Quirinius

Not to be confused with Quirinus. to his stepson Tiberius, Quirinius changed his allegiance
Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (c. 51 BC AD 21) to the latter. Having been married to Claudia Appia,
about whom little is known, he divorced her and around 3
AD married Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Marcus Aemil-
ius Lepidus and sister of Manius Aemilius Lepidus, who
had originally been betrothed to Lucius Caesar.[6] Within
a few years they were divorced: in 20 AD he accused her
of claiming that he was her sons father, and later of trying
to poison him during their marriage. Tacitus claims that
she was popular with the public, who regarded Quirinius
as carrying on a prosecution out of spite.[7]
After the banishment of the ethnarch Herod Archelaus
in 6 AD, Iudaea (the conglomeration of Samaria, Judea
and Idumea) came under direct Roman administration
with Coponius appointed as prefect. At the same time,
Quirinius was appointed Legate of Syria, with instruc-
The Virgin and Saint Joseph register for the census before tions to assess Iudea Province for taxation purposes.[8]
Governor Quirinius. Byzantine mosaic at the Chora Church,
One of his rst duties was to carry out a census as part
Constantinople 131520.
of this order.[9]
was a Roman aristocrat. After the banishment of the The Jews already hated their pagan conquerors, and cen-
ethnarch Herod Archelaus from the tetrarchy of Judea in suses were forbidden under Jewish law. The assessment
AD 6, Quirinius was appointed legate governor of Syria, was greatly resented by the Jews, and open revolt was pre-
to which the province of Iudaea had been added for the vented only by the eorts of the high priest Joazar.[10] De-
purpose of a census.[1] spite eorts to prevent revolt, the census did trigger the
revolt of Judas of Galilee and the formation of the party
of the Zealots, according to Josephus.[11]
1 Life There is a reference to Quirinius in the Gospel of Luke,
which links the birth of Jesus to the time of the Census
of Quirinius.
Born into an undistinguished family in the neighbor-
hood of Lanuvium, a Latin town near Rome, Quirinius Quirinius served as governor of Syria with nominal au-
followed the normal pathway of service for an ambi- thority over Iudaea until 12 AD, when he returned to
tious young man of his social class. According to Rome as a close associate of Tiberius. Nine years later
the Roman historian Florus, Quirinius defeated the he died and was given a public funeral.
Marmaridae, a tribe of desert raiders from Cyrenaica,
possibly while governor of Crete and Cyrene around
14 BC, but nonetheless declined the honoric name 2 See also
Marmaricus.[2] In 12 BC he was named consul, a sign
that he enjoyed the favour of Augustus.
Sulpicia (gens)
From 12 1 BC, he led a campaign against the Homon-
adenses, a tribe based in the mountainous region of Census of Quirinius
Galatia and Cilicia, around 5 3 BC, probably as legate
of Galatia. He won the campaign by reducing their
strongholds and starving out the defenders.[3] For this vic-
tory, he was awarded a triumph and elected duumvir by
3 References
the colony of Pisidian Antioch.[4]
[1] Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book XVIII, Chapter
By 1 AD, Quirinius was appointed rector to Augustus 1: Cyrenius came himself into Judea, which was now
grandson Gaius Caesar, until the latter died from wounds added to the province of Syria, to take an account of their
suered on campaign.[5] When Augustus support shifted substance ...

1
2 4 EXTERNAL LINKS

[2] Erich S. Gruen, The Expansion of the Empire under Au-

gustus in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The
Augustan Empire, 43 BC AD 69, (Cambridge University
Press, 1996) page 168.
[3] Erich S. Gruen, The Expansion of the Empire under Au-
gustus in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The
Augustan Empire, 43 BC AD 69, (Cambridge University
Press, 1996) pages 153154; see also Ronald Syme, The
Roman Revolution, (Oxford University Press, 1939, reis-
sued 2002), page 399. Justin K. Hardin, Galatians and
the Imperial Cult, (Mohr Siebeck, 2008) page 56, suggests
that it is uncertain whether Quirinius actually served as
legate; he may have served only as a military general.
[4] Justin K. Hardin, Galatians and the Imperial Cult, (Mohr
Siebeck, 2008) page 56.
[5] Livius.org: P. Sulpicius Quirinius
[6] Robin Seager, Tiberius (Blackwell Publishing, 2005),
page 129.
[7] Francesca Santoro L'Hoir, Tragedy, Rhetoric, and the His-
toriography of Tacitus Annales (University of Michigan
Press, 2006), page 177.
[8] Hayes, John Haralson; Mandell, Sara R. (1998). Chap-
ter 3: The Herodian Period.. The Jewish people in classi-
cal antiquity: from Alexander to Bar Kochba. Louisville,
Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 153154.
ISBN 978-0-664-25727-9. Retrieved June 13, 2010.
Thus in 6 or 7 AD, Augustus commissioned the newly ap-
pointed Legate of Syria, Quirinius, to carry out the census
[9] Erich S. Gruen, The Expansion of the Empire under Au-
gustus in The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume X: The
Augustan Empire, 43 BC AD 69, (Cambridge University
Press, 1996) pages 157
[10] Jewish Encyclopedia: QUIRINIUS, P. SULPICIUS: The
assessment caused great dissatisfaction among the Jews
(ib.), and open revolt was prevented only by the eorts
of the high priest Joazar (ib. 2, 1). The levying of this
assessment resulted, moreover, in the revolt of Judas the
Galilean and in the formation of the party of the Zealots
(Josephus, B. J. vii. 8, 1; Lucas, in Acts v. 37).
Josephus mentions the assessment in another passage also
(Ant. xx. 5, 2).
[11] H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Har-
vard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-674-39731-2, page
274: Josephus connects the beginnings of the extremist
movement [called the Zealots by Josephus] with the cen-
sus held under the supervision of Quirinius, the legate of
Syria, soon after Judea had been converted into a Roman
province (6 AD).

4 External links
Livius.org: Publius Sulpicius Quirinius
Jewish Encyclopedia: QUIRINIUS, P. SULPICIUS
Josephus Jewish Antiquities 18
 3

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1 Text
Quirinius Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quirinius?oldid=756174340 Contributors: Llywrch, DopeshJustin, Bueller 007, Charles
Matthews, EmphasisMine, Ed Cormany, Dimadick, DavidA, Hadal, GreatWhiteNortherner, Snobot, Trujaman, Nike, Jonathunder, Wal-
ter Grlitz, Eric Kvaalen, Dhartung, FeanorStar7, Dodo78, Koavf, Pruneau, Awotter, Str1977, Jaraalbe, Red Slash, Pftaylor, Nawlin-
Wiki, Idan d~enwiki, JuJube, SmackBot, PiCo, Rbreen, Eskimbot, Flamarande, JonHarder, Rrburke, Homestarmy, John D. Croft, An-
drew c, Mksword, Riccardov~enwiki, Mathiasrex, Staorddavid, Neddyseagoon, Gernch, Cydebot, Stebbins, Doug Weller, AstroFloyd,
RobotG, WinBot, Gioto, Lostcaesar, Fayenatic london, JAnDbot, .anacondabot, Rhwawn, Gun Powder Ma, R'n'B, Pacdude9, Johnbod,
Collinpark, MishaPan, TXiKiBoT, Korporaal1, Mahsmith3, RobertFritzius, Sapphic, U5v6w7x8, SieBot, MagicBear, Vanished user ew-
sn2348tui2f8n2o2utjfeoi210r39jf, Toby42, ClueBot, Burpboohickie, Leadwind, Boneyard90, Gaius stern, Glorthac, Biblioq, Xobabi-
idoll002, Aunt Entropy, Addbot, DOI bot, Favonian, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, TaBOT-zerem, Amble, AnomieBOT, ArthurBot, J04n,
DutchmanInDisguise, Edward-F, FrescoBot, Vinyamar37, Citation bot 1, Dazedbythebell, MathEconMajor, RjwilmsiBot, P Aculeius, On-
cenawhile, GBRV, PatrickGuadalupe, Payes-jovan, Helpful Pixie Bot, Open2wiki, Davidiad, Marcocapelle, JohnThorne, Lekoren, Richard
B Lewis, ArmbrustBot, Fire&spice, Marusha76, JSBrowand13, JDock579, Jomidttun, Adair Elwyn Po, BlackOlive2, KasparBot, Bender
the Bot, Unover and Anonymous: 53

5.2 Images
File:Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_005.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/
Meister_der_Kahriye-Cami-Kirche_in_Istanbul_005.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke
der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. Original artist: Meister der
Kahriye-Cami-Kirche in Istanbul

5.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0