Census of Quirinius

The Census of Quirinius refers to the enrollment of the Roman Provinces of Syria and Iudaea (Judaea) for tax purposes taken in the year 6/7. The Census was taken during the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC – AD 14), when Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was appointed governor of Syria, after the banishment of Herod Archelaus from the Tetrarchy of Judea and the imposition of direct Roman rule. In Christianity, the Gospel of Luke connects the birth of Jesus to this census and states that it covered the entire Roman world and required individuals to return to the ancestral birthplaces.