The Trial of Jesus: A Chronology

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142 B.C.E.	Judas Maccabeas leads a revolt against Hellenist rule. The independent Jewish state of Palestine is established. The state is ruled for the next eight decades by the Hasmonean dynasty of high priests.
63 B.C.E.	Palestine comes under Roman control when the general Pompey captures Jerusalem and ends Hasmonean rule. Rome begins the practice of appointing the high priests of the Temple mount in Jerusalem.
47 B.C.E.	Roman Emperor Julius Caesar gives Herod and his family Roman citizenship. Herod is appointed governor of Galilee.
37 B.C.E.	Herod assumes control of the Kingdom of Palestine.
19 B.C.E	Construction begins on the Second Temple of Jerusalem.
Circa 6 B.C.E.	Jesus is born in Galilee.
4 B.C.E.	End of the rule of King Herod the Great of Palestine. Beginning of the rule of Herod's son, Antipas. Both rulers are clients of Rome. Kingship of Palestine is divided into three parts: Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. Roman soldiers massacre 3,000 Jews as they celebrate the Passover in the Temple in Jerusalem. The massacre followed an incident during which the Jews had pelted soldiers with stones.
6 C.E.	Uprisings in Palestine as a result of opposition to Roman laws (relating to taxes, the census, and heathen traditions). Over 2,000 Jewish insurgents are crucified and another 20,000 or so are sold into slavery. Palestine is placed under direct Roman control. Beginning of the zealot movement ( one member of the movement is Simon, later one of the twelve disciples of Jesus.) Members of the Jewish priestly aristocracy (Sadduces) that collaborated with Rome are allowed to retain certain powers.
14 C.E.	End of the rule of Roman Emperor Augustus. Beginning of the rule of Emperor Tiberius.
18 C.E.	Beginning of the high priesthood of Caiaphas.
26 C.E.	Beginning of the prefecture of Pilate.
Circa 28 C.E.	Jesus is baptized and begins his ministry.
30 C.E.	Jesus makes a ceremonial entrance into Jerusalem about five days before the Passover festival and becomes a key figure in an incident at the Temple, where he offers a bitter diatribe against Jewish high priests and predicts that the Temple will fall. Jesus, according to accounts in Mark and John, overturns the tables of money-changers (who converted worshipers' money into Tyrian silver coins, the only acceptable coins for Temple donations) and pigeon-sellers (the birds were used for sacrifices) in the Temple. A revolt--which may or may not have been related to the Temple incident--breaks out in Jerusalem. Jesus is arrested in Gethsemane, brought before high priest Caiaphas, tried before Pontius Pilate, and executed near Jerusalem. The probable date of his crucifixion on the hill of Golgotha is April 6, Passover Eve. (Although four of five gospel accounts place the crucifixion on Passover Day, Peter's identification of Passover Eve is more plausible.)
36 C.E.	Pilate is ordered to Rome to face complaints of excessive cruelty. He is exiled in Vienne, France.
37 C.E.	End of the rule of Roman Emperor Tiberius.
39 C.E.	Antipas is deposed by Emperor Caligula and exiled to Gaul.
41 C.E.	Emperor Caligula orders Petronius, the new Syrian governor, to install statues depicting himself as Zeus incarnate in the Temple of Jerusalem. Thousands of unarmed Jews respond by threatening an agricultural strike, and Petronius backs down. Caligula's assassination ends the matter.
44 C. E.	James, the eldest brother of Jesus, assumes leadership of the Christian community in Jerusalem.
Circa 50 C.E.	A soldier watching over Jews celebrating the Passover at the Temple in Jerusalem, according to historian Josephus (writing in about 90 C.E.), "raises his robe, stoops in an indecent attitude, so as to turn his backside to the Jews, and makes a noise in keeping with his posture." This disrespectful gesture leads to a riot and stampede that kills nearly (according to Josephus) 30,000 people.
Circa 55-60 C.E.	Paul, creator of the "Gentile branch" of Christianity which emphasized a transformative--rather than a historical--Jesus is arrested in Jerusalem after failing to reach a compromise with the "Jerusalem branch" of Jewish Christians, led by James, the brother of Jesus. (The Jerusalem branch presented Jesus as a Jewish nationalist and martyr.)
62 C.E.	Jesus' brother, James, is stoned to death.
63 C.E.	Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
64 C.E.	Rome burns. Emperor Nero (according to Roman historian Tacitus) blames the Christians.
Circa 66 C.E.	Mark, probably writing in Rome, prepares his narrative of the life of Jesus.
70 C.E.	Rome captures and destroys Jerusalem marking the end of the four-year First Jewish War. The Temple in Jerusalem is leveled. The "Jerusalem branch" of Christianity is effectively crushed.
Circa 70-75 C.E.	Matthew and Luke, both writing in Greek, prepare their narratives of the life of Jesus. Both draw heavily on Mark.
Circa 75-90 C.E.	John's Gospel is composed, most likely in Palestine, but possibly in Ephesus in Asia Minor.
Circa 90 C.E.	Jewish historian Josephus writes about the life and death of Jesus.
Circa 125 C.E.	Date of earliest surviving New Testament writing, a fragment from John's account of Jesus' trial before Pilate (John 18:31-33 and 37-38).
Circa 200 C.E.	Mishnah lawcode compiled. Mishnah, drawing materials from scholars writing from 50 B.C. to 200 A.D., is the basis of rabbinic Judaism and provides us our understanding of the rules of the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Council and Court of Jews in Jerusalem).
397 C.E.	The Council of Carthage decides which passion accounts will be accepted as part of the canon and included in the New Testament (Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John) and which will not be included (several others, including Peter).
1990 C.E.	The ossuary, or bone box, of Joseph Caiaphas (the high priest who sent Jesus to Pilate) is discovered in a family tomb two miles south of Jerusalem.

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