Publius Sulpicius Quirinius

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (Latin: Publius Sulpicius Quirinius), sometimes also called Publius Sulpicius Quirinus or Cyrenius (Greek Κυρήνιος, c 51 BC - 21) was an aristocrat of the Roman Empire, a member of the Senate, and a consul.

The Virgin and Saint Joseph registering in the census before the governor Quirinio. Byzantine Mosaic. 1315 - 1320. Istanbul.

His period as governor of Syria is one of the chronological anchors of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Life

Born in the Lanuvio neighborhood, a Latino town near Rome, of an undistinguished family, Quirinio went through the normal service journey of an ambitious young man of his social class. According to the Roman historian Florus, Quirinius defeated the Marmarids, a tribe of desert brigands from Cyrenaica, possibly when he was governor of Crete and Cyrene around 14 BC. C., although he did not want to accept the honorary name that he deserved for that military victory, which would have been Marmárico. he was appointed consul, a sign that he was in favor with Augustus.A few years later he led a campaign against the Homonadenses, a tribe located in the mountainous region of Galatia and Cilicia, around 5 BC. C. or 3 B.C. C., probably as a legacy of Galatia.He won by reducing his enemy's strongholds and starving his defenders.This victory earned him a triumph.

For year 1 d. In C.C., Quirinius was appointed rector of Augustus' grandson Gaius Caesar until the young man died of campaign wounds. When Augustus's support passed to his stepson Tiberius, Quirinius joined his stepson. Married to Claudia Apia, about whom little is known, he divorced her around the year 3 AD. C. and married Emilia Lépida, daughter of Marco Emilio Lépido and sister of Manio Emilio Lépido, who had originally been engaged to Lucio César. After a few years they divorced; in the year 20 AD C., Quirinio accused her of claiming that he was the son of her father and, later, of trying to poison him during her marriage; Tacitus affirms that Emilia enjoyed popularity with the people, in whose eyes Quirinius accused her out of spite for her.

Quirinius' Census

After the deposition of Archelaus, son of Herod I the Great, Quirinius arrived in Syria, sent by Caesar Augustus to take a census of goods with a view to establishing the tax. Coponius was sent with him to govern the Jews. Since Judea had been annexed to Syria, Quirinius included it in the census.

The census took place 37 years after Octavio defeated Antonio in the naval battle of Actium, on September 2 (Flavio Josefo), which would correspond to the year 6 AD. c.

The Bible mentions the census of Quirinius as referring to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth:

And it came to pass in those days that an edict of Caesar Augustus came out, that a census of the whole inhabited world should be made.This was the first census that arose when Cirinio was governor of Syria.

While the above quote from the Gospel of Luke mentions Quirinius' census as prior to the birth of Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew states that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod I the Great. The contradiction results from the fact that Herod I the Great died in the year 4 a. C., that is, 10 years before the census of Quirinio. No other census is known to have existed in the final period of Herod's Reign, and Quirinius' census is called "the first", so an earlier one would be ruled out. However, to square both accounts, some Christian authors raise whether Quirinio could have already been in Syria before, around the year 6 BC. C., governing jointly with Saturnino or with Quintilio Varo, and if he could then have made a & # 34; first & # 34; census. But at that time Judea was not part of Syria and it would not make sense to take a census.

According to Flavius Josephus, this census supposed an armed revolt, led by Judas the Galilean, a native of Gamala, and Quirinius himself would have put down the revolt, which would have been absurd if Herod the Great were still alive, since as king of Judea would have had to put down that uprising.

Later career and death

Quirinius served as governor of Syria with nominal authority over Judea until AD 12. C., when he returned to Rome as a relative of Tiberius. Nine years later he passed away, and Tiberius ordered that he be given a public funeral.