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The 130s

99 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 2nd century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

130 CE21 entries

  • c. 130–138 – Hadrian Hunting Boar and Sacrificing to Apollo, sculptural reliefs on the Arch of Constantine, Rome, are made.
  • c. 130–138 – Antinous, from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, Italy, is made. It is now kept at Museo Gregoriano Egizio, Rome.
  • A law is passed in Rome banning the execution of slaves without a trial.

131 CE8 entries

  • Italy is divided into legal districts managed by consuls, a direct blow to the power and prestige of the Senate.
  • The Edict of Hadrian prohibits the practice of circumcision. Additionally, Hadrian prohibits public reading of the Torah under penalty of death, as well as observance of festivals and the Sabbath, the teaching of Judaic Law, and the ordination of rabbis.
  • Hadrian restores the monarchist policy of Claudius and Domitian. The equestrian order is given full legal status, and attains the second order of the state.

132 CE12 entries

  • Bar Kokhba revolt: The messianic, charismatic Jewish leader Simon bar Kokhba starts a war of liberation for Judea against the Romans, which is eventually crushed (in 135) by Emperor Hadrian; Rabbi Akiva is supportive of the rebellion.
  • Chinese scientist Zhang Heng invents the first seismometer for determining the exact cardinal direction of earthquakes hundreds of miles away; the device employs a series of complex gears around a central swinging pendulum.
  • Merchants in Britain build structures outside the forts of Hadrian's Wall, and offer goods and services (including brothels) to Roman soldiers, who receive salaries in a region that otherwise has virtually no ready money.

133 CE4 entries

  • Bar Kokhba Revolt: Sextus Julius Severus, Roman governor of Britain, is sent to Judea (in 136 renamed Syria Palaestina) to quell the revolt. Jewish rebels, led by Simon bar Kokhba and Eleazar, cut off the vital supply lines and Roman garrisons in Palestine. Despite Roman reinforcements from Syria and Egypt, they establish an independent state in Judea.

134 CE9 entries

  • The Romans retake Jerusalem. The largely-destroyed city is renamed Aelia Capitolina.
  • Arrianus, Roman governor of Cappadocia, repulses an attack of the Alani, a nomadic tribe from southeastern Russia.
  • A law improving the lot of free workers is passed in Rome.

135 CE13 entries

  • Jerusalem is renamed Colonia Aelia Capitolina, in honor of Hadrian. Legio VI Ferrata rebuilds the legionary fortress in the city, and constructs a Roman temple at Golgotha.
  • A Jewish diaspora begins, as Emperor Hadrian bars Jews from Jerusalem, and has survivors of the massacre dispersed across the Roman Empire. Many join Mediterranean ports.
  • An altar to Jupiter is erected, on the site of the Temple in Jerusalem.

136 CE10 entries

  • Hadrian dictates his memoirs at his villa near Tivoli (Tibur) outside Rome.
  • Pope Hyginus succeeds Pope Telesphorus as the ninth pope of Rome according to tradition.
  • Following the Bar Kokhba revolt, Emperor Hadrian expels the Jews from Judea, and receives a triumphal arch near Scythopolis. The Roman province of Iudaea (plus Galilee) becomes Syria Palaestina (the name Palestine as a designation for this land has been used since at least the 5th century BC (mentioned by Herodotus)).

137 CE5 entries

  • Tax laws are passed for trade in Palmyra. The caravan city grows rich by importing rare products from the Persian Gulf, and by exporting items manufactured by the Mediterranean world to the East.
  • In Jiaozhi (present-day northern Vietnam) during the Second Era of Northern Domination, a rebellion of the Cham people broke out and lasted for one year, until the peace agreement was made between the Han dynasty governors and the rebels in 138.

138 CE12 entries

  • February 25 – Emperor Hadrian makes Antoninus Pius his successor, on condition that he adopt Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.
  • July 10 – Hadrian dies after a heart failure at Baiae, and is buried at Rome in the Gardens of Domitia beside his wife, Vibia Sabina.
  • In Jiaozhi (present-day northern Vietnam), during the Second Era of Northern Domination, a peace agreement was made between the Han governor and the Cham rebels following their uprising in 137. Historical records do not clarify the terms of the agreement.

139 CE5 entries

  • The Tomb of Hadrian in Rome is completed; Emperor Antoninus Pius cremates the body of Hadrian, and places his ashes, together with that of his wife Vibia Sabina and his adopted son, Lucius Aelius, in the mausoleum.
  • 139 Mcurn earthquake, listed in bibliographical records of seismology as having affected the city of Mcurn (modern Hösnek, Turkey). The earthquake reportedly took place in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. The region was part of the historic Kingdom of Armenia, corresponding to eastern areas of modern Turkey. A primary source for the earthquake is the work of the historian Movses Khorenatsi (5th century).
  • Antoninus Pius and Gaius Bruttius Praesens become Roman Consuls.