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