6 BC explained

Year 6 BC was a common year starting on Sunday or Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Friday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Balbus and Vetus (or, less frequently, year 748 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 6 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

• Tiberius retires to Rhodes, to the annoyance of Emperor Augustus.^[1] He is recalled to Rome years later, in AD 4, becoming Augustus' adopted son and heir following the deaths of Lucius and Gaius Caesar.

Births

• Unknown  - Possible birthdate of Jesus^[2]
• Chilon of Sparta

Deaths

• Lady Ban (or Ban Jieyu), Chinese concubine and poet (b. 48 BC)
• Cleopatra Selene II, Ptolemaic princess of Egypt (approximate date)
• Feng Yuan (or Zhaoyi), Chinese concubine of the Han Dynasty
• Liu Xiang, Chinese scholar, editor of Shan Hai Jing and compiler of Lienü zhuan, father of Liu Xin (b. 77 BC)
• Soseono, Korean queen of Goguryeo (b. 67 BC)

Notes and References

1. Book: Pettinger, Andrew . The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius . 2012 . OUP Oxford . 978-0-19-960174-5 . 62ff . en.
2. News: Tom. Spears. Star of Wonder. Ottawa Citizen. A7. 2005-12-04. "Michael Molnar announced 10 years ago his conclusion that the Star of Bethlehem was in fact a double eclipse of Jupiter in a rare astrological conjunction that occurred in Aries on March 20, 6 BC, and again on April 17, 6 BC. ... Mr. Molnar believes that Roman astrologers would have interpreted the double-eclipse as signifying the birth of a divine king in Judea." However, astronomical software such as Stellarium shows that on March 20, the occultation of Jupiter by the Moon could not be seen from Rome, as the Moon passed by the planet without obscuring it. Furthermore, the event on April 17 began when Jupiter was 38 degrees above the horizon, at 2pm, i.e. in daylight, so it is extremely unlikely that this event would have been seen either.