use of the plural and the word ‘first’ force this inference upon us.” Clement of Alexandria lived, of course, in Egypt and knew conditions there. Did he have any other information than that which Luke gives us? He makes the definite statement that the system of enrolments in Syria began with the one at which the birth of Jesus took place.1 It had been suggested that the “Indictional Periods” of fifteen years, known in the fourth century (see Rainer Papyri), began with the first census of Quirinius.