The Romans named their years after who was elected Consul that year. There were two Consuls, so you’d say “in the consulship of Jones and Smith”. 59BC was Julius Caesar and some other guy. The other guy was so unimportant that Romans joked by calling it the consulship of “Julius and Caesar”.
The Romans named their years after who was elected Consul that year. There were two Consuls, so you’d say “in the consulship of Jones and Smith”. 59BC was Julius Caesar and some other guy. The other guy was so unimportant that Romans joked by calling it the consulship of “Julius and Caesar”.
Humour like that makes ancient people so much more relatable.
Some humour transcends lifetimes, we were carving dicks into walls before the first century.
"Three men, a greek, a roman and a celt each get an island.
The greek writes a book about flora and fauna of his island.
The roman, realising that the island does not need to be conquered, builds a house, a road to the shore and a statue to himself.
The celt starts a fight."
In more official settings they would also use the year “ab Urbe condita”, meaning “since the City’s founding” (city being Rome).
59BC should be around 694 aUc if my numbers are right.