Ovid born, and lives 59 years. The Parthians conquer Syria July 16, by the help of Sosius, Herod takes Jerusalem and therein king Antigonus. (k) This summer, Antony kills king Antigonus at Antioch. (h) Octavius deposes Lepidus from the Triumvirate. (k m) September 3, (i) the marine victory of Octavius over Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. (km) August 1, Octavius takes Alexandria; at which Antony kills himself, and soon after Cleopatra; and Egypt is made a Roman province. (ch u) h By the continual instigation and bribery of Herod. (u p) 6 V. PERIOD. The Chronology of the Roman emperors, successively, from the beginning of the reign of Augustus, to the death of Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, when the empire came to be divided; being the space of 365 years, nine months. HAVING brought the reader through the darker scenes of the ancient ages to the beginning of the Roman emperors, we are opening now into fairer prospects, and the path of time grows clearer and more certain; partly by the regulation of the year by Julius Cæsar, and partly by the advance of learning in the Roman empire. But though the course of time through the present period meets with little or no difficulty, yet the punctual dates of those great events, the decease of Herod, and the birth, ministry and death of John the Baptist, and our blessed Savior, have perplexed the minds of the most learned men, as much as any other points of history. For the New English reader's fuller view of these famous problems, I must refer to Scaliger, Calvisius, Petavius, Strauchius, Gregory, Lightfoot, Swan, Whiston, Whitby, Prideaux, Marshal, and Lardner, whose performances are found among us; but above all, to the critical examination of Paterculus, Josephus, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dio, compared with the writers of the New Testament; without consulting whose originals, I find there can be no safety or exactness in our reasonings from them. However, to oblige my readers, that cannot come at these authentic records, I may briefly observe, as to the death of Herod, that though Archbishop Usher and Mr. Whiston place it in November, yet Josephus plainly representing that he died a little before the passover, and the Jewish writer from whom they take that end of Herod's life, being a modern author, and of little credit, as Dr. Whitby observes from Dr. Allix, the learned therefore seem to be giving up this article, and the great inquiry is, whether Herod died in the spring of the year of Rome 750, 751, or 752; that is, according to Varro's computation, which Petavius, Cary, and Perizonius, follow in their Chronological tables; though the very same years are called 749, 750, 751, according to Cato; followed by Helvicus, Isaacson, Swan, and Tallents. Now because Josephus mentions an eclipse of the moon at Jericho, in the time of Herod's final illness, astronomers, searching for this celestial character, Kepler and Petavius have found it on March 13th, in the year of Rome 750; that is, according to Varro and Dio's account, which we here use, (a) and therefore place the decease of Herod between this phenomenon, and April 11th, the day of the following passover. And though Herod had not arrived to the 37th entire year from the time he was declared king by the Roman Senate, yet if Josephus begins his Jewish years with the first of Nisan, as Ptolemy, his Egyptian with the first of Thoth; then on the first of Nisan, in 750, Herod entered his 37th year, and there is no difficulty. For (1) Josephus tells us, that Herod was declared king by the Romans in the 184th Olympiad, Calvinus and Pollio being consuls; Dio says, that these were consuls in the year of Rome 714; and the learned all agree that this Olympiad ended in the summer of this very year. But by comparing these two authors, it seems to me that Herod did not sail to Rome till the winter coming on at the end of 714; and though Calvinus and Pollio began their consulships in the 184th Olympiad, yet the 185th began in the summer before Herod's voyage; which Josephus expressly tells us was after Pentecost and (euros ovos,) in the winter season. (2) Josephus also says, that Herod reigned thirty-seven years; that his son Philip succeeded him in part of his dominions, ruled also thirty-seven years, and died in the twentieth year of the empire of Tiberius; and all Chronologers agree that the twentieth year of Tiberius began on August 19th, in the year of Rome 766. By this, it is plain, Josephus means, not entire years, with respect to either son or father, but the thirty-seventh year current only. (3) Josephus also writes in his book of the war, that Archelaus succeeded Herod in another part of his kingdom, namely, Judea; and being accused in the ninth year of his government, he was banished to Vienna. But in his book of antiquities written after the other, and we may suppose more correctly, he says, that Archelaus was accused and banished in the tenth year of his government; and in his own life he repeats the same, asserting that his father's birth was in the said tenth year of Arche a See the calculation of this eclipse at the end of Mr. Whiston's astronomical lectures; though his calculation is for the meridian of Jerusalem, which makes it something earlier in the morning than it appeared at Jericho. laus. By which, it seems, that Archelaus was accused and sent to Rome in the spring or end of his ninth year, and was got into his tenth before his trial there and exile. And Dio says, he was accused and banished to Vienna, and his estate confiscated in the year of Rome 759, Lepidus and Aruntius being consuls. (4) Josephus also tells us, that upon Archelaus's banishment, Augustus sent Cyrenius, who seized his estate in the thirty-seventh year after Antony was beat by Octavius at Actium; and the learned all agree that the thirty-seventh year from that event began on Sept. 2d in this very year of Rome, which Dio speaks of, namely, 759. If, therefore, 714 ending with the last month Adar of the Jewish year, be reckoned by Josephus for the first of Herod's reign, and so his second year beginning with the first of Nisan, then the latter end of March 750 will be in his thirtyseventh year; then March 759 will be in the end of Archelaus's ninth, and the rest of the year will be his tenth; then his estate will be seized in the same year, sometime after Sept. 2d, and then the thirty-seventh of Philip will begin in March 786; and he must die between August 19th this same year, (when Tiberius enters on his twentieth,) and the Nisan of the next, when otherwise Philip would enter into his thirtyeighth. But if we fix the decease of Herod to the spring of 751, then we slight the eclipse abovesaid, (which no astronomer will be free to) and cannot so easily make Josephus and Dio agree. And if we carry his death to the spring of 752, then we both slight the eclipse, and make Josephus interfere both with Dio and with himself also. Whereas, if we keep to the celestial character with the natural and easy supposition above, there is a perfect harmony in all their numbers. Now the 750th year of Rome, is the 4710th of the Julian period; and in the spring of this year, I at present incline to place the decease of Herod; though, if a lunar eclipse at Jericho could be found by Mr. Flamsted's observations, and Sir Isaac Newton's theory, in the latter part of this year, or beginning of the next, I should then incline to think his death was in the spring ensuing. And by Matt. i. we know that Christ was born before Herod died; as by Luke i. the birth of John was about half a year before our Savior's. 糖 Aug 31, the first Egyptian new year day of his conquering Anthony and Egypt, and becoming sole military head of the Roman empire for forty-three years. (s. d. pt. &c.) Jan. 7th, he receives the whole administration from the senate. Jan. 13th. t they name him Augustus, and the republic turned into a monarchy. (c. p. u. &c.) Marc Agrippa marries Julia, only child of Augustus. (c) The blessed Virgin born. (n) Virgil dies at Brundusium, aged 52. (c) Lepidus the high priest of Rome dies, and March 19th, Marc Agrippa dies. (c) Augustus begins to rectify the Julian year. Horace, aged 57, and Mecenas die. (c) Dionysius Halicarnasseus begins to write. (u) John the Baptist born in the former part of this year, and Christ in the latter. (p. u. sw. cr. ll. pr.) Herod dies, aged 70. [j]¶ and his son Archelaus governs in Judea nine years. (j. d. k. p. cr.) The last year tian era. ** before the vulgar Chris I. CENTURY. Jan. 1st. begins the first year, or the By the mistake above this was called Aug. 29th, and hence the Egyptian era begins, by the consent of all Chronologers. 8. Suetonius. d. Dio. pt. Ptolemy. c. Calvisius. p. Petavius. u. Usher. So Ovid; but Censorinus on Jan. 17th. (c. u.) By whom she had Agrippina and Agrippa-Posthumus, &c. (s) n. Nicephorus. j. Josephus. ll. Lloyd. m. Marshal. But had no issue by her; though he had a son by a former wife. (s) By omitting the three intercalations for the twelve years following. (c. u.pr.) pr. Prideaux. sw. Swan. cr. Cary. k. Kepler. Between an eclipse of the moon on March 13th, and the passover on April 11th. (j. d. k. p. cr.) ** Cycle of the sun nine, year of Rome, according to Varro, Tacitus, and Dio 753, Julian year forty-five, and year of the Julian Period 4713; as all Chronologers agree. tt First brought into use by Dionysius Exignus in the common year of Christ 527, who supposing Christ was born on December 25th, of the foregoing year, began the Christian era with this first of January. |