Tiberius Caesar

Tiberius Caesar is the Roman emperor whose reign anchors the chronological frame for the public ministry that begins with John the Baptist. He is named once in scripture, where the fifteenth year of his reign sets the date for the word of God coming to John in the wilderness.

The Fifteenth Year of His Reign

The narrative opens its account of John the Baptist's prophetic appearance by fixing it inside the political map of the empire and its client rulers: "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene" (Lu 3:1). The emperor's regnal year stands at the head of the list, with Pilate, Herod, Philip, and Lysanias arrayed beneath him, locating the prophetic events of Luke 3 in a specific year of Roman administration over Judea and the surrounding tetrarchies.