHerod states that at the elevation of Antipater by Julius Caesar, BC 47 though only 15 years(or as other passage of Josephus make probable, 20) smith says that herod was only 15 yearswhen he received the Government of Galilee. In Josephus accounts Ant.14:9.2 He was but 25

years of ageas the three accounts are different it is futile to depend upon age of Herod to arriveto the date of his death. But we can arrive at the date of his death if we come to know his rule orthe period of his reign. Ant15:5.2 At this time was that the fight of the happened at actium, betweenoctavius Caesar Anthony in the 7ht year of the reign of Herod we know that the actium war hadtaken place in 31BC, there are 2 years worthy to take note of 1BC and 40BC which year antonyresolved to make Herod the king of Jews. The senate has agreed upon and was declared king inyear B.C. 40 but he did not procure it until 37 B.C. after capturing Jerusalem by the help ofRoman army according to Josephus ,(Wars of the Jews I.17.9 and I.18.2,) He was made kingB.C.37.Now the reign of the 7th year at the time of Actium war tallies with the beginning of hisreign i.e. B.C. 37.His total period of reign is having reigned since he had procure Antigonus to beslain, thirty four years; but since he had been declared king by Romans, thirty seven (Ant.17.8.1) - SoHerod, having survived the slaughter of his of his son five days, died having reigned thirty four years,since he had caused Aantigonus to be slain, and obtained his Kingdom; but thirty seven years since he

had been made king by the Romans(& Wars I.33.8) .Therefore from declaration B.C. 40 minus


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37 is 4B.C. after procuring kingdom .B.C. 37 minus 34 is 4B.C.( including the year of first yearof reign 37th year is B.C.4 and the 34th year from 37th B.C. is B.C.4!)there is another statementwhen Herod was made king by Roman senate in B.C.40- Antony gave him a feast on the firstday of his reign Ant.14.14.5 And thus did the man receive the kingdom, having obtained it on thehundred and eighty fourth Olympiad, when domitus Calvinus was consul the second time and Caius

Asinius Pollio (the first time)According to the computation of varro the above were in office in

A.U.C 714. 754 A.U.C. became A.D.1 in the calendar of Dionysus. 754 714 = 40 B.C. the yearof nomination as king and ruled37 years as said above. Hence Herods death occurred on B.C.4.

Olympiad occurs once in 4 years so the 184th Olympiad will be 184 x 4 equal to 736, sinceOlympiad started on 776 B.C taking 776 as the 1st Olympiad game and the 184th will be 736,now 776 736 = 40B.C. This above evidence prove that Herods death occurred on 4.BC if thisis the case Christ death must have certainly not occurred on A.D.33!!.

Now let us see the eclipse account of Josephus which Bro.Russell ignored. During his last daysthere was a sedition, during that time high priest was Matthias Ant.17.6.4Herod deprived this

Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with hiscompanions alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moonWars II.1 sections 1,2,3 if weread we will come to know that herod died and there was a public mourning and afterwardsmou5rnings for those who were killed by Herod for the sedition i.e. pulling down the goldeneagle Section 1 reads Archelaus . . . when he had mourned for his father seven days, and had given avery expensive funeral feast to multitude.Section 2. When the public mourning for the king was over,those lamented that were put to death by Herod, because they had cut down the golden eagle that had beenover the gate of the templethey cried out, that a punishment ought to be inflicted for these men uponthose that wee honoured by herod; and that in the first place the man whom he had made high priestshould be deprivedSection 3.. and indeed , the feast of unleavened bread which was now a handand is by Jews called the Passover, and used to be celebrated with a great number of sacrifices and aninnumerable multitude of people came out of the country to worship some of these stood in the templebewailing the rabbins (that been put to death) and procured their sustenance by begging in order tosupport their sedition.

From the above we clearly understand that after the eclipse there was a Passover feast. Theeclipse of B.C.4 occurred in March 12/13 After the death there was the celebration of thePassover, the first day of which would have occurred on April 11, B.C.4.Hence his deathoccurred sometime between March 12th and April 11th since the thirty fourth year of his reignwould have begun on Nisan1, B.C.4(March 29.4BC 40) his death would have occurred sometime between march 29 and April 11,4BC.Wherefore for these reasons Christ would not havebeen born later than March /April of 4 B.C says Harold.D.Hohner, who also believes in AD33

Crucifixion. Another Line of Testimony

AB URBE CONDITA (A.U.C)is from Latin for From the founding of the city (of Rome) , supposed to have happened in 753B.C.It was on e

of several methods used for dating years in the Roman era, when the Roman calendar and Julian calendar were in use. It appears to have widely

replaced by the annodicletiani (A.D.) system which in turn was gradually superseded by the anno domini (A.D) system of Dionysius Exigus -

Wikepedia Encyclopedia


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Apostle Paul after his conversion(Gal 117,18.) he went to Arabia and returned again toDamascus.Vs18 And then afterthree yearsI went to Jerusalem to see peter and I abode with him

fifteen daysGal 2:1 Then fourteen yearsafter I went up again to Jerusalem with barnabas...After returning from Arabia to Damascus to the period of Jerusalem council the period is 17years first to see Peter 3years plus after fourteen years to Jerusalem for Apostolic council is 17years. There is difference of opinion on it scholars like Alfred says AD50, Bengel -47, Bruce -49, Hastings -49/50, Ogg -48, Ramsay -50, Scroggie 50, Lake- 50.The reasonable dates are48/49/50 can be taken to start with. Now one has to accommodate 17 years of Paul betweenthe Jerusalem council and his conversion plus little time of his going to Arabia and returning toDamascus. Before thinking of the date of Jerusalem council one should also provide the time ofhis second Missionary journey between the Jerusalem council and the Judgment of Gallio atCorinth . Therefore instead of going from conversion it is better to come down to conversionfrom Gallios Judgment at Corinth . The only accurate year available in Pauls life for buildingthe Chronology is the Gallios year of Proconsul ship. In this connection see UngersArcheology and the New Testament Page 245 In summer of A.D the new annual proconsulwho arrived in Corinth to commence his official duties was Gallios brother of stoicPhilosopher Seneca. This fact is evident from an important inscription from Delphi, this

monument makes possible to date the arrival of Gallio in Corinth quite accurately.

The inscription is in the form of a letter from Emperor Claudius and contains a reference toGallio as Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend and the proconsul of Achaia. . . .The Emperor styleshimselfTiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifix Maximus of Tribunicain authority

for the 12th time, imperator the 26ht time father of the countrym consul for the 5ht time The referenceto the 12th Tribunician year and the 26th imperator ship of Claudius dates this imperialcommunication between January and August A.D.52 and Gallio must have arrived earlier inA.D.51, since he had obviously been in office long enough to have given the Emperorinformation of consequence concerning the people of Delphi. It is to better to look into anotherpassage regarding this new testament Times by Merrill C Tenny page 276 The dating of the

12th

tribunician year and the 26th

acclamation places the inscription between January andAugust of the year A.D.52. since Gallio must have been holding office long enough to havemade a report of Claudius and to have received the Emperors commendation , he probably tookoffice about July 1 of A.D.51.Paul had presumably arrived in Corinth before Gallio, perhaps asearly as A.D.50, if he left Jerusalem in summer of A.D. 48 shortly after the council ofJerusalem. The Bible and the Archeology byJ.A.Thompson page 396 says Paul was broughtbefore Gallio, the deputy of Achaia (Acts18:12) The date of spring A.D52 can be given withconsiderable accuracy from the reference to Gallio.Paul was thus in Corinth from autumn A.D50 to spring A.D52.

Certain pieces of information link together very neatly in this connection (Acts18:12) the officeof proconsul ship is Annual and it was taken up accordingly on July 1st A.D.50 by Gallio

therefore the possible period of Paul standing before judgment seat must be between July 1stA.D 52 to August A.D.52 since the 11th verse says (Acts 18:11) that Paul was at Corinthalready a year and six months ( 1.1/2 years) because of this reason we have to assume that hemust have come to Corinth on A.D.50 Paul on his second missionary journey came to Corinthfrom Jerusalem after the Apostolic council. Since Paul cannot jump all of a sudden fromJerusalem to Corinth so that his 17 years can be accommodated and the figure A.D.33 beconfirmed. Since A.D.33 was not grounded on sufficient reasons except for the reason of blind


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faith that Jesus Christ was Crucified on Good Friday. Had it been founded on the rock of truthit would have been supported from external proofs also.

THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY OF PAULAFTER JERUSALEM COUNCIL

Versus Place KiloMeters

MinimumTime

1.Acts 15:30 Jerusalem to Antioch 600 15 days2.Acts 15:30-39,Gal 2:11

Visit in Antioch long enough for wordTo return to Jerusalem Peter was eating withGentiles and for a representative of James toarrive

7weeks

3.Acts 15:41 to16:1

Antioch to Derbe( Antioch,Alexandria,Mosqsuestia,Tarsus,238Km.Tarsus to podandos, Herecia,Cybistra, Kastabald,Barata, Derbe 233KM)

471 12 days

4. Acts 15:41 Visiting to churches in Syria,cilcia and Derbe 5 weeks5.Acts 16:1-5 Derbe through lystra to Iconium 144 3 days6.Acts 16:4-5 Visits in Lystra nd Iconium 2 weeks7. Acts 16:6,15:41,16:4,Gal2:10

From iconium to neoplis and Antioch in pisidaActs16:6 implies western movement towards Asia

142 3 days

8. Acts 16:4-5 Visits in Anticoh in pisidia 1 week9. Acts16;6 ,Gal1:2 ,2:10

Pisidian Antioch to Ancyra Journey to north to beopposite of mysia and to be at theapproachtoBithynia(Antioch,Philomelium,Amorium,pessimus,Germa Ancyrna

312 8 days

10. Gal 4:13 Missionary activity in North,Galatia probably inpessimus Germa and Ancyra, including period ofillness

6months

11. Acts 16:8 Ancrya to troas, skirtingmyssia(Ancyra,Germa,Dorylaion,cotiaion 313 Km,cotiaion Awsani,Cadi Ancyra Siders on unknownroad ,Adramyttion, assos, troas 458 km

771 20 days

12.Acts 16:10,20:6-12

Missonary Activity in Troas 2 weeks

13. Acts 16;11 Troas to Philippi through Neopolis via sea 250 3 days14. Acts 16:12 Missionary activity in Philippi 3 months15. Acts 17:1 Philippi to Thessalonica 140 4 days16.Acts 17:1-9 Thessalonian Mission 3 months17.Acts 17:10 Thesslonianica to Beroea 70 2 days18.Acts 17;10 ,14 Beroean Ministry 2 months19.Acts17:10 Beroea to Athens by land to pydna and from 506 10 days


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pireus to Athens 56 Km by sea from pydna topireaus 450Km

20.Acts 17:16 -34

Ministry in Athens 2 weeks

21. Acts 18:1 Athens through Piraeus, by ship to Cenchrea on to

Corinth 75Km Sea and 16 Km land

91 3 days

Apostle Paul has traveled by sea 775 Km, and by land 2722Km total 3497 Km. and Number ofdays covered in the 2nd missionary Journey is 640 days i.e. 91 weeks. This is the Minimum timeof Paul to reach Corinth after Jerusalem council .From the time of standing before Gallio minus1 and years of Acts 18:11 and the above Journey period i.e. 91 weeks approximately 2 yearsthen 17 years, before council and then a little period of conversion (Arabia to DamascusJourney) and Paul persecuting the church, a period of 21 years minimum should beaccommodated.

Let us Reason Together

We have Concrete Evidence that Apostle Paul was in Corinth on A.D.50.Delhpi inscription ofClaudius evidently refers to his 26th imperial acclamation is to be dated in the first half of June July A.D52.Gallio might have entered office on may/June of the year A.D 51 as this date isestablished in secular history and there is no other alternate dates, now let us reason togetherwith the historical and scriptural evidence. Acts 18:1 Paul departed from Athens and came to toCorinthActs 18:11And he continued there a year and six monthsActs 18:12And when Gallio wasthe deputy of Achaia the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul . . . from this weunderstand that Paul arrived at Corinth in A.D.50 Jan, Gal 1:18 After three years I went up toJerusalem to see Peter so after conversion Paul did not go to Jerusalem but to Arabia SeeGal1:17, and returned to Damascus again, Then after three years he went to Jerusalem Gal2:1Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem

After Crucifixion the period Paul persecuted the Disciples ? years After conversion the Period he was in Arabia and returned

Again to Damascus Acts 18:17 ? years

After three years (i.e. after returning from Arabia) he went to JerusalemActs 1:18 3 years

Gal 2:1 fourteen years after again he went to Jerusalem 14 years-----------

Total years ?+17 years

If Christ was crucified on A.D.33 the period between crucifixion, persecution, of disciples plus

conversion and going to Arabia and returning to Damascus let us add afterwards, But we aresure that Paul was at Corinth in Jan A.D. 50

Crucifixion 33 A.D 3+14 years of Gal2;1-4 17 years

----------A.D 50

What about the Period of persecution, conversion and going to Arabia and returning toDamascus???, therefore the year A.D.33 makes this impossible. Christ died early i.e. A.D31


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Not on A.D 33

If from the date of arrival of Paul to Corinth, we account we have to deduct minimum 17 yearsplus the second missionary Journey period to arrive at his conversion year i.e.A.D 50 minus 2years Journey being the minimum approximate i.e A.D.48.Jerusalem counsel minus 17 yearswill reach to A.D.31 not A.D33.In this way A.D 33 is not reasonable year and besides thisHerod died on B.C. 4 and the Lord was born before Herods death, and lived only 33 and years and this will not stretch up to A.D.33.

After going through An Archeologist follows the Apostle Paul by James .L.Kelso; and theaccount of Pauls Journey given in Bakers Handbook of the Bible lists, compiled byAndrew.E.Hill we found that the account given by Robert Jewett Dating Pauls Life is Goodand informative for the Bible students who can explain on map about Pauls journey with placesand it harmonize with the above stated Time frame.

The Date of Our Lords Baptism

Taking place shortly after our Lords Baptism John 1:29 on through it gives us a time reference

as to when our Lords ministry began John2:13,18-21 And the Jews Passover was at hand and

Jesus went up to Jerusalem . Then answered the Jews and said unto him ,what sign shewest

thou unto us , seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy

this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this

temple in building and wilt thou rear it up in three day The scriptures here note that at the timeafter (i.e after six months latter ,Baptism on October and Passover on April) our Lords Baptism

the Jews stated that Herods Temple had been in building for forty six years. In order to establish

a correct date of this event we must come to know When did the Building of Herods temple

commence?

Josephus recorded the following Accordingly in the 15th

year of his reign, Herod rebuilt the

Temple, and encompassed a piece of land about it with a wall (Wars I.21.1) yet he also stated

And now Herod, in the 18th

year of his reign and after the acts already mentioned undertook a

very great work, that is to build himself the temple of God (Ant.15.11.1) we have here twodifferent years referring to the same person, how shall we solve this discrepancy?

A Dictionary of the Bible (James Hastings Vol,1 P405, article Chronology of the new

Testaments.) states Herods Temple was begun according to Wars of Jews is in his 15th

year,according to Antiquities is in his 18th year and Josephus in both books summarizes the Length of

Herods Reign by a double computation( which we have already discussed) from the de jurekingship i.e. The senate has agreed upon and was declared king in the year B.C. 40, and de factokingship i.e. the year when he actually procured the kingship in the year B.C 37, an obvioussolution of the discrepancy would be count 15th year from the later , and 18th year from theearlier. of the two starting points both reckonings then converging on B.C.22/23.but in factJosephus, when he gives a single date, invariably computes it from the de facto Kingship only i.eThe year when he actually procured the Kingship. so in Ant. the battle of Actium ( B.C 31) isput in the 7th year of herod, Augustus second visit to Syria which was not earlier that B.C


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21(for it was ten years after the first visit and that in turn was after Actium war) is dated in theseventeenth year of Herods reign and completion of Caesarea is fixed in the 92nd Olympiad(B.C12-8) and in the 28th year of Herods reign (Ant.15.v.2,vi.7,16.v.1) seeing then thedivergence cannot be accounted for as a double reckoning, it must arise from the correction inAnt. So Josephus ultimate date is 18th year from 37 B.C, or in other words B.C 19, and thePassover of the 46th year that of A.D 27.thus the correct date for the Baptism is the earlymonths of A.D.27 counting 3 and a years forward we will reach to A.D.31 Nisan, andcounting Backward to the birth of our Lord we will reach B.C.4 (4+27=31).

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (edited by George Bromily Vol2,p.690 articleHerod) sates In late 40 or early 39 B.C Herod returned to Palestine and with the help ofAntonys Legate sossius was able to recapture Galilee(perhaps this is why Josephus at one pointnoted 40 B.C to be the beginning of his Reign).finally in the Spring of 37B.C. he laid siege otJerusalem. Before the fall of Jerusalem Herod married Mariamne, niece of Aantigonus, to whomhe had been betrothed for five years. The intention this marriage was to spite Anitgonus and tostrengthen Herods claim to the throne since she was a Hasmenean.Jerusalem fell in summer of37A.D (Ant.14.15.8,16.2) Herod requested that Romans behead Aantigonus, thus ending the

Hasmonean rule. Herod therefore became king of the Jews in B.C.37 the beginning of his reignand the correct date for determining the rebuilding of the Temple is BC 19, 18 years later

The 15th

year reign of Tiberius Caesar Luke 3:1

James Hastings in his dictionary of bible (Vol4, p 760 article Tiberius) states The 2nd Roman

emperor A.D 14-37.The Former 14.A.D is the date of Tiberius accession on the death of

Augusts. But there is a good reason to suppose that Luke3:1 in his reference to the 15th

year ofthe reign of Tiberius Caesar, as the beginning of John the Baptists ministry is reckoning form

the date of Tiberius association with Augustus in the empire some two years before the death of

the latter. . . The exact year of Tiberius adoption by his stepfather in the government is notknown. Mommsen putts it A.D.11/12, Perhaps the use of the word hegemonia(A.V,RV reign)implies that Tiberius was only acting as regent before the death of Augustus. From the evidence

of coins struck at this date it is shown that to was customary to regard Tiberius reign beginning

A.D.12 or A.U.C 765.

Such co-regency is reaffirmed in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(Vo.4,p847,article Tiberius) which states successor of Augustus Caeser as the second Romanemperor, born Tiberius Claudius Nero on November 16,42 B.C, his father of the same name was

an office under Julius Caesar. his mother ,Liva Drusilla of the claudian family divorced his father

in 38B.C and become the third wife of Augustus . When all hope of direct succession was lost,

both he (Tiberius) and Agrippa Postumus were adopted reluctantly by Augustus on June 26A.D.4 at which time he was became military Governor of the Roman provinces and soon was

raised by special law to position of co- regency (A.D.12)

The fact of co-regency of Tiberius with Augustus is again reaffirmed by E.W. Buillinger. In his

companion bible (p1438, footnote for Luke 3:1) it state Augustus died in A.D 14, but Tiberius

was associated with him for two or three years, this would make Tiberiuss 15th

year A.D 27(27-15 =12 A.D.) the word hegemonia means Government not Kingdom i.e. Basileia.


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The mission of the Baptist in the 15th

year of Tiberius, calculated from A.D.12 will fall inA.D.26/27, the baptism of our Lord will fall on the Autumn of A.D.27 and the first Passover of

the ministry, being at the same time the Passover of the 46th

year of the temple building will

follow in the spring of A.D 27 and counting forward 3 and a years we will reach A.D.31 not

A.D 33

Roman Records Concerning TibRoman Records Concerning TibRoman Records Concerning TibRoman Records Concerning Tiberiuseriuseriuserius RomanRomanRomanRoman----British.orgBritish.orgBritish.orgBritish.org

Born: BC42/11/16 Tiberius Claudius Nero on the Palatine Hill

Father: Tiberius Claudius Nero, fought against Augustus in civil war in BC40

Mother: Livia Drusilla (later Julia Augusta).

Emperor: AD14/08/19 Tiberius Caesar Augustus.

Died: AD37/03/16 smothered by Macro in his bed at or near Micenum.

History:

BC25 military tribune in Cantabria

BC23 quaestor

BC20 won back standards of Crassus in Parthian campaign

BC16 governor of Gaul

BC16 married wife1: Vipsania Agrippina, daughter of Agrippa

BC? son born: Tiberius Drusus Caesar

BC13 consul I

BC11 married wife2: Julia, daughter of Augustus

BC9 imperator I

BC8 imperator II

BC7 consul II

BC6/06/26 Tribunicia Potestas granted for 5 years

BC6 retires to Rhodes

BC2 Julia divorced, banished to Pandateria

AD2 Aug. allowed back to Rome as privatus

AD4/06/26 Tribunicia Potestas (renewed annually from this date)

AD4/06/27 adopted by Augustus, became Tiberius Iulius Caesar

AD4 adopts his brother Drusus' eldest son: Claudius Germanicus Caesar

AD6 imperator III

AD8 imperator IV

AD9 imperator V

AD11 imperator VI

AD12 granted supreme power by AugustusAD12 granted supreme power by AugustusAD12 granted supreme power by AugustusAD12 granted supreme power by Augustus

AD13 imperator VII

AD14/08/19 accession, becomes Tiberius Caesar AugustusAD14-16 Germanicus campaigns in Germany

AD15 Mar. 'Pontifex Maximus'

AD16 imperator VIII

AD16 Germanicus recalled from Rhine

AD17 Drusus governor of Pannonia

AD17/05/26 Germanicus celebrates triumph

AD18 consul III with Germanicus


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AD18 Germanicus departs for eastern provinces

AD19/10/10 Germanicus dies in Antioch

AD20/05/27 Drusus celebrates triumph

AD21 consul IV with Drusus

AD23/09/14 Drusus dies, poisoned by wife Livilla and her lover Sejanus

AD26 leaves Rome for CampaniaAD27 takes up residence on Capri

AD29 mother Livia dies, aged 86

AD29 Agrippina beaten and exiled to Pandateria

AD29 Nero son of Agrippina banished to Pontic island and forced to commit suicide

AD31 consul V with Sejanus

AD31 Drusus son of Agrippina starved to death in palace cellar

AD31/10/18 Sejanus executed for treason

AD33/10/18 Agrippina starves to death

The above record confirms that Tiberius was granted supreme power on AD12,

date of ourlord's birth

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