Quirinius

Quirinius was a Roman official whose census of Judea in AD 6 is described by Josephus. Luke also names Quirinius in connection with a census in the birth narrative of Jesus.

Publius Sulpicius Quirinius rose through Roman public service and became consul in 12 BC. He later held military and administrative responsibilities in the eastern provinces. After Herod Archelaus was removed from power in AD 6, Quirinius was appointed governor of Syria and supervised an assessment of property in Judea, which was coming under direct Roman administration.

Josephus describes opposition to this assessment, including the protest led by Judas the Galilean. Luke 2:2 also mentions Quirinius in the account of a census associated with the birth of Jesus. Because the well-documented census took place in AD 6, after the death of Herod the Great, the relationship between Luke’s account and the known Roman chronology remains a subject of historical debate. The surviving evidence does not settle every question.

The census under Quirinius marked an important change in Judea: direct Roman administration and taxation replaced the rule of Herod Archelaus. Resistance to the census helped shape later opposition to Roman authority.

• Served as Roman consul in 12 BC.
• Held military and administrative responsibilities in the eastern empire.
• Governed Syria and supervised a Judean census beginning in AD 6.
• Faced opposition associated with Judas the Galilean.
• Died in AD 21.

Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 1; Tacitus, Annals, Book 3; Luke 2:2.

Quirinius died in AD 21. His burial place is not established here.

Luke names Quirinius in the birth narrative of Jesus. His later census is also important background for the taxation and political tensions of Roman Judea.