Category: Biblical Timeline

For the first 300 years of Christianity’s existence, the Roman government teetered between toleration and active persecution of the religion. Many Christians were imprisoned, driven out of their homes or churches, and their properties confiscated during this period. At its worst, they were tortured and killed by Romans who viewed Christianity as a threat to the empire’s unity. It was not until the reign of Constantine that Christianity was gradually accepted in the Roman world, and most persecutions stopped. After his conversion to Christianity, Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan which included an authorization to return properties confiscated by the government from the Christians in the previous years. The Popes secured the Independence of their territories after this which is dated at 568 AD according to the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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Donation of Constantine: A Forgery?

According to a document called the “Donation of Constantine”, the emperor himself increased the Christian church’s land holdings with various donations. These were soon followed by donations from other wealthy Roman families. The document was presented by Pope Stephen II hundreds of years later to the Frankish king Pepin the Younger to justify the church’s possession of Rome and other lands in Italy. It was alleged to be a forgery since there were no records of the document during the time of Emperor Constantine, but the document suited their needs at that time, so Pepin left the territories to the pope.

Pope Gregory and the Lombard Invasion of Rome

Christian leadership also evolved over the years. In the 6th century AD, the Popes of Rome became the supreme head of the Catholic Christians, but beyond the religious realm, they also played a great part in the empire’s politics. Rome was not the power center of Italy during this period, and a greater portion of the peninsula was held by the Byzantine emperor through an exarch stationed in the capital of Ravenna.

The Lombards had invaded Italy, and their army threatened Rome, which was then under the administration of the Pope Gregory. Gregory was a former diplomat; he was a part of the delegation the former Pope Pelagius sent to emperor Maurice in Constantinople. They begged the emperor to send additional troops to Rome that would help deliver the Romans from the Lombards. The emperor refused since he did not have the troops nor the money to send to them. Gregory became a monk after this, but he was once again pushed into the spotlight after the leaders of the city wrote to the Byzantine emperor and requested Gregory’s appointment as pope after the death of Pope Pelagius II. Gregory felt that he was more suited for a life inside the monastery, but the Romans felt that they had no choice, and there was no one else fit to lead the city during a time of great crisis.

Gregory’s protests did not help as his appointment as pope was confirmed some time later in 590 AD. He was unwilling but according to historical accounts of this period, Gregory did his best in protecting the citizens of the city from the Lombard invasion. Once again, he begged Emperor Maurice for relief troops, but none arrived. He was forced to pay the troops from church funds, as well as negotiate with and pay off the Lombard king to break the siege of Rome. His strategy paid off, and the Lombard king agreed to retreat from Rome after a prolonged siege.

From Pope to City Administrator

In the meantime, the patrimonies—the lands donated to the church and under the administration of the pope—increased in parts of Gaul, Dalmatia, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa. The patrimonies generated revenues which were then sent back to the pope in Rome by the administrators of these estates and the revenues gave the pope a measure of independence to rule their territories. It did not help that the Byzantine emperor who controlled a small portion of Italy at that time was busy warding off the Persian and Avar invaders in his own domain. The pope used the revenues to fund the construction and maintenance of churches and convents; he also needed to respond beyond the spiritual needs of the people now that the distant Byzantine government did not have the money nor the inclination to help them out. Revenues from the patrimonies were used to pay for the construction of hospitals and orphanages, as well as provide food for the Romans. As the Byzantine hold over the Roman popes faded, the territories under the church became more independent from the Eastern Empire as years passed.

First Siege of Constantinople

Between 674 and 678 AD, the Arab armies under the Umayyad Caliphate besieged the city of Constantinople but failed in their first attempt in conquering the city. One of the Byzantines’ most effective weapon against them was the Greek fire, a medieval flamethrower which protected the Byzantine Empire against Arab invasion for many years. It was such a closely guarded secret that up until today, the weapon’s exact chemical composition remains a mystery. The failed siege of Constantinople is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History at 715 AD.

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The first siege of Constantinople ended with a peace treaty between the Byzantine Empire and the Umayyad Caliphate. The Arab forces withdrew from Constantinople and set their sights elsewhere in North Africa and southern Spain; Constantinople, however, was a treasure the Umayyad caliphate could not resist. In 715 AD, a man named Suleiman rose as the ruler of the Muslims after the death of his older brother, the caliph Walid I. He wasted no time and resumed the offensive against the city of Constantinople which was now ruled by the Emperor Leo III.

The Second Siege

Emperor Leo knew about and had prepared for an Arab invasion for many months until the fleet commanded by Suleiman sailed past the Dardanelles. The Arab navy (which consisted of 1,800-strong war galleys) was reinforced by an army of 80,000 men (led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik) that passed through Asia Minor. Both forces closed in on Constantinople almost at the same time.

Luck was not on Suleiman’s side. A lot of his war galleys were destroyed when his fleet met Emperor Leo’s Navy who used the Greek fire to its greatest extent. It did not help Suleiman and the Arabs that the wind conditions were favorable to Leo’s navy, so many of the Umayyad ships either sank or burned during the battle. The fighting grew more intense, but Suleiman was not meant to see the end of it. During a break in 717 AD, Suleiman suddenly died of an illness while his navy suffered through a very harsh winter as they waited to attack Constantinople again.

His cousin Umar II was declared as caliph after Suleiman’s death. He sent troops from Egypt to reinforce the army that waited just beyond Constantinople. Emperor’s Leo’s troops were also replenished with a large Bulgarian army led by Constantinople’s ally, King Terval of Bulgaria. More than 20,000 Arab died during the siege and a significant number of Byzantine men also perished during the war. The new caliph Umar II decided to withdraw his troops from Constantinople on August 15, 718 AD and the city (as well as the Eastern side of Europe) remained out of the caliphate’s reach for hundreds of years until its fall to the Ottoman Empire.

Background

Omar ibn Al-Khattab was born in Mecca sometime between 579 and 583 AD and was a member of the prominent Banu Adi clan of the Quraysh tribe. He was initially hostile to Mohammed and Islam and even took part in the persecution of Muslims before the first migration to Abyssinia (Ethiopia). He then converted to Islam in 616 AD and joined the Hegira (migration) from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD. Eventually, this would lead to the fall of Jerusalem in 638 AD according to the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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As Rashidun Caliph

A succession issue rose between his father-in-law Abu Bakr and son-in-law Ali (as well their supporters) upon the death of Mohammed. Abu Bakr, however, prevailed as Mohammed’s successor and leader of the ummah (Muslim community). Even without Islam’s first and most revered Prophet, Abu Bakr managed to bind together the Muslims during his short two-year rule and expand their territory first by going against the weakened Persian empire. The Byzantine Empire, once a powerful force in the Near East and Asia Minor, was also weakened by internal strife. This made the Byzantine provinces of Syria and Palestine (where Jerusalem was a part of) vulnerable to attacks by the newly-unified and stronger Muslim community. Damascus was first captured by Abu Bakr and his general Khalid, and they soon looked beyond the borders of Syria to conquer Palestine.

Abu Bakr, however, died at the height of his power as Caliph of the united ummah. He was sixty-one and unlike Mohammed before him, he had named his son-in-law Omar (also spelled Umar) as his successor. The new caliph realized that the practice of caravan raids could not sustain the community any longer now that Islam was embraced by most of the Arab tribes, so he looked for Christian and Persian territories to plunder as another way to sustain the ummah. This was also done to harness the energies of the community into one common goal and prevent the tribes from falling back into old blood feuds. It was under Omar’s leadership when the Muslims wrested large parts of Syria and Palestine from the Byzantine empire, while Jerusalem soon fell to the Muslims in 638 AD. With the fall of Syria and Palestine, much of the Middle East was now under Muslim rule.

Omar in Jerusalem

In spring of 638 AD, Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem officially surrendered the city to Omar. According to the treaty signed by both sides, Christians were allowed to live in the city and practice their religion but were compelled to pay jizya (tax for non-Muslims) to the Muslim conquerors. For the first time in hundreds of years, the Jews were also allowed to return and live in Jerusalem. Omar himself was invited by Patriarch Sophronius to come inside a Christian church, but he declined to prevent future Muslims from converting the church into a mosque. The caliph went home to Medina after he stayed ten days in Jerusalem.

The Pueblo I period marked the transition of the Ancestral Pueblo (also known as the Anasazi by the Navajo) from living in deep pit-houses in the Basketmaker III era (500-750 AD) to above-ground homes. These free-standing homes were constructed from stones on an even surface and initially used for storage, while the Ancestral Pueblo continued to live in their pit-houses. As years passed, the preference for the pueblo structures became more popular among the people and these houses were eventually used not only for storage but also for other activities. The pit-houses, however, were never abandoned but were gradually converted to ceremonial chambers, as well as gathering places for religious ceremonies (kivas). Above ground homes of the Ancestral Pueblo in Arizona is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with World History between 700 – 900 AD.

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These flat-roofed, above-ground homes were constructed with basic adjoining rooms and eventually became bigger with as much as six to eight connected rooms. The Ancestral Pueblo made them bigger with six connected rooms and added the old pit-houses or kivas as important extensions to the houses. These blocks of houses were usually shaped in a simple straight line or crescent to accommodate groups of extended families which usually made up the Ancestral Pueblo village. One of the most remarkable of these Ancient Pueblo villages was Alkali Ridge in Utah which had as much as 185 above-ground rooms (divided into four groups), around 14 pit-houses, and at least 2 kivas.

The ancient Greek culture was rich in many ways, and one of its enduring gifts to history was the creation of the Olympiad. The first Olympiad was held on the Olympian plain on the island of Peloponnese in 776 BC to honor the greatest god in the Greek pantheon, Zeus, and Pelops, the mythical founder of the Olympic games. The Olympian plain was dotted with shrines and temples dedicated to Zeus, Hera, and other gods; it was also the center for the cult dedicated to Pelops where the ancient Greeks offered sacrifices and feasted on his sacred days. The last Olympiad occurred right before 400 AD according to the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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Greeks were the only ones allowed to compete in the event. It was held only in Greece until 80 BC when Sulla transferred the location of the 175th Olympiad to Rome. It was brought back to Greece during the time of Augustus except for a brief moment during the reign of Nero. The Olympics were held every four years and initially included two events: foot race and wrestling. As the years went by, events such as pentathlon, chariot race, boxing, and others were added to the competition. By 471 BC, sacrifices and feasts for Pelops and others gods were held along with the competitions.

The Olympiad continued for many centuries until its abolition under Theodosius I between 393 and 394 AD. The prohibition was a way to eliminate pagan worship which was a part of Theodosius’ campaign to unify the Roman Empire under Nicene Christianity. It was not until 1896 that the Olympic games were revived, and the competitions were held in Athens instead of the Peloponnese peninsula.

The Tetrarchy

To keep the vast empire from disintegration, the emperor Diocletian divided the territory between himself and co-emperor Maximian, who was given the title of Augustus after one year from his appointment. They also designated two junior emperors (Caesars) named Constantine Chlorus (the Pale) and Galerius into an arrangement which turned into a Tetrarchy. Maximian received the Western Roman Empire with Constantius as a junior emperor of the territory, while Diocletian focused on the Eastern Empire with Galerius as junior emperor. This eventually led to the reign of Maxentius as recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History around 325 AD.

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Early Life

Maxentius was the son of Emperor Maximian and his wife, Eutropia. His father became an emperor when Maxentius was only a young child. Years after his father’s accession as emperor, the alliance between Galerius and Maximian’s family was cemented with the marriage between Galerius’ daughter Valeria Maximilla and Maximian’s son Maxentius. The couple had two sons, Valerius Romulus and an unnamed younger child.

Constantine, Constantius Chlorus’ son and Maxentius lifelong rival, were also linked to the Tetrarchy in a complicated way. He married Maximian’s daughter Fausta and became the brother-in-law of Maxentius. Maxentius was passed over when his father, along with Diocletian, voluntarily abdicated in favor of their junior emperors. However, Constantius died in 306 AD, which compelled his troops to instil his popular son Constantine. Two more Caesars, Severus and Maximinus Daia, were appointed to replace Constantius Chlorus and Galerius who now held most of the power after the death of his co-emperor.

The Emperor

Severus’ plan of getting rid of the Praetorian Guard and the imposition of taxes on the Romans who were previously exempted pushed Maxentius out of his dark past and into the spotlight. To prevent those things from happening, three officials convinced Maxentius to accept the role of emperor. He was proclaimed Augustus on October 28, 306 AD (although he preferred the title princeps at first). He asked his father-in-law for recognition, but it was not given as he supported Severus as consul and Maxentius pushed back with the rejection of Severus as consul for the year 307.

Maxentius needed money to gain the support he needed from the Senate and the army—something he sorely lacked. He decided to raise the taxes imposed on the Romans to strengthen his own army; a move that made him more unpopular among the people. Galerius was forced to intervene by sending Severus, plus his troops against Maxentius. Unfortunately for Severus, Maxentius bribed his officers (which included his Praetorian Prefect) to desert him, and he was forced to flee to Ravenna. Severus was killed or committed suicide after Maxentius tracked him in the city.

Maximian and Maxentius later sought the support of Constantine with an offer of marriage between him and Maxentius’ sister, Fausta. Minervina. Constantine’s first wife and mother of his first son Crispus, was either conveniently dead or divorced from him so he accepted this offer. After their marriage in 307 AD, Constantine recognised the rule of his brother-in-law but did not openly support him.

Maxentius versus Constantine

The year 308 AD was the start of Maxentius’ decline after he was publicly opposed by his own father when he attempted to turn the troops against him. Surprisingly, the troops refused to side with Maximian, and he fled to Constantine to ask for support. Maxentius was passed over for the role of Augustus when Licinius was appointed. He was proclaimed by the Carthaginians of Domitius Alexander as emperor. Not only had Maxentius lost an important ally in North Africa, but he also lost Rome’s primary source of grain.

Civil Wars and Death

The death of his son Valerius Romulus in 309 AD was a painful blow to Maxentius. In the same year, Licinius wrested the control of Istria from him. Galerius died shortly and at this point, the Tetrarchy was on the brink of dissolution. The empire was nothing more than a free-for-all for the remaining rulers, and each one wanted to grab a piece. At first, Maxentius was supported by Christians but by 312 AD, his popularity went down after his imposition of high taxes to support his army and to fund his construction projects.

The people now switched sides to the more popular Constantine. To strengthen his rule, Constantine offered his young sister Constantia in marriage to the much-older Licinius to form an alliance. Maxentius, meanwhile, formed an alliance with Maximinus Daia. This escalated into a full-scale civil war. Licinius eagerly went up against Maximinus Daia to show Constantine his loyalty. He defeated Maximinus at the Battle of Tzirallum. He fled and died some time later in the city of Tarsus after he ingested poison. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Constantine and Maxentius culminated in the Battle of Milvian Bridge, where the latter died after the pontoon bridge he used in his attempt to escape gave way and sank in the Tiber River. Maxentius drowned in the river along with many of his soldiers, and his body was publicly displayed in the city the next day. After the death of Maxentius, nothing stood in the way of Constantine’s domination of Rome.

The Great Serpent Mound is a large effigy mound located in rural southwestern Ohio, and it was built on a high plateau that overlooks the Ohio Brush Creek. According to the Biblical Timeline with World History, it was dated back to 500 AD. The mound measures more than 1,300 feet long and reaches up to 3 feet in height. It is one of the largest serpent effigy mounds that once dotted the North American landscape, but were destroyed after the lands were converted to agricultural use.

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Appearance

The serpent’s head was constructed so that it points to the east, while the tail is oriented towards the west with a winding body in between. One of the most interesting parts of this earthen serpent is the oval mound in front of its head. There are two different perspectives on what exactly this oval mound is. The first one being the eye of the serpent on profile and the second as an animal or egg that is about to be swallowed by the serpent.

Purpose

Just like other earthworks such as the Nazca Lines and other effigy mounds, the use of the Great Serpent Mound is still considered a mystery. The serpent’s head points to the summer solstice sunset, while the tail aligns with the winter solstice sunrise, which makes it possible that the ancient people who built the mound used it to mark the time and seasons to sow and harvest. Each coil of its winding body corresponds to lunar phases, as well as solstices and equinoxes, while the egg (or eye) was perhaps constructed to mark a solar eclipse.

It may have also been used as a compass from the resemblance to the constellation Draco. Its head was used to help mark the true north orientation in a compass. The Great Serpent Mound, however, was never used as a burial which was common for other ancient North American cultures.

Mysterious Origin

Who made the Great Serpent Mound is another mystery as the people who once lived near the area did not leave behind any clues about their tribes or culture. One of the civilizations that flourished in the Ohio area around the time of the construction of the Great Serpent Mound was the Fort Ancient Culture. It was suggested that these people may have built the effigy mound. Others point to the Adena or Hopewell Cultures which dominated Ohio and the surrounding areas. Although its origins remain shrouded in mystery, it is clear that it was rebuilt by many groups over the years.

The Emperors of Adoption were made up of the Nerva-Antonine dynasty rulers who passed the domination of Rome not to their own relatives but through adoption (as the name implies). This is listed on the Biblical Timeline with World History starting around 100 AD. Five of the seven emperors were adopted by the former emperor, with the exception of the first and last ones. This concept was not unique to this dynasty as Augustus adopted his son-in-law Tiberius and Claudius adopted his grand-nephew Nero during the rule of the Julian dynasty.

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Rome was prosperous during the reign of the Emperors of Adoption. The policy of adoption was widely credited for the stability the Romans experienced during this era. This, for the most part, was based on merit—an outright rejection of the Julian dynasty’s preference to blood relatives as next rulers which, most of the time, led to a bloody reign.

Nerva

The assassination of Emperor Domitian became the end of the short-lived Flavian dynasty. He was replaced immediately by former consul Nerva. The Senate had done so because Nerva came from a family of senators and they wanted to prevent another civil war. However, his reign would be short-lived—less than two years—as some of the Praetorian Guards who remained loyal to Domitian threatened him with death. He was spared, but those who took part in the assassination of Domitian were not. Petronius, a prefect of the Praetorian Guard and Parthenius, the former emperor’s chamberlain, were both were quickly killed.

This event shook Nerva to the core; he decided to start the retreat into private life and adopted the governor of Upper Rhine, Trajan, as his heir since he had no sons of his own. Although his rule was too short and wracked with chaos during the earliest months, he was credited as the one who started Rome on the path to stability. On January 28, 98 AD, Nerva died from a fever and Trajan rose as Rome’s new emperor.

Trajan

Trajan was stationed near the Rhine river in Germany when Nerva died. After the news had reached him of the death, he secured the northern borders of the empire before he journeyed back home. It took him eighteen months to wrap this up, and when he arrived in Rome, he ushered in the start of stability and prosperity that characterized the reign of the Emperors of Adoption.

Nerva’s choice was a good one as Trajan was one of the finest Emperors Rome ever had. He focused on the improvement of Rome’s roads, sewage system, and harbors. In addition, he extended the empire’s territories through military campaigns in Asia and Europe. This leadership endeared him to the Roman soldiers as well as its citizens. He was honored with the Trajan’s Column, which depicts his victory in the Dacian Wars. He respected the Roman Senate—the complete opposite of the autocratic Julian dynasty emperors, who frequently disregarded the opinions of the Senate.

The number of Christians rose during the time of Trajan, but so did the oppression of the Jewish population and the revolts that followed. Pliny the Younger, then governor of the provinces of Bythinia and Pontus, wrote to him about how he should deal with the Christians. Trajan’s policy was simple and more lenient than the previous emperors’ as shown by his response to Pliny:

“They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it—that is, by worshiping our gods—even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance. But anonymously posted accusations ought to have no place in any prosecution. For this is both a dangerous kind of precedent and out of keeping with the spirit of our age.”

He campaigned against Parthia, Armenia, and Mesopotamia, and quashed the Jewish rebellion in Palestine. It was during his time when Rome expanded to its fullest extent, but the brutal repression of the Jews marred his reputation as a good ruler. He personally led a military campaign as far as Ctesiphon against the Parthian empire. He then decided to withdraw his troops and go back to Rome. Trajan, however, would never see Rome again as he died in Cilicia from a stroke at the age of sixty-four.

Hadrian

Hadrian was the governor of Syria when Trajan died, and he hurried to Rome to secure his succession as the new emperor. The Roman Senate had no other choice, as Trajan adopted Hadrian years before. His path to succession was sufficiently greased with generous contributions to the Praetorian Guard.

Much of the Roman world experienced stability and prosperity during his reign, except for Judaea where another revolt boiled over. This was started after Hadrian attempted to build a temple of Jupiter on the grounds of the Second Temple. This revolt was led by Simon Bar Kokhba. However, he and the Jewish forces were up against the more powerful Roman legion. They were first deprived of food, and many were massacred. Then territories of Judaea, Galilee, and Samaria were combined into the province of Syria Palaestina.

The empire’s expansion stopped during the reign of Hadrian, and he had the Romans in Britain construct the famous Hadrian’s Wall to make a clear statement to the Picts and other Celtic tribes from the north. This set the boundary of Rome which should not crossed. It stood twenty feet high and took approximately ten years to finish.

Hadrian died at the age of 62 after a heart attack, but not before he adopted Antoninus Pius as his heir on the condition of the latter’s adoption of the future emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

Antoninus Pius

The reign of Antoninus Pius was unexpectedly long—more than what Hadrian had bargained for when he adopted the middle-aged Antoninus Pius as a safer bet instead of his first choice: the younger Marcus Aurelius (who was just 16 at the time of Hadrian’s death). But to Roman citizens’ relief, his reign was generally peaceful though uneventful. With the exception of a big celebration of Rome’s 900th anniversary. He was also named as ‘Pius’ for his reverence to Hadrian and his wife, Faustina—both of whom he deified. Antoninus also smoothed Marcus Aurelius’ path to succession by his adopted son’s marriage to his daughter, Faustina the Younger. He died in 161 AD after a twenty-three-year reign.

Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus

Marcus Aurelius was already forty years old when Antoninus Pius died, and he came to the throne somewhat reluctantly. He had the heart of a philosopher and scholar who, it seemed, was pushed by his adoptive father, Hadrian, and the Roman Senate to take the position as emperor. He lacked the enthusiasm for the role, and he appointed as co-emperor his adoptive brother Lucius Verus.

Marcus Aurelius remained in Rome while Lucius Verus went off to war against Parthian king Vologases IV in Armenia. Lucius’ troops took back Armenia, captured the Parthian city of Ctesiphon, and marched back to Rome. They, however, brought home a more dangerous threat than the Parthians—the plague.

The Antonine plague (most likely smallpox) came with symptoms such as a sore throat, pustules, and fever. It raged in the city for three years and obliterated a great portion of the population including the Roman troops. The tribes on the other side of the Danube river used the opportunity to invade Roman territories in the north. Both emperors decided to head to the front and lead the troops themselves. However, the tribes were repelled even before they reached their destination, so they turned back home. Lucius Verus died on the way back, and Marcus Aurelius buried his adoptive brother with full honors in Rome before he returned to the Danube. It was there, in the chaotic Danube front, that he had the time to think about philosophy and wrote the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. There, he declared his unhappiness with the burden of being an emperor, but he bore it with saintliness and sense of responsibility that endeared him to the Romans.

Marcus Aurelius broke off the adoption policy that the emperors before him used to secure the succession and appointed his son Commodus as co-emperor at the age of fifteen. He died in 180 AD, possibly from cancer, on the German front.

Commodus

If there’s one emperor who could compete with Caligula and Nero when it comes to madness and corruption, it would be Commodus, the son of the saintly Marcus Aurelius. He was the direct opposite of his father. It was rumored that Marcus Aurelius was not his father and that he was the product of his mother’s affair (of which there were many) with a gladiator.

As the son of an emperor, Commodus received the best possible education Rome could offer its citizens. But all the years of education was useless as he neglected Rome during his reign and gave the duties of the emperor to his favorites. He devoted his life to leisure and gladiatorial contests where he displayed excessive brutality to wounded soldiers, people with disabilities, and animals. It appeared that he sank deeper into insanity when he proclaimed that he was the reincarnation of Hercules, and he walked around the city dressed in a lion cloak with a club (just like the Nemean Lion of Hercules’ Twelve Labors). He also executed those who conspired to assassinate him in 182 AD, including his older sister Lucilla.

He neglected his duties and spent so much money on these gladiatorial contests that the Roman economy was strained during his reign. The people finally had enough and in 192 AD, he was poisoned by his concubine Marcia and his chamberlain Electus in his bath. When this failed, they brought in Narcissus, his wrestling partner and had Commodus strangled to death.

The Zapotec civilization rose in the Oaxaca Valley at roughly the same time as Teotihuacan and the Maya civilizations near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Small agricultural settlements were built in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Formative period, and these villages evolved into complex societies that revolved around the Zapotec religion and politics. The people eventually moved from the valley floor to the Monte Alban ridge which offered a spectacular and defensive view of the plains below. This started around 100 AD according to the Biblical Timeline with World History.

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Monte Alban became the capital of the Zapotec civilization sometime between 150 BC to 150 AD, and it became the dominant force in the Oaxacan highlands. At its peak, it was one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica with a population of more than 10,000. The Zapotecs chiseled away at the limestone top of Monte Alban to create a leveled surface and started the large-scale construction of the main plaza, ball court, public buildings, and temples. The common people built their houses on the terraced hillside close to the ceremonial centers, while the members of the elite lived in compounds located north of Monte Alban.

This period also produced some of Zapotecs’ best works of art recently recovered from Monte Alban, including the jade bat god, the Scribe of Cuilapan, and various pottery figures from tombs.

Many great civilizations were established near bodies of water, and the Tiwanaku Empire (also spelled Tiahuanaco in Spanish) was one of them. It stood 20 kilometers from the shore of the Lake Titicaca near the border of Peru, The Incas themselves point to Tiwanaku as their sacred place of origin. The area was settled as early as 1500 BC, but the Tiwanaku culture flourished only in 200 AD and reached its zenith in 375 AD where it is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History. Its influence gradually spread from the altiplano (high plateau) of Bolivia to the coast of Peru down to the northern parts of Chile and Argentina.

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The city of Tiwanaku was initially known as an uninhabited religious or ceremonial center in the altiplano because it was built in a harsh environment that could not possibly support life. It was only in the 1950s when it was considered as an empire that grew from within the high plateau of Bolivia and then spread to surrounding areas because of politics, trade networks, and conflicts. Tiwanaku was initially composed of small political entities with shifting alliances and ruled by their own independent chieftains. Core territories stretched from Tiwanaku Valley to the Catari Valley in the north and the Desaguadero River region in the south.

At its peak, Tiwanaku was home to between 30,000 to 60,000 people who lived in the residential areas that surrounded the elite’s massive pyramids and palaces. The city was dominated by the Akapana Pyramid, which was shaped like a half of a chakana or Andean cross and rose up to 16.5 meters high. A walled platform called the Kalasasaya was built directly opposite the Akapana for religious or political rituals while less than a kilometer southwest of the Kalasasaya stands the remains of the Pumapunku (“gate of the puma” in Aymara). It was once the entrance to a great architectural complex made of stone and adobe. It possibly served as a religious center which attracted pilgrims from the Tiwanaku sphere of influence.

The people of Tiwanaku lived in a desert-polar climate in the Lake Titicaca Basin with temperatures that change drastically during the day and at night. Although the water supply from Lake Titicaca was abundant, the temperature in this arid but high altitude could go up to 20 °C with a low 0f 0°C at night, making it unsuitable for agriculture. The Tiwanaku people adjusted to their environment and sculpted the landscape to make raised fields. This technique improved soil condition and drainage, as well as protected the crops from frost and heat, which allowed them to thrive in an unforgiving environment. This ancient technique was recently rediscovered and was put to use by the people who now live in this region to cultivate their crops.