564 B

Raw Blame History

Now ... it came about that

These words mark the beginning of a new part of the story.

Caesar Augustus

"King Augustus" or "Emperor Augustus." He was the first emperor of the Roman Empire.

sent out a decree ordering

"sent messengers with a decree ordering"

that a census be taken of all the people living in the world

"that they count all the people in the world and write down their names"

the world

Here the word "world" represents only the part of the world that Caesar August ruled. Alternate translation: "the Empire" or "the Roman world"