526. From relatively early times Christian writers
declared that it was possible to verify the “census” in official Roman records.
Justin Marty (A.D. c. 115-165) speaks of “the registers of the taxing made
under Cyrenius” (Apology 1.34) and Tertullian (A.D. c. 145-220) mentions
the records of the census “kept in the archives of Rome” (Against Marion
4.7). These records have not been found. (Jack Finegan, Handbook of Biblical
Chronology [rev ed.; Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008], 306)
The census returns were no doubt
preserved in the Roman archives and were probably accessible in Justin’s day. (Leslie William Barnard in St.
Justin Martyr: The First and Second Apologies [Ancient Christian Writers
56; New York: Paulist Press, 1997], 47 n. 234)
