Meaning, who was invading or who was ruling or other key events that may have been happening around 0 A.D (?) I have a really hard time of understanding the timeline of humanity's past since then.
It's actually 1 AD.
I think you'll find this map helpful: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/World_1_CE.PNG
1 AD was, for the Roman Empire, almost its highest point. Caesar Augustus, the first Emperor, had been ruling for a while, ending the civil wars of the late Republic, and the Roman Empire was huge, powerful and relatively peaceful. The civil wars, economic problems and Germanic invasions were a long way away. Carthage was long defeated. Rome's old enemies, the Parthians (in Iran and Mesopatamia), had recently made great diplomatic links with Rome, so at that point things were fairly peaceful. Several small buffer states and client kingdoms stood between Rome and Parthia.
The other great power in the world at that time, far, far away, was the Han Empire, which had recently subjugated the Xiongnu (northern steppe raiders, think something like the Mongols). This period is considered by the Chinese to be a golden age, as Confucianism and technology flourished, though shortly after 1 AD, the Han Empire was wracked by civil war; but one they ultimately got over.
Since you asked about Britain particularly, this is 50 years before the Romans formally subjugated southern Britain. Caesar had visited Britain and fought some battles, but then left. So, essentially, Britain was in its Celtic period, with a variety of tribes and petty kings. Their religious leaders were the Druids. Unfortunately, due to the lack of writing, this period isn't very well understood, so for a better explanation, I'll wait for a Celtic expert.
I also know a lot of important stuff was happening in India, I think this was the time when Buddhism was spreading extensively, but I'm not very well-read on Indian history.
Wow thanks, that really cleared it up,
I figured it would be something to do with the Roman Empire due to the nativity story, I just didn't know what stage they where at in their reign.
The Han empire also sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to read into that a bit more...
And the fact that Britain is basically doing nothing is pretty interesting considering how big the Christian faith is, not only today bug throughout history.
Thanks for clearing it up!
