1st century

AD 1, map of Eurasia with the Roman Empire (red), Parthian Empire (brown), Chinese Han dynasty (yellow) and other states/areas with smaller states (white)

Eastern Hemisphere in AD 50, in the middle of the 1st century

Eastern Hemisphere in AD 100, at the end of the 1st century

The First Century was the century that lasted from 1 to 100 according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the First Century AD or First Century CE to distinguish it from the First Century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The First Century is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period.

During this period Europe, North Africa and the Near East fell under increasing domination by the Roman Empire, which continued expanding, most notably conquering Britain under the emperor Claudius (43). The reforms introduced by Augustus during his long reign stabilized the empire after the turmoil of the previous century's civil wars. Later in the century the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which had been founded by Augustus, came to an end with the death of Nero in 68. There followed the famous Year of Four Emperors, a brief period of civil war and instability, which was finally brought to an end by Vespasian, ninth Roman emperor, and founder of the Flavian dynasty. The Roman Empire generally experienced a period of prosperity and dominance in this period and the First Century is remembered as part of the Empire's golden age.

In the Roman province of Judea, the First Century saw the appearance of Christianity. Most scholars maintain this occurred after the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus Christ while some express doubts of the historicity of the ministry and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

China continued to be dominated by the Han Dynasty, despite a fourteen-year interruption by the Xin dynasty under Wang Mang. Han rule was restored in 23; Wang Mang's rule represents the watershed between the Western/Former Han and the Eastern/Later Han. The capital was also moved from Chang'an to Luoyang.

Regional Events and Politics

• Northern Europe: Celtic, Germanic, Saami and Finnic tribal chiefdoms
• Western Europe: Roman Empire
• Central Europe: Roman Empire, Celtic and Germanic tribal chiefdoms
• Eastern Europe: Roman Empire, Dacian, Sarmatian, Venedae and Balt tribal chiefdoms
• Southern Europe: Roman Empire.
• North Africa: Roman Empire, Garamantes, Mauri, Libyan and Gaetulian tribal chiefdoms
• West Africa: Gur, Kwa, Soninke and Mande tribal chiefdoms
• Central Africa: Bantu tribes, collapsing Nok culture Nok civilization
• East Africa: Kingdom of Kush, Kingdom of Blemmyes, Kingdom of Aksum
• Southern Africa: Bantu tribes, Khoisan.
• Western Asia: Roman and Parthian Empires, Sabaean and Arabian Kingdoms, smaller tribes.
• Central Asia: Kushan Empire, Sarmatian, Dahae and other Iranian tribal chiefdoms
• South Asia: Kushan Empire, Western Satraps, Satavahana Empire, Dravidian Kingdoms, Kingdom of Kalinga, Indo-Parthian Kingdom, Zhangzhung.
• Southeast Asia: Mandala of city-states, Kingdom of Funan
• East Asia:Han dynasty China, Yamatai, Xiongnu and Xianbei tribal chiefdoms, Three Kingdoms of Korea (Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla).
• North America:
• Central America: Mayan, Teotihuacan and Zapotec civilizations.
• Caribbean:
• South America:Nazca, Moche civilizations, Tairona tribal chiefdoms.

Events

The skeleton called the "Ring Lady" unearthed in Herculaneum, one of the victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79

• Early 1st century – Augustus of Primaporta, (perhaps a copy of a bronze statue of ca. 20 BC), is made. It is now kept in Musei Vaticani, Braccio Nuovo, Rome.
• Early 1st century – Gemma Augustea is made. It is now kept at Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
• Early 1st century – House of the Silver Wedding, Pompeii, is built. Excavated in 1893, the year of the silver wedding anniversary of Italy's King Humbert and his wife, Margherita of Savoy, who have supported archaeological fieldwork at Pompeii.
• Early 1st century - Inner shrine, Ise, Mie, Mie Prefecture, is built. Yayoi period.
• 1: Lions became extinct in Western Europe.
• c. 6: Census of Quirinius
• 7: Prince Cunobeline of Catuvellauni defeats the Trinovantes in England and establishes his capital at Camulodunum (Modern-day Colchester)
• 8–23: Wang Mang temporarily overthrew the Han dynasty of China.
• 9: Three Roman legions were ambushed and destroyed at Teutoberg Forest by Germans under the leadership of Arminius.
• 9: Prince Cunobeline is crowned King of Catuvellauni, his Kingdom dominates Southern England.
• 14: Augustus Caesar, first emperor of Rome, dies. His adopted son, stepson and son-in-law Tiberius is his successor.
• 28–75: Emperor Ming of Han, Buddhism reaches China.
• Humans arrive on Pentecost Island and establish the Bunlap tribe, among others.
• 27-29: Jesus begins his ministry, according to the New Testament.
• 30-36: The Crucifixion of Jesus, according to the New Testament. Beginning of the Christian Church.
• 33-36: Conversion of Saint Paul.
• 40: Succession Crisis erupts at King Cunobeline's court and his exiled younger son Prince Adminius flees to the court of Caligula in Rome.
• 40: Emperor Caligula plans to invade Britain
• 42: King Cunobeline dies, his son Caratacus becomes King. He and his brother conquer much of South-Eastern England, expanding territory into Atrebates, driving out King Verica. King Verica travels to Rome to the court of Claudius to help reclaim his throne.
• 43: Roman Conquest of Britain begins. London is founded (although it could have existed centuries before this date).
• 44: Death of Herod Agrippa.
• 41–54: Rachias, an Ambassador sent from Sri Lanka to the court of Claudius.
• Masoretes adds vowel pointings to the text of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.
• Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka first write down Buddha's teachings, creating the Pali canon.
• The regions of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and North India come under the control of the Kushans, a nomadic people forced out of northwest China by the Han Dynasty.
• Tacitus mentions the Suiones, who will one day be called the Swedes.
• Kaundinya, an Indian Brahmin marries Soma and establishes the Pre-Angkor Cambodian Kingdom of Funan.
• The Goths settle in northern Poland, which they called Gothiscandza, and shape the Wielbark culture.
• c. 50: Christian Council of Jerusalem.
• c. 52: Arrival of Apostle Thomas to Malabar, India. Beginning of Christianity in India.
• Mid-1st century – Wall niche, from garden in Pompeii, is made. It is now kept at Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, England.
• Mid-1st century – Detail of a wall painting in the House of M. Lucretius Fronto, Pompeii, is made.
• 60: Queen Boadicea of The Iceni in England launches a rebellion against The Romans. Tens of thousands die and the Roman army is massively damaged. The Rebellion fails and Boadicea commits suicide by poisoning herself. Three major cities are obliterated.
• July 19, 64: Great Fire of Rome, first Roman mass Persecution of Christians, earliest significant recognition of Christians in Rome.
• 66–73: First Jewish-Roman War.
• 69: Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes in Northern England, is overthrown in a civil war. Her unpopular alliance with Rome, the betrayal of Caratacus and her love for someone other than her husband are the three reasons which led to her demise. The Action enraged the Romans so much that they conquered and annexed The Kingdom.
• August, 70: destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans under Titus.
• August, 79: Pompeii and Herculaneum destroyed by eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
• Jewish Council of Jamnia.
• Spread of the Roman Empire, reaches largest size under Trajan.
• Arena (colosseum) is constructed, origin of the name Arena.
• Late 1st century—Cityscape, detail of a Second Style wall painting from a bedroom in the House of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale, is made. It is now at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• The painting "Alexander the Great confronts Darius III at the Battle of Issos", detail of mosaic floor decoration from Pompeii, Italy is made. It is a Roman copy after a Greek painting of c. 310 BC, perhaps by Philoxenos or Helen of Egypt. It is now at Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, Italy.
• Late 1st century – Bedroom, from the House of Publius Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale is made. It is reconstructed with later furnishings at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• Late 1st century – Seascape, detail of a wall painting from Villa Farnesina, Rome, is made.
• Late 1st century – Young Woman Writing, detail of a wall painting, from Pompeii, is made. It is now kept at Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
• Late 1st century – Mausoleum under Construction, relief from the tomb of the Haterius family, Via Labicana, Rome, is made. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano, ex Lateranese, Rome.
• Late 1st century – Middle-Aged Flavian Woman, is made. It is now kept at Musei Vaticani, Museo Gregoriano Profano, ex Lateranese, Rome.
• c. Late 1st century-early 2nd century – Buddha and Attendants, from Katra Keshavdev, Mathura, Madhya Pradesh, India, is made. Kushan period. It is now kept at Mathura Museum.
• 1st-2nd centuries - Tomb model of a house, is made. Eastern Han dynasty. It is now kept at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.

Significant people

Bronze statue of Augustus, Archaeological Museum, Athens.

Bust of Caligula.

• Apollonius of Tyana
• Akiba
• Arminius
• Ban Chao
• Berenice of Cilicia
• Boudica, also known as Boadicea
• Augustus
• Caligula
• Claudius
• Clement I of Rome
• Decebalus
• Domitian
• Du Shi
• Elisha ben Abuyah
• Galba
• Germanicus
• Gan Ying
• Guangwu of Han
• Hero of Alexandria
• Hillel the Elder
• Ignatius of Antioch
• James the Just
• Jesus of Nazareth
• John the Baptist
• Josephus
• Liu Xin
• Livia
• Livy
• Ma Yuan
• Ming of Han
• Nero
• Nerva
• Otho
• Paul of Tarsus
• Saint Peter
• Philo
• Pliny the Elder
• Polycarp
• Pontius Pilate
• Sejanus
• Seneca the Younger
• Simon Peter
• Strabo
• Tacitus
• Thomas the Apostle
• Tiberius
• Titus
• Trajan
• Vespasian
• Vitellius
• Vitruvius
• Wang Chung
• Wang Mang
• Yochanan ben Zakkai

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

• Codex, the first form of the modern book, appears in the Roman Empire
• Year 78—the beginning of the Saka Era used by South Asian calendars.
• Bookbinding
• Various inventions by Hero of Alexandria, including the steam turbine (aeolipile), water organ, and various other water-powered machines.
• In 31, the Han Dynasty Chinese engineer and statesman Du Shi (d. 38) from Nanyang invented the first-known hydraulic-powered bellows to heat the blast furnace in smelting cast iron. He used a complex mechanical device that was powered by the rushing current against a waterwheel, a practice that would continue in China.
• Although Philo of Byzantium described the saqiya chain pump in the early 2nd century BC, the square-pallet chain pump was innovated in China during this century, mentioned first by the philosopher Wang Chong around 80 AD. Wang Chong also accurately described the water cycle in meteorology, and argued against the mainstream 'radiating influence' theory for solar eclipses, the latter of which was accepted by many, including Zhang Heng.
• The Chinese astronomer Liu Xin (d. 23) documented 1080 different stars, amongst other achievements.
• End of 1st century – codex replaces the scroll.

Christianity

Main article: Christianity in the 1st century

According to the New Testament, during the reign of Tiberius, Jesus, a Jewish religious leader from Galilee, was crucified in Jerusalem on the charge of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. But God raised him from the dead three days later, see Resurrection of Jesus. Over the next few decades his followers, following the Great Commission, including the apostle Paul, carried his message throughout the Greek-speaking regions of Asia Minor, eventually introducing it to Rome itself. Roman rulers began to persecute the new sect almost immediately (the emperor Nero accused the Christians of starting the fires that destroyed much of Rome in 64 AD), and would continue to do so for centuries, sometimes vigorously, and other times passively. Christian tradition records that all of Christ's apostles except John the Evangelist suffered martyrdom.

In the 4th century, Christianity was eventually taken up by the emperor Constantine, although one of his successors Julian the Apostate renounced it for paganism and again persecuted the Church. However, by the end of the 4th century, Emperor Theodosius I proclaimed Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire.