Who was alive at the same time as Jesus?

Central figure of Christianity

Jesus lived c. 4 BCE – 30 CE. Here are the famous people whose lives overlapped with theirs.

Lived: c. 4 BCE – 30 CE
Lifespan: about 33 years
Born in, as it was then: Judea
On today’s map: Israel

Death year disputed: sources give 30 or 33.

Explore Jesus’s world on the timeline →

Did you know?

When Jesus was born, Augustus was already about 59 years old.
Jesus was about 15 when Caligula was born.
Jesus and Paul the Apostle (Early Christian apostle and missionary) shared about 25 years on Earth, one born in Israel and the other in Turkey.
Mary, mother of Jesus outlived Jesus by about 18 years.

Famous contemporaries of Jesus

Rulers and commanders

Augustus 63 BCE – 14 CE · 17 yrs shared
Caligula 12–40 CE · 18 yrs shared
Tiberius 42 BCE – 37 CE · 33 yrs shared
Vespasian 9–79 CE · 21 yrs shared
Claudius 10 BCE – 54 CE · 33 yrs shared
Vitellius 15–69 CE · 15 yrs shared

Philosophers and scientists

Seneca the Younger 4 BCE – 65 CE · 33 yrs shared
Strabo c. 63 BCE – 23 CE · 26 yrs shared
Pliny the Elder 23–79 CE · 7 yrs shared
Hero of Alexandria c. 10–75 CE · 20 yrs shared
Philo c. 15 BCE – 50 CE · 33 yrs shared
Pomponius Mela c. 15–100 CE · 15 yrs shared

Religion

Paul the Apostle c. 5–66 CE · 25 yrs shared
Mary, mother of Jesus c. 18 BCE – 48 CE · 33 yrs shared
Saint Peter c. 1 BCE – 65 CE · 30 yrs shared
John the Baptist trad. 6 BCE – 30 CE · 33 yrs shared
Mary Magdalene c. 1–100 CE · 29 yrs shared
Judas Iscariot c. 1 BCE – 30 CE · 30 yrs shared

Writers and artists

Ovid 43 BCE – 17 CE · 20 yrs shared
Petronius c. 27–66 CE · 3 yrs shared
John the Evangelist 10–98 CE · 20 yrs shared
Seneca the Elder c. 54 BCE – 39 CE · 33 yrs shared
Livy 59 BCE – 17 CE · 20 yrs shared
Gaius Julius Hyginus c. 64 BCE – 17 CE · 20 yrs shared

Explorers and others

Livia c. 60 BCE – 29 CE · 32 yrs shared

Born within five years of Jesus

Saint Peter (1 BCE) · John the Baptist (6 BCE) · Mary Magdalene (1 CE) · Seneca the Younger (4 BCE) · Judas Iscariot (1 BCE) · Andrew the Apostle (6 BCE) · James the Great (1 CE) · James, son of Alphaeus (1 BCE)

About Jesus

Jesus, also known as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and by various other names and titles, was a Jewish preacher and religious leader active in the Roman province of Judaea during the 1st century. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most branches of Christianity consider Jesus the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah or Christ. Accounts of Jesus's life are contained in the Gospels, especially the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. Since the Enlightenment, academic research has produced various views on the historical reliability of the Gospels and the extent to which they reflect the historical Jesus, but virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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