Timeline of the Years Surrounding 70 AD

Some material taken from bible.ca

Legend:
Ant - Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews at SacredTexts
Wars - Josephus' Wars of the Jews
Eus - Eusebius' Ecclesiastical Church History
Cass - Cassius Dio, Roman History mollerhaus tufts.edu
Seut - Suetonius
Sibyl - Sibylline Oracles

year	date	event	source	caesar	bible
~15 AD	-	Famine in Rome. Augustus expels slaves, gladiators, and foreigners.	Orosius Bk 7, Suetonius, Augustus 42.3	Caesar Augustus
~15 AD	-	Temple of Janus is opened by Augustus.	Orosius Bk 7	Caesar Augustus
27 AD	-	Roman Amphitheatre in Fidenae near Rome, seats collapse, killing 20,000 people.	Orosius Bk 7	Tiberius
31 AD	-	Jesus is crucified. Earthquakes shake the whole world. Rocks/mountains rent. Large cities sustained damage. Sun darkened in the sixth hour, NOT an eclipse, stars seen.	Bible, Orosius Bk 7	Tiberius
37 AD	-	Earthquake destroys Antioch.		Caligula
38 AD	-	Alexandrian riots. Statues of Caligula places in Jewish synagogues in Egypt, commands his worship as a god. Synagogues destroyed, thousands of Jews were killed or driven out.	Orosius, Bk 7; Philo	Caligula
39 AD	-	Caligula orders Publius Petronius to build a statue of him in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews protest. Petronius delays a year.		Caligula
40 AD	-	Alexandrian riots. Jews and Greeks conflict. Caligula orders a statue of himself be placed in the Temple at Jerusalem. It does not arrive before his death.	Philo, 'In Flaccum' & 'Legatio ad Gaium'; Josephus	Caligula
41 AD	-	Caligula dies.	Orosius Bk 7	Claudius
41 AD	-	Claudius casts Caligula's poisons into the sea, fish die and wash to neighboring shores.	Orosius Bk 7	Claudius
42 AD	-	Peter begins building the Christian church in Rome.	Orosius Bk 7	Claudius
43 AD	-	God thwarts civil war plot by Scribonianus, soldiers cannot adorn or pull up the Roman standards, and give up the plan.	Orosius Bk 7	Claudius
45 AD	-	Claudius conquers Britain without a fight.	Orosius Bk 7; Suetonius, Claudis 17	Claudius
45 AD	-	Famine throughout Syria, including Jerusalem. Queen Helena of Adiabene, a Christian convert, supplies Christians in Jerusalem with grain.	Orosius Bk 7; Suetonius, Claudis 17	Claudius
48 AD	-	Passover riot in Jerusalem. 30,000 Jews are trampled to death.	Orosius Bk 7	Claudius
49 AD	-	Jews expelled from Rome by Claudius, because of their constant oppression of the Christians.	Orosius Bk 7; Josephus; Suetonius	Claudius
50 AD	-	Famine in Rome. Claudius insulted by the Romans and pelted with pieces of bread by a mob.	Orosius Bk 7; Josephus; Suetonius	Claudius	Acts 11:28
51 AD	-	Earthquake in Rome.	Tacitus	Claudius
51 AD	-	Earthquake in Judea, massive.	Josephus	Claudius
54 AD	-	Nero becomes emperor.		Nero
59 AD	Oct ?	Nero has his mother murdered	Cass 61-16.3	Nero
59 AD	Oct ?	During his mother's funeral, the sun suffered a total eclipse and the stars could be seen	Cass 61-16.3	Nero
59 AD	Oct ?	As Nero's dinner is brought to him, lightning strikes it and consumes it in front of him	Cass 61-16.3	Nero
61 AD		Earthquake in Colossae, Hieropolis, Laodicea, destroys all 3 cities, only Laodicea is rebuilt	Tacitus, Eusebius, Orosius	Nero
61 AD		Earthquake in Crete	Tacitus, Philostratus	Nero
61 AD		Earthquakes in Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos, in “all places the Jews had settled”	Philostratus	Nero
62 AD		Apostle James is thrown from the temple pinnacle by High Priest Ananias, and beaten to death with clubs	Ant. 20. 19-203	Nero
62 AD	-	Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy (and Herculaneum). Magnitude of 5-6. On a feast day honoring the guardian spirits of the city.	Seneca the Younger in Natural Questions	Nero
62 AD	Oct	Jesus ben Ananus runs through the city crying “Woe”, for 7 years	Wars 6.5.3, Eus 3.8.1	Nero
62 AD	Oct 7	Feast of Tabernacles		Nero
63 AD	-	Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. 20,000 inhabitants flee in panic.		Nero
64 AD	Jul 19	Great Fire of Rome		Nero
64 AD	-	Nero begins persecution of Christians.		Nero
64 AD	-	Peter crucified upside down in Rome, by Nero. Paul put to death also.	Orosius Bk 7	Nero
64 AD	-	Roman standards, which had been stuck/unmoveable in the ground since 43 AD, where now released and moveable.	Orosius Bk 7	Nero
64 AD	Oct	A Plague kills at least 30,000 Romans. 30,00 funerals entered into the register of the goddess Libitina.	Suet. Nero, 39.1; Orosius Bk 7	Nero
64 AD		Apostle Paul beheaded in Rome by Nero		Nero
65 AD	Apr 3	Light shines around the temple for a ½ hour	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	Apr 3	Star appears as a Sword over Jerusalem, lasts a year	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	Apr 3	Comet appears in the sky, lasts a year	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	Apr 9	Passover	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	Apr 9	East gate of Jerusalem opens by itself	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	Apr 9	Virgin cow gives birth to a lamb in the temple	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD	May 16	Armies seen in the skies around Jerusalem	Wars 6.5.3, SibylOr 3.796-808	Nero
65 AD	Jun 2	Pentecost		Nero
65 AD	Jun 2	Priests in the temple felt an earthquake and heard a multitude of voices saying “Let us remove hence!”	Wars 6.5.3	Nero
65 AD		Apostle Thaddaeus crucified by Magi in Persia		Nero
65 AD		Apostle John receives the book of Revelation	Rev 17:7-13	Nero
65 AD		Earthquakes in Laodicea and Campania (“during the reign of Nero”)	Tacitus, Philostratus, Seneca	Nero
66 AD	Oct	Jewish revolt against Rome begins. Zealots siege Jerusalem and Sicarii capture Masada.		Nero
66 AD	Nov	Judean rebels ambush Gallus and kill 5,300 Roman soldiers.		Nero
67 AD	Feb 6	Countdown of 3 1/2 years of Tribulation starts		Nero
67 AD		Jewish high priesthood ceases, high priest is drawn by lots	Wars 4.3.8	Nero
67 AD		Jewish civil war in Jerusalem. The Zealots and Sicarii kill anyone that leaves the city.		Nero
67 AD		Siege of Jotapata, 40,000 Jews massacred. Josephus captured by the Romans.		Nero
67 AD		Doors of Augustus' mausoleum and Nero's bedchamber both open by themselves.	Cass 63	Nero
67 AD		Blood Rain, instances in history.	Cass 63	Nero
68 AD	Jun 9	Nero commits suicide	Wars 4.9.2	Galba
68 AD	Jun 9	Galba becomes Caesar	Wars 4.9.2	Galba
68 AD		Earthquake in Rome	Seutonius	Galba
69 AD	Jan 15	Otho becomes Caesar	Wars 4.9.2	Otho
69 AD		A comet was seen	Cass 65:8	Otho
69 AD		The moon eclipsed twice, 3 days apart (Wednesday, Saturday)	Cass 65:8	Otho
69 AD		People saw 2 suns at once, one weak/pale and one brilliant/powerful	Cass 65:8	Otho
69 AD		Huge footprints seen by soldiers at the capital, they said that the door of temple of Jupiter had opened by itself, some fainted	Cass 65:8	Otho
69 AD	Apr 14	Caesar Otho commits suicide.	Wars 4.9.9	Otho
69 AD	Apr 17	Vitellius becomes Caesar	Wars 4.9.9	Vitellius
69 AD	Apr 17	Vitellius burns down the Temple of Jupiter Capitolonius	Orosius Bk 7; Cassius Dio; Wars	Vitellius
69 AD		Moon is eclipsed, appears both blood-colored and black, and gave out other colors, days before Vitellius' death	Cass 65-11	Vitellius
69 AD	Dec 22	Caesar Vitellius beheaded, Vespasian becomes Caesar.	Wars 4.11.4, 4.11.5	Vespasian
69 AD	Dec 22	Siege of Jerusalem by Titus' army commences.	Wars 4.11.4, 4.11.5	Vespasian
69 AD		Josephus becomes Vespasian's historian.		Vespasian
70 AD	-	Grain famine in Rome, causing a bread shortage, panic sets in.		Vespasian
70 AD		Earthquake in Jerusalem, accompanied by a violent storm, rain, continuous lightnings and thunder, as if an indication of coming destruction	Wars 4.4.5	Vespasian
70 AD	Mar 7	Titus' army arrives	Wars 5	Vespasian
70 AD	Mar	Jesus ben Ananus killed by catapult stone	Wars 6.5.3	Vespasian
70 AD	May 20	"Chariots and troops" seen running in the clouds around Jerusalem.	Wars 6.296.5.3	Vespasian
70 AD	June 4	Pentecost, priests in the Temple in Jerusalem feel a quaking and hear "a sound as of a great multitude saying, Let us remove hence".	Wars 6.296.5.3	Vespasian
70 AD	July 14	Sacrifices in the temple cease.	Wars 6.94.2.1	Vespasian
70 AD	Aug 6	Temple burnt to the ground (on the 9th of Av).	Wars 6.4	Vespasian
70 AD	Aug 6	Roman Day of Saturn	Cass 66-7.2	Vespasian
70 AD		Apostle Matthias stoned and beheaded		Vespasian
70 AD		Apostle Bartholomew flayed to death with a whip in Armenia		Vespasian
70 AD		Apostle Andrew crucified in Patras, Achaea	Hippolytus	Vespasian
70 AD	Sept 2	Romans have complete control of Jerusalem, and burn it and kill residents (8th of Elul).	Wars 6.407.8.5/9.2	Vespasian
71 AD	-	Jewish treasures taken from the temple, in a parade for Titus (see Triumphal Arch of Titus).		Vespasian
71 AD	-	Titus and Vespasian close the Temple of Janus (god of transition).	Orosius Bk 7	Vespasian
72 AD		Flavian Amphitheatre built with Jewish slave labor		Vespasian
72 AD	-	Romans lay siege to Masada.		Vespasian
73 AD	Apr 15	Fortress of Masada falls to the Roman armies, (960) Jews commit group suicide to avoid imprisonment		Vespasian
75 AD		Temple of Peace built in Rome to celebrate the conquest of Jerusalem. Housed the Menorah from the temple.		Vespasian
76 AD		Cyprus, Greece severely damaged by Earthquake. Destroyed the city of Kourion. Rebuilding takes years.	Sibyl 3.573	Vespasian
78 AD		Massive Plague in Rome. 10,000 died per day, for many days.	ST. JEROME, CHRONICON, Orosius Bk 7	Vespasian
78 AD		Earthquake destroys three cities of Cyprus.	Orosius Bk 7	Vespasian
79 AD	June 23	Vespasian dies of fever/diarrhea.		Titus
79 AD	Aug 20-24	Mt. Vesuvius erupts and destroys city of Pompeii and Stabiae and Oplontis, the seats of sexual depravity in the Roman empire. The day after the feast of Vulcanalia.	Cass 66.22, Sibyl 3.583; Orosius Bk 7	Titus
79 AD	Aug 25	Mt. Vesuvius spews poisonous gas.	Cass 66.22; Seneca	Titus
80 AD	-	Fire in Rome Destroys the Temples of Roman gods in 80 AD. Lasts 3 days 3 nights.	Cass 66.24; Orosius Bk 7	Titus
80 AD	-	An Epidemic/Plague hits Rome, worse than any ever known.	Suet Divus Titus 8.3	Titus
81 AD	Sept	Titus dies from a fever. Domitian becomes emperor.	Suet Divus Titus 10.1	Titus
81 AD		Temple of Jupiter struck by lightning, as well as the Flavian temple, and the emperor's palace and bedroom. Many lightning strikes for a period of 8 months.	Suet Divus Domitian 15.2	Domitian
104 AD		Golden House (Domus Aurea, built by Nero) burned to the ground.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
104 AD		Earthquake destroys Asian cities Elaea, Myrina, Pitane, Cyne; and Greek cities Opuntii, Oriti; and three cities of Galatia.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
104 AD		Lightning strikes and burns the Pantheon at Rome.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
104 AD		Earthquake destroys Antioch.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
115 AD		Jewish rebellions break out in many areas, as if they turned into savages. Becomes known as the Kitos War. Affected Libya, Egypt, Cyrene, Thebaid, Alexandria (defeated), Mesopotamia. They destroyed Salamis.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
116 AD		Trajan declares war against the Jews. Thousands are exterminated.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
117 AD		Trajan dies of dysentery.	Orosuis Bk 7	Trajan
117 AD		Hadrian becomes emperor.	Orosuis Bk 7	Hadrian
132 AD		Third Roman-Jewish war, the Bar Kochba Revolt. Simon bar Kochba claimed messiaship, Christians denounce him and are tortured by the Jews. Over 580,000 Jews killed.	Orosuis Bk 7, Cassius Dio	Hadrian
136 AD		Jews expelled from Jerusalem by Hadrian. Christians welcomed to Jerusalem. Walls of Jerusalem rebuilt.	Orosuis Bk 7	Hadrian
165 AD		Plague breaks out in Rome. Called the "Antonine Plague". Killed between 5-10 million.	Orosuis Bk 7	Marcus Aurelius Antoninus