Julius Africanus

Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160–240) was a Christian scholar, traveler, and historian who pioneered Christian chronography with his five-volume Chronographiai, synchronizing biblical events with Greco-Roman history. A self-identified native of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem), he settled at Emmaus/Nicopolis in Palestine and served as its civic representative. He traveled widely — accompanying Severus's Osrhoene campaign, studying in Alexandria under Heraclas, and leading an embassy to Rome on behalf of Emmaus, after which the city was elevated to the status of Nicopolis. He was later charged by Emperor Severus Alexander with organizing the public library at the Pantheon, and he dedicated his encyclopedic Kestoi to that emperor.