Phlegon of Tralles (~120–140 AD), a Greek freedman and historian, wrote a work called Olympiads (now lost). His account survives through quotations preserved by later writers such as Eusebius, Jerome, Origen, and others.

The key passage, preserved in Jerome’s translation of Eusebius’ Chronicle (Olympiad 202), reads:

“In the fourth year of the 202nd Olympiad [32–33 AD], an eclipse of the sun happened, greater and more excellent than any that had happened before it; at the sixth hour, day turned into dark night, so that the stars were seen in the sky, and an earthquake in Bithynia toppled many buildings of the city of Nicaea.”

Critical details from Phlegon’s account

• Darkness at noon:
  Stars became visible in the daytime sky—an unprecedented event in his reckoning.
• Earthquake in Bithynia:
  The city of Nicaea (modern İznik, Turkey, ~670 miles from Jerusalem) suffered building collapses.
• Damage to Pontus:
  Apollonius Grammaticus, identified as Phlegon’s source, also records earthquake damage in Pontus.
• Dating:
  The event occurred in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, which spans summer 32 AD to summer 33 AD.

Phlegon himself did not mention Jesus in this context. Later Christian writers such as Eusebius, Jerome, and Africanus connected his account to the crucifixion.

This is significant because it shows Phlegon was recording these phenomena as a historian documenting unusual natural events, not as a Christian apologist. His account therefore represents an independent historical reference to extraordinary darkness and seismic activity occurring in the early 30s AD.