Chronology
| 44 BCE | Julius Caesar deified by the Roman Senate |
 | |
| 27 BCE -14 CE | Reign of Emperor Augustus. Augustus was the first Roman ruler to be worshiped as a son of a god (divi filius), and the day of his birth was considered the beginning of his glad tidings or "gospel" for the world. |
| |
| 4 BCE | Death of Herod the Great, ruler of Judea, Samaria, Galilee, and surrounding territories. King Herod had been the loyal client of the Roman emperor Augustus. |
| |
| 4 BCE | Jesus of Nazareth is born. |
| |
| 6 CE | Territories of Judea, Samaria, and Idumea come under direct imperial control as the Roman province of Judea. |
| |
| 14 CE | Augustus deified by the Roman Senate. |
| |
| 26-30 CE | Ministry of John the Baptist |
| |
| 30 CE | Death of Jesus |
| |
| 30 CE and later | Jesus' early followers from Galilee settle in Jerusalem. They are known as "the Twelve." |
| |
| 35-36 CE | Saul of Tarsus, a Jew, comes to believe in Jesus as the Messiah and subsequently becomes the apostle Paul. |
| |
| 37-100 CE | Life of Josephus, the Jewish historian |
| |
| 48 CE | Council of Jerusalem, the leaders of the new Christian movement, discuss the terms of the recent mission to the Gentiles. |
| |
| 50 CE | Paul leaves Antioch and begins Aegean Mission. His letters to these congregations are the earliest documents now contained in the New Testament. |
| |
| 50-52 CE | Paul's first visit to Corinth; he writes his first letter to the Thessalonians. |
| |
| 52 CE | Paul arrives in Ephesus; he writes a letter to the Galatians and his letter to the Corinthians. |
| |
| 54-55 CE | Paul's imprisonment in Ephesus. He writes letters to the Philippians and to Philemon; he completes a second letter to the Corinthians. |
| |
| 55-56 CE | Paul writes a letter to the Christians in Rome in preparation for his future visit there. |
| |
| 58-60 CE | Paul's imprisonment in Rome |
| |
| 60-65 CE | Death of Paul |
| |
| 60-68 CE | Death of Peter Death of James, brother of Jesus and head of the church in Jerusalem |
| |
| 64 CE | Great Fire in Rome; Nero blames and executes Christians |
| |
| 66-70 CE | First Jewish Revolt against Rome. A feud between Jewish and Greek factions in the city of Ceasarea leads to fighting that quickly spreads throughout the region. |
| |
| 68 CE | Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakki seeks and receives permission from the Roman general and future emperor Vespasian to establish a new religious school after the war in the Palestinian coastal city of Jamnia. This sets the stage for the emergence of modern Judaism. |
| |
| 68 CE | The emperor Nero's assassination launches a year of civil war in Rome. |
| |
| 69-79 CE | Reign of the emperor Vespasian. |
| |
| 70 CE | Fall of Jerusalem under military leadership of Vespasian's son, Titus. |
| |
| 70-100 CE | Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke (Luke-Acts) written. |
| |
| 77 CE | Josephus publishes The War of the Jews |
| |
| 79-81 CE | Reign of the emperor Domitian (Vespasian's elder son and the general who burned the Temple and quelled the Jewish Revolt). |
| |
| 81-96 CE | Reign of the emperor Domitian (Vespasian's younger son and the object of the anti-Roman attack in the Book of Revelation). |
| |
| 85 CE | "Curse against Heretics" (Birkath ha-minim) added to Jewish synagogue benedictions, with the intent of excluding Christians. |
| |
| 90-110 CE | Gospel of John written |
| |
| 90-150 CE | Gospel of Thomas and other gnostic manuscripts written |
| |
| 94 CE | Josephus publishes The Antiquities of the Jews |
| |
| 96-98 CE | Reign of the emperor Nerva |
| |
| 98-117 CE | Reign of Emperor Trajan |
| |
| 100-165 CE | Life of Justin Martyr, early Christian apologist. Justin defends Christianity as a "philosophy" worthy of the respect of the educated and as the only legitimate heir to the Israelite scriptures. |
| |
| 107-117 CE | Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, is martyred |
| |
| 112-113 CE | Pliny, the Roman governor of Pontus-Bithynia writes to the emperor Trajan seeking advice regarding the punishment of Christians. The emperor tells Pliny that persecuting people on unproven charges is "contrary to the spirit of our times." |
| |
| 117-138 CE | Reign of emperor Hadrian |
| |
| 132-135 CE | Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (Bar Kochba Revolt). By this time Christians have separated from Judaism. |
| |
| 150-215 CE | Life of Clement of Alexandria, early Christian teacher and theologian. Clement's theology is known for its skillful blend of Christian proclamation with Greek philosophical precepts. |
| |
| 150-222 CE | Life of Tertullian, early Christian apologist. Prolific writer and sharp witted defender of the ermerging Christian orthodoxy, until he converted to Montanism late in his life. |
| |
| 155 CE | Martyrdom of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and younger colleague and admirer of Ignatius of Antioch. |
| |
| 178 CE | Celsus writes True Reason, argument against Christianity |
| |
| 180 CE | Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, asserts that the proper number of gospels is four. |
| |
| 185-254 CE | Life of Origen. One of the great early Christian scholars and teachers, his writings had a profound effect on the development of Christian theology, particularly in the provinces of the Greek East. |
| |
| 203 CE | Martyrdom of Perpetua in Carthage |
| |
| 249-251 CE | First major persecution of Christians under emperor Decius |
| |
| 250 CE | Origen publishes Contra Celsum, in response to Celsus' True Reason. |
| |
| 257-260 CE | Persecution resumes under emperor Valerian |
| |
| 260 CE | Persecution ends when Gallienus becomes emperor |
| |
| 260-340 CE | Life of Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, chronicler of early church and court historian to Constantine |
| |
| 303 CE | Persecution begins under Diocletian |
| |
| 312 CE | Battle of Milvian Bridge; Constantine adopts Christ as his patron and defeats his rival Maxentius to become sole ruler of Italy, Africa, and the entire western half of the empire. |
| |
| 313 CE | Edict of Milan. An agreement between Constantine, ruler of the West and Licinius, ruler of the East, that assured full restitution of all confiscated Christian property and full rights for Christian worship in both halves of the Roman empire. |
| |
| 324 CE | Constantine defeats Licinius in a battle near Adrianople. He now becomes ruler of the entire Roman empire. He moves the eastern capital from Nicomedia to Byzantine, henceforth known as Constantinople. |
| |
| 325 CE | Council of Nicea attempts to resolve theological differences among church factions. It is agreed that Christ was both fully human and fully divine. |
| |
| 327 CE | Death of Constantine. |