Editing 50s

{{short description|Sixth decade of the first century AD}}
{{About|the years AD 50–59|the years 50–59 in other centuries|List of decades}}
{{distinguish|1850s|1950s|2050s}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}
[[Image:East-Hem 050ad.jpg|thumb|300px|Eastern Hemisphere in AD 50.]]

{{Decadebox|5}}
The '''50s''' decade ran from January 1, 50, to December 31, 59. It was the sixth decade in the [[Anno Domini]]/[[Common Era]], if the nine-year period from 1 AD to 9 AD is considered as a "decade".

<!--Politics and conflicts-->The early years of the decade saw Roman and Parthian intervention in the [[Iberian–Armenian War]], a conflict which led [[Tiridates I of Armenia|Tiridates I]] to become King of Armenia with Parthian support. This was unacceptable to Rome, and the ensuing tensions culminated in the [[Roman–Parthian War of 58–63]]. Concurrently, the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] continued, with [[Caratacus' last battle|Caratacus being defeated in 50]] and tribes of modern [[Wales]] being [[Gaius Suetonius Paulinus#Governor of Britain|subdued in 58 to 59]]. In 50, the [[Southern Xiongnu]] submitted to the Chinese [[Han dynasty]]. Later in 57, the ascension of [[Emperor Ming of Han|Emperor Ming]] [[Rule of Ming and Zhang|heralded the beginning of a golden age]].

<!--Social movements/Religion-->The [[Council of Jerusalem]] was held early in the decade: The council decided that [[Gentile]] converts to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the fasts, and other specific rituals, including the rules concerning [[Circumcision controversy in early Christianity|circumcision of males]].<ref name="Thiessen 2014">{{cite journal |date=September 2014 |editor1-last=Breytenbach |editor1-first=Cilliers |editor2-last=Thom |editor2-first=Johan |title=Paul's Argument against Gentile Circumcision in Romans 2:17-29 |journal=[[Novum Testamentum]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=373–391 |doi=10.1163/15685365-12341488 |issn=0048-1009 |eissn=1568-5365 |jstor=24735868 |author-last=Thiessen |author-first=Matthew}}</ref> The Council did, however, retain the prohibitions on eating [[Taboo food and drink#Blood|blood]], [[Taboo food and drink#Blood|meat containing blood]], and meat of animals that were strangled, and on [[Porneia|fornication]] and [[Idolatry and Christianity|idolatry]].

<!--Literature-->Literary works of this decade include ''[[De Vita Beata]]'' (which explains that the pursuit of [[happiness]] is the pursuit of [[reason]]) and ''[[De Clementia]]'' (an instructional contrast between the good ruler and a tyrant), both of which were written by [[Seneca the Younger]].

Manning (2008) tentatively estimates the world population in AD 50 as 248 million.

{{Events by year for decade|5}}


== Demographics ==
{{Main|Estimates of historical world population}}
Due to lack of reliable demographic data, estimates of the world population in the 1st century vary wildly, with estimates for AD 1 varying from 150<ref name="thesocialcontract.com">[http://www.thesocialcontract.com/artman2/publish/tsc0403/article_329.shtml John H. Tanton, 1994, "End of the Migration Epoch?  Time For a New Paradigm", The Social Contract, Vol. 4 (no 3), pp. 162–173].</ref> to 300<ref>Haub (1995): "By 1 A.D., the world may have held about 300 million people. One estimate of the population of the Roman Empire, from Spain to Asia Minor, in 14 A.D. is 45 million. However, other historians set the figure twice as high, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be."</ref> million. Demographers typically do not attempt to estimate most specific years in antiquity, instead giving approximate numbers for round years such as AD 1 or AD 200. However, attempts at reconstructing the world population in more specific years have been made, with Manning (2008) tentatively estimating the world population in AD 50 as 248 million.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Manning |first=Scott |date=2008-01-12 |title=Year-by-Year World Population Estimates: 10,000 B.C. to 2007 A.D. |url=https://scottmanning.com/content/year-by-year-world-population-estimates/ |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=Historian on the Warpath |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Significant people ==
* [[Claudius]], [[Roman Emperor]] ([[AD 41]]–[[AD 54|54]])
* [[Nero]], [[Roman Emperor]] ([[AD 54]]–[[AD 68|68]])
* [[Kujula Kadphises]], [[Kushan Empire|Kushan emperor]]
* [[Paul of Tarsus]], [[Christianity|Christian]] [[evangelism|evangelist]]
* [[Emperor Ming of Han China]]

{{Births and deaths by year for decade|5}}

==References==
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