Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

track of the years was susceptible to this type of error. The years were counted from the start of each emperor's 

reign. When a new emperor came to power, the count was started anew. It would have been easy to lose track 

of the count of the years, if an emperor, such as Tiberius, counted the start of his reign from his rise to power 

years before the previous emperor died. This practice of antedating, counting the start of one ruler's reign from 

before the end of the previous ruler's reign, was not uncommon in ancient times.

862

    Josephus wrote during the latter part of the first century 

A.D.

 Suetonius and Tacitus wrote about a 

generation or so later than Josephus. Of these three, only Tacitus attempts to divide up the events of Tiberius' 

reign year by year. He even gives the names of the consuls matched to each year and set of events. (Dio wrote 

during the early third century 

A.D.

, and perhaps followed Tacitus for his consular dates). But Tacitus also 

wrote about the difficulties he encountered in the history of the consuls.  As to the consular elections, from 

this year's the first down to the last of the reign, I can hardly venture a single definitive assertion: so 

conflicting is the evidence, not of the historians alone, but of the emperor's own speeches. 

863

 Tacitus goes on 

to say that Tiberius sometimes suppressed information about candidates for the position of consul. Also, it is 

well known that many consuls did not hold that office for the entire one year term. For example, Tiberius held 

the position of consul, on more than one occasion, for only a brief portion of a year.

864

 Furthermore, Finegan 

notes that consular lists sometimes contained omissions or errors.  Lists of the consuls were compiled at an 

early date but often contained discrepancies or gaps. 

865

 Therefore, the consular lists are of limited value in 

assigning years to historical events in this time period. 

    According to Josephus, Agrippa and Gallo were the consuls in the year Herod took Jerusalem.

866

 The 

generally accepted list of consular dates places Agrippa and Gallo as consuls in 37 

B.C.

 However, as shown 

clearly in chapter 12, Herod could not have taken Jerusalem in 37 

B.C.

 Therefore, the assignment of consuls to 

the years 

B.C.

 contains some significant errors. 

    According to Pliny the Elder, the third consulship of the emperor Vespasian coincided with the second 

consulship of his son, Titus.

867

 (Two Roman consuls held office at the same time.) Since Pliny lived and wrote 

during Vespasian's reign and was a member of Vespasian's inner circle, he could hardly be mistaken about the 

emperor and his son's consulships. Yet the usual list of consuls places Vespasian's third consulship with the 

consulship of Nerva, and Titus' second consulship with Vespasian's fourth consulship.

868

 Thus the generally 

accepted list of consular dates cannot be assumed to be correct. If a chronological argument depends upon a 

consular date, that argument must prove that the consuls actually held office  that year. But many 

chronological arguments are based on the consular dates, without offering any evidence that those dates are 

correct. 

    Concerning the error in the year assigned to the death of Augustus, 

A.D.

 14 instead of 

A.D.

 10, this was not 

the error of the early Roman historians. They did not yet have the 

B.C.

/

A.D.

 system of numbering the years. 

This error occurred when later historians tried to assign dates in the calendar system of Dionysius Exiguus to 

events in the centuries before that calendar system began. And the same is true for the consular dates. The 

years when various consuls held office were only assigned to particular years in the 

B.C.

/

A.D.

 calendar system 

many years afterwards. 

    That error of four years time was inevitable, once the previous error of ten years time had become accepted 

and entrenched in the accounts of Roman historians. Several significant events in Roman history concerning 

the Jewish people, such as the capture of Jerusalem by Herod and the subsequent fall of Jerusalem many years 

later, coincided with the end or beginning of Jewish Sabbatical years. The Sabbatical year occurs every seven 

years. So, if an historical account is off from the correct dates by 10 years, one must add four years or subtract 

3 years to bring the dates of events into agreement with the seven year cycle of Sabbatical years. It is no 

coincidence, then, that some of the revised dates in this chronology differ from the usual dates by 14 years (a 

multiple of 7 years). 

    Dionysius placed the Incarnation and the Birth of Christ in 1 

B.C.

 However, taking into account the above 

mentioned 14 year error places Dionysius' date for the Incarnation and Birth of Christ in agreement with this 

book's conclusion (15 

B.C.

). 

194