50s
Sixth decade of the first century AD
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The 50s decade ran from January 1, 50, to December 31, 59. It was the sixth decade in the Anno Domini/Common Era, if the nine-year period from 1 AD to 9 AD is considered as a "decade".
The early years of the decade saw Roman and Parthian intervention in the Iberian–Armenian War, a conflict which led Tiridates I to become King of Armenia with Parthian support. This was unacceptable to Rome, and the ensuing tensions culminated in the Roman–Parthian War of 58–63. Concurrently, the Roman conquest of Britain continued, with Caratacus being defeated in 50 and tribes of modern Wales being subdued in 58 to 59. In 50, the Southern Xiongnu submitted to the Chinese Han dynasty. Later in 57, the ascension of Emperor Ming heralded the beginning of a golden age.
The Council of Jerusalem was held early in the decade: The council decided that Gentile converts to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the fasts, and other specific rituals, including the rules concerning circumcision of males.[1] The Council did, however, retain the prohibitions on eating blood, meat containing blood, and meat of animals that were strangled, and on fornication and idolatry.
Literary works of this decade include De Vita Beata (which explains that the pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of reason) and De Clementia (an instructional contrast between the good ruler and a tyrant), both of which were written by Seneca the Younger.
Manning (2008) tentatively estimates the world population in AD 50 as 248 million.
Demographics
Due to lack of reliable demographic data, estimates of the world population in the 1st century vary wildly, with estimates for AD 1 varying from 150[2] to 300[3] million. Demographers typically do not attempt to estimate most specific years in antiquity, instead giving approximate numbers for round years such as AD 1 or AD 200. However, attempts at reconstructing the world population in more specific years have been made, with Manning (2008) tentatively estimating the world population in AD 50 as 248 million.[4]
Events
50 AD
Roman Empire
- Cologne is raised to the status of a city.[citation needed]
- Utrecht is founded, and a Roman fortification (castellum) is constructed at the Rhine border in the present-day Netherlands.[citation needed]
- Claudius adopts Nero.[citation needed]
- Roman emperor Claudius appoints Agrippa II governor of Chalcis.[citation needed]
Palestine
- In Judaea, a Roman soldier seizes and burns a Torah scroll. Procurator Cumanus has the culprit beheaded, calming down local Jews and delaying for almost two decades the outbreak of their revolt.[5]
- The Apostles hold the Council of Jerusalem (approximate date).[citation needed]
Greece
- Paul travels to Philippi, Thessaloniki, Beroea, and Athens (second missionary journey).[citation needed]
- The Epistle to the Romans is written (approximate date).[citation needed]
- Hero of Alexandria invents a steam turbine (possible date).[citation needed]
- Pamphilus of Alexandria writes a poetic lexicon.[citation needed]
- Pedanius Dioscorides describes the medical applications of plants in De Materia Medica.[citation needed]
Britain
- In Britain, governor Publius Ostorius Scapula begins his campaign against the recalcitrant Silures of south Wales, who are led by the former Catuvellaunian prince Caratacus. London (Londinium), Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum), Tripontium (near modern Rugby) and the fort of Manduessedum (near modern Atherstone) are founded (approximate date).[citation needed]
- Romans build a wooden bridge across the Thames in the London area.[citation needed]
Nubia
- Christianity is introduced throughout Nubia by a high official of Queen Judith.[citation needed]
South Asia
- The Yuezhi tribes are united under the Kushan leader Kujula Kadphises, thus creating the Kushan Empire in Afghanistan and northern India (approximate date).[citation needed]
Americas
- The San Bartolo pyramid is completed around this time.[citation needed]
51 AD
Roman Empire
- Emperor Claudius and future emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus become Roman Consuls.[citation needed]
- Burrus, praetorian prefect (51–62 AD), charges Seneca with the education of Nero.[citation needed]
Britain
- In Britain, governor Publius Ostorius Scapula defeats Caratacus and the Silures in the territory of the Ordovices in central Wales.[a] Caratacus seeks sanctuary with Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes in northern England, but she is a Roman ally and hands him over to Ostorius.[7] Despite the defeat, the Silures continue to fight.
- The captured Caratacus is exhibited in chains in Claudius' triumph in Rome, but his dignified demeanour persuades the emperor to spare his life and allow his family to live free in the capital for a short period of time.[citation needed]
Parthia
- Vonones II dies a few months after he had ascended to the throne. His son Vologases I becomes the new Parthian king.[8]
52 AD
Roman Empire
- Emperor Claudius attempts to control the Fucine Lake by digging a 5.6 km tunnel through Monte Salviano, requiring 30,000 workers and eleven years.[citation needed]
- Claudius completes the Aqua Claudia and Anio Novus, two aqueduct projects started by Caligula.[9]
- In Rome, a law prohibits the execution of old and crippled slaves.[citation needed]
- Barea Soranus is consul suffectus in Rome.[citation needed]
- Pliny the Elder writes his account of the German wars.[citation needed]
Palestine
- Ananias, a high priest in Jerusalem, is sent to Rome after being accused of violence.[citation needed]
Britain
- In Britain, governor Publius Ostorius Scapula dies while campaigning against the Silures of south Wales. Following his death, the Roman Second Legion are heavily defeated by the Silures. His replacement is Aulus Didius Gallus, who quells the rebellion and consolidates the gains the Romans have so far made, but does not seek new ones.[citation needed]
India
- Saint Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, is believed to have landed in Kodungallur, India to preach the Gospel; the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, the Indian Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East claim descent from him.[citation needed]
China
- The Yuejue Shu, the first known gazetteer of China, is written during the Han Dynasty.[citation needed]
53 AD
Roman Empire
- Emperor Claudius removes Herod Agrippa II from the tetrarchy of Chalcis in Greece.[citation needed]
- Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus and Quintus Haterius Antoninus become Roman consuls.[citation needed]
- Claudius secures a senatorial decree that gives jurisdiction in financial cases to imperial procurators. This marks a significant strengthening of imperial powers at the expense of the Senate.[citation needed]
- June 9 – Nero is adopted by Claudius as his son and marries his 14-year-old daughter Claudia Octavia.[citation needed]
- Claudius accepts Nero as his successor, to the detriment of Britannicus, his son by his first wife, Valeria Messalina.[citation needed]
- Seneca writes the tragedy Agamemnon, which he intends to be read as the last chapter of a trilogy including two of his other tragedies, Medea and Edipus.[citation needed]
Anatolia
- Paul the Apostle writes his epistle to the Galatians from Ephesus (approximate date).[citation needed]
Syria
- Evodius succeeds Saint Peter as Patriarch of Antioch.[citation needed]
Britain
- Cardiff is founded by Aulus Didius Gallus.[citation needed]
Caucasus
- Tiridates I, brother of Vologases I, comes to power in Armenia as an adversary of the Romans.[10]
Korea
54 AD
Roman Empire
- October 13 – Emperor Claudius dies (possibly after being poisoned by Agrippina, his wife and niece), and is succeeded by Nero.[12]
- Nero attempts to prohibit the gladiatorial games.[citation needed]
Anatolia
- Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo arrives in the East and takes up an assignment as governor of Asia, with a secret brief from Nero and his chief ministers, Seneca and Burrus, to return Armenia to the Roman Empire.[citation needed]
- Winter – Domitius Corbulo marches his legions (Legio VI Ferrata and Legio X) into the mountains of Cappadocia and makes camp. He gives the men a harsh training, twenty-five-mile marches and weapons drills.[citation needed]
- Patriarch Onesimus succeeds Stachys the Apostle as Patriarch of Constantinople.[citation needed]
- Apollos, a later assistant of Paul, is converted to Christianity in Ephesus.[citation needed]
Syrian
- Corbulo inspects a base of Legio X Fretensis in Syria, at Cyrrhus; the Roman legionaries are demoralized by a "long peace". Many soldiers sell their helmets and shields.[citation needed]
- Corbulo recruits Syrian auxiliary units in the region and stations them in border forts, with orders from Nero not to provoke the Parthians.[citation needed]
Palestine
- Palestine is returned piecemeal to Herod Agrippa's son Marcus Julius Agrippa between 48 and 54.[citation needed]
- Violence erupts in Caesarea regarding a local ordinance restricting the civil rights of Jews, creating clashes between Jews and pagans. The Roman garrison, made up of Syrians, takes the side of the pagans. The Jews, armed with clubs and swords, meet in the marketplace. The governor of Judea, Antonius Felix, orders his troops to charge. The violence continues and Felix asks Nero to arbitrate. Nero sides with the pagans, and relegates the Jews to second-class citizens.[citation needed]
Arabia
- Under Nero, Rome annexes Aden to protect the maritime route between Alexandria and Asia.[citation needed]
Britain
- In Britain, Venutius leads a revolt against his ex-wife Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes and a Roman ally. Governor Aulus Didius Gallus sends her military aid, and after some indecisive fighting a legion commanded by Caesius Nasica defeats the rebels (approximate date – some time between 52 and 57).[citation needed]
Egypt
- Two centurions are sent to the south of Egypt to find the source of the Nile, and possible new provinces. They report that while there are many cities in the desert, the area seems too poor to be worthy of conquest.[citation needed]
55 AD
Roman Empire
- Emperor Nero becomes a Roman Consul.[citation needed]
- The Roman jurist Sabinus writes three books on the rights of citizens.[citation needed]
Anatolia
- The apostle Paul writes his First Epistle to the Corinthians.[citation needed]
56 AD
Roman Empire
- War between Rome and Parthia breaks out due to the invasion of Armenia by King Vologases I, who has replaced the Roman-supported ruler with his brother Tiridates I of Armenia. (approximate date)[13]
- Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus becomes a consul in Rome.[14]
Greece
- The apostle Paul writes his second Epistle to the Corinthians, probably from Philippi.[citation needed]
- The apostle Paul writes his Epistle to the Romans, from Corinth (approximate date).[citation needed]
China
- The Jianwu era of the Eastern Han dynasty changes to the Jianwuzhongyuan era.[15]
57 AD
Roman Empire
- Envoys from Cilicia come to Rome to accuse their late governor, Cossutianus Capito, of extortion; the Roman Senate is supported in the case by Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus.[citation needed]
- Emperor Nero becomes a Roman consul again.[citation needed]
Greece
- Paul of Tarsus writes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians and his Epistle to the Romans (probable date).[citation needed]
Britain
- Quintus Veranius Nepos becomes governor in place of Aulus Didius Gallus. He begins a campaign against the Silures of south Wales.[citation needed]
China
- Emperor Guang Wu grants Nakoku (located around modern-day Fukuoka City) a golden seal, being the oldest evidence of writing in Japan. In return King Na sends an envoy to China.[citation needed]
- March 29 – Guang Wu dies after a 32-year reign and is succeeded by his son Han Mingdi.[16]
Korea
58 AD
Roman Empire
- Emperor Nero and Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus become Roman consuls.[citation needed]
- The friendship between Nero and Marcus Salvius Otho ends when they both fall in love with Poppea Sabina, and Otho is sent to Lusitania as governor.[citation needed]
- Agrippina the Younger is expelled from the imperial palace by her son Nero, who installs her in Villa Antonia in Misenum, and leaving more of the effective and real power of Empire in the hands of Nero.[citation needed]
- The Ficus Ruminalis begins to die (see Rumina).
- Agrippina the Younger, conspired with the senators in late 58 to overthrow Nero.
Palestine
- The apostle Paul returns to Jerusalem with the money he has collected to give the Christian community there. However, he is accused of defiling the temple, and is arrested and imprisoned in Caesarea. He then invokes his Roman citizenship and is sent to Rome to be judged.[citation needed]
Caucasus
- Roman-Parthian War: Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, commander in the East, launches his Armenian offensive against Parthia. He leads a Roman army (four legions) through the mountainous country of Armenia, against the fortress at Volandum, to the southwest of Artaxata. After a siege of eight hours Corbulo takes the city; the legionnaires massacre the defenders and plunder Volandum to their hearts' content.[citation needed]
- Corbulo marches to Artaxata crossing the Aras River; along the valley he is shadowed by tens of thousands of mounted Parthian archers led by king Tiridates I. The city opens its gates to Corbulo, just as it had to Germanicus four decades before. When he takes the 250-year-old Armenian capital, Corbulo gives the residents a few hours to collect their valuables and burns the city to the ground.[citation needed]
Britain
- Gnaeus Julius Agricola, 18 years old, is serving as a military tribune in Britain under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and is attached to Legio II Augusta.[citation needed]
Europe
- In Thuringia, conflict between two Germanic tribes erupts over access to water.[citation needed]
- Romans learn the use of soap from the Gauls (approximate date).[citation needed]
China
- Emperor Ming of Han introduces Buddhism to China inviting monks from the western Indus Valley.[citation needed]
- In China, sacrifices to Confucius are ordered in all government schools.[18]
- Start of Yongping era of the Chinese Han dynasty.[citation needed]
59 AD
Roman Empire
- March 23 – Emperor Nero orders the murder of his mother Agrippina the Younger. He tries to kill her through a planned shipwreck, but when she survives, he has her executed and frames it as a suicide.[citation needed]
- Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus retires from the Roman Senate. He openly shows his disgust at the behaviour of Nero regarding the murder of Agrippina.[citation needed]
- Rioting breaks out between the people of Pompeii and the people of Nuceria during a gladiator fight in Pompeii. Thousands are killed.[citation needed]
- In the Satyricon, Petronius pokes fun at Roman immorality.[citation needed]
Palestine
- Paul the Apostle pleads his case and testifies to his Christianity before King Agrippa II of the Herodians, who reportedly responds "You almost persuade me to be a Christian."[19]
Caucasus
- Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, Roman commander in the east, captures Tigranocerta in Mesopotamia. He installs Tigranes VI, a Cappadocian prince, as ruler of Armenia. For the next four years, a cohort from Legio VI Ferrata and Legio X Fretensis is stationed in the capital as bodyguard to the king, supported by fifteen hundred auxiliaries.[citation needed]
North Africa
- An eclipse on 30 April over North Africa is recorded by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.[citation needed]
Significant people
Births
50 AD
- Cai Lun, Chinese inventor of paper and the papermaking process (d. 121)[citation needed]
53 AD
- (approximate year) Marcus Ulpius Traianus, Roman emperor (d. 117)[20]
- Domitia Longina, Roman empress (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Kanishka I, Indian ruler of the Kushan Empire (d. 150)[citation needed]
55 AD
- Epictetus, Greek-Roman philosopher (d. 135)[21]
56 AD
- Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman historian.[22]
57 AD
- Han Zhang Di, Chinese emperor (d. AD 88)[citation needed]
58 AD
- Juvenal, Roman poet and writer (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Xu Shen, Chinese politician and writer (approximate date)[citation needed]
Deaths
50 AD
- Abgar V, Roman client king of Osroene (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Aulus Cornelius Celsus, Roman author of De Medicina (b. c. 25 BC)[citation needed]
- Gamaliel the Elder, Jewish ruler (Nasi) in Babylonia (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Gaius Julius Phaedrus, Roman fabulist (b. c. 15 BC)[citation needed]
- Philo of Alexandria, Jewish philosopher (b. c. 20 BC)[citation needed]
- Scribonius Largus, Roman court physician (b. c. AD 1)[citation needed]
51 AD
- Gotarzes II, king of the Parthian Empire[citation needed]
- Lucius Vitellius the Elder, Roman consul (b. 5 BC)[citation needed]
- Mithridates of Armenia, Roman client king[citation needed]
- Vonones II, king of the Parthian Empire[8]
52 AD
- Gamaliel, Jewish leader (nasi) (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Guo Shengtong, Chinese empress of the Han Dynasty[citation needed]
- Julia Iotapa, queen of Commagene (approximate date)[citation needed]
- Publius Ostorius Scapula, Roman statesman and general[citation needed]
53 AD
54 AD
- October 13 – Claudius, Roman emperor, possibly poisoned by his wife Agrippina (b. 10 BC)[24]
- Ban Biao, Chinese historian and official (b. AD 3)[25]
- Domitia Lepida the Younger, widow of Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus, mother of Valeria Messalina and former mother-in-law of Claudius (b. 10 BC)[citation needed]
- Gaius Stertinius Xenophon, Greek physician, possibly poisoned Claudius[citation needed]
- Marcus Junius Silanus, Roman consul (b. AD 14)[citation needed]
- Stachys the Apostle, Byzantine bishop and saint[citation needed]
55 AD
- February 11 – Britannicus, son of Claudius (b. AD 41)[citation needed]
- Antonia Tryphaena, Roman client queen (b. 10 BC)[citation needed]
- Izates bar Monobaz, Parthian client king (b. c. AD 1)[26]
56 AD
- Lucius Volusius Saturninus, Roman politician and governor[27]
57 AD
- March 29 – Guang Wu, Chinese emperor (b. 5 BC)[28]
- Quintus Veranius, Roman consul and general[citation needed]
- Yuri, Korean ruler of Silla[29]
58 AD
- Deng Yu, Chinese general of the Han dynasty (b. AD 2)[citation needed]
- Geng Yan, Chinese general of the Han dynasty (b. AD 3)[citation needed]
- Pharasmanes I, Roman client king of Iberia[citation needed]
- Rhadamistus, Roman client king of Armenia[citation needed]
59 AD
- March 23 – Agrippina the Younger, mother of Nero (b. AD 15)[citation needed]
- Domitia Lepida the Elder, granddaughter of Mark Antony[citation needed]
- Gnaeus Domitius Afer, Roman politician and orator[citation needed]
- Servilius Nonianus, Roman consul and historian[citation needed]
