Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 
14th year of Claudius' reign would begin Jan. of 
A.D.
 26, and his death should then be placed on Oct. 13 of 
A.D.
 39. The length of his reign would then be 13 years, 8 months, and 20 days, in agreement with Josephus. 
The usual date for the death of Claudius is Oct. 13 of 
A.D.
 54,
986
 fifteen years later than my revised date. 
    In the year 
A.D.
 39, a comet with a long tail was seen, which agrees with the information we have for the 
comet seen after the death of Claudius (see section 17 above). This time frame for Claudius' reign, 
A.D.
 26 to 
A.D.
 39, also contains the rare event, mentioned by Dio, of a solar eclipse coinciding with the birthday of 
Claudius on Aug. 1 (see section 17 above).
987
Nero (Oct. 
A.D.
 39 to June 
A.D.
 53) 
    Suetonius gives the length of Nero's reign as  nearly fourteen years. 
988
 He also tells us that Nero was 17 
years old when Claudius died, and that Nero died at the age of 31.
989
 These statements agree with a length of 
just under 14 years for the reign of Nero. Dio states the length of Nero's reign as 13 years and 8 months.
990
Josephus gives the length of Nero's reign as 13 years and 8 days (perhaps an error for 8 months).
991
 The usual 
date for the death of Nero is June 9 of 
A.D.
 68, which gives a length of 13 years, and nearly 8 months.
992
 My 
revised date for the death of Nero is June 9 of 
A.D.
 53 (a little more than a year before the antedated start of 
Vespasian's reign in July of 
A.D.
 54). 
    Suetonius places the birth of Nero on Dec. 15,  nine months after Tiberius' death. 
993
 He places the death of 
Nero just before the completion of the 14th year of his reign, at the age of 31.
994
 Since Nero was born in Dec. 
and died in June, Suetonius could be referring to either June of the year that Nero would have turned 31 (in 
Dec. of that same year), or June of the year following Nero's 31st birthday. The summer of Vitellius' reign is 
clearly established (by the comet and eclipse described in section 17) as 
A.D.
 54. Since Nero died in the June 
previous to Vitellius' reign, Nero died in 
A.D.
 53. This line of reasoning would place Nero's birth and Tiberius' 
death in either the year 
A.D.
 21 or 22, depending on whether Suetonius meant that Nero was about to turn 31, 
or had already turned 31, at his death. Now, if we add up the lengths of the reigns of the emperors from 
Tiberius' death to Nero's death (just over 31 years), we find that Tiberius must have died in 
A.D.
 22. Thus 
Nero died in the year that he would have turned 31, which was 
A.D.
 53. 
Galba (June 
A.D.
 53 to Jan. 
A.D.
 54) 
    The next three emperors after Nero had very short reigns. According to Josephus, Galba reigned for only 7 
months and 7 days.
995
 Tacitus also states that Galba reigned for about seven months, and places his death in 
mid January.
996
 Suetonius tells us that Galba died  before he had reigned seven months. 
997
 On the other hand, 
Dio states that Galba rules for 9 months and 13 days.
998
 But Dio also states, about Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, 
that each one counted his reign as beginning while the previous emperor was still ruling.
999
 Thus Galba's reign 
ended in January, after an actual reign of about seven months, but he likely antedated his reign, adding about 
two months. That is why Dio states the length of Galba's reign as about 9 months, but the other ancient 
historians have it as about 7 months. The usual date for the death of Galba is January of 
A.D.
 69. My revised 
date for the death of Galba is January of 
A.D.
 54. 
Otho (Jan. 
A.D.
 54 to Apr. 
A.D.
 54) 
    The next emperor, Otho, held a very brief reign. The exact length of his reign is in dispute, with Dio calling 
it 90 days,
1000
 Suetonius 95 days,
1001
 and Josephus 3 months and 2 days (92 days).
1002
 Within this disagreement 
is a general consensus that Otho reigned about 3 months. Dio includes Otho among the emperors who 
antedated their reigns, so Otho's actual reign may have been even less than 90 days. If we place the death of 
Galba in mid Jan. of 
A.D.
 54, Otho's death most likely occurred sometime in April of 
A.D.
 54. According to 
Tacitus, the festival of Ceres, which is held in mid April, was being celebrated at the time of Otho's death.
1003
The usual year for Otho's death is 
A.D.
 69. My revised chronology places Otho's death in April of 
A.D.
 54. 
Vitellius (Apr. 
A.D.
 54 to Dec. 
A.D.
 54) 
210






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