1. 30BC Herod the Great promises loyalty to Octavian
Spring – Judea comes fully under Roman control
Herod the Great send Octavian vows of loyalty and thousands of his own troops
Cleopatra and Mark Antony commit suicide
Alexandria and the rest of Egypt come under Roman rule

2. 23BC Augustus consul for 11th time
And then he steps down, keeping the title of Princeps
Herod the Great builds a palace in Jerusalem and the fortress Herodian in Judaea

3. 20BC Herod the Great begins renovations on the Temple
1st temple: built by Solomon in the 900sBC
Destroyed by the Babylonians
2nd temple: built by Jews under the Persians in the 400sBC
Not as impressive as Solomon’s
Now Herod tries to make it equal with Solomon’s
Because he needs to get some Jews on his side since many of them see him as having sold out to the Romans

4. 20BC Herod the Great begins renovations on the Temple
Herod is an Edomite whose family had practiced Judaism for centuries
Edomites were a tribe that the Hebrews had conquered
He tried to gain support from the Jews he ruled, and also praise from the Romans he ruled for
But selling out to the Romans (whom Jews feared) lost him Jewish support

5. 20BC Herod the Great begins renovations on the Temple
Herod was known as:
"a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis“
"the evil genius of the Judean nation“
"prepared to commit any crime in order to gratify his unbounded ambition“
"the greatest builder in Jewish history“
Expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem
Construction of the port at Caesarea Maritima
Fortress at Masada
Herodian palace

6. 15-10BC Cities you may know are added to the Roman Empire
15BC Vienna, Austria
City of Music
14BC Worms, Germany
Martin Luther
14BC Beirut, Lebanon
13BC Mainz, Germany
Gutenberg Printing Press
10BC Bonn, Germany
Beethoven

8. 6BC The year Jesus was most likely born
The accounts of His birth in the biblical books of Matthew and Luke say “in the days of Herod the king of Judea”
Jesus is born
Wise men come to Herod wanting to know where this “King of the Jews” is
Herod plans to kill all baby boys Jesus’ age
Joseph hears about this and they flee to Egypt for a couple years until they hear Herod has died
Roman records tell us Herod died in 4BC

9. 6BC The year Jesus was most likely born
The account of His birth in the biblical book of Luke says “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered”
A census
Roman records tell us that the census of Judea was around 6BC

10. 6BC The year Jesus was most likely born
The account of His birth in the biblical book of Luke says “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered”
A census ~ an official count or survey of a population
Roman records tell us that the census of Judea was around 6BC

11. 6BC The most important year in human history
After Jesus’ birth, death, history is radically different
Historians call everything before His birth, “Before Christ,” (BC) and everything after, “Anno Domini” (the year of our Lord) (AD)
Even those who call it “Before the Common Era” (BCE) and “Common Era” (CE) still mark the difference between those eras with Jesus’ birth

12. 6BC The most important year in human history
After Jesus’ birth, and death, history is radically different
Instead of “polytheism this,” and “polytheism that,”
History is suddenly about what people believe about this man born in Roman Judea and killed by the Romans at the request of the Jews

13. 6BC The most important year in human history
Every belief system MUST ADMIT:
The birth of Jesus Christ radically changed history
Even the argument about whether he existed is the biggest argument humans have had, making him the most important person in history