Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (Greek Κυρήνιος - Kyrenios or Cyrenius, c. 51 BC - AD 21) was a Roman aristocrat. His governorship of Syria is one of the chronological anchors for the birth of Jesus. Life Born in the neighborhood of Lanuvium, a Latin town near Rome, of an undistinguished family, Quirinius followed the normal pathway of service for an ambitious young man of his social class. According to the Roman historian Florus, Quirinius defeated the Marma… (More on Quirinius)