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The 30s

124 sourced entries across 10 years, inside the 1st century. Each year below opens its own page; the lines under it are that year’s highest-ranked entries.

30 CE10 entries

  • Agrippina the Elder (the wife of Germanicus) and two of her sons, Nero Julius Caesar and Drusus Caesar, are arrested and exiled on orders of Lucius Aelius Sejanus (the prefect of the Praetorian Guard), and later starved to death in suspicious circumstances. In Sejanus's purge of Agrippina the Elder and her family, her son Caligula, and her three daughters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla are the only survivors.
  • Velleius Paterculus writes the general history of the countries known in Antiquity.
  • Phaedrus translates Aesop's fables, and composes some of his own.

31 CE9 entries

  • Naevius Sutorius Macro becomes the leader of the Praetorian Guard after Sejanus is executed.
  • Lucius Aelius Sejanus is named co-Consul to Emperor Tiberius. However, Tiberius becomes aware of Sejanus' treachery and has him arrested and executed.

32 CE8 entries

  • Philo writes his symbolic interpretation of the Old Testament (Allegory).

33 CE13 entries

  • According to Colin Humphrey's account, Jesus of Nazareth's Last Supper and crucifixion take place.
  • Although the usurpation of Wang Mang and the Chimei Rebellion are behind him, Emperor Guangwu now faces a new threat to the Han dynasty: the Rebellion of Gongsun Shu in the Sichuan province. Gongsun's naval forces are unsuccessful against Han General Cen Peng, so Gongsun decides to fortify his position by blockading the entire Yangtze River with a large floating pontoon bridge, complete with floating fortified posts. After Cen Peng is unable to break through, he constructs several "castle ships" with high ramparts and ramming vessels known as "colliding swoopers", which break through Gongsun's lines and allow Cen to quell his rebellion. Gongsun Shu is totally defeated three years later.
  • A financial crisis hits Rome, due to poorly chosen fiscal policies. Land values plummet, and credit is increased. These actions lead to a lack of money, a crisis of confidence, and much land speculation. The primary victims are senators, knights and the wealthy. Many aristocratic families are ruined.

34 CE13 entries

  • The original inhabitants of Dacia revolt against the Sarmatian tribe of Iazyges, who had enslaved them.
  • The Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard is constructed, running for 50 km, ending at Nîmes.
  • Naevius Sutorius Macro gains favour in the Roman Empire by prostituting his wife Ennia Thrasylla to Caligula.

35 CE13 entries

  • Pliny the Elder is brought to Rome before this year.
  • Tiridates III becomes king of Parthia (until AD 36).
  • Emperor Tiberius names Caligula (aka Gaius) and Gamellus, a grandson, as co-heirs.

36 CE10 entries

  • December 25 – Wu Han commands the forces of Emperor Guang Wu of the Eastern Han to conquer the separatist Chengjia Empire, reuniting China.
  • Herod Antipas suffers major losses in a war with Aretas IV of Nabatea, provoked partly by Antipas' divorce of Aretas' daughter. According to Josephus, Herod's defeat was popularly believed to be divine punishment for his execution of John the Baptist. Emperor Tiberius orders his governor of Syria, Vitellius, to capture or kill Aretas, but he is reluctant to support Herod and abandons his campaign upon Tiberius' death in AD 37.
  • Pontius Pilate is recalled to Rome, after putting down a Samaritan uprising.

37 CE13 entries

  • March 18 – The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius's will, and proclaims Caligula as Roman Emperor, nullifying the joint claim of Tiberius Gemellus. Caligula's attempt to have himself deified creates friction between himself and the Senate.
  • Abilene is granted to King Agrippa I.
  • The Pharisee Saul of Tarsus is converted to Christianity, after a vision (possible date). After the year 39, he is recognised as Saint Paul.

38 CE20 entries

  • Andrew the Apostle becomes the first patriarch of Constantinople, and resigns that position shortly thereafter (traditional date).
  • Claudius and Messalina are most likely married at this point in time.
  • Apion heads a deputation to Emperor Caligula, to complain about the Jews in Alexandria.

39 CE15 entries

  • Caligula orders a floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons, stretching for two miles from Baiae to the neighboring port of Puteoli.
  • Agrippa I, king of Judaea, successfully accuses Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, of conspiracy against Caligula. Antipas is exiled and Agrippa receives his territory.
  • The Trung Sisters resist the Chinese influences in Vietnam.