Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, governor of Syria from 6 CE, was described in Luke's Gospel as the governor at the time Jesus was born. When Archelaus was deposed by the Romans as king of Judea in 6 CE, Quirinius was sent to Syria as governor, with additional authority over Judea. He then ordered a census to be conducted in Judea, although this was unlikely to have included Galilee, which was ruled by Antipas.

Prior to his appointment to Syria, Quirinius had a distinguished military and administrative career in Africa and Asia Minor.

The popular name of the Roman aristocrat is Cyrenius (51 BC - 21 AD).

He was Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, successor to Herod Archelaus as governor of Syria and Judea.