{"id":2156,"date":"2023-03-11T01:15:10","date_gmt":"2023-03-11T00:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learnancientrome.com\/?p=2156"},"modified":"2023-03-11T01:15:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T00:15:10","slug":"how-did-the-ancient-romans-write-dates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnancientrome.com\/how-did-the-ancient-romans-write-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"How did the ancient romans write dates?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Historians typically use two methods to identify dates in ancient Rome: the Faster of Numa and the Ab Urbe Condita. The Fasti Consulares was an annual list of magistrates compiled by order of the Senate. This list began with the first consuls in BC. The Ab Urbe Condita was a continuous history of Rome, starting with the founding of the City. This work was written by Livy and continued to be updated until his death in AD 17.<\/p>\n

The calendar that the ancient Romans used was first introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BCE. Until that point, the Romans had used a calendar based on lunar cycles, which made it difficult to keep track of dates for planting and harvesting crops. Caesar’s calendar, which was based on the solar year, was eventually replaced by the Gregorian calendar, which is the one still in use today.<\/p>\n

How did the Romans measure dates? <\/h2>\n

The Roman calendar was a lunar calendar, with each month consisting of 29 or 30 days. The days were numbered from 1 to 29 or 30, with the first day being the Kalends (1st day) of the month. The Nones (7th day) was eight days before the Ides (15th day), and the Ides was the full moon.<\/p>\n

The hours were numbered from one to twelve as hora prima, hora secunda, hora tertia, etc. To indicate that it is a day or night hour, Romans used expressions such as for example prima diei hora (first hour of the day), and prima noctis hora (first hour of the night).<\/p>\n

What dates did the Romans use <\/h3>\n