53 CE

Nero is adopted by Claudius as his son and marries his 14-year-old daughter Claudia Octavia. Tiridates I, brother of Vologases I, comes to power in Armenia as an adversary of the Romans. Paul the Apostle writes his epistle to the Galatians from Ephesus (approximate date).

In the 50s, the 1st century.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

  • Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus and Quintus Haterius Antoninus become Roman consuls.source
  • Claudius secures a senatorial decree that gives jurisdiction in financial cases to imperial procurators. This marks a significant strengthening of imperial powers at the expense of the Senate.source

Conflict & Security

  • Taejodae becomes ruler of the kingdom of Goguryeo.source
  • Tiridates I, brother of Vologases I, comes to power in Armenia as an adversary of the Romans.source

Religion & Belief

  • Emperor Claudius removes Herod Agrippa II from the tetrarchy of Chalcis in Greece.source
  • Claudius accepts Nero as his successor, to the detriment of Britannicus, his son by his first wife, Valeria Messalina.source
  • Evodius succeeds Saint Peter as Patriarch of Antioch.source

Culture & Society

  • June 9 – Nero is adopted by Claudius as his son and marries his 14-year-old daughter Claudia Octavia.source
  • Seneca writes the tragedy Agamemnon, which he intends to be read as the last chapter of a trilogy including two of his other tragedies, Medea and Edipus.source
  • Cardiff is founded by Aulus Didius Gallus.source
  • Paul the Apostle writes his epistle to the Galatians from Ephesus (approximate date).source

Births

  • (approximate year) Marcus Ulpius Traianus, Roman emperor (died 117)source
  • Kanishka I, Indian ruler of the Kushan Empire (died 150)source
  • Domitia Longina, Roman empress (approximate date)source

Deaths

  • Mobon, Korean ruler of Goguryeosource