The Reigns of Roman Emperors 
    The evidence concerning the comet seen after the death of Julius supports the date of 49 
B.C.
 for Julius 
Caesar's death and does not support the later date of 44 
B.C.
 The evidence concerning a solar eclipse after the 
death of Julius Caesar gives further support to a date of 49 
B.C.
 for the death of Julius Caesar. (See sections 1 
and 2 above.) 
Augustus (Feb. 48 
B.C.
 to Aug. 
A.D.
 10) 
    As explained above, Josephus counts the reign of Augustus as beginning in Feb. of the year following the 
death of Julius Caesar, which is Feb. of 48 
B.C.
 in this revised chronology. Josephus gives the length of 
Augustus' reign as 57 years, 6 months, 2 days.
974
 The death of Augustus occurred on August 19 of 
A.D.
 10 
(revised). The usual dates for Augustus' reign are March of 44 
B.C.
 to August of 
A.D.
 14. 
    The solar eclipse data supports this earlier date of 
A.D.
 10 for Augustus' death and clearly does not support 
the usual date of 
A.D.
 14 (see section 5 above). Other evidence, such as the year of Julius Caesar's death, the 
years for the reign of king Herod, and the date for the battle at Actium, also reinforce this earlier chronology 
for the reign of Augustus. 
Tiberius (
A.D.
 1 to Mar. 
A.D.
 22) 
    As argued above, Tiberius' reign was antedated to 
A.D.
 1 and his reign of less than 22 years ended in early 
A.D.
 22. There is some disagreement among the ancient historians as to the exact date of Tiberius' death. 
Perhaps they are each counting Tiberius' reign as if it began at the death of Augustus on August 19, yet still 
they disagree as to its length. Josephus gives the length of Tiberius' reign as 22 years, 5 months, 3 days (in The 
Antiquities of the Jews), but in another place gives it as 22 years, 6 months, 3 days (in The Wars of the Jews).
975
 If 
we follow Josephus, and count from the death of Augustus on August 19, then Tiberius' would be placed in 
either Jan. or Feb., about the 22nd day of the month. On the other hand, Suetonius states that Tiberius died on 
March 16, but without stating the exact length of his reign.
976
 Dio agrees with Suetonius as to the month but 
not the day, since he states that Tiberius died on March 26, after a reign of 22 years, 7 months, and 7 days.
977
The generally accepted date for the death of Tiberius is March 16 of 
A.D.
 37. In this revised chronology, the 
date of Tiberius' death is March 16 of 
A.D.
 22. The length of Tiberius' reign is shorter in this revised 
chronology than is stated by the ancient historians (as explained in section 12 above). 
Gaius (Caligula) (Mar. 
A.D.
 22 to Jan. 
A.D.
 26) 
    The death of Tiberius Caesar, in March of 
A.D.
 22, marked the beginning of the reign of the next emperor, 
Gaius (Caligula), who ruled for less than four years. Josephus gives the length of his reign as 3 years and 8 
months.
978
 Suetonius, however, gives the length of Gaius' reign as 3 years, 10 months and 8 days.
979
 Dio gives 
the length of his reign as 3 years, 9 months and 28 days.
980
 Now Josephus is less certain here than Suetonius 
and Dio, since he gives the length of time in years and months, but not exact to the day. Also, Josephus is 
counting from the death of Tiberius, but he gives conflicting information as to the length of Tiberius' reign.
981
Dio and Suetonius seem to disagree on when Gaius died. But, they also differ as to the date of Tiberius' death: 
March 16 for Suetonius versus March 26 for Dio. When one adds their differing lengths for Gaius' reign to 
their differing dates for the death of Tiberius, the result is the same month and day for the death of Gaius: Jan. 
24. The usual date for the death of Gaius is Jan. 24 of 
A.D.
 41.
982
 My revised chronology places the death of 
the Roman emperor Gaius (Caligula) on Jan. 24 of 
A.D.
 26, just under 4 years after Tiberius died. 
Claudius (Jan. 
A.D.
 26 to Oct. 
A.D.
 39) 
    Josephus gives the length of Claudius' reign as 13 years, 8 months, and 20 days.
983
 Suetonius gives the date 
of his death as Oct. 13 in the 14th year of his reign.
984
 Tacitus agrees that Claudius died on Oct. 13.
985
 It is 
difficult to determine what starting point Josephus was using, since he gives two different lengths for the reign 
of Tiberius and his length for Gaius' reign is not exact to the day. However, he does agree with Suetonius that 
Claudius' died before completing the 14th year of his reign. So, if Gaius died on Jan. 24 of 
A.D.
 26, then the 
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