40 CE

Construction begins on the Pont du Gard aqueduct in Gallia Narbonensis (approximate date). Caligula reforms the principatus into a Hellenistic Autocracy. He distributes honors carelessly, declares himself a god and orders that all the heads of the Greek deity statues be replaced by his. He also appoints his horse, Incitatus, to the Senate. The Vietnamese Trưng Sisters rebel against the rule of the Chinese Emperor Guang Wu of Han.

In the 40s, the 1st century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Noricum and Mauretania are incorporated into the Roman Empire.source
  • Caligula reforms the principatus into a Hellenistic Autocracy. He distributes honors carelessly, declares himself a god and orders that all the heads of the Greek deity statues be replaced by his. He also appoints his horse, Incitatus, to the Senate.source
  • Philo teaches that all men are born free.source

Conflict & Security

  • Caligula starts on a campaign to conquer Britain, which fails miserably. He declares himself victorious regardless.source
  • The Vietnamese Trưng Sisters rebel against the rule of the Chinese Emperor Guang Wu of Han.source
  • Vardanes I becomes king of Parthia, opposed by his brother Gotarzes II.source

Exploration & Expansion

  • The Germanic Quadi tribe begins settling in present-day Moravia and Slovakia.source

Religion & Belief

  • An early Christian church is erected at Corinth (most probable date).source
  • Emperor Caligula is consul without colleague.source
  • Christianity comes to Egypt as a church is founded in Alexandria. Mark the Evangelist founds the Church of Alexandria as the first Patriarch (traditional date).source

Technology & Infrastructure

  • Construction begins on the Pont du Gard aqueduct in Gallia Narbonensis (approximate date).source

Culture & Society

  • The traditional date of Saint James the Great meeting Our Lady of the Pillar in Spain.source

Births

  • June 13 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor (died AD 93)source
  • Ma, Chinese empress of the Han dynasty (died AD 79)source
  • Titus Petronius Secundus, Roman prefect (died AD 97)source
  • Pedanius Dioscorides, Greek physician and pharmacologist (died AD 90)source
  • Claudia Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina (died AD 62)source
  • Sextus Julius Frontinus, Roman general and military author (died 103)source
  • Dio Chrysostom, Greek philosopher and historian (died c. 115)source

Deaths

  • Faustus Cornelius Sulla, Roman politician and suffect consulsource
  • Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, husband of Agrippina the Younger (born 17 BC)source
  • Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera, Roman soldier (hypothesized by numerous scholars to have been the father of Jesus)source
  • Ptolemy of Mauretania, Roman client king (executed by Caligula)source