One of the local commanders kidnaps one…

Powerful Chinese landlords hostile to Wang Mang’s reforms support the angry and confused peasantry against the new emperor.

Eventually, with resistance to his land redistribution and anti-slavery policies, Wang is forced to repeal both in 12.

Vonones I of Parthia, having been educated as a Roman, is despised by the Parthian nobility as a slave of the Romans.

Artabanus II, who is living among the Dahan nomads in the east of Parthia (and who seems to have been a non-Arsacid Parthian nobleman), is invited to the throne between CE 8 and 10 by those Parthian grandees who will not acknowledge Vonones I, who proves to have too tight a control over the budget.

However, when Artabanus attempts to consolidate his position (at which he is successful in most instances), he fails to do so in the regions where the Parthian provincial rulers hold sway.

The war between the two pretenders is long and doubtful; on a coin Vonones mentions a victory over Artabanus.

The coins of Vonones I date from 8 to 12 CE and bear the inscription "King Vonones, conqueror of Artabanus", commemorating a temporary victory over his rival.

Those of Artabanus II begin in the year 10.

At last Artabanus defeats his rival completely and occupies the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon.

Vonones, deposed by Artabanus II, flees to Armenia in about the year 12, where he is acknowledged as king, under the protection of the Romans.

Chanyu Zhi dies later in 13, and the powerful official Xubu Dang and his wife Yun, the Princess Yimuo (the daughter of Chanyu Huhanye and Wang Zhaojun), who advocates peaceful relations with the Xin dynasty and who are also friendly with Xian, support Xian as the new Chanyu, but even though Xian is unaware that Wang Mang had executed his son Deng, their friendly relations do not return.

The Chinese cyclical system begins to be used for reckoning years as well as days in the early years of the first century CE. (The Chinese year, which consists of twelve lunar months, will from time to time adjusted to the solar year by the addition of an intercalary month.)

During the Han dynasty, each branch had been matched with an animal name, producing the series: rat, ox, tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, monkey, cock, dog, and pig.

The Chinese year begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice, which occurs between January 21 and February 19.

In 13, under Emperor Wang Mang's rule, the Celestial or Heavenly Stems, a Chinese system of ordinals that first appear around 1250 BCE during the Shang dynasty as the names of the ten days of the week, are incorporated to number the years and replace the previous system, which used only the Earthly Branches, a similar cycle of twelve days.

Also in 13, perhaps related to the Wusun situation, the Xiyu kingdoms join forces, attack the Xiyu commissioner Dan, and succeed in killing him.

The Xiyu kingdoms by this point no longer pledge allegiance to the Xin dynasty.

The kingdom of Wusun, under a system set up by the Han dynasty, has two kings—the greater king is a descendant of a Han princess and her husband the king of Wusun, while the lesser king is a descendant of her brother-in-law).

The dual kingdom sends ambassadors to Chang'an in CE 13 to offer tributes.

Because Xin Emperor Wang Mang knows that the people of Wusun actually have a greater affinity for the lesser king, he places the ambassador of the lesser king in a higher position than the ambassador of the greater king, which deeply insults the greater king.

Postumus's banishment has ensured Tiberius's priority as Augustus's heir.

Tacitus (Ann.

1.3) reports a rumor that Augustus paid a highly covert visit to the island in CE 1 to apologize to his adopted son and give him notice of plans to return him to Rome.

Augustus was accompanied by a trusted friend, Fabius Maximus, and swore him to secrecy about the matter; Maximus then told his wife, Marcia, who mentioned it to Livia.

Maximus was soon found dead, and Marcia subsequently claimed she was responsible for his death.

Dio's version (56.30) reports the island visit as fact, though the brief account is likely based on Tacitus' account (Ann.

1.1) and does not mention Fabius and Marcia.

It is dubious whether this tale has any veracity.

Drusus, despite a violent temper, shows promise with both military and politics.

In 13 CE, he is made a permanent member of the Senate committee Augustus has founded to draw up the Senate's daily business.

Germanicus, who had become consul to Emperor Augustus in 12 BCE, is in 13 given command of twelve legions in Germany and Gaul.

There is a temporary détente in 14, when Xian returns Xin defectors Chen Liang and Zhong Dai who, as junior army officers in Xiyu, had killed their superiors and surrendered to the Xiongnu (perhaps seeking to have the Xiongnu help them reestablish Han rule) so that Wang could execute them.

In reciprocation, Wang recalls the forces to the northern regions that had been intended to attack Xiongnu (but have never received the full support that Wang had envisioned).

However, after Chanyu Xian discovers, late in 14, that Deng had been executed, he resumes raids against the border regions but maintains a façade of peaceful intention.