Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of a rich alexandrian jew”. Today it says “egyptian equestrian governor and general in the roman empire”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Roman governor and general”. It now reads “1st century AD Roman governor and general”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Tiberius Julius Alexander was the son of a rich Alexandrian Jew , also called Tiberius Julius Alexander. The father was a customs officer, and gave financial advice to Antonia , mother of the emperor Claudius . As his uncle was the philosopher Philo , his younger son Marcus , husband of Berenice , daughter of the Jewish king Herod Agrippa , he belonged to a very influential family. v t e1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16868329.
The opening as it stood in 2010 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Tiberius Julius Alexander ( fl. 1st century) was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire .Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion , he rose to become procurator of Judea ( c. 46 – 48) under Claudius .While Prefect of Egypt (66 – 69), he employed his legions against the Alexandrian Jews in a brutal response to ethnic violence, and was instrumental in the Emperor Vespasian 's rise to power.In 70, he participated in the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus ' second-in-command.Journal of Roman Studies . 44 .The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ: Volume I . revised and edited by Geza Vermes , Fergus Millar and Matthew Black (revised English ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369009164.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Tiberius Julius Alexander (fl. 1st century) was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire . Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion , he rose to become procurator of Judea ( c. 46 – 48) under Claudius . While Prefect of Egypt (66 – 69), he employed his legions against the Alexandrian Jews in a brutal response to ethnic violence, and was instrumental in the Emperor Vespasian 's rise to power. In 70, he participated in the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus ' second-in-command. Journal of Roman Studies . 44 . The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ: Volume I . revised and edited by Geza Vermes , Fergus Millar and Matthew Black (revised English ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 667571076.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Roman governor and general Tiberius Julius Alexander (fl. 1st century) was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire . Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion, he rose to become procurator of Judea ( c. 46–48) under Claudius . While Prefect of Egypt (66–69), he employed his legions against the Alexandrian Jews in a brutal response to ethnic violence, and was instrumental in the Emperor Vespasian 's rise to power. In 70, he participated in the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus ' second-in-command. He became the most powerful Jew of his age, and is ranked as one of the most prominent Jews in military history. Journal of Roman Studies . 44 . The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ: Volume I . revised and edited by Géza Vermes , Fergus Millar and Matthew Black (revised English ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 964990884.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
1st century AD Roman governor and general Tiberius Julius Alexander (fl. 1st century) was an equestrian governor and general in the Roman Empire . Born into a wealthy Jewish family of Alexandria but abandoning or neglecting the Jewish religion, he rose to become the 2nd procurator of Judea ( c. 46 – 48) under Claudius . While Prefect of Egypt (66–69), he employed his legions against the Alexandrian Jews in a brutal response to ethnic violence, and was instrumental in the Emperor Vespasian 's rise to power. In 70, he participated in the Siege of Jerusalem as Titus ' second-in-command. He became the most powerful Jew of his age, and is ranked as one of the most prominent Jews in military history. Journal of Roman Studies . 44 . The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ: Volume I . revised and edited by Géza Vermes , Fergus Millar and Matthew Black (revised English ed.).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1140229174. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “son of a rich alexandrian jew”. Today it says “egyptian equestrian governor and general in the roman empire”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “Roman governor and general”. It now reads “1st century AD Roman governor and general”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
son of a rich alexandrian jew
Now
egyptian equestrian governor and general in the roman empire
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
