2 BC
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Year 2 BC was a common year starting on Thursday or Friday of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Wednesday of the Proleptic Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Silvanus (or, less frequently, year 752 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 2 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
=Roman Empire=
- February 5 – Augustus is proclaimed pater patriae ("father of the country") by the Roman Senate. This bestowed title is the logical consequence and final proof of Augustus' supreme position as princeps, the first in charge over the Roman state.{{cite book|last=Swan|first=Peter M.|year=2004|title=The Augustan Succession|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=103–104|isbn=978-0-19-534714-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=26s6CG8LffsC&pg=PA103}}
- Julia the Elder, daughter of Augustus, is exiled on charges of treason and adultery to Pandateria; her mother Scribonia accompanies her.Velleius Paterculus, 2.100Cassius Dio 55.10
- The Aqua Alsietina (or Aqua Augusta), a Roman aqueduct in Rome, is constructed during the reign of Augustus (approximate date).{{Cite web|url=http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/romalsietina/index.html|title=Roman aqueducts: Rome Aqua Alsietina (Italy)|website=www.romanaqueducts.info|access-date=2023-09-22}}
- Date of the birth of Jesus according to the writings of Tertullian, Eusebius and Epiphanius{{Cite book |last=Beyer |first=David |title=Chronos, Kairos, Christos II: Chronological, Nativity, and Religious Studies in Memory of Ray Summers |date=1998 |publisher=Mercer University Press |isbn=978-0-86554-582-3 |editor-last=Vardaman |editor-first=Jerry |pages=85–96 |chapter=Josephus Reexamined: Unraveling the Twenty-Second Year of Tiberius |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWnYvI5RdLMC&pg=PA93}} (probably after the statement of Jesus being "around 30 years old" in AD 29).{{Cite book |last=Finegan |first=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUzSEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA345 |title=The Handbook of Biblical Chronology |date=2015 |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |isbn=978-1-61970-641-5 |pages=345}}
- Dedication of the Forum Augustum.{{cite book | first=John E. | last=Stambaugh | title=The Ancient Roman City | year=1988 | place=Baltimore | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press | page=54 | isbn=0-8018-3574-7}}
=Parthia=
- Phraates V and his mother Musa become rulers of the Parthian Empire following the murder of Phraates IV.
=Armenia=
- Tigranes IV and Erato are restored to the throne after deposing Artavasdes III.
Births
- Jesus, basis of Christianity (born in the month of Ethanim (Tishrei) (September–October) (approximate date, according to Eusebius of Caesarea and Jehovah's Witnesses)
- Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, father of Nero{{Citation | last = Smith | first = William | author-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | contribution = Ahenobarbus (10), Gnaeus Ahenobarbus | editor-last = Smith | editor-first = William | title = Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology | volume = 1 | pages = 86 | publisher = Little, Brown and Company | place = Boston | year = 1867 | contribution-url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0095.html }}.
Deaths
- Fu, Chinese Grand Empress of the Han dynasty
- Iullus Antonius, Roman consul and son of Mark Antony (b. 43 BC)
- Phraates IV, king of the Parthian Empire