Neha Patil (Editor)

AD 40

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AD 40 (XL) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 793 Ab urbe condita). The denomination AD 40 for this year has been used since the Early Middle Ages, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Contents

Roman Empire

  • The emperor Caligula is consul without colleague.
  • Caligula starts on a campaign to conquer Britain, which fails miserably. He declares himself victorious regardless.
  • Noricum and Mauretania are incorporated into the Roman Empire.
  • Caligula reforms the principatus into a Hellenistic Autocracy. He distributes honors carelessly, declares himself a god and orders that all the heads of the Greek deity statues be replaced by his. He also appoints his horse, Incitatus, a senator.
  • Approximate date of start of construction on the Pont du Gard aqueduct in Gallia Narbonensis.

    • Europe

  • The Germanic Quadi tribe begin settling in present-day Moravia and Slovakia.

    • Asia

  • Vardanes I becomes king of Parthia, opposed by his brother Gotarzes II.
  • The Vietnamese Trưng Sisters rebel against the rule of the Chinese Emperor Guangwu of Han.

    • Arts and sciences

  • Philo teaches that all men are born free.

    • Religion

  • Christianity comes to Egypt as a church is founded in Alexandria. Mark the Evangelist founds the Coptic Church as the first Patriarch.
  • An early Christian church is erected at Corinth (most probable date).

    • Births

  • June 13 – Gnaeus Julius Agricola, Roman governor of Britain (d. AD 93)
  • Pedanius Dioscorides, Greek physician (approximate date) (d. AD 90)
  • Frontinus, Roman general and military author (approximate date) (d. 103)
  • Dio Chrysostom, Greek philosopher and historian (approximate date) d. c. 120)
  • Claudia Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina (d. AD 62)
  • Empress Ma of the Han dynasty (d. AD 79)

    • Deaths

  • January – Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, husband of Agrippina the Younger, brother-in-law of Caligula (dropsy) (b. 17 BC)
  • Ptolemy of Mauretania (executed by Caligula) (b. 1 BC)

    • References

    AD 40 Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA