This was the first tax registration [of two] held when Quirinius was governing (a verb: to act as leader and administrator – Gk. ) over Syria.
[In Emperor Augustus’ own autobiography, the ’Res Gestae Divi Augusti’, which he had written down at the age of 76, three major censuses are mentioned in Chapter 8. The first took place in 28 BC, the second in 8 BC and the third began in 14 AD, the year of his death. Roman citizens were counted every five years, while each province had its own set intervals for the census. In Syria/Judea they took place every fourteen years. Our Western calendar was developed by the monk Dionysius Exiguus in Rome in 525 AD, before which time had been reckoned based on major events or different rulers. However, it turned out that he was wrong by a few years about Anno Domini, which means ’Year of the Lord’ in Latin. Today, most scholars believe that the birth of Jesus occurred sometime between 8 and 4 BC.]
