DATES

AT JERUSALEM

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

63 B.C.E.

Roman general, Pompey the Great, captures Jerusalem and makes it a part of the Roman Empire. He tears down the city's walls and fortifications and ends Jewish self-rule.

In 60 B.C.E., Buddhism reaches China from Central Asia and India. That same year, Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey establish the first triumvirate to control Rome.

37 B.C.E.

Herod the Great, appointed by the Roman Senate, rules and undertakes a major building program in Jerusalem. Among his many projects is the restoration of the Second Temple.

28 C.E.

Jesus makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem when it is in the midst of political turbulence. The Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, has Jesus crucified.

66-70 C.E.

Roman rule becomes harsh and the Jews, led by the Zealots, begin a major revolt. The Roman emperor Titus crushes the revolt and virtually destroys the city, including the Second Temple, which had stood for six hundred years. Many Jews are executed or enslaved; the rest are exiled from Jerusalem.

Missionaries from India first introduce Buddhism in China in 65 C.E.

132-135 C.E.

Roman emperor Hadrian prohibits Jews from visiting or living in Jerusalem and reconstructs Jerusalem as a Roman colonial city. Eventually, Christians are forbidden from the city as well. Hadrian and his successors lay out the city with gated walls and two main streets at right angles, which still exist today.

324 C.E.

Emperor Constantine declares Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. He replaces Jerusalem's Roman structures with Christian monuments and builds several churches there, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335 C.E. Queen Helena, Constantine's mother, is very influential in the creation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

In 400 C.E., the Kingdom of Ghana, the first major trans-Saharan state in West Africa, is founded.