AD 9

Events

By place

China

• January 10 - Wang Mang founds the short-lived Xin Dynasty in China. Wang Mang names his wife, Wang, empress and his son, Wang Lin Crown Prince, heir to the throne.
• Empress Wang is given the title of Duchess Dowager of Ding'an, while Ruzi Ying, the former Emperor of Han, becomes the Duke of Ding'an. Ruzi Ying is placed under house arrest.
• Lui Kuai, Marquess of Zuziang, attacks the Dukedom of Fuchong under his brother Liu Ying. Lui Kuai is defeated and killed in the ensuing battle.

  Roman Empire

• c. September 9 - Battle of the Teutoburg Forest: Legio XVII, XVIII and XIX are lured by Arminius into an ambush and defeated by his tribe, the Cherusci, and their Germanic allies. The Roman aquilae are lost and the Roman general and governor Publius Quinctilius Varus commits suicide. The Rhine river is established as the boundary between the Latin- and German-speaking worlds, and Legio II Augusta, XX Valeria Victrix, and XIII Gemina move to Germany to replace the lost legions.
• Suppression of the Bellum Batonianum in Dalmatia.
• First record of the subdivision of the province of Illyricum into lower and upper regions.
• In order to increase the number of marriages, and ultimately the population, the Lex Papia Poppaea is adopted in Italy. This law prohibits celibacy and childless relationships.
• Roman finances become strained following the Danubian insurrection and the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, resulting in the levying of two new taxes: five percent on inheritances, and one percent on sales.
• Cunobeline is first recorded to be king of the Catuvellauni at Camulodunum in Britain.

  By topic

Literature

• Ovid completes the curse poem Ibis.

  Births

• November 17 - Vespasian, Roman emperor

  Deaths

• September 15 - Publius Quinctilius Varus, Roman general
• Marcus Caelius, Roman centurion