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First Century History
WORLD HISTORY : A.D. 1-100

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CHURCH HISTORY

LATEST ADDITION

• W. Simpson - History of the Christian Church - First Century Only (1857 PDF)  Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, and one of John's disciples. flourished in the reign of Trajan. He was the first propagator of the doctrine of a Millenium, or temporal reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years, when the elect shall be gathered together, after the resurrection, in Jerusalem. Papias, having been a disciple of St. John, was supposed best to know the Apostle's mind as to the thousand years mentioned in Revelations [c. xx.] Hence, the doctrine of a Millenium was much in vogue for two or three centuries, and those who held it were termed Millenarians and Chiliasts. It was held, not only by the Gnostic heretics, especially the Cerinthians, and by the Montanists, but likewise by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others : but the notions of these latter were not of that gross and sensual kind which have been ascribed to Cerinthus and his followers. Origen powerfully refuted the millenarian doctrine."

• Shirley Jackson Case The Evolution of Early Christianity (1914 PDF) "Furthermore, Christians early discovered, by means of the exegetical methods then in vogue, many Old Testament passages to indicate that God had intended Christianity to supplant Judaism. On this hypothesis, Jews, in the interim between the Old and New Testaments, had become blind to the intent of prophecy, had lost the spiritual vision of the ancients, and had converted the teaching of Moses and his successors into a deadening casuistic legalism. Therefore God rescued the treasures of revelation from degradation at the hands of the Pharisees and committed them to the care and keeping of Christians. The fall of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the homeless people were cited as further proof that God had withdrawn his favor from the descendants of his chosen people and had transferred his affections to Christians alone. "

• J.B. Cartwright - The Church of St. James - The Primitive Hebrew Christian Church in Palestine (1842 PDF)  "In this interval, so remarkably ordered by Divine Providence, Josephus states that many of the most distinguished of the inhabitants forsook the city, and though he does not mention the Christians, they were undoubtedly of the number. It is related by Christian writers that they retired to a city called Pella, on the eastern side of the Jordan. Eusebius states that the whole congregation of the Church in Jerusalem, according to a Divine warning given to certain eminent persons before the war, were commanded to depart out of the city, and inhabit Pella, beyond Jordan. And Epiphanius, in allusion to this event, says in one place that they were warned by an angel, f but in another that they were forewarned by Christ. It was clearly the opinion of the ancient Church that the Church of Jerusalem was under the special care of Providence, and that its members were directed to avail themselves of the favourable opportunity which occurred of saving themselves from the overthrow of the city, in conformity with the words of our Saviour, " Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains."

• Alfred Church To the Lions: A Tale of the Early Christians (1923) "No spoil that he could have carried off from the sack of Jerusalem could have proved such a treasure to him as the little Rhoda. She had learnt from her Christian mother, who, happily for herself, had passed to her rest just before Jerusalem was finally invested, some Gospel truths, and Manilius listened with attention which he might not have given to an older teacher when she told him in her childish prattle the story of the life and death of Jesus. When the rewards for services in the great siege were distributed, he received a permanent appointment at Ephesus. Here he came under the influence of St. John, and here he, his wife, and the little Rhoda were received into the Christian community. "

• Homersham Cox The First Century of Christianity  (1886 HTML)  "This removal of the Christian Jews to a neighbouring town has been sometimes represented as a base and traitorous desertion of their countrymen in their sorest need. But the same thing was done by many of those who adhered to the Jewish faith. A large party among them, altogether opposed to the war, saw plainly that resistance to the overwhelming Roman power- was futile, and considered that the best interests of their country would be served by submission. In large numbers they escaped from the fated city as from a sinking vessel. Why, then, should the Christians be reproached for taking the same course ? They simply obeyed the command— And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof draweth nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them which are in the countries enter thereinto."

• George Edmundson (The Church in Rome in the First Century 1913 PDF) "I mean the Apocalypse of St. John. The Apocalypse is full of references to historical events of which the author had quite recently been himself an eyewitness at Rome, or which were fresh in the memories of the Roman Christians with whom he had been associating, and it can be dated with great exactitude from internal evidence as having been written at the beginning of the year 70 A.D."

• Adolf Harnack: The Mission and Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries (1908)

• E. De Pressence : The Early Years of Christianity (1870) "It is to us evident that the Apostle wrote [the Apocalypse] a few years after the terrible persecution under Nero. It is idle to draw any parallel between the persecutions under Domitian, and that first truly infernal explosion of pagan hatred against the Church. "

• W. Simpson - History of the Christian Church - First Century Only (1857 PDF)  Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, and one of John's disciples. flourished in the reign of Trajan. He was the first propagator of the doctrine of a Millenium, or temporal reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years, when the elect shall be gathered together, after the resurrection, in Jerusalem. Papias, having been a disciple of St. John, was supposed best to know the Apostle's mind as to the thousand years mentioned in Revelations [c. xx.] Hence, the doctrine of a Millenium was much in vogue for two or three centuries, and those who held it were termed Millenarians and Chiliasts. It was held, not only by the Gnostic heretics, especially the Cerinthians, and by the Montanists, but likewise by Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and others : but the notions of these latter were not of that gross and sensual kind which have been ascribed to Cerinthus and his followers. Origen powerfully refuted the millenarian doctrine."

Roman Empire

• David Shotter - Nero (1997 PDF)

• Miriam T. Griffin - Nero: The End of a Dynasty (1984 PDF)

• Marcus Aurelius Antonius (121-180) -  Meditations (167)

• Edward George Bulwer-Lytton The Last Days of Pompeii

• Elizabeth Carey: The Tragedy of Miriam, Fair Queen of Jewry "the first play authored by an Englishwoman to ever be published"

• Alfred Church: The Burning of Rome | Pictures from Roman Life

• Edward Conybeare: Roman Britain: Gallantry of Titus, Misgovernment of Nero -  "Under Nero the unhappy Britons first realized what it was to be Roman provincials. Though Julius Caesar and Augustus had checked the grossest abuses of the Republican proconsulates, yet enough of the evil tradition remained to make those abuses flourish with renewed vigour under such a ruler as Nero. The state of things which ensued can only be paralleled with that so vividly described by Macaulay in his lurid picture of the oppression of Bengal under Warren Hastings." | Enemies of Books

• Thomas Cruttwell: A History of Roman Literature (1877) The Reigns of the Flavian Emperors_ (69-96 A.D.). - A new literary epoch--Marked by common characteristics--Decay of national genius

• Cassius Dio: Roman History | Book 65 - Fall of Jerusalem "Thus was Jerusalem destroyed on the very day of Saturn, the day which even now the Jews reverence most. From that time forth it was ordered that the Jews who continued to observe their ancestral customs should pay an annual tribute of two denarii to Jupiter Capitoline. In consequence of this success both generals received the title of imperator "

• Guglielmo Ferrero: Characters and Events of Roman History: From Caesar to Nero (1906) "In this story St. Paul is exactly the antithesis of Nero. The latter represents the atrocious selfishness of rich, peaceful, highly civilised epochs; the former, the ardent moral idealism which tries to react against the cardinal vices of power and wealth through universal self-sacrifice and asceticism. Neither of these men is to be comprehended without the other, because the moral doctrine of Paul is partly a reaction against, the violent folly for which Nero stood the symbol; but it certainly was not philosophical considerations of this kind that led the Roman authorities to rage against the Christians. The problem, I repeat, is insoluble. However this may be, the Christians were declared responsible for the fire; a great number were taken into custody, sentenced to death, executed in different ways, during the festivals that Nero offered to the people to appease them. Possibly Paul himself was one of the victims of this persecution."     "The armies of Gaul and Spain, for a long time irregularly paid, led by their officers, revolted. This act of energy sufficed. On the 9th of June, 68 A.D., abandoned by all the world, Nero was compelled to commit suicide. So the family of Julius Caesar disappears from history. After so much greatness, genius, and wisdom, the fall may seem petty and almost laughable. It is absurd to lose the Empire for the pleasure of singing in a theatre. And yet, bizarre as the end may seem, it was not the result of the vices, the follies, and the crimes of Nero alone. In his way, Nero himself was, like all members of his family, the victim of the contradictory situation of his times."

• Edward Gibbon: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Chapter XVI | Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire “The vain and ambitious mind of Julian might aspire to restore the ancient glory of the Temple of Jerusalem.  As the Christians were firmly persuaded that a sentence of everlasting destruction had been pronounced against the whole fabric of the Mosaic law, the Imperial sophist would have converted the success of his undertaking into a specious argument against the faith of prophecy and the truth of revelation.  The Christians entertained a natural and pious expectation, that in this memorable contest, the honour of religion would be vindicated by some signal miracle.” "After the final destruction of the temple by the arms of Titus and Hadrian, a ploughshare was drawn over the consecrated ground, as a sign of perpetual interdiction."

• Matthew Gwinn: Nero : A New Tragedy (1603)

• Bernard Henderson - The Life and Principate of Emperor Nero (1903 PDF) "The verses (of Revelation) 17. 10, can be differently explained. Almost certainly Caesar is not the first, but Augustus, so we have "five fallen," "one is," "one is not yet come and is to continue a short space," and " the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven " (certainly = Nero, cf. 13. 3 ; 17. 8). The list then is, on the two rival theories, (a) Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero = the five. Galba = he who is; Galba's successor (naturally unknown ex hyp.) = the one to come, but he can only last a short time because the end is fast approaching, and besides the pseudo-Nero is already active. Nero again = the eighth. (b) Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero = the five. Vespasian = he who is. His successor is undefined because " the writer did not like to say the reigning Emperor would be overthrown." Nero again = the eighth. For the Domitian theory I fail to see any possibility of a satisfactory list at all."

• Bernard W. Henderson - Civil War and Rebellion in the Roman Empire - AD69-70 (1908 PDF)

• Henry Stuart Jones: The Roman Empire - B.C. 29 to A.D. 476 (1908 PDF)

• M. Gwyn Morgan - Book Page: AD69 - The Year of Four Emperors (2006) - With PDF File AD69 - The Year of Four Emperors (2006 PDF)

• William Douglas Morrison - The Jews Under Roman Rule (1890 PDF) "It was no doubt believed in imperial circles that the people of Judaea would be appeased by the unwonted spectacle of a Roman officer perishing in obloquy at the scene of his misdeeds. The spirit of revolt, however, was not to be so easily allayed ; every day it was gaining a firmer hold upon the popular mind, and the enemies of Rome had now become too numerous and implacable to be satisfied with anything short of national independence. The Temple aristocracy, it is true, still held aloof from the ideas of the Zealots, but it had become a rotten and effete caste, ever ready to plunder the poor and helpless, and as the trial of St. Paul before Ananias shows, very brutal in the exercise of its powers."

• Homer Curtis Newton - The Epigraphical Evidence for the Reigns of Vespasian and Titus (1901 PDF)

• A.B. Poland, John H. Haaren: Famous Men of Rome

• P. Cornelius Tacitus - Annals (109, 1904 Edition) "The Romans then began to prepare for an assault. It seemed beneath them to await the result of famine. The army demanded the more perilous alternative, some prompted by courage, many by sheer ferocity and greed of gain. Titus himself had Rome with all its wealth and pleasures before his eyes. Jerusalem must fall at once, or it would delay his enjoyment of them. " (PDF File Here)

• Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (the "Saxon Chronicle" contains the original and authentic testimony of contemporary writers to the most important transactions of our forefathers, both by sea and land, from their first arrival in this country to the year 1154) "We come now to a more cheering prospect; and behold a steady light reflected on the "Saxon Chronicle" by the "Ecclesiastical History" of Bede; a writer who, without the intervention of any legendary tale, truly deserves the title of Venerable" - "A.D. 71. This year Titus, son of Vespasian, slew in Jerusalem eleven hundred thousand Jews."

• Suetonius (69-122) Titus Vespasianus | Nero | Vespasian | De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius  (The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius), written c. 110 CE "Percrebuerat oriente toto vetus et constans opinio, esse in fatis, ut eo tempore, Judea profecti rerum potirentur." An ancient and constant tradition has obtained throughout all the East, that in the fates it was decreed, that, about that time, "some who should come from Judea would obtain the dominion of the world."

WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID

1st century - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Decades: 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s

The 1st century was that century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period

During this period Europe, North Africa and the Near East fell under increasing domination by the Roman Empire, which continued expanding, most notably conquering Britain under the emperor Claudius (43). The reforms introduced by Augustus during his long reign stabilized the empire after the turmoil of the previous century's civil wars. Later in the century the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, which had been founded by Augustus came to an end with the death of Nero in 68. There followed the famous Year of Four Emperors, a brief period of civil war and instability, which was finally brought to an end by Vespasian, 9th Roman emperor, and founder of the Flavian Dynasty.

China continued to be dominated by the Han Dynasty, depite a 14 year interruption by the Xin dynasty under Wang Mang. Han rule was restored in 23; Wang Mang's rule represents the watershed between the Western/Former Han and the Eastern/Later Han. The capital was also moved from Chang'an to Luoyang.

Contents
1 Christianity
2 Events
3 Significant persons
4 Inventions, discoveries, introductions
5 Decades and Years

Christianity

During the reign of Tiberius, Jesus, a religious teacher from Galilee, whom Christians venerate as the Son of God, was crucified in Judea. Over the next few decades his followers carried his message far and wide, eventually introducing it to Rome itself. The Roman state began to persecute the new sect almost immediately, and would continue to do so for centuries, sometimes vigorously, and other times passively, until Christianity was eventually taken up by the emperor Constantine, and later established as the official religion of the Roman state.


 Events

1: Lions became extinct in Western Europe.
c.6: Census of Quirinius
8–23: Wang Mang temporarily overthrew the Han dynasty of China.
9: Three Roman legions were ambushed and destroyed at Teutoberg Forest by Germans under the leadership of Arminius.
14: Augustus Caesar, first emperor of Rome, dies. His nephew Tiberius is his successor.
28–75: Emperor Ming of Han, Buddhism reaches China.
27–36: Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Death of Jesus.
Masoretes adds vowel pointings to the text of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.
Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka first write down Buddha's teachings, creating the Pali canon.
Tacitus mentions the Suiones, who will one day be called the Swedes.
Kaundinya, an Indian Brahmin marries Soma and establishes the Pre-Angkor Cambodian Kingdom of Funan.
The Goths settle in northern Poland, which they called Gothiscandza, and shape the Wielbark culture.
Christian Council of Jerusalem.
52 (?) Arrival of Apostle Thomas to Malabar, India.Beginning of Christianity in India
July 19, 64: Great Fire of Rome, first Roman mass Persecution of Christians, earliest significant recognition of Christians in Rome.
66–73 First Jewish-Roman War.
70, August: destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus.
79, August: Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Jewish Council of Jamnia.
Spread of the Roman Empire, reaches largest size under Trajan.
Arena (colosseum) is constructed, origin of the name Arena.
Late 1st century — Cityscape, detail of a Second Style wall painting from a bedroom in the House of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, is made. It is now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
The painting "Alexander the Great confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issos", detail of mosaic floor decoration from Pompeii, Italy is made. It is a Roman copy after a Greek painting of c. 310 BC, perhaps by Philoxenos or Helen of Egypt. It is now at Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy.

Significant persons

Akiba
Arminius
Boudica, also known as Boadicea
Augustus
Caligula
Claudius
Clement I of Rome
Domitian
Du Shi
Elisha ben Abuyah
Galba
Germanicus
Guangwu of Han, Emperor
Hero of Alexandria
Hillel the Elder
Ignatius of Antioch
James the Just
Jesus of Nazareth
John the Baptist
Josephus
Liu Xin
Livy
Ma Yuan
Ming of Han, Emperor
Nero
Nerva
Otho
Paul of Tarsus
Philo
Pliny the Elder
Pontius Pilate
Seneca the Younger
Strabo
Tacitus
Thomas the Apostle
Tiberius
Titus
Trajan
Vespasian
Vitellius
Wang Chong
Wang Mang

 Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Codex, the first form of the modern book, appears in the Roman empire

Year 78 — the beginning of the Saka Era used by South Asian calendars.

Bookbinding
Various inventions by Hero of Alexandria, including the steam turbine (aeolipile), vending machine, water organ, and various other water-powered machines.

In 31, the Han Dynasty Chinese engineer and statesman Du Shi (d. 38) from Nanyang invented the first-known hydraulic-powered bellows to heat the blast furnace in smelting cast iron. He used a complex mechanical device that was powered by the rushing current against a waterwheel, a practice that would continue in China.
Although Philo of Byzantium described the saqiya chain pump in the early 2nd century BC, the square-pallet chain pump was innovated in China during this century, mentioned first by the philosopher Wang Chong around 80 AD. Wang Chong also accurately described the water cycle in meteorology, and argued against the mainstream 'radiating influence' theory for solar eclipses, the latter of which was accepted by many, including Zhang Heng.

The Chinese astronomer Liu Xin (d. 23) documented 1080 different stars, amongst other achievements.
 

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