The 60s decade ran from January 1, AD 60, to December 31, AD 69.
In the Roman Empire, the early part of the decade saw the beginning of the Boudican RevoltinBritannia, where several tribes (chiefly the Iceni), led by Boudica, rebelled against the Roman occupation. The revolt led to the sacking of several Roman cities, but was ultimately quelled by governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus. In 63, the Roman–Parthian War came to an end with the Treaty of Rhandeia. In 66, the First Jewish-Roman War began, as Jewish rebels fought against Roman rule. Near the end of the decade in 69, the Year of the Four Emperors saw a period of civil war and political instability in the Roman Empire, as four different men (Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian) claimed the title of Emperor within the span of a year. Ultimately, the year ended with the ascension of Vespasian to the throne and the beginning of the Flavian Dynasty. In East Asia, the state of Funan was established, while China continued its golden age.
In 62, an earthquake of an estimated magnitude of between 5 and 6 and a maximum intensity of IX or X on the Mercalli scale struck the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, severely damaging them. The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum both suffered major damage, with damage to some buildings also reported from Naples and Nuceria. Seneca reported the death of a flock of 600 sheep that he attributed to the effects of poisonous gases. Later, in 64, the Great Fire of Rome began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. In the aftermath of the fire, two-thirds of Rome had been destroyed. According to Tacitus and later Christian tradition, Emperor Nero blamed the devastation on the Christian community in the city, initiating the empire's first persecution against the Christians.
In the Roman Empire, Christianity continued to spread, despite a campaign of persecution being initiated under Emperor Nero in 64. According to tradition, the apostles Peter and Paul were both martyred during this period: Traditionally, Roman authorities allegedly sentenced Peter to death by crucifixionatVatican Hill. In accordance with the apocryphalActs of Peter, he was crucified head down. As for Paul, the Second Epistle to Timothy states that he was arrested in Troad and brought back to Rome, where he was imprisoned and put on trial before being executed. The White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was traditionally constructed in 68, though it is not recorded in contemporary sources before 289.
Prasutagus, king of the Iceni (modern East Anglia), dies leaving a will which passes his kingdom to his two daughters and the Roman Empire. The Roman army, however, annexes the kingdom as if conquered, depriving the nobles of their hereditary lands and plundering the land. The king's widow, Boudica, is flogged and forced to watch their daughters publicly raped.[3] Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, call in their loans.[4]
Prasutagus, king of the Iceni (modern East Anglia), dies leaving a will which passes his kingdom to his two daughters and the Roman Empire. The Roman army however annexes the kingdom as if conquered, depriving the nobles of their hereditary lands and plundering the land. The king's widow, Boudica, is flogged and forced to watch their daughters publicly raped.[9] Roman financiers, including Seneca the Younger, call in their loans.[10]
After the death of Burrus and the disgrace of Seneca, Nero is free from their influence and becomes a megalomaniacal artist fascinated by Hellenism and the Orient. Tigellinus becomes Nero's counselor. His rule is highly abusive.
The Parthians invade Armenia and lay siege to Tigranocerta. The city is well-fortified and garrisoned by the Romans. The assault fails and king Vologases I retreats. Instead, he makes preparations to invade Syria.
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo strengthens the fortifications on the Euphrates frontier. He builds a strong flotilla of ships equipped with catapults and a wooden bridge across the river, which allows him to establish a foothold on the Parthian shore.
Lucius Caesennius Paetus advances towards Tigranocerta, but due to lack of supplies he makes camp for the winter in the fortress at Rhandeia in northwestern Armenia.
Vologases I leads the Parthian army in a full-scale assault on the Euphrates. Legio X Fretensis and men of the other two legions (Legio III Gallica and Legio VI Ferrata) defend the eastern bank of the river, fighting off a desperate attack.
Nero proposes a new urban planning program based on the creation of buildings decorated with ornate porticos, the widening of the streets and the use of open spaces. This plan will not be applied until after his death in AD 68.
Lyon sends a large sum of money to Rome to aid in the reconstruction. However, during the winter of AD 64–65, Lyon suffers a catastrophic fire itself, and Nero reciprocates by sending money to Lyon.
After a stage performance in which he appears and shocks the senatorial class considerably, Nero engages in a series of reprisals against Seneca the Younger and Tigellinus, pro-republican senators, and anyone else he distrusts.
Nero's pregnant wife, Poppea Sabina, dies from Nero kicking her stomach or while having a miscarriage.
Gallus leads his main force down the coast from Caesarea via AntipatristoLydda, detaching other units, by land and sea, to neutralize the rebel strongholds at Joppa, Narbata and the Tower of Aphek. With Galilee and the entire Judean coast in his hands, Gallus assumes his campaign before the winter rains render the roads impassable. He turns inland and marches on Jerusalem, taking the road via the plain at Emmaus. Gallus succeeds in conquering Beit She'arim (the "New City") on the Bezetha Hill.[21]
November – Battle of Beth-Horon: Gallus abandons the siege of Jerusalem and chooses, for uncertain reasons, to withdraw west to winter quarters, where he is ambushed and defeated by Judean rebels. Some 5,300 Roman troops are killed, as well as all their pack animals, their artillery (which is to serve the Jews of Jerusalem during Titus's siege operations four years later), and the greatest disgrace of all, the eagle standard of Legio XII Fulminata. Gallus abandons his troops in disarray, fleeing to Syria.[22]
Jewish leaders at Jerusalem are divided through a power struggle, and a brutal civil war erupts. The Zealots and the Sicarii execute anyone who tries to leave the city.
Siege of Yodfat: Its 40,000 Jewish inhabitants are massacred. The historian Josephus, leader of the rebels in Galilee, is captured by the Romans. Vespasian is wounded in the foot by an arrow fired from the city wall.
The Jewish fortress of Gamla in the Golan falls to the Romans, and its inhabitants are massacred.
Nero travels to Greece, where he participates in the Olympic Games and other festivals.
Nero, jealous of the success of Gnaeus Domitius CorbuloinArmenia, orders that he be put to death. Corbulo literally "falls on his sword".
Kingdom of Funan is established in the Mekong Delta comprising present-day Cambodia, Southern Vietnam, Southern Thailand and Eastern Thailand, the first known civilization in Southeast Asia. The capital city is Vyadhapura or modern-day Ba Phnum DistrictinCambodia.
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[38] to 300[39] 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 60 as 249 million.[40]
October 13 — Peter the Apostle (Margherita Guarducci, who led the research leading to the rediscovery of Peter's reputed tomb in 1963, concluded that Peter died on that date, shortly after the Great Fire of Rome and during the festivities to mark "dies imperii" of Emperor Nero, and that Peter and other Christians were crucified in honor of the decennial of Nero's October 13, AD 54 ascension to the imperial throne.) [47](b. 1 BC)
^Guidoboni, E.; Ferrari, G.; Tarabusi, G.; Comatri, A.; Mariotti, D.; Sgattoni, G.; Valensise, G. (2018). "62 02 05, - Pompei (NA) (Italy)". CFTI5Med, Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in Italia (461 a.C.-1997) e nell’area Mediterranea (760 a.C.-1500) (in Italian). Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). doi:10.6092/ingv.it-cfti5.
^Chilver, Guy Edward Farquhar (January 20, 2024). "Vespasian". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
^Poehler, Eric E. (2017). The Traffic Systems of Pompeii. Oxford University Press. pp. 49–50. ISBN9780190614676.
^MacDonald, William L. (1982). The Architecture of the Roman Empire: An Introductory Study (Revised ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 25. ISBN0-300-02819-9.
^Ronald Syme, Some Arval brethren (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980), pp. 20, 24
^Haub (1995): "By 1 A.D., the world may have held about 300 million people. One estimate of the population of the Roman Empire, from Spain to Asia Minor, in 14 A.D. is 45 million. However, other historians set the figure twice as high, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be."
