Excavating the Evidence for Jesus S01 E01 Augustus and the Roman Empire

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke begin narrating before the life of Jesus, with Matthew emphasizing the local government and Luke including information related to the Roman Empire. The leader of this Empire was Caesar Augustus (formerly, Octavian), who became “first citizen” of the Roman Empire in 27 BC and ruled until his death in AD 14 (Luke 2:1).