AD 41

Year 41 (XLI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Saturninus (or, less frequently, year 794 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 41 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

By place

Roman Empire

• Consuls are the emperor Caligula and Gnaeus Sentius Saturninus.
• January 24—Caligula, known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.
• January 24—Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Emperor.
• January 25—After a night of negotiation, Claudius is accepted as Emperor by the Senate.
• Claudius makes Agrippa king of Judea.
• Messalina, wife of Claudius, persuades Claudius to have Seneca the Younger banished to Corsica on a charge of adultery with Julia Livilla.
• Claudius restores religious freedom to Jews throughout the empire, but prohibits Jews in Rome from proselytising.
• An attack across the Rhine by the Germans is stopped by the Romans.

Asia

• Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty deposes his wife, Guo Shentong, as empress, and creates his consort Yin Lihua empress in her place.

By topic

Religion

• The disciples of Jesus form communities after the Diaspora, especially in Damascus and Antioch. For the first time they are called Christians.
• The timely death of Caligula saves the Jewish people from being punished for resisting that sociopathic emperor's orders to worship his statue in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Births

• Martial, Latin poet (possible birthdate)
• February 12—Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, son of Claudius and Messalina

Deaths

• January 24—Caligula, Roman Emperor (assassinated)
• Julia Drusilla, daughter of Caligula (assassinated)
• End of the year—Julia Livilla, daughter of Germanicus, niece of Claudius, starved to death in her exile
• Milonia Caesonia, wife of Caligula (assassinated)

In popular culture

In the 1959 movie Ben Hur, the title character becomes a galley slave called "41."